Madeline performs with the Little Chute High School Bell Choir and was on Fox 11 this year.

Little Chute High School bell choir: fox11online.com

Little Chute High School bell choir: fox11online.com

You may see a friendly face in a  few spots in this video… ~

I love going to Graph Expo…

This post is in response to a fellow N.E. Wisconsin, Kate Unger , who was looking for feedback on her recent blog post titled: Twilebrities, Comets and Tweets.

It’s just funny how good things happen. Everything seems to happen for a purpose and  the old adage that my father used to say, “Good things happen to great people” fits here- I’m not sure exactly how, but it does. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to take a look, a good look, inside myself to see why I do the things I do and where I find the time to do them.  Before I can help you understand why I handle myself the way I do in social media, I think it’s important to have some background information.

I’m the oldest of 7 kids. To this day I have the best parents anyone could ask for. My mom and dad spent so much time showing me how to love, teaching respect for others and to appreciate the things around me. Sometimes it was hard to do those things due to the fact I got picked on so much in school. There were days it was so hard to go at all. But I rarely, if ever, showed that negative side of life. I never wanted to be the one to make a wave or cause issues. I didn’t try to hide it; I just kind of became oblivious to it. Kids at the elementary age can be so cruel. I too had a hand in that. It seemed that every jab that came my way; I sent two or three more out back at others.

This was not how I wanted to live my life. There had to be a better way to deal with my frustrations. Slowly over time I became to see the error in my ways. I’m not sure whether it was, 7^th or 8^th grade, but my outlook started to change. I started to see that comic relief was one way of coping. I have always laughed since I was young, but in high school things started to evolve and in college I took my love of laughter to a different level.  From that point, making people happy has been an end goal of mine. I look at it as one key for my “meaning of life.”

How do you make people happy? Well, what do people desire and crave? We all want attention, to be listened to, and for someone to find interest in us, even if only for a moment. Whether it’s a technology problem someone is having or simply wanting to celebrate success- everyone wants to be acknowledged and heard.

Fast forward to our social media discussion… Social media is the perfect place to be heard and recognized.  It is an ideal way to be “part of the conversation”.    I want to be part of the conversation, but how do I do it? I have made social media part of my daily tasks. With tools like tweetdeck, pluggio, foursquare,  hootsuite on my iphone, and a simple Kodak Zi8 video camera, I can create videos and keep others informed on where I am,  what I’m doing, and to chat with others. I have made social media an integral part of my daily routine. I imagine social media is just like a huge party. You can’t chat with everyone all at the same time, but you can jump in here and there and add to the conversion at a moments notice. Twitter fits that bill perfectly. I have over 28,000 followers and very few are online at any given time, but I can jump into any conversation, add my 2 cents and then just keep on going. I make sure to reply to comments of tidbits that hit my timeline and DM’s. I keep my tech following up to speed on the latest happenings along the way and it just works for me.

Like Lisa Cruz said, there isn’t moderation in all things… but I need mrstommytrc to know she’s #1. I try to work my social media efforts around her and the family. It is important to be considerate of sacred dinner times and weekly date night. I know this may not always happen as planned.  I know that every so often I need a reality check, but I try. I try hard to keep things in check. My family is very tolerant of me and my social media habits… it’s a balancing act I’ll always be working on to be better- for my followers and for my family.

A few months ago I was contacted by Erin Davisson of WFRV Channel 5 in Green Bay about appearing in a technology segment with her. We bounced around a few ideas till we came to a on the idea of talking personal video camera‘s and editing videos. She invited myself and the camera guy Mike to her house… to make it look more personal. In one scene, you actually see me and Erin videoing each other. I was actually making a TommyLog while doing the piece. What an honor to be asked…  So Cool and so much fun to work with Erin and her team. THANKS Erin and thank you WFRV!

Open letter to the team at Red Shoes PR

2009 has been quite a year from me and my family. One that will be hard to top.  But, looking back, I have to ask:  Why do we live in a society where people spend so much time writing letters telling people when they do things wrong, but never enough time writing when things are going right?

As 2009 comes to a close I feel compelled to complete the circle on a few things. Sending thank you notes has been one of my goals for 2009 and I feel that I have one a pretty good job. Many times it’s hard to remember, but it’s the small things that count! However, in one specific situation, a simple written card just would not do justice.

Let me explain….

