Traveling to see how the social network views social networks.
Location: Here

It took a long while, but I finally got around to going back through the non-interview footage I shot during my travels across the country and plucked this gem from the bunch. Old Faithful.

It was a wonder to finally see this natural beauty working its magic in person. The day was serene and was the perfect backdrop to take in the view. As I mulled over the 5+ minutes of footage, I decided to speed it up a bit to liven the pace. I also debated a soundtrack and, after a few selections, finally settled on a clip from Port O’Brien’s “Tree Bones” which fit almost too perfect on the first take.

The result? A nice escape.

One of the highlights of my travels happened to be unplanned at the start, but turned out to be a great collection as I continued back and forth across the country. Getting to the top of the tallest buildings or towers that were in various cities. The towers were especially intriguing in that I never realized how many there were across the country. The similarities of all of them to each other were like seeing strange brethren, making each place they stood familiar in their own way.

The fascinating social aspect of going to the top of each was seeing the groups of people drawn to the height of each. Usually the energy was palpable in the midst of the crowd. A buzz of discussion about the journey up, the history of the building or conversation of the informational displays and fun facts that weave along the lines. The normal tour groups, families and couples filed through the lines to reach the pinnacle, each a touch closer to the heavens and space. The reactions ranging from excitement to fear, wonder to silent contemplation.

Each time I rose, a new perspective of Earth lay below. Both sprawling and cramped at the same time. The views from each were distinct and unique, providing a semblance of floating and, with the tallest ones, the feeling of sitting in an unmoving airplane. These 10 were icing on the cake to my living in NYC and getting the chance to rise up to the peak of many of the tallest skyscrapers in the US and the world, but more so, being able to be at the top of the WTC years ago and remembering that experience.

I began with the CN Tower in Toronto and it’s glass elevator, reminiscent of Charlie and his adventures beyond the chocolate factory, and the glass floor on which, for a brief moment, walking on air truly seemed feasible. The tallest of all that I visited, it started the dominoes that led to me going to the top of all the rest that were open to the general public.

Here are the tippy-top 10 in the order ascended:

CN Tower – Toronto / 1,815 ft / 553.3 m


John Hancock Building – Chicago / 1,500 ft / 457 m


Willis (aka Sears) Tower – Chicago / 1,730 ft / 527 m


Space Needle – Seattle / 605 ft / 184 m


Vancouver Lookout – Vancouver / 581 ft / 177 m


Liberty Memorial – Kansas City / 217 ft / 66 m


Gateway Arch – St. Louis / 630 ft / 192 m


Tower of the Americas – San Antonio / 750 ft / 229 m


Stratosphere – Las Vegas / 1,149 ft / 350 m


Coit Tower – San Francisco / 210 ft / 64 m

“It’s the journey, not the destination.”

And so the official “I’m Here. You’re There.” travel map is complete… for now.

After nearly 20,000 miles and 4 months zigging and zagging across the country, the obvious next step was to lay out the path I took around. The wonder of technology is that I can create it and share it with everyone and anyone at the click of a button. Granted, it has a very different feel then the tactile sensation of physically placing the little pins into a printed map along with tracing the roads with a highlighter. That I’ve been saving for another day.

VIsually, even for myself, it was amazing to recount the roads and the route I took and to see it all come together as a whole. I often described it as a sloppy figure 8 that I was traversing, but after seeing the tour in total, it looks like 8 had a few too many drinks and collapsed on itself. I’ll have to figure a new descriptor for it. Suggestions welcome.

I’ve recounted near exact paths, leaving some exact locations out of the mix for privacy purposes and, because of Google map logistics, a lot of the shorter and general driving trips around cities have been disregarded. Those added up to a lot of the extra miles and some good little adventures that may make the light of day. For now, the overview remains. I’ve incorporated picture links in each of the cities and video interviews where they pertain. When memories are downloadable (in this next decade?) I’ll post those.

