I have been attending networking events in the area, as an attempt to meet new people and learn about opportunities in the community and with other local businesses. Yesterday morning I went to the North Iowa Social Media Breakfast at the North Iowa Regional Commerce Center from 8:30-10 and listened to 2 very inspiring and informative speakers.

The first speaker was Beth Ann Chiles from It's Just Life: Finding the Ordinary in the Extraordinary. Her message was so powerful. She talked about her blog and the opportunities it has afforded her. The most important part of her presentation was when she talked about her charity work, "Comments for a Cause". Each month, she chooses a different organization and donates $.50 per comment on her blog to that organization. This month is the Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank.

Bethann also shared a canvas of a beautiful photo her husband took with a wonderful message: "Start some small positive in your corner of the world and start the ripple of goodness."

The second presenter was Amy Hild from the blog Modern Rural Living . Her presentation was about designing and using graphics on your blog or website. She had so many great links and I think the biggest take away for me was the more graphics and pictures, the better because we are all very visual. She may have inspired me to try a video sometime as well. A few links/apps I'm going to look into: Canva.com Piktochart.com Replay Aviary A Beautiful Mess (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/a-beautiful-mess/id603092599?mt=8) I also didn't know you could use powerpoint to edit graphics...can't wait to give that a try.

Thank you to Best Laminate for sponsoring the event and providing us with coffee and rolls, and thank you presenters! I will definitely be attending again!