You can’t travel anywhere in this region without hearing the sound of a nearby train.

These iron horses are the muscle of our country’s history and a few of weeks ago one very special express warmed the hearts of thousands of children in our region.

On Saturday, November 21st, the 67th Annual Santa Train made its annual trip from Pikeville, KY to Kingsport, TN.

Loaded with 15 tons of gifts and toys, Santa Claus, Wynonna Judd and over 100 hundred volunteers and guests spread holiday cheer all over three states.

For three generations, The Santa Train has made this journey and besides treating the families with holiday tidings the CSX Railroad know how to show their appreciation to the peoples of the Appalachian coalfields.

Together with Food City and The Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, they jump start the Christmas season too rolling eight historic passenger cars loaded with goodies into 14 towns across Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.

This year, it was my fortune to enjoy this one-of-a-kind excursion on the main line through the coalfields.

Even the mention of my chance to ride the train brought envy among family and friends. I’ve watched the train roll into Kingsport every year and this year, I’m forever thankful for my friends at the Kingsport Chamber who invited to be a part of this legacy.

It was a gorgeous day and the sky was a deep azure blue when we met in Downtown Kingsport on a Friday afternoon.

Two chartered buses were parked in front of the Chamber of Commerce offices ready to drive this year’s passengers to Pikeville, KY – the main rail yard for this year’s journey.

Marybeth Kench one of the Chamber’s organizers met me at the bus with a her glowing smile. She’s been working for the past several months organizing this event and her confidence and genuine excitement was a great way to start the day.

After stowing my carry-on under the bus, we were on our way up Highway 23 – north into Virginia. The sun cast long shadows over the Powell Valley as they are cradled by the mountains of this region.

Our bus arrived in Pikeville just before sunset and after checking into the Hampton Inn, I quickly jumped back outside to explore the city before nightfall.

I was surprised at how much has changed since my first visit in the seventies as our high school band participated in a holiday parade.

There’s been lots of changes, but this town still has a wonderful small town charm. So much so, that Norman Crampton cites Pikeville as of one of the “100 Best Small Towns in America.”

There are a number a new structures in the downtown area including a new city park that was decorated with plenty of color for the holidays.

Later that evening, the organizers had plans for the Santa Train guests to enjoy dinner at the new Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center. This complex is a striking landmark in the middle of town and hosts lots of special events throughout the year.

As we all gathered around a catered buffet, we could hear the sounds of a basketball game below us complete with sqweaking sneakers and referee whistles.

At dinner, I enjoyed conversations with Dave Light with the City of Kingsport, Jerry Petzoldt from The TCI Group, Alderman Tom Parham and Kannishka Biddanta with Adaptcore. We shared our enthusiasm for trip ahead and our hosts concluded dinner with an outline of safety procedures aboard the train.

From there, our buses left for the hotel. It was early though and despite our 5am departure, several people gathered at Champs Sports Bar to enjoy few drinks and conversation before the end of the night.

Champ’s is a popular local watering hole in Pikeville and although there was only one pool table, a jukebox and a few televisions screens, the place was warm and friendly.

Back at the hotel, it was hard to sleep and I guess the excitement had me waking on every hour, so by the time 4am arrived, I was ready to get up.

Everyone met in the lobby at 5.00 and after a few strong cups of coffee, we were ready to board the buses again. Still trying to open my eyes, I was surprised to watch St. Nick himself take a seat up front and with a few “ho-hos” and we were on our way.

The bus ride was quiet as we drove through the cold morning air. It wasn’t long though before we rolled into the CSX Shelby Yard. It was surprising to faintly see several people standing along the tracks waiting to catch a glimpse of Santa and his helpers.

We made no haste getting on the train and according to the press packets we received earlier, I would be riding on the Michigan car – a special car just for the media. We were whisked on the train and reminded of our “three points of contact” – feet on the steps and two hands on the boarding rails.

Inside, there were blue packing crates neatly loaded with goodies and marked for boys and girls along the left side of the walkways.

