So this is Christmas.....

As the song goes "So this is Christmas, and what have you done?"

Well... A lot. This year has been an action-packed one for me, and this Christmas Eve  as I pack to go and celebrate Christmas with family in Tuscany and then go on to spend some days in the centre of the world, that is London; I'm very mindful of the fact that so many will not have food and the essentials of life this season. And so, instead of flashing the plastic and ringing up at the tills, I decided instead  to give the gift of food and education for the  orphans at the Kalinda Childrens Home in Zambia who have lost their parents to Aids.

A simple card with a message inside as to what you have gifted and why, is a great gift to give family and friends. It is something all of us can do, so the 20 -50 dollars or Euro that you blow on a few trinkets that get thrown in a drawer after the tree and decorations come down, this year can have far reaching effect on someone's life and future. So I ask you to consider it. You can give  after Christmas too.

 Just Think about it.... 

click on the link to go 

All funds are managed by a team (including doctors here in Switzerland who give of their time) and a school is being built on the land that was bought with the funds raised so far.

A blessed, peaceful, Happy Christmas to you and your families.

Donna Jackson

Wisequeen

Photos from #leweb 09 in Paris

 Photo by Teymur Madjderey 

Click on the pink link BELOW for all the people and photos of #leweb09 in Paris 

  Teymur Madjderey @icedsoul his photos of the people in Paris at leweb09 where I met with  @GaryVee 

ATTEND LE WEB THIS YEAR  2010 before its sold out.

Top ten of #leweb09 in Paris

# TOP APP Jack Dorsey of Twitter started us off on a high note with SQUARE definitely the favourite app. A cool payment system you can use on your smart phone, it was a hit with everyone as Loic tested it on stage with his iphone and effected a payment. He also announced twitter plans for a developers camp in San Francisco in 2010. The business plan is expressed in the image above, my photo taken from the screen at the conference. The wifi worked well much to everyone's relief this year. # TOP SPEAKER AND FORCE FOR CHANGE must go to Her Majesty Queen Rania who blew everyone away with her flawless delivery, warmth and Tech saviness. I was lucky enough to have a brief moment to greet her and congratulate her on her speech as she left the speakers room where she had discussions with Twitter and Facebook to bring about change in education, health and opportunity for the women and children without access to education and the services we don't give a second thought to. # TOP MOMENT meeting my NY Times Bestseller list, "Crush it" friend, Gary Vee outside the Mayors cocktail party in the magnificent City Hall of Paris . Our group snapped us together and sang out "Ah the two wine people finally together in Paris! We had a quick catch up before we went out to eat. The following day his session had the audience stirred up and shouting for more as he delivered his legendry thunder. Then, in an equally serendipitous moment, I was wandering down an empty street in the Marias to attend a dinner, when Who should I bump into again along rue Sévignéy, but Gary and two friends. We swapped winestories, spoke about our projects and he very proudly showed me his baby girl on his phone. He is truly an inspiration and his message of be grateful and execute on your plans, really resounds with me. Great to see you Gary! Italy awaits your Crushing! # TOP TRUST AGENT Chris Brogan, another of my mentors. Who is such an all round nice guy. He strips out the bs from social media and tools and gets back to basis on how to connect and build trust. His book Trust agents, also on the NY times bestseller list and in its third printing, is a must read. we got to chat hang out. My forthcoming chat with him here will give the best indicator of his approach to marketing your company online. # TOP PARTIES definitely the boat on the Siene with a view of Notre Dame and then the Mayors cocktail party at City hall hotel l'Ville, so beautiful with the enormous Christmas trees. TOP MEMORIES Walking to every party and event there was, from the romantic boat on the Siene to the VIP cocktail parties and coffee/beer night, we rode the metro and I even took a late night bus back to Gare du Nord with @Vascellari and then a taxi to my hotel. My off the wall, ludicrous interview with Paul Carr writer and card, on leaving London for LA and his list. . "The united nations of bloggers our cool team spend the evenings and late nights together @vascellari @clopin @ernohannink @icedsoul @tigertwo @hikari @MihaelaDraghici @liviacolare not one of us lived in the same country. we attended all the parties using the metro to crisscross Paris, walked all over the Marais and to our hotels, past the Louvre at night, very pretty, with all the twinkly lights. We made the VIP room ( A nightclub) too, but nobody could afford the 20 Euro drinks, so we left and had coffee on the way home laughing till our stomachs ached and getting very little sleep. # TOP RESTAURANTS WE ate out with fun bunch each night.On the first night, between parties that we walked across town to get to, we found a lovely restaurant in San Michel with a friendly owner called Red and ate duck and mashed potatoes followed by a crem caramel that was delicious with fabulous Bordeux. last night we also ate a lovely meal in a Fish Resturant the lanes of Marais where a two course meal called a "formula" main course of filet, or Fiorentina steak, fish or whatever you wanted, was prefaced by a lovely starter, I had paté and red onion marmalade, cost just 13 Euro. # TOP HOTELS Admired the very elegant fashiondraped Hotel Pulitzer in rue du Fauborg, but couldnt stretch to that, so stayed in the arty bright place at Filles du Cavilere, nice area. The hotel d Ville just down the road from Rue Curial 3 at the le web venue was affordable, clean, comfortable and friendly with free wifi. Good tip for next year if you can get in. # TOP NO REPEAT the restaurant near the Marais called L'Etincelle 42 bis Rue de Rivoli, who robbed us, as small beer was 11 Euro and the food was overpriced and average. The sting came when Nancy discoved her phone had been nicked, and had to report it to the police. The crushing of my iphone in the street, it lasted till I got home and then crashed. Luckily I managed to download all the pics onto my apple just before it crashed. # TOP REASON TO ATTEND AGAIN NEXT YEAR I wouldnt miss it! A wonderful time of seeing old friends and meeting new ones whose blogs you've been reading for years, like Tara Hunt whose twitter handle is @Missrogue, Laura Fitton who blogs as @pistachio and Cate who blogs as @Cupcate. We expanded our minds and our inner circle of collaborators. Flicker stream of le Web 09 photos **Donna Jackson @Wisequeen Social Communications Strategist.