Back in February I went to my first “tweetup.” I had no idea what this would be like. Would it be a fun event or load of guys doing nothing but dinking on their tech toys? Well, it was a bit of both. Picture this…here we are at the food court of the local mall. Just like a money drop in a kidnapping, we picked a public spot, just in case things got bad. We had 3 -4 tables pushed together in the center; ten to twelve males and three lone females in attendance. The sexes were divided like Moses parting the Red Sea- guys on one end of the table with the ladies on the other. The awkwardness of a 7^th grade dance. I had been following most of them on twitter, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into… I had never met any of them “IRL,” in real life.

This is where I had my opportunity of meeting the great ladies from Red Shoes PR. Lisa, her son Manny, Karen, and Maria were all there.  I think Manny was brought to provide protection just in case things got ugly So, that’s where it all started.

Fast forward a few months… May 22^nd was a big day in the life and times of the Tommy household. It started off like any other day…you know, a trip to the local hospital to give birth to our son. A few pictures, a few tweets, and an IV drip and we were off to the races. With all the attention on mom, dad needed something to keep himself busy and out of her hair.  So twitter was it. Keeping everyone up to speed was my new job. Soon tweets started coming in from the 4 corners of the globe. Needless to say the gals at Red Shoes had their ears to the railroad tracks. One thing leads to another and soon I was getting messages from a local TV reporter at WFRV saying they were coming down to do a story?

Coming to do a story? What’s happening here?!?!?!

You all lived it so I don’t need to rehash…

What I do need to do is express my deepest thank you for the love and faith you have put in me and my family.  What started out as a lark certainly has turned out to be no joke! The term social media has no greater meaning than in my  own life experiences. The ability spread your wings and fly is exactly what has and continues to happen.  To date, my sweetheart has always been my biggest fan and cheerleader, but I now have some new faces in my cheering section… and I love it. You gave me a chance… and chance to stretch and do something I have never done before. I was given the chance to speak in front of the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce which has blossomed into other speaking gigs and workshops.

2009 has turned out to be such a whirlwind year. Many companies that were pillars in their respective industries have crumbled to the ground and small business like you have flourished and continue solid growth. Red Shoes certainly didn’t get any bailouts or freebees to get along, your hard work and dedication did the trick. Just a great team of ladies…working a little, laughing a little and giving your clients exactly what they ask for…exceptional service.

This secret sauce is one that needs to be captured and bottled. I bet others would pay top dollar for this secret to success!

So to the ladies of Red Shoes PR… THANK YOU! My life has forever changed. I have a new son, I’ve honed some new talents, but most of all, I have some amazing new friends who will be in my life forever. Can it get much better than that? No it cannot!!!

YOU ALL ROCK

-  Tommy!

[this posting originally ran back early January 2008...it was so fun i'm running it again so people can know more about me...Rock on!]

I have been really into Twitter for the last few weeks, learning and growing and making it a fun outlet to meet new people and build my “social network.” I was asked by Jamie to blog about 7 things that will help people get to know be a bit better… here goes.

1. I am the largest closet drummer in the world. I have always wanted a drum set. From my early formative days to this very day I am drawn to a drum set. Large or small, percussion always pulls me into the mood. I have always been a hard core RUSH fan. I’m pretty sure its the massive drum set Neil Peart uses that really makes me smile and gets by blood moving along. The way he maneuvers the drums..he is a master of his trade. Don’t believe me, check this out. I always meant to take drum lessons when I was young. I took piano lessons as prerequisite to playing drums, but for whatever reason, I never did it. Whenever I would go over to my friend Eric’s house, I would sit at his drum set and jam like I was a rock star. To this day there are still a set of drum sticks in my closet and whenever I’m feeling really in the mood, I’ll air drum to something fun just to let out some energy. Someday I will have a large digital drum set just to sit and enjoy.
2. 5 years ago I was sent to China for business. I had the opportunity of spending 17 days in Hong Kong and Shenzen, China to visit overseas printing operations. I visited so many places and saw so many things that I have never seen before its kinda hard to get your hands around all the new sights and sounds. I think of all the lasting impressions I will have from my trip to the far east the fondest would be the gracious Chinese people. Before my journey to Hong Kong and Shenzhen. China, my whole impression of the Far East was one that CNN, Fox News and USA Today had me believe. Soldiers marching in the streets, people working in factories like robots and systems that are backwards and technologically behind…. I was wrong…so wrong! My experience in China was nothing short of a life changing experience. I tell people that my trip to China was the best thing I have done since the birth of my children…bar none. What I saw paled anything I would have dreamed.My new found love, honor, respect for the people I met is unimaginable. My stereotypes were shattered from the very start. What I saw was a pure of love, love of life, respect for there country and for the people in which they worked and served. So many hard working people trying to get from Monday to Tuesday and from here to there…just doing there thing. My experience in China was one I will never forget. Both my personal and professional life has been changed…for the better I can only hope!
3. I hate, scratch that I loath walnuts. Nasty, icky, yucky!
4. I’m the president of the Graphic Users Association of Kodak Solutions or GUA for short. This users group started out in 1996 and now has over 4000 members world wide. Kodak is a leading prepress workflow in the printing industry. I have been on the board of directors for the past 6 year and president for the past 3 years. Along with the other board members, both from within Kodak and Kodak customers, I assist in putting together the yearly conference. Last years conference was held in Vegas and had an attendance of over 300 members. This years conference will be in Orlando, Fl – May 17 – 21.
5. I served a full time mission for the LDS Church. I served for 2 years in the Nevada, Las Vegas Mission back in the late 80′s.
6. I, along with 3 of my brothers, are HUGE eBay fans. I have purchased 3 of my last cars on eBay, Volvo 850 Turbo, GMC Envoy and Cadillac SRX. My brother Chris buys and sells used Honda’s Mercedes and Porsche’s on eBay and each one of my siblings is driving an eBay vehicle purchase.
7. I build a pretty mean pinewood derby car. With the help of some tools and skills from my friends over at Derby Champ, Tommy III, my 8 yr old son, was able to win 59 of 60 races last year. This years pinewood derby is in 2 weeks so we are actively building and crafting the vehicle as we speak. The mantra you need to say over and over is “wheels and axles, wheels and axles–weight in the back” and you’ll will win every time. See for yourself.