All of the guests had assigned cars and I sat at a table along with Steve Hawkins and Joe Gregg from WCYB. Among some of the other media were Erica Yoon – shooting photos for CSX and John Osborne who was also covering the event for the Kingsport Times-News.

I was a pleasure to meet local blogger “Country” too. I always enjoy meeting my virtual friends in the real world and her blog, “Country’s Chatter” has been an item of interest for several months. Her popular blog includes a wealth of personal insight about country music artists and regional performances.

Also in the media car were folks from Kentucky Educational TV and an entire camera crew from Nashville based cable channel GAC (Great American Country) which was filming a segment that will air on December 12th.

I’ve never rode a passenger train and must admit I felt silly when I wondered why the people were moving outside. I expected something a bit more like a subway, but the Santa Train was off and seemingly gliding on our way to the first stop – Marrowbone, KY.

It was still pitch black when we arrived at 6.45 am. I could see several people running alongside the train as it eased into the stop.

The helpers had bags of toys and were positioned by the doors ready to step down off the train and distribute sacks of goodies to children on the outskirts of the crowds. Meanwhile, Santa headed to the caboose to toss candy and other treats from the back of the train.

The train stops were timed according to the crowd size. The bigger crowds enjoyed longer stays and the engineers had horns to warn workers and media to be back on the train as they were keeping a tight schedule.

I didn’t get out on the first stop and decided to wait till Elkhorn City, KY which was about 30 minutes away from Marrowbone. By then the sun was rising over the Eastern mountain tops and a low lying fog cradled the trees as rolled slowly past the Big Sandy River.

It was here that I caught my first glimpse of Wynonna Judd.

With her children Gracie and Elijah following close behind, Wynonna passed through the media car to join Santa in the caboose. She was tanned, wearing a black coat with brass buttons and a black conductor’s hat that framed her deep red hair. She had a vibrant smile and was waking up like the rest of us as the train made its second stop.

As soon as I stepped off the train, I could hear a chorus of children screaming Santa! Santa!

A frenzy of young and old alike were rushing to get a glimpse of the man in red and stretching their arms into the air to catch the gifts pouring out of the train from all sides.

Many of the kids were bundled up in coats and hats and some had runny noises, but their eyes were like saucers as they all strained to get a glimpse Santa.

There were some 600 people gathered at this first stop with cars lining the streets as old men were clinching steaming cups of coffee as everyone else scrambled for gifts hurled from all the around the caboose.

My camera was busy too and time passed quickly as I heard the first horns to get back on the train. That was the sign the the train was leaving and suddenly, we were rolling again heading further down the line to Toms Bottom, Haysi, Clincho and Freemont KY.

Riding a train through the Appalachian mountains is a scenic adventure that traverses a landscape accessible only by rail. From cascading mountain streams, rolling farmland, rocky ledges and several tunnels, I’m sure that few people have seen the region from this perspective.

From time, to time, we would make a turn and you could see the train ahead – winding its way around the bends. One of favorite moments were when the tunnels would engulf the train in darkness.

There was a camera in each car that was focused on the view behind the caboose and it was almost mystical watching the daylight disappear into a thin circle of light as we pierced our way through the ancient mountains.

Besides having Wynonna Judd on the Santa Train this year, The Kingsport Chamber of Commerce awarded two gentlemen with a chance of lifetime.

Earlier in the year, The Chamber had a contest inviting people to describe in an essay why they would like to ride the Santa Train. Two winners were selected and both were on the train today.

Seventy-year-old Thomas Sargent was delighted to be one of the winners. His daughter nominated him and describe how her dad had followed the train most of his life.

In an interview with Susanna Jackson from Great American Country, Sargent described how he be taking plenty of photos with his new digital camera and commented, “Seeing the kids were a real treat to me.”

Later in their hometown of Dungannon, both men would be welcomed by banners from the crowd and were pictured tossing gifts with Santa and Wynonna.