Whatever happened to charisma?

I grew up in an age of icons. Heck, I aspired to be one myself, if only to my small pool of admirers. I attend many web conferences every year much like this week, where I am an offical blogger at Le Web in Paris and get to hear, interview and blog on some great speakers. But, and here's the thing, I also attend conferences, start up camps and tech workshops almost weekly where I must listen to people address a crowd, whether its 50 or 5,000. Speaking publicly used to involve some training in holding an audience. Only those with the magic ingredient charisma, they got to speak. Even Jesus Christ knew this. He himself fed people by hand out of baskets, 5,000 of them, if I remember correctly. *********Groucho Marx, Dorothy Parker,Gilda Radner and Bill Cosby, had us apoplectic in the isles at their dry unforced humour.***** A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five. Groucho Marx I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. Groucho Marx I remember the first time I had sex - I kept the receipt. ***** Groucho Marx The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Dorothy Parker.... °°So, how do these other mundane people who work in same corporate back office, churning out software to the masses, get to occupy the same stage with the likes of Golda Meir, Billy Graham, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Robbins, Magic Johnstone, Paul Newman,Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul the second, Barak Obama: all of whom have Charisma in spades? I'm damned if I know, honestly!************************************************ ***While motivating your sales team in Boondockville to send out more and more antivirus software, might earn you enough to drive a Lexus, BUT it should never guarantee you a place on any stage, speaking. Unless of course, you happen to be a great speaker/storyteller and can inspire and delight an audience anyway..************************* How did all these second-rate corporate ants, Johnny-come-lately journos and reality star-wanabees land up behind a microphone? Answers on a postcard please, you can win a trip with me, listening to some of them. *********Im looking forward to @garyvee of wine libary TV, and Chris Brogan talk at le Web today. Even if I hated wine, and social media and NJ was my least favourite dialect, I could still listen to them because they have passion for the subject ! ********************* Here's what I recently wrote on the subject "If you are not passionate about your project/product, no one else will get it either. I'm surrounded by Computer Science graduates, who insist they will programme their rise to the top, every step of the way, exercise complete control, and force their brilliant new idea into our homes". .... I have one thing to say.... if you can't generate excitement, and lets face it, some of us just cant, then pay someone else to light the fireworks for you. AND GET OUT OF THE WAY. #Know someone who inspires you, or not? let me know, post a comment here and tweet about it. Donna Jackson, Social Communications Strategist

Who wants to work at Google?

Answer = nearly everyone I know in Zurich, coders or not. Recently I was the guest of Rupert my friend who is a webmaster at Google Zurich It just so happened that I was there on the day when the corporate photos were being taken, and so was treated to the full royal tour of all the amazing zones, chill out areas and state of the art work stations, that make it one of the most fun places to work on the planet. If you havent visited Googles offices, you may think I'm making this up. Googlelites have a choice of massage and relaxing treatments, gyms, spanking clean power showers, silent rooms where tropical fish glide silently in giant tanks while your soft black leather recliner massages the knots out of your back. Then when you are fully relaxed and have switched your phone back on, you can drift up to the skybar with arguably the best view of Zurich and have a glass with your Googly friends. Am I forgetting the best part, Yes! There is food everywhere, and I mean everywhere! you need never go out for a greasy mac or starbucks rip-off again. Everything appears as if by the hand of a genie. Luxurious bowls dripping with the freshest fruits, succulent grapes, figs, peaches, apples. crunchy bars, home made muffins, choclate bars, ben and jerrys icecream, nuts,healthy crisps,M and M s fruit juices, snappy snaps, cereal, healthbars, green eggs and ham,coffee on tap, and these are just the snacks!! Google Management are just plain smart, why go out? We will bring it all to you. So you are probably wondering, as I was, there must be sooooooooo much goofing off. Well uuuur, No, I'm told. Each Googlelite has a manager, and if he takes the fall for you, hes gonna tail you. Well thats all good and well. I was most impressed with the rain forest/jungle room which has rainbow prisms of sunlight and a delicious monster to hide within. In fact that was where we had our meetings, and no I can't tell you what was discussed. You know what is Googles stays inside Google. We also played in the games room and met lots of happy Googlelites playing who were happy to feature in the photos in the said photo shoot. Looking forward to the next occasion, this time Im going to bag me some more of that Ben and Gerrys stuff.

I am checking my wave account right now and my Google calendar to see when I can programme that in.  

Update they are looking for webmasters and other specialists above all with other language skills at Google. That CV must be burning in your hands by now! So, because green eggs and ham are much better than spam, send me a mail on my contact sheet on the header with your name and I'll send you the contact email at Google Zurich. Or tweet me and Ill DM it to you. Donna Jackson Social Communications Strategist