The @HealthPass Tweetup

DISCLAIMER: I am currently employed by a subsidiary of the Hawaii Medical Service Association, but these thoughts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer or its parent company.

HealthPass (@HealthPass) is a benefit for most of HMSA's commercial plan members (click here to find out more). This past Wednesday, we hosted our first tweetup in conjunction with our 20th anniversary celebration. Though it did not have the glitz and glamor of the Nonstop Honolulu (@nonstophonolulu) launch, it definitely had a charm of its own. More importantly, there was a genuine sense of community prevailing in the room that night. Everyone understood that whether you have HMSA coverage or not, we share an important commonality: we all call Hawaii our home. It became apparent to me that the best way to keep HMSA members healthy, is to keep all of Hawaii healthy. It's an ambitious goal, but one that must be met if we are to have any hope of controlling the skyrocketing cost of health care. These changes will not happen in one day and certainly not in a single tweetup, but the conversations that evoke change have already started to take place. For example, after Renee (@surfchik4jesus) sent this tweet about her results, an entire conversation about diabetes ensued on Twitter. The next day, Sara Kata (@sarakata) blogged about "The Cholesterol Ninja" on Posterous. It was followed a day later by Rick Nakama's (@ricknakama) Bangga Bangga "Really Spicy Poke Bowl" post. The common thread? A heightened awareness of their health status brought on by information gleaned at the tweetup.

If you weren't able to attend the event, be sure to check out Ricky Li's (@rickyli99) gallery on Facebook. He took some great pics and really captured the essence of the evening.

Neenz Faleafine (@NEENZ) and her kids exploring the salt content in various foods.


Tweeps Ryan Ozawa (@hawaii), Garry (@funhiguy), Dan Seto (@danseto) and Joannie Pan (@trulyjoannies) learning functional exercises from Rodney, a health educator.


Melissa Chang (@melissa808), Don Aweau (@aweau), Jeff Kang (@jeffkang) and Linda (@alohagadgetgal) catching up with Noe Mediola (@noe808) and Neenz.

3 Things I Learned at [re]Think Hawaii

10/21 UPDATE: Big mahalo to Ricky Li (@rickyli99) for sending me this pic of the conference speakers. He was the designated photographer, so be sure to watch his site for official photo coverage of the event.

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Thanks to Joan Pan (@trulyjoannies), I had the privilege of attending yesterday's [re]think Hawaii Speaker Series at the Regal Dole Theaters. It was a full day, but I thoroughly enjoyed the lineup of presenters. The event certainly had a "one from every village" feel to it, with a nice mix of talent sourced locally and from abroad. Here's a glimpse of what I took away from the event.

1) Less is More
Each presenter was given just 10 minutes to talk about what they do. When you think about it, this isn't a whole lot of time to discuss that which you are most passionate about, but they each did an excellent job of condensing their presentations to fit within the allotted time. This also helped move things along at a nice pace.
The less is more theme was echoed in some of the presentations as well. Cheyne Gallarde (@thecheyne) of Firebird Photography emphasized "nearsighted creativity" and the importance of "finding new uses for old things." His success is based on his ability to reinterpret his surroundings, finding perspectives others may have overlooked; it isn't because he's got the latest and greatest equipment in his camera bag. Chef Ed Kenney (@edstown) talked about the importance of reducing the distance between farm and table. One of the tragedies of living in Hawaii is that most of our food travels thousands of miles before being consumed. The more we can grow locally, the better off our island community will be.

2) Connectivity is Key
Being that the event was centered around entrepreneurship, this was a logical topic. I particularly enjoyed the insights shared by Shaherose Charania (@shaherose) and Neenz Faleafine (@NEENZ). Shaherose talk was about empowering women through the use of technology. She talked about how mobile telephony changed the lives of women living in Bangladesh. She also established Women 2.0, a networking incubator created to foster the ideas of women entrepreneurs. Neenz, on the other hand, focused more on the importance of using in-person relationships to reinforce the connections made online.

3) Technology is Just a Tool
A lot of organizations make the mistake of thinking technology, on its own, will move them forward. They forget that it is incapable of crafting vision, lacks tenacity, and cannot replicate the human element. Granted, when used properly, technology has the potential to do great things for a business. Speaker Bear Woznick said going digital for his business has given him a lot of freedom and opened up countless opportunities. Overall, however, I was surprised by the lack of technical jargon and geek speak, given the nature of [re]think and its target audience. I was reminded of a quote I heard at a data governance conference last year: "technology is an enabler." Sure it is necessary for some of us to do the work that we do, but it isn't meant to replace it.