The crowds turned into large mobs as we made stops in Dante (pronounced “Daint”), VA and St. Paul. Thousands were on hand and the temperatures warmed so that the golden glow of the afternoon sun made the stopover seem like a town circus.

Some folks were complaining about how the adults seemed to be grabbing up all the gifts and that may have been true in some cases. However, I saw plenty of smiling voices and little arms stretched to the sky hoping to grab a plush animal. There were also plenty of volunteers handing out bags directly to the children all over the grounds.

In St. Paul, Wynonna made her way into the crowd and was swarmed by local fans. She’s got an approachable personality and seemed to make time for everyone. A native Kentuckian, I recall her saying, “These are my people.”

Back on the train, Wynonna was running a bit behind and gave an interview to a large group of media cameras as the train had a long run between stops in Virginia.

We all moved into the Greenbriar car and Judds’s handlers adjusted her makeup and checked the camera angles. I had my Iphone and recorded much of the interview from over the top of Joe Gregg’s camera who together with WCYB asked some interesting questions to the 5-time Grammy Award winner.

Wynonna described the trip as an “emotional rollercoaster.” Starting the trip in tears and moving to joy along the route.

A few years ago, Wynonna’s mother Naomia was a guest on the Santa Train. When asked if her mother had any advice about the trip, she said her mother described the journey as “one of the hardest things you’ll ever do and one of the most memorable.”

Referring to the children, she said that it was nice to distribute Twinkies, but she could see into the eyes of the children and toys were what they wanted. She also noted that she would work hard in the future to bring awareness to the train and find more funding including perhaps inviting all the Judds on a future ride.

After the interview, I made my way toward the back of the train.

Passing through several cars there were volunteers all along the way and still plenty of neatly packed crates with gifts for the rest of towns on the way to Kingsport. Nearing the caboose, the lights were off, but I could hear the faint sounds of “Silver Bells” and Wynonna and Santa were talking nostalgia – waxing romantically about moon pies and RC Colas.

As the train rumbled past the rivers and farms, Santa and Wynonna would wave at people who were watching the train from their doorsteps. Ed Moore from Food City was near the back too along with Frank Waldo with Teleoptics who still seemed fresh even though the train had been pouring out goodies for over 8 hours.

Just past Duffield, the train started to slow over Copper Creek.

Driving up High23N, you can see a tall railroad trestle which the locals consider a historical monument on the landscape. I’d always wondered what the view looked like from the top too.

As we inched on to the 8-story platform, I could see ultra light airplanes following the Santa Train. Several cars were parked along the highway shooting pictures as the train prepared for its final stops in Kermit and Kyles Ford, VA.

Near Kingsport, we passed the old Rotherwood Mansion and I could hear some of the people on the train narrating Kingsport’s history. As we traveled alongside Netherland Inn road, I recalled that Kingsport was first a shipping community – built upon the passage of salt and other supplies that arrived on flatboats at John King’s first port and boatyard on the banks of the Holston River,

At the time, the city traded the promise of railroads in the early days for steamboats – envisioning a future based on the river. The railroads went to Jonesborough, but it wouldn’t be long before every town had rail access and that no doubt paved the way for Kingsport to become “The Model City.”

From our offices in downtown Kingsport, you can hear the trains every day. You can hear the thunder of cars as they link to each other and everyone knows what the train horn blasts sound like from our perch on Main Street.

This time however, I was rolling into town from an elegant passenger car and still numb from a busy day of travel. I imagine there were plenty of children sifting through the loot the Santa Train left behind, but here in Kingsport, old Saint Nick was getting ready for a hero’s welcome.

Kingsport’s Annual Christmas Parade never starts until Santa rolls in on the train. When we finally arrived around 3pm there thousands lining Main Street.

When the train stopped, Santa and Wynonna made their way through the crowd like rock stars. After a brief moment talking to the crowds, they both jumped on top of two trailer beds and began to fling the remaining toys and candy into the crowd.