And just in case you didn’t care for any of the 7 above, I’ll throw in a few extras:

• Growing up I had pet cats named Fred and Barney, bothers. One day as I pulled out of the driveway, I accidentally drive over barney :<. Note to self, never fall asleep on the tire when someone intends on driving the vehicle.
• During my high school years I was in the AV club, hard to believe, but yes I was.
• I’m an Eagle Scout, Both me and my younger brother Mark received our awards on the same evening.

That all folks…

Rock on!

Went to breakfast with all the Appleton twitter friends this am at Blue Berry Hill. We had so much fun, Baby drew conked out in the middle of it. We love Baby Drew!!!

No matter what kind of day I’m having…

• Bad day
• Lost my keys day
• Got yelled at day
• Stubbed my big toe day
• Got in a  bad argument day

No matter what kind of day I’m having, I can come home, open my freezer and find a box of Little Debbie Swiss Cake Roll goodness just staring at me. I crack on of those bad boys open and all my troubles just seem to fade away. They must be frozen though…

Gone, forgotten…away!!!

Frozen Swiss Cake Rolls… heaven in a box…

thats all…

Below are some of my presentations and video speaking engagements that I have been involved in. I try to keep it up to date

How to be a Killer Social Media Advicate -

Leaderfest 2011

April 20th, 2011

Tommy Clifford from HC MIller and Jess Dennis from Red Shoes PR speak at Leaderfest for one of the breakout sessions. The topic for their discussion is how to be a killer social media advocate for your business.

Leaderfest is a  Regional Young Professional event on April 20th hosted by Pulse, the Young Professionals Network of the Fox Cities Chamber. Below is a video of one of the sessions as well as the presentation itself… Enjoy and comments are always welcome!

Be a Social Media Rock Star

August 12th, 2009

The Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce presented Be a Social Media Rock Star at the F.K. Bemis Center at St. Norbert College in De Pere Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 a.m. I was the opening and closing presenter and what an amazing time had by all. It was so great to meet all fine folks in Green Bay. What an honor to be a part of that group. Such a great time and I learned to much!!!

You can follow along with all the action on the What the tweet website…

Or you can see the youtube video that Sara Nisler Flimed here…SMROCKGB Youtube Channel

The seminar was the offspring of the chambers first social media seminar, What the Tweet Is Social Media Marketing? Breakout sessions focused on Twitter; Facebook; LinkedIn; blogging; YouTube, photo/video sharing and online buzz; and selling social media to CEOs — policies and procedures. The seminar also included ideas for creating and deploying social media strategy.

Presenters included Tommytrc, Dana VanDen Heuvel of MarketingSavant, Kiar Olson, and Dave Sauter of ENVANO, Todd Lohenry.

Here’s a short video that was put together by the boys over at Freshpaintdigital for the video. This rocks!!

Here’s my Speach, THANK YOU Andy Crash for taping this…

PART ONE

PART TWO

My Presentations