funny by accident.

social media, tech, food and wine in a world that takes itself too seriously.

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  • @collaborize classroom written up by @mashable

    • 20 Oct 2010
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    • Collaborize Classroom Democrasoft Education Matters
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    A few days ago, the flagship product from the company I work at, Democrasoft, was featured on my favorite social media news website, Mashable.  

    Collaborize Classroom made Mashable's list of the best tools for incorporating social media into the classroom.  As you all know, I am a huge social media nerds so it was a huge honor to be recognized by them.   From Mashable:

    "Democrasoft, the company that developed Collaborize Classroom, clearly field tested the product with their other business-targeted products. The site is simple and effective; it’s clear how to ask a question, invite class members and send messages.  The service is free for one year."

    "As high school English teacher Catlin Tucker points out in a video (see below), “Class discussions seem to be dominated by about five to seven students. The same kids talk, the same kids don’t speak at all…” For some students, however, online discussions are less intimidating to participate in."

    "This app gives teachers four discussion format choices. Students can either agree or disagree with a statement, answer a multiple choice question, post responses, or have the choice between adding a new response or voting for someone else’s response. Teachers can add photos or videos to their prompts and all of the discussions take place on one class page."

    The other education focused companies that were featured in the article ranged from video sites, to blogging tools to teaching project management tools, are all great social media tools to bring technology inside and outside the classroom.  

    As school budgets are cut, teachers have larger class sizes and less time to get more done, tools can help teachers face the challenges of today's education system. Technology is a way for teachers to engage students in a way that is known to them, via online activities. Democrasoft recognized the need to support education and we are looking to keep our product free for teachers in the immediate future. 

    Check out 7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers on Mashable.com.  Also, while you are at it... Come to our Education Matters mixer on Wednesday, October 27th in downtown Santa Rosa!  Some of my favorite wineries, Longboard Vineyards and Fogline Vineyards will be pouring! 

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  • more updates on #wow10.

    • 6 Sep 2010
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    • Collaborize Community Building Democrasoft Hilton Sonoma Wine Country Northern Sonoma Wine Road Online Learning Platform Wisdom of We
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    WOW_Twitter_Template_2 Hey everyone, I just wanted to remind you that the Wisdom of We 2010 Seminar & Tweetup is coming up this Friday! We are putting together the final list for food at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, so I wanted to ask all my friends who said they were going to come, to buy tickets ASAP (for those who have planned events, you know what it's like...) so we can have a better count of who is coming! Also, there are a few updates to the event that I wanted to share with you all!

    1. Jeremiah Owyang, a web strategist, social media blogger and friend of Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will be moderating the seminar. This means he will be keeping our speakers in check, but also answering questions that you all may have.

    2. You have until Tuesday, 9/7 to book your room at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country for a special price of $119.00 (plus taxes). Book here.

    3. Many wineries will be offering special deals just for attendees on Saturday, 9/11. Check out our blog for more details:http://wisdomofwe.com/.

    4. This is a networking event, so please spread the word about the event throughout your communities and ask people you haven't met before, as well as friends to join you! Our hashtag on Twitter is #WOW10 & url to buy tickets is http://bit.ly/WOW10.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at sray@democrasoft.com. I look forward to seeing you all there!

     

    The details:

    Date: Friday, September 10, 2010 

    Times: MacMurray Ranch Tasting & Sign In - 5:00 - 5:30 WOW10 Seminar with Robert Scoble and Shel Israel - 5:30 - 7:00 WOW10 Winetasting Tweetup with the Wine Road - 7:00 - 9:00

     Location: Hilton Sonoma Wine Country 3555 Round Barn Boulevard Santa Rosa, CA 95403

    Price: $25 if you buy online. $40 cash/ $45 credit at the door. We also have special deals if you want to come to JUST the seminar or JUST the tweetup. Email sray@democrasoft.com for more info.


    For more information click here: Wisdom of We 2010 Seminar & Tweetup

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  • your help with #wow10.

    • 6 Sep 2010
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    • Collaborize Community Building Democrasoft Online Learning Platform Social Media Wisdom of We
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    Wow_twitter_template_2
    Hey everyone, I just wanted to remind you that the Wisdom of We 2010 Seminar & Tweetup is coming up this Friday!  We are putting together the final list for food at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, so I wanted to ask all my friends who said they were going to come, to buy tickets ASAP (for those who have planned events, you know what it's like...) so we can have a better count of who is coming! 

    Also, there are a few updates to the event that I wanted to share with you all! 

     

    1. Jeremiah Owyang, a web strategist, social media blogger and friend of Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will be moderating the seminar.  This means he will be keeping our speakers in check, but also answering questions that you all may have.   