Wynonna signed a few autographs after the toys were gone, but Santa Claus boarded one of Kingsport’s bright yellow fire engines and from high atop the ladder, he yelled “Ho-Ho-Ho!” The bands began a cadence and the Christmas parade began.

The 67th Santa Train was an incredible experience – so much so, I wish everyone could take the trip. For those who made the journey this year, the day was a rich experience and I’m certain everyone involved with this project painted a rainbow of happiness all over the coalfields.

For the kids along the way, I’m sure they’re already bored with the toys that were catapulted from the back of the train. However, I bet they’ll have a story to tell for the rest of their life about how St. Nick came to their town. If no one tells them any different, they’ll be there next year as well to see what the bearded fellow brings aboard the Santa Train.

It’s important that I thank the Kingsport Chamber for an unforgettable experience and plenty of kudos go to the Nashville-based public relations firm McNeely Pigott & Fox for one of the most organized and touching events of my lifeline.

Together with CSX Railroad, the fine folks at Food City, the Santa Train is a legend now told round the world.

Even though the Santa Train is over, I can still hear those voices calling out Santa’s name and the sparkling hope in every eye of the children who waited on that train that morning.

If there’s one thing that’s certain about the Santa Train – it’s a ride of hope and journey filled with joy.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Email had a good run, but it’s been broke for a long time and very soon, it may be a thing of the past.

Realtà Aumentata – Augmented Reality from soryn on Vimeo.

One of our distinct human characteristics is how organized our species has become (or at least we try to be).

Let’s shelf the natural movements of the atoms and molecules that make up our being, because when it comes to people – and our “stuff“, we like to name it, sort it, categorize it and make it easy to locate.

We organize our cultural stuff too – from words, books and knowledge – we’ve watched this information collect around the world on the Internet.

Google turned eleven years old last week and since the dawn of the Net they have built an unprecedented Internet resource that sorts information by words.

From the Dewey Decimal system to keyword searches, we’re still using letters to organize our data. We enter a word into a box and presto – we all have the history of our planet at our finger tips.

There’s a new idea surfacing on the horizon called “Augmented Reality” (AR) that blends GPS technology, smart phones, mobile software and all the information on the Internet. Instead of sorting by text, AR augments this data by location – bringing about new technologies both novel and mind-boggling.

Wikipedia defines augmented reality as “a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with-, or augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality.”

Augmented Reality has been emerging for several years now, but it’s really starting to gain traction now on smart phones.

Basically, you use your mobile device or web cam to enhance (or add to) a real-world experience. Sounds very science fiction. It’s becoming very real.

The idea evolved from main frames, the desktop, laptop and now the little computers we carry in our pocket that shoot video, photos, collects email, plays thousands of songs and maps information or weather wherever we stand. It just so happens this device also makes telephone calls. The funny thing is that we still call it a “phone?”

At present, the smart-phone market share, according to Nielsen is approaching a 20% consumption rate in the United States. Italy has the highest rate of usage with numbers approaching 30% of the population.

As wireless services have improved, one of the latest introductions on our phones is GPS technology. Add a digital camera and now you have a computer that can present an image anywhere on the planet, know where it’s located and associate information related to that image in a handheld screen.

If your phone knows where it’s located and can orient itself and determine whether it’s tilted left, right, upside down or 23% – then it can position itself and relate to data in the same way.

Imagine for a moment you’re visiting a metropolitan city and you are trying to the find a subway.

With AR, you can look through your smart phone’s camera at the street scene in front of you with people and cars buzzing around you in real-time. As you move the camera around, little graphics appear within the screen and point your way to the subway – or for that matter, a pizza parlor.

For a history buff, you could visit the American landscape in Boston and hold your smart phone up on the street corner and watch a Wikipedia icon pop-up on the screen and click the link to read about the historical site that stands in front of you.

Wikitude is ready to roll out this free app right now on your Iphone.

By adding the GPS coordinates into the mix and the smart-phone’s ability to know it’s orientation. You can stand in a spot, the phone calculates your latitude and longitude and matches that to other information around you that match the two points on the planet.

