A Blogging Anniversary Made Special

I started blogging here in 2008 when I decided to take my POV on the world of work and its increasingly ever more common intersection with new media personal and public.This is my 300th post on karlaporter.com and it's a good day. It's as if all the stars have aligned in celebration.

With planning or presenting at three conferences this month alone, blogging here at home base hasn't lately been the priority it was in the past. I get sad about it but you know.. priorities. I have several drafts started and many ideas but the truth is this isn't the only place I write and my mind has been in so many other places the past year it's been a little numb here and the frequency has at times waned.

But, when I looked at my analytics report yesterday and saw there was a healthy spike in traffic driven by the conference this past Saturday and all the promotion it received - I felt energy and that made me want to carve out more time somewhere somehow to get back on track.

And then last night when I got home there was a package laying in front of my front door. I was stumped.. I wasn't expecting any packages to arrive. I haven't had time for online shopping lately. By the time I got into the house, let Nena out and made my own mad dash for relief, I was feeling confused.. maybe there was a mistake and the package wasn't for me, or it was conference swag that arrived late or well, who knew what it could be.

A big smile came to my face when I cut open theflashspun high-density polyethylene fiber based envelope and saw the name Philips pop out. I had only expected a small envelope in the mailbox, not a package! Such delight was the result of the #MeaningfulWork chat hosted by@Keppie_Careers and @PhilipsJobsNA last week. I was invited by Miriam and put it on my calendar. I guess she knows me well enough to know something named 'meaningful work' would have a certain appeal to me - and she was right.

The chat was spirited, passionate and well facilitated, with topics like marrying your personal passions with your professional goals, transferring life skills to your career, and how to stay inspired at work. As incentive to participate, several participants were selected to receive$100 Amazon gift card or a coaching session with a Philips executive. I never expected one of them would be me, but to my pleasant surprise, I won an Amazon gift card.

And it came in a mailer along with some cool branded swag, a bag, pen and notebook with a very lovely message inside.

Philips career site says:

Join us only if you are passionate and insightful.We'll challenge you to deliver great customer experiences.Get on a steep learning curve because we take your personal growth and career seriously.

If I weren't already completely engaged in meaningful work... I would be checking them out, especially since they are one ofthe50 happiest companiesin America to work for.#justsaying

Thanks Miriam and Philips - you didn't know it was my anniversary but you did make it special!

UPDATE 10.14.13

There has been quite the curiosity over what I purchased with my gift card.. so here you have it. Sure made my day =)