     

    2. Please let wine club members, friends or guests know that they have until Tuesday to book your room at the Hilton for a special price of $119.00 (plus taxes) online at http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/STSSCHF-WOW10-20100910/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG

     

    3. Many wineries will be offering special deals just for attendees on Saturday, Sep 11th. Check out our blog for more details: http://wisdomofwe.com/.  

     

    4. This is a networking event, so please spread the word about the event throughout your communities and ask people you haven't met before, as well as friends to join you!  Our hashtag on Twitter is #WOW10 & url to buy tickets is http://bit.ly/WOW10.

     

    If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at sray@democrasoft.com.  I look forward to seeing you all there!

    +Shana. 


    The details:

    Date: Friday, September 10, 2010 from 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM (PT)

    Location: 
    Hilton Sonoma Wine Country
    3555 Round Barn Boulevard
    Santa Rosa, CA 95403

    Price: $25 if you buy online. $40 cash/ $45 credit at the door.  We also have special deals if you want to come to JUST the seminar or JUST the tweetup.  Email sray@democrasoft.com for more info. 

    Time:
    MacMurray Ranch Tasting & Sign In - 5:00 - 5:30
    WOW10 Seminar with Robert Scoble and Shel Israel - 5:30 - 7:00
    WOW10 Winetasting Tweetup with the Wine Road - 7:00 - 9:00

     

    For more information click here: Wisdom of We 2010 Seminar & Tweetup

     

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  • @scobleizer & @shelisrael talk social media in santa rosa.

    • 1 Sep 2010
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    • #WOW10 Democrasoft Downtown Santa Rosa Robert Scoble Shel Israel Wisdom of We
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    We all are hungry for more information on Social Media and how to work together within a business or community.  All of the biggest conferences are in San Francisco which means that you have to drive all the way into the city, pay for parking, food, drinks and of course A LOT just to get into the conference. 

    Robert Scoble and Shel Israel are two significant names in the social media world.  Their book, Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers defined blogging back in 2006 and changed the way businesses looked at the Internet. They taught people that blogs offer businesses a way to have meaningful conversations with their customers, which was lacking in traditional methods of communication.

    Both have spoken at some of the largest social media conferences in the world and now they are coming up to Santa Rosa for one night on September 10th.  The two haven’t been on the same stage for over two years and for only $25.00 you can see them reunite for the Wisdom of We 2010 Seminar & Tweetup (or #WOW10 or the Naked Reunion).

    They will be participating in a round table discussion, which means that attendees can ask them any question they want about social media, blogging, creating communities, working together, or….   This kind of information usually comes at a very high price at seminars or conferences, and you usually have to pay extra for the food and drinks.

    At Wisdom of We 2010 Seminar & Tweetup, everything is included in the price.

    Wine from the Northern Sonoma County Wine Road, which includes some of the best pinot, sparkling and zinfandel that Sonoma County has to offer will be poured at the tweetup. Local Sonoma County charcuterie, antipasto and cheeses will be provided by the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country as well.

    You have a week left to buy your tickets online for only $25.00, so make sure to get some for your whole office, ASAP. Tickets will go up to $40/$45 at the door. 

    Robert is a top 100 tech blogger, tech evangelist, speaker and author. His blog Scobleizer is one of the top 100 tech blogs and he is one of the top Twitter people to follow on multiple lists. He currently works forRackspace, building a new community of people fanatical about tech startups called building43.  Prevously, he worked as a technical evangelist at Microsoft and Fast Company as a video blogger.

    Shel Israel is a Social Media “Pro” that consults with leading Fortune 100 global enterprises and single entrepreneurs in home offices. In addition to co-authoring, Naked Conversations, he wrote the book Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods. His blogGlobal Neighborhoods, offers social media tips and he is a senior fellow and advisory board member to the Society for New Media Research (SNCR), and serves as the social media advisor to StepOne, anorganization that helps Spanish companies make American business connections.

     

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  • the top 5 reasons you NEED to be at #WOW10!

    • 26 Aug 2010
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    • Collaborize Democrasoft Robert Scoble Shel Israel Sonoma County Wisdom of We
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    The TOP 5 REASONS You NEED to be at Wisdom of We 2010 Seminar & Tweetup:

    5. Free food and wine – what’s not to love about that?

    4. You will learn something about social media and community – c’mon you know you haven’t learned much since you graduated.

    3. Meet new people and network – face it you don’t have a date on Friday September 10th

    2. Free delicious food and top Sonoma County wines – you’ll be in the middle of wine country, did you not see that the first time?!