How about a game? Pacman could take on a whole new level if you could play it in a park.

The graphics are still a bit crude and who wants to look at world with virtual billboards and cheesy avatars. After all, if you remember Second Life, this idea of a virtual world is nothing new. One of my favorite early presentations about Augmented Reality is from 2004.

What intrigues me though is the idea that all of a sudden, information has a new indexing method.

A lot of people enjoy Google Maps and the ability to zoom into locations all across the planet. Sprinkle that idea with a little Augmented Reality and you can walk streets and see all kinds of information and for the most part – experience a virtual world.

Let’s fast forward into the future a bit and bring this closer to home.

We’re walking on Broad Street in Downtown Kingsport. The handheld Iphone has given way to a pair of sunglasses or contact lens. As we explore the streets, we see pictures that were taken over the past twenty years of people, places, businesses, videos, news stories, sound files all mapped to where we stand.

If you’re looking to stay slightly ahead of the digital marketing curve, Augmented Reality could well be “what’s next” and a huge skip past virtual worlds.

The early apps are looking for marketing solutions and I bet the gaming world is taking note of this tech too, but there are some apps that might be extremely useful and invasive by the same measure.

How about a reality app that let’s you walk into a room and see business cards floating over the attendees?

Perhaps an app for the single guy walking into a nightclub and seeing the status of who’s single or married?

There are already ideas forming about how to us AR and Twitter like this new proposed app by TwitAround.

What if the AR app could track negative comments about businesses or for that matter track criminals in a way that even the idea of looking down a street would expose volumes of information about the place or people that surround you?

Sounds a bit too much I know, but keep in mind the ways technology could augment our world and keep us safe.

It’s a crazy place and if you don’t believe me, turn on the news. Last week Al-Queda terrorists are adopting drum smuggling tactics and embedding bombs inside human bodies. Airport security will either have to go to strip searches or develop some new tech that helps keep us safe and even though I admit that it’s all moving too fast – I still like to see us keep an edge over those who seek to do harm.

Besides, we all are watching as the world suffers from a inflating attention deficit disorder.

Daniel Sanchez-Crespo, a project leader at the Barcelona firm, Novarama, had this to say about Augmented Reality – “The real world is too boring for many people. By making the real world a playground for the virtual world, we can make the real world much more interesting”.

Just between friends – the older I get, the more I embrace the heart of a Luddite. I miss the old days of three channels of television and plenty of free time. I’ll admit that since the introduction of the Net, I find myself chained to a screen either on a desktop, my lap or in my pocket.

It’s hard to ignore though. Like many of you, I love new toys. Augmented Reality has some remarkable possibilities and although it probably will not help us get any closer to the true meaning of life, it’s certainly going to make it more entertaining.

AR has been called “the opportunity that’s going to blow the lid off everything,” as Denise Gershbein of frog design put it at Mobilize 09, adding, “That’s the moment when you stop looking down at a device and hold the lens up to the world.”

I’m sure that some people will think that we’re going to far shaping our realities, but TV and video games have been doing that for years and Augmented Reality could be the natural evolution of our species – merging the machines with the humans, but that’s another sci-fi flick altogether.

The headline was sobering – U.S report predicts 30,000 to 90,000 deaths and over 2 million will contract H1N1 this flu season.

Standing in line at a local convenience market, I couldn’t help but find this USA Today headline disturbing – despite the fact over 30,000 die from regular flu viruses each year.

As several people exchanged money and grabbed the counter and door handles, I couldn’t help but think about my own strategy to prevent contracting this disease as the pandemic continues to linger and pose new threats this season.

With all the talk about social media lately, it’s interesting to note that one of the best ways to avoid the virus is a “social distancing” strategy. Sure, I’m finding myself using a hand sanitizer more often now, but one of the possibilities on my list is doing away with the handshake custom.

For those of us in the business community, that’s hard to consider. Extending your hand at a business or social function is almost an impulse. Even my father and everyone else in my family always taught the lesson of a good handshake too.

