Pushing boundaries

This past Sunday was a beautiful sunny autumn day in the Northwest. TJ and I took Ty with us to a tweetup held at Mack & Jack’s brewery in Redmond, WA. Our friend Evonne organized it. It was also her birthday. About a dozen Twitter friends enjoyed a fun afternoon together. The weekend before, we took Ty to a dim sum tweetup in Bellevue. It was the 2nd time our friend Josh organized it. The group size is kept to 10 for 1 large round table. It’s especially fun when there are dim sum newbies present.

Now Ty has 2 tweetups under his belt. I’m glad we’re now including him in some social networking events, and he seems quite comfortable with the crowd. I’m especially looking forward to taking him to Ignite Seattle on December 1.  What is Ignite? It is a series of 5-minute presentations on stage, each with 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide on auto advance, in front of a huge (and often geeky) audience. Ignite started in Seattle in 2006 and has spread all over the world. I submitted a talk for this upcoming event, having been inspired by Jen, Maya and Giyen.

Ty and I are both learning so much lately. I’m pushing my own boundaries everyday, in all aspects of my life. Submitting an Ignite talk proposal is just the latest example. Earlier this month, I also applied for the talent search for a “Good Mood Blogger.” (Please see my blog post about this.) At the same time, I’m encouraging Ty to establish his own presence and voice. We’ve had a few discussions about personal branding. He now has access to a Flip Mino (thanks to our friend Andru Edwards) to produce his own content. I enjoy furnishing him with new tools and observing his experiments. We both learn from the adventure and each other.

The Ignite Seattle talk selection will be announced at the end of October. Phase 1 of “Good Mood Blogger” talent search will end on November 4. (I have to be in the top 20 to advance to phase 2. Please vote for me from all your computers everyday!) Both are such wonderful opportunities that the very thought of winning one or both puts a spring in my step. The best part? So many friends AND strangers have been so generous with their support and encouragement. Every day, their positive messages jump-start my day, and I can’t help but feel like a winner already!

What are you currently doing to push your own boundaries? Whom are you bringing along? Let me know so I can join your cheer squad, too!