The field of vision for the overall map was often amusing to me in thinking that in some of those quiet, desolate and isolated swaths of asphalt, there was a GPS satellite floating a couple hundred miles above, tracking me just as I’ve tracked myself now. I often wondered what that blip looked like from high above in the silence of space, if satellites dream of electric sheep, to paraphrase Philip K Dick’s novel, as the red VW Jetta that was my ride was leaping from place to place on the journey.

And now you can see where I was when I’d say “I’m Here. You’re There.” Thanks for coming along for the ride.

As yet another decade opens it’s doors for adventure, the last year was one of much travel across the country. Amongst the mix of isolation and solace of the road, I caught up with family and friends, met a lot of new faces and made some new friendlies along the way. I’m still in the midst of collecting a variety of thoughts, ideas, statistics, musings, emotions, shiny objects, odd entities and whatever else that may have found it’s way into my life along the way. The decade has been big and bold and I haven’t had time to look back on it much, nor do I feel a deep need to reflect on it. From the footstep of Ground Zero to an age where the world can be held in the palm of your hand, it’s been quite the ride. It is there to flip through, but the present is where I am. 4 months and 20,000 miles later are just a flash now, but the way it’s been documented is far from ye olden days of slide shows. Who knows what tools will be around in the next few years for a trip like the one I just pulled off.

The one thing for certain that will be around are the people who are there to meet and greet you along the way. I’ve had my days of fun and days for self, but in the end I always found people (or they found me.) From the remotest parts of desert and mountain top, to crowded city streets, they were there.

Here’s a little high-five to everyone I met along the way and those below that helped connect the dots across the nation.

Ann D, Kate G (special thanks to Tadpole,) Tony & Alicia D (special thanks to Sophia & Quinn,) Suzan K, Beth M, Rich & Stephanie E (special thanks to Wyatt), Team Bigos Buffalo, Dan & Cat S, Andrew E, Christa I, Rick S, Brandy C, Shannon M, George S, Boise Tweet crew, Shiro’s, Michelle “X”, Sara & the Salt crew, Rebecca “miss604,” Martha S (special thanks to Trevor and Danny,) AC, Matt W & Joanne S, Jon & Lyn E, Neeraj & Nicole E, Mark G, KC “stary swecki” Team Bigos crew, Megan H, Angela H, Putz, Mike, Terri, Erin W, Lu C, Shane & Jess A, Pam L, Kevin B, & Kat J, Tony O, Karyn M & Rub Jewel Group reunion, Jody & Anna M with special shout to the Jax crew, Liz A, Sara G, Sunny W, Puddy, DK “Disco Karaoke” Lee, Andrea G, Lindsey R, Trina N, Catherine Z, Will, Greig F, Jen B, PJ P, DJ P, Napa & Sonoma wine hosts including Aubrey, David “The Guam Bomb” and Christopher, Cali Team Bigos, Danielle K, Jeremy H, Kris and Tricia R (special thanks to Mason and Anna,) “Greta” Garmin and of course, the parental figures, my bro and sis.

It’s been quite the ‘09 and the ‘aughts, zero’s, 2000’s or whatever this decade goes down as. The next should be as good a name game. Happy New Year people!

Smack dab in the middle of America lies the heartland of Kansas, a state with a dual personality of West and East. The left half lying flatter than a pancake (science has proven it!) and the right bearing the natural green meanderings of the Mississippi River. I spent some time in Kansas City, getting a taste of the metropolis that has a blended culture from all regions of the compass. And how can I not mention the BBQ. Chow on that.

In between all the good eats and sightseeing, I managed to saunter into casual conversations with a nice cross section of social network users of varying generations. The finale being a conversation with my cousin Bo who is currently working for the Papa John’s brand and is a recent entry into the social networking space. It was a great perspective on not only seeing the space from a business perspective, but also at a personal level and the new function of family communication. It’s an interesting question to pose as this medium opens itself to the identity of virtual self. Facebook often combining the circles of family, friends and work into one location for broadcast and now separating those groups if so wanted.

Brands are still trying to figure out the best way to gain a solid foothold into this space and even as an internal communication tool. I enjoyed the leanings of the conversation toward this topic and how these new tools of social networking are being adopted into the business space. The arena of social networking as management tool.

Thanks Bo for the excellent interview!