It’s clearly an awkward situation when you refuse to shake another person’s hand. Some would consider an insult at the very least.

Regardless of the argument about how many people wash their hands after a visit to the toilet or what biologicals find their way onto the hands we shake. Handshakes spread germs and it may time to consider another alternative.

The handshake is a custom that’s been around for a long time. Wikipedia suggests the extending of one’s hand originated as a gesture of peace – proving to another you didn’t hold a weapon. That notion takes on a different perspective though when we consider the fact we may be passing along a microscopic killer.

I’m not going “Howard Hughes” on you yet and my OCD tendencies still involve computers for the most part.

Still yet, I find myself opting for a different greeting strategy and trust my best friends won’t consider it a rebuff. After all, I’ve got both of us in mind. I’d prefer that neither of us become sick or pass along anything other than good tidings.

This isn’t a new idea either as others are starting to consider the same concern.

An entire German city has banned the practice, posting signs that read – “We do not give you the hand, but we give you a smile.”

Recently an Internet startup was reported to ban handshakes in corporate meetings, opting instead for the “sanitary” fist bump instead.

Brad Feld is an MIT tech-entrepreneur who earlier in the year declared “No Handshakes in 2009” and started his own movement. He was tired of being sick all the time, but found out that he despised telling the story over and over again as to why he wasn’t shaking hands and abandoned his battle-cry.

Old habits are hard to break and my hope is that we question whether it’s time to consider another gesture. The fist bump is trendy (I like the one that explodes) and the shoulder grab is another one that might be a bit more safe too.

The Zen masters already have a great practice of bowing in the East and I must admit that if the greeting involves a pretty girl – how about a hug?

Let the revolution continue and here’s to a happy and safe flu season and we don’t have to shake on it.

Unfortunately, it’s not always the glamorous news stories that bring attention to our hometown here in Kingsport. In fact, like most viral Internet stories, it’s the sensational or stupid stories that seem to attract the most attention

In the past we’ve caught attention for a variety of stories that were laughable and hardly glamorous here at Times-News.

Last week, we logged another “Dubious Achievement Award” for Kingsport, Tennessee and our tech folks saw plenty of traffic on a news story involving a shoplifter who bit a Walmart employee.

We first started to see Kingsport pop-up in the Twitter Universe with headlines from a parody website that reports on “Zombie activity” across the nation.

Did you know Kingsport was under an amber alert this past week too as the Zombie Nation caught wind of the headline?

I was surprised too when I heard popular late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon refer to the story too in his Monday night monologue on NBC. Fortunately, he left out the town’s name, but he did reference the story.

Fallons comments are here at the 4.00 time marker.

He states…”In Tennessee, A Walmart employee was bitten while trying to fend off a shoplifter. Fortunately, since it was a Walmart employee, there were no teeth involved.”

We must be thankful for the small things I presume and like they say – Any press is good press – or is it?

About three years, I thought it would be helpful for me to setup and Internet server at home. The idea of housing all of my content in a spare bedroom gave me some sense of control. All the content, music, photos and video right next to me in a few steps.

That was never an easy task. Besides paying Sprint $10 per month, Directnic another $120 per year and plenty of dollars and time caring for an old Mac G5 just became too much of hassle.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve finally managed to move all the services out to the cloud on the Internet. Hosting has become too cheap and highly dependable now and it’s something less I have to worry about. Saves me a few dollars too.

After several frustrating outages though and moving across gigs of info, the idav.com, davidcate.com and davidcate.net domains are now comfortably hosted in the nebulous cloud with hosting paid up for the year. I’m even thinking of paying far forward into the future to let this digital destination serve as my virtual headstone in the event of an unexpected departure.

Now that the technical move is out of the way, I’ll just have to remember to back this material up regularly now to satisfy my fear of disaster, but it’s back to the regular updates and thanks for your patience. I’m appreciative of all of those who took the time to say they missed me. Much love.

