Travel

The Beauty and Serenity of Lake Tahoe

Kristie Wells

I have spent most of my Winters in the North Lake Tahoe area – shredding the various hills, carving paths untouched by man and getting into snow ball fights with friends and family. Ok, who’s kidding, in recent years I have been sitting by the fire in the ski lodge with a pint of Newcastle and a good book (or my laptop) close by while I wait for my beloved to finish his carving of the hill (thanks to a set of knees that hate me).

But anyway, I think we should start spending a bit more time during the Spring and Summer months too. The AdHocnium team stole away for a few days to work on our business plan for the new company (TBA), and I had forgot how spectacular North Lake Tahoe is time of year.

Jump!

The water is a bit chilly, but beautiful nonetheless, especially when staring at it with a lovely glass of Chardonnay in your hand.

Day on the lake with @chrisheuer and @chloealexmayer #instacollage #tahoe #laketahoe #westshore

We had a house in Squaw Valley, which was in the process of switching from a ski resort to a golf resort…

Taking an afternoon stroll to stretch the legs and catch our second wind after day of brainstorming and planning. #squaw #squawvalley #laketahoe

And maybe next year, I will be in better shape so we can actually hike, bike and swim instead of drink wine, read books and eat until our bellies were going to pop. Or, we can live a little and try to do it all…

All I care about is that we spend more time here when there is more green on the ground than white.

Oh, and about that company we are working on … we will have news on that soon. 🙂

Road Trip 2011: New York, NY

Kristie Wells

Social Media Masters: New York
While in town for the Social Media Masters event, we had a chance to revisit the World Trade Center and it is incredible to see how much they were able to complete since our last trip in May.

We held a cocktail party on the 5th Floor of the W Hotel that overlooks the World Trade Center and Memorial Park and while the construction crew was still hammering in the background, it was fantastic to hear, and eerily soothing to see, the water gushing from the memorial pool. There is still a lot of work to be completed here, and hopefully, on our next trip we will have time to actually walk through the park. I want to see it all up close.

We also stumbled across a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park who had been camping there for almost a week. While many were not 100% sure what message they wanted me to walk away with, there were two kids (in their 20’s) who knew what they wanted, and were eloquent with their words. Tried to interview them, but all I had was my iPhone and the shot was too dark and there was too much background noise so the video is unwatchable. Sucks as I would have loved to have done more to support their voice.

Social Media Best Practices: Airlines and Airports

Kristie Wells



I was invited to speak at the 2011 Marketing and Communications Conference/JumpStart® Air Service Development Program in Cleveland, Ohio on June 21st and dug into Social Media Best Practices for Airports and Airlines.

As an ‘outsider’, it was nice being invited into their community and given the chance to share how I see the interactions between airports and airlines with fellow travelers. Some do exceptionally well – others have a long road ahead of them – but as with anything socially based, it takes practice, it takes dedication, and it takes someone willing to put the time in to help others.

My Presentation was called ‘Social Media Best Practices for the Airline Industry‘ and it can be seen below:




View more presentations from Kristie Wells

Road Trip 2011: Washington, D.C.

Kristie Wells

Cherry_Blossom_DC

Headed to DC for a couple of days, played tourist a bit, met some of Heuer’s American University buddies and spent time with our friends Coleman, Nabeeha and beautiful baby Sanah.



Didn’t take a lot of photos this trip, but was able to get down to the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park and catch the last bit of the Cherry Blossom Festival. So beautiful this time of year, and you can see the few photos I took here.

Road Trip 2011: Boston, MA

Kristie Wells

Boston: April 2011
I was invited to speak at the Social Media & Community 2.0 conference in Boston and was lucky enough to have a little free time to walk around the city. I have not been in Boston in a while, but always good to get back.

So much history.

So much good chowdah to eat. 🙂

Took a handful of photos, this time, swayed by the Central Burying Ground and a short walk along the Freedom Trail.

Geek Field Trip Planned: the Louvre

Kristie Wells

When we arrived in Paris last Sunday, the Social Media Club House mates took a stroll through the courtyard of the Louvre, but didn’t go in as the line already formed was re-dunk-dic-u-lous. Not wishing to leave town before I see the Mona Lisa, we are planning a geek field trip to the Louvre tomorrow (Saturday) and invite all who would like to join us.

Social Media Club House Day 1 - 09

We are meeting at 8:30 (doors open at 9am) hopefully get a decent spot in line. If you get there a few minutes late, no worries, just stroll along the line and look for a geeky group with lots of camera bags.

Thoughts are to visit to the Mona Lisa first (get that out of the way early) and then explore from there. Based on the verbal confirmations received during Le Web, we are expecting about 15 people to join us.

It is recommended that you pre-purchase tickets online (10.10 euros per ticket), as it makes it easier to pick up (just be sure to bring the credit card you used to pick up on site). Hope you will join us for this little field trip and see some of the great works of art Paris has to offer.

When local markets, wanna be top chefs and good friends meet…

Kristie Wells

When discussing activities for our week in Paris, we thought what better way to break the flat in than to host a small dinner party on the first night we are here. We are fortunate to have an amazing market called La Grande Epicerie du Bon Marche, similar to our Whole Foods, just a few blocks away from our flat – so Cathy, Chris and I took a stroll over on Sunday afternoon and picked up some tasty bits for the group.

We invited Mark and Laurant from PayPal over as a way to thank them for their support of Social Media Club House then Heuer headed into the kitchen and whipped up a stellar meal of salmon, potatoes and asparagus.

Social Media Club House Day 1 - 31

These are the type moments I love the most, getting people together from all around the world, sharing great stories over good food and wine. It’s the beauty of Social Media Club House. It is not only a work place. Or a sleeping place. It is the perfect gathering place.

Passport in my pocket, Rosetta Stone in my bag, Paris here I come!

Kristie Wells

To say I am excited to be in Paris this week would be a severe understatement. I have been wanting to visit for year+++++, and had to pull back from three other trips in 2009 due to various client commitments (and a flu bug). So this jaunt feels like a long time coming for sure.

Heuer and I are headed over for Le Web, a tech conference bringing the best of French entrepreneurs together with other tech enthusiasts from around the world to talk innovation and trends around the ‘tubes’. While the conference is sure to be a hit, in all honesty, I am most looking forward to hanging in the Social Media Club House with @chrisheuer @scobleizer, @cathybrooks, @suzyperplexus and @stephtara as we break bread, sip wine together and explore Paris and all that it has to offer.

We have a pretty full schedule planned, but I expect to get a little tourist time in as well, as this is…my first time in Paris. Expect to find me at the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower for sure.

To keep up on our activities, follow along on our Fan Page.

This weekend was exactly what I needed.

Kristie Wells

I needed some down time. I needed something to get Friday’s accident out of mind. I needed to be surrounded by loved ones, doing nothing of great importance, outside of making sure the beer was cold enough to satisfy our thirst.

I needed this weekend.

The weather was perfect. The crab was fresh. The beer was cold (I did my job right). It was a hum dinger and I am grateful I was able to take this time to be with my family.

I probably won’t get a chance to see mom and dad again until Christmas time, but already making plans as I love hanging at the beach house. Just wish it wasn’t a six (6) hour drive away.