This was a tremendous experience and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to attend. Special thanks to organizers Christine Lu (@christinelu), Chris Noble (@cfnoble), and Shuchi Rana (@autkast) for planning and coordinating the event. I enjoyed the organic, laid back feel. It gave me the impression that the presenters were there to learn just as much as we were.

If you missed out on [re]Think, check out Ed Morita's (@nctrnlbst) gallery on Nonstop Honolulu.

Kapiolani Community College Farmers' Market | Honolulu, Hawaii

This past Friday at the Phởriday tweetup, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting chef Leslie Ashburn (@macrohawaii). We started talking about buying local versus organic. Despite living in Hawaii, it is difficult to find locally grown organic produce in any of the grocery stores. There are places like Whole Foods Kahala (@wfmkahala) that sometimes stock locally grown organic, but generally speaking we, as consumers, must often choose one or the other. Leslie's advice to me: go for what looks freshest and remember that variety is important. Our conversation, coupled with my personal goal to go out and do more with my family, motivated me to get everyone up on Saturday morning and head over to the farmers' market at KCC.

Kapiolani Community College Farmers' Market
4303 Diamond Head Road
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 947-3804
Website

We got there around 10:00 and, as you can see, it was crowded. In fact, some of the vendors were already running out of stuff and packing up when we walked by.


Ma`o Organic Farms (@maoorganicfarms) is one of the few places where you can actually find locally grown organic produce. Look for their signature green tent right smack in the middle of all the action. You need to get there quick, though, because they sometimes sell out.


It was quite warm that day, so the three of us each got a strawberry lemonade. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the shop, but while I was waiting in line, Grace Lee (@gracelee9)came by and chatted with the owner! So naturally, I tweet about the experience, which apparently garnered me some stalker points according to @ryankanno.


Overall, it was a great experience. We didn't buy very much to take home because we spent most of our cash on lunch and lemonade. Next time, we'll know what to expect so we can plan out schedules a little better (and bring more money!).

It is my personal opinion that we should support local businesses by shopping at farmers' markets whenever possible. Where do you buy your produce? Do you usually buy local or organic?

Happy New Year!

Looking back...

For me, 2009 will be remembered as the year of Social Media. I created a twitter account, a Flickr stream, started this blog with a post on social media, and connected Facebook, Twitter, Xbox Live, Netflix, and some of my iPhone apps to each other.

Twitter has proven especially useful. I've made several friends that I actually hang out with IRL (in real life) and I've scored free food, entertainment, and more along the way.

Looking forward...

Now it's time to close the door on 2009. I don't know what 2010 holds, but I confidently look forward with optimism and anticipation, knowing that both the successes and failures to come will help shape me into a better person.

I'm not one to write New Year's resolutions, but this year, I thought I'd at least set some goals for myself:

1) Spend more quality time with my family. I want to laugh more with my son and go on more regular dates with my wife. I'm going to try hard to get us on a regular schedule of taking evening walks together.

2) Help my church establish a social media presence. At the very least, I want to help churches understand the value of social media in engaging people.

3) Learn to appreciate what I have instead of focusing on what I don't. As a technophile, I am always looking for the latest and greatest. As someone living on planet earth, however, I realize there are finite resources.

What about you? Have you started setting goals for 2010? What do you hope to accomplish?

In search of the elusive magic number...

So I've been a member of the Xbox Live community on and off since I first signed up as a beta tester; I have had a Facebook account for a couple of years; in March, I posted my first tweet; yesterday, I became a member of the LinkedIn community; and now I'm writing my first blog. All this has got me thinking...what's the magic number? Although I feel like I'm on social networking overload, I know I've only scratched the surface. Digg, Youtube, Delicious are all out there, waiting to be tapped. I mean, I understand that the whole point of social media is to connect with as many people as possible, using whatever channels are available, but surely there's a point where you start to get diminishing returns or find yourself spread too thin. Where is the balance - that magic number? How many different communities must you join to maximize your reach, while still keeping things manageable?