Sushi. Without question, sushi.

And technically, I think I first had it towards the end of last year, but I didn’t have good sushi until this year. Props to my good friend and former colleauge Chase for instructing me on the ways of raw fish. Props also go to the Sushi Club here in Chicago. I’ve only been with them once so far, but I’ll make it out more in 2010, and when I actually have money.

image credit creppart

This doesn’t qualify as ‘best’ but it’s definitely the one that sticks out the most in my head. After getting laid off back in July, Maggie was nice enough to meet me for a drink on her lunch break. She had to return to work (which at the time, I was like “bitch,” haha) I suddenly had an entire afternoon with nothing to do. I stuck around downtown for a little  bit, but then I decided to head back towards my apartment in Wrigleyville. Not being in the mood to face the dog and girlfriend, I headed towards the beach.

It was here at the beach that I did some soul searching and had to calm myself down. Basically, I needed to reassure myself that it was a stupid move on their part and that I’d surely find another job in the middle of the worst recession that Gen Y had ever seen. Luckily, it was July, so it was pretty nice just hanging out on the concrete steps, pondering what to do with the impending free time I’d have. It’s pretty damn cliche, but there’s something calming about sitting and looking out on a lake. My mind was racing from ‘why me’ to ‘what now’ to ‘now I can do more things I’ve been wanting to do.’ I was out there for about an hour or so before finally heading home.

Amazing what some time alone can do.

image credit andyj682

It’s not technically a blog, per se, but a network of blogs. I’m going to go with 20 something bloggers. You see, I use to think blogging was SO LAME. Like, for high school girls. Then I started blogging a bit on my own, and finally in 2009 I actually met some bloggers. All of this changed my opinion of blogging, and then I was introduced to the 20sb network, and well, I’m a blogging fan now.

I don’t think I need to explain why 20sb rocks, so I won’t.

I must have taken this picture...

While Liz Strauss’ SOBCon was pretty awesome, there’s just no beating a trip to Austin for SXSW.

This was my first excursion to South By, as it’s known amongst regulars. My parter in crime for the trip, Caitlin Rosberg, was also a South By rookie, but we made the most of our time. Our company sent us for the interactive portion of the conference, but didn’t even let us stay for the entire length of the interactive show. LAME. Anyways, the trip was a nice blend of business, learning, networking and partying. I like to think we did a pretty great job spreading the word about our company with a very limited plan and budget.

Anyways, this trip was awesome on so many levels. I met Tim Jahn for the first time, and we had quite the epic night. We were hanging with Mary and Amy, two cool girls from Career Builder. After the SMC pool competition, we decided to do some bar hopping. We go to this kinda trendy place, and decided to just have one drink there as it wasn’t really our style. I forget exactly how it happened, (I think Amy and Mary started talking to these guys, ha) but we ended up chatting with two guys from Ireland. They were in Austin for the interactive and film portions of South By, and were just as interested as we were in having a good time. So the six of us make our way through Austin, moving from bar to bar, enjoying each others company and the overall experience. Somehow, we ended up back at the Irish guys’ hotel room and ordered some cheesecake from room service. Don’t ask.

Check out my pics from SXSW 2009.

Something that will be in my list of things-to-do in 2010 is going to be to read more books. I’ve got some on my Christmas list, so having them in my possession will be half the battle.

That said, my choice is a book that I’m currently reading, and have read once before. My pick for Best Book of 2009 is the classic by Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends & Influence People. I read this book for my Intro to Sales class back in college, and really enjoyed it then, but wasn’t quite sure how to translate what I read into action. Reading it now, it’s kind of amazing noticing the parallels that exist between Carnegie’s advice and top ‘social media practices’ today. Truth is, people have always wanted to be treated with genuine interest and respect, but businesses have really gotten away from caring about customers over the decades.

The way people wanted to be treated back in the 20s and 30s is no different than today. The only thing that has changed is the method of communication available to both consumers and companies.

People talk about Chris Brogan’s Trust Agents being the leading book available now re:social media, but I challenge people to read this book and not get just as much out of it.

You can read about the event here, but to quickly sum it up; I was the only guy at a Nintendo enthusiasts dinner at the Signature Room during BlogHer. Getting to hang with Jenn, Doni, Erini, Maggie, and meeting other Jenn and Rachel (as well as others I’m probably forgetting) was pretty amazing.