    1. Two of the most influential rad tech dudes in the world are going to be in Santa Rosa! What?! Yep Santa Rosa, not Paris or New York…..Wine Country Baby!

    0.5. Tickets are ONLY $25.00 - yeah, that includes the seminar AND the tweetup... See #5 & #2!  

     

    Wow10_logo

     

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  • @scobleizer & @shelIsrael together again for a naked reunion at #WOW10.

    • 11 Aug 2010
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    • #WOW10 Collaborize Community Democrasoft Robert Scoble Shel Israel Sonoma County Widsom of We Wine Tasting
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    In 2006, a book called Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers revolutionized the online community and helped blogging become a way of life. The co-authors, Shel Israel and Robert Scoble have become leading social media icons and leaders, both online and offline.

    On Friday, September 10th the two will reunite to speak for the first time in over two years in an event we are calling Wisdom of We 2010 or #WOW10 if you are on Twitter. This is the first event ever in Santa Rosa with this caliber of speakers and presenters in social media.

    Shel Israel #WOW10

    Shel Israel (aka @shelisrael on twitter) is the author of Twitterville and editorial contributor to BusinessWeek, Dow Jones Co, and FastCompany.tv

    The two authors will be a part of a round table discussion panel (other speakers are in the process of being finalized), answering questions about where the future of collaboration, online communities and social networking is headed, discussing real world examples of people coming together, best practices, and answering questions from the audience (both in person and via Twitter).

    Wisdom of We 2010 is taking place at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa, Ca. just a short drive from San Francisco, in the middle of Wine Country. We are expecting a sold out event and tickets are in high demand, so register now at http://wow10.eventbrite.com/

    Of course, it isn’t a social media event without a tweetup. And it isn’t Sonoma County without some wine, so after the panel discussion, there will be a wine tasting reception on the patio at the Hilton, overlooking the city of Santa Rosa. There will be a few social media games and surprises that I will blog about soon.

    Robert Scoble (aka @Scobleizer on twitter) is a tech evangelist who has worked for Microsoft, Fast Company and is currently at Rackspace

    We have kept the event extremely affordable for everyone and tickets are on sale now for a mere $25.00 for both the seminar and the tweetup, which includes; wine, pre-seminar and local cheeses, charcuterie and wine tasting during the tweetup.  If you want to stay later, the Nectar Lounge at the Hilton has some amazing cocktails and is a great place to grab breakfast the next morning. They also are giving away a great deal on hotel rooms for attendees, just call 1-800-HILTONS (booking website coming soon) and let them know you will be attending the event.

    We are looking for amazing businesses who would want to help sponsor this event, so please email me at sray@democrasoft.com if you would like more information on our sponsorship packages!

    We look forward to seeing you there!

    +Shana via Democrasoft & Wisdom of We Blog

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  • a sneak peek at the #WOW10 logo.

    • 22 Jul 2010
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    • #WOW10 Democrasoft Wisdom of We
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    You guys may have seen me check into a place called Demorasoft on Foursquare or Twitter and maybe even heard about it through Mark Kithcart or Natalia Jaramillo. Well, I have signed on to work with them part time in the crazy marketing department (sigh, this is why I love marketing... We are all a bit mad).

    My first official duty is to help plan a seminar / tweetup in September that we are calling Wisdom of We, or #WOW10 for short!  I will tell you all the details soon (like who some of the FAMOUS speakers will be) and the usual, when, where, what, how and why.  But for now I am really excited to show you the logo that Laurel from Enatai Designs created.  We are loving it.

    If you want to hear more about the seminar before anyone else or find out more about Sponsorship/Collaboration opportunities, please email me at Shana@ShanaRay.com and I can give you more details! :)

    Wow10

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  • such a blah day out.

    • 12 Jul 2010
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    • Democrasoft Downtown Santa Rosa
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    This is the view from the desk I am sitting from at the Democrasoft HQ in downtown Santa Rosa.  It is ugly out, but thanks to Natalia and Pandora, I am having a great first day (more info on what exactly I am doing to come).

    (download)
    Click here to download:
    such_a_blah_day_out..zip (2.91 MB)

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  • About

    Hello! My name is Shana Ray, a Digital (Social Media) Marketing Director, working with wineries, restaurants & tech.

    My main website can be found at http://shanaray.com but I use this one as my social media/wine/food/music/llama blog and my way to get out my frustrations with the stuffiness that sometimes comes with wine.

    ...and I have red hair and can usually be heard before I am seen.

    I am a partner at Two Five Media and a Digital Media + PR Manager for Collaborize Classroom http://CollaborizeClassroom.com/blog

    .... yup, llamas.

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