Speaking to an audience has gotten easier for me in the past several years. With 24 years of experience in sales, you get to the point where the butterflies subside, especially after you make a mountain of mistakes along the way.

There’s still a bit of anxiety though and these opportunities are always learning experiences because mastering the art of presentation is a key to business success and I had chance to speak a three gatherings recently.

We’re getting ready to launch the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce website this week. Prior to the launch, I spoke to their Board of Directors for a sneak preview at their offices in Kingsport on May 20th. A group of 50 or so people were in the room that day and I had 10 minutes to deliver the quick tour.

On Thursday, May 16th, I was invited to speak to the Tri-Cities Metro Advertising Federation in Johnson City on the subject of Social Media. Mary Ellen Miller was also speaking that day and we had a chance to present several new ideas to the area’s advertising and marketing professionals.

This was a small group, but it was a significant gathering of peers at the Bank of Tennessee Financial offices in Johnson City. This swanky conference room overlooks State of Franklin road and the board room there has some of the coolest presentation tech that I’ve seen lately.

With windows all around, I lowered the screens in the circular office and presented a 15 minute presentation before about 35 agency reps, banks, hospitals, public relations professionals and small businesses.

My presentation was a collection of social media tools from our newspaper network, a review of the tools reshaping the media landscape and review of some of the ideas our clients are implementing using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other tools.

My main theme was the fact that social media isn’t all that new, citing our human desire for interaction and authenticity in conversations, but the the tools have certainly changed and we reviewed those ideas together.

Some of the interesting points of conversations from the session included how to effectively separate personal and professional identities using social media and how to ensure productivity in the workplace with these tools proliferating our lives.

Mary Ellen Miller did a great job introducing a lively collection of social media public relations examples and has been very successful re-branding herself after experience in television news, magazines and leading a PR firm at a local tech company. Her discussions on Social Media will continue on WJHL over the next several weeks.

Special thanks to Sarah Clevinger with The Bank of Tennessee and Jessica Bland with The Corporate Image for organizing this event. It helped me to sharpen my Keynote skills and I enjoyed sharing the new ideas about Social Media.

I’ll continue that discussion with clients over the next several weeks including a presentation to the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce tomorrow – June 1.

My last presentation was caught on video and that gives me a chance to critique the work.

The Kingsport Chamber of Commerce sponsors a Fourth Friday Breakfast every month at MeadowView Resort and Convention Center and they had me on the agenda for their session on May 22nd.

This morning meeting is open to all Chamber members to discuss business and encourage networking opportunities (plus a free breakfast) and it was up to me to open up the new Chamber website and give another peek before an audience of 250 local business people.

We had a good session and although I felt like my presentation was 20 minutes, it turned out to be only 9 minutes and that’s good. Most resources say people have at most a 30 to 60 second attention span and considering the early meeting time it would be very easy to fall asleep.

I had a good time speaking to all of these groups and look forward to other opportunities in the future.

Here’s the video from the Chamber of Commerce presentation.

Kingsport Chamber of Commerce Web Presentation from David Cate on Vimeo.

Have you seen the new White House website?

Barrack Obama became the 44th president of the United States at noon on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 and there was more than a peaceful transition of power that day. There’s a new website online for the White House.

This may be another first too because I don’t recall a new website with any inauguration.

It wasn’t that long ago that I browsed the stodgy museum/brochure website of the Bush Administration and the new one is yet another “change” that ushers in a new era and it’s even more exciting – especially with regard to the Net.

Despite the dangerous road conditions, the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Blountville, TN was busy Sunday morning along Interstate I-81. Travelers from all over were coming out after a night of black-ice and there was a 20 minute wait – at least.

As I waited to for a table with my family, a tour bus parked out front and within moments, it was easy to tell this was a group headed to Washington, DC for the inauguration of our 44th president Barack Obama.

Dressed in Obama hats, t-shirts, pins, buttons and red white and blue sweaters, this entourage from Memphis, TN was inspiring as the joy, the hope and the meaning of this event consumes my heart this week.