Random follow #199 - @Themadkiwi1

Kiwis are a global group of people.  We happily share our lives, our friends and family and also our culture with anyone who will take the time to sit down and listen and be a friend to us.  Travelling abroad is something many of us enjoy doing and there are a few who decide that foreign shores are where they would like to call home for a while.

@Themadkiwi1 spread her wings quite a few years ago and has gone in search of adventure in places as far and wide as Uzbekistan, the United States, some of Europe and currently Hong Kong.  Packing up home in one country and then shifting everything you have and own to a different location is not a small thing.  But for some people spending large amounts of time in one particular place just doesn't satisfy their need for adventure or experience.

At the moment @Themadkiwi1 has landed in Hong Kong.  So a lot of her tweets at this point in time are about finding a home, exploring the area, meeting new people and discovering a new city and all that goes with it.  Such as - 

"I am now in Hong Kong! Yippy they have Tim Tams and Goldfish. life is good"

"I've just moved to Hong Kong. Bring it on! http://bit.ly/15Dxqtf gotta love this city.not just sky scrapers mountains, forests and beaches"

@Themadkiwi1 is a lady who has a zeal for life.  She has a passion for the finer things and for her friends.  Being no stranger to a good tweetup I am sure it won't take her long to find some locals over there to share a few drinks and nibbles with and share a good twitter story or two with as well.

What I enjoy too is when ex-pats move overseas but make a conscious effort to keep (at least semi) up to date with whats going on at home.  Sometimes people move away and we lose the ability to converse about stuff cos their lives become so wrapped up in where they are or the time zones are just so out of whack that you pass by each other like ships at night.  @Themadkiwi1 appears to have a good ability to keep current with the world and engages with those of us who are still here.  At home.  At the bottom of the world.

So in summary @Themadkiwi1 is a very pleasant kiwi tweeter who has made her way around the world and back again.  She tweets neat stuff, never has a bad word to say and has a zeal for like that if it could be bottled and sold would make her an instant billionaire.

If you are looking for  a really good read that will excite both your mind and your passion for life I recommend you do two things - 

1. Follow her on twitter - @Themadkiwi1
2. And keep up to date with her blog - "I'm back! Celebrating a return to http://www.themadkiwi.blogspot.com  after a brief injury induced hiatus in my blog posts.Read about my move 2 Hong Kong"

Random follow #198 - @JaneTHoye

@JaneTHoye is a lady who brings passion both to her career and also to social media.  She is the quintessential people person whose life and focus is around ensuring that both customers and followers get value for their investments of time and financial input.

Its really cool that Jane is able to put it out there as well that she is into the tech stuff.  In my opinion (and I am probably very wrong) kiwi female tweeters tend to be consumers of social media rather than the developers and drivers of the technology beneath it.  Having a lady involved with the deep side of technology is fantastic.

Her timeline is something quite extraordinary too.  It covers a plethora of topics mainly around tech but also some really good conversations too.  It can be easy for the uninitiated to follow the more tech accounts and get drowned in tweets of information that may or may not be relevant.  Whereas when you find a fantastic tweeter like Jane you can be assured that only the good tweets get through and if she has taken the time to RT then the story is worth reading.

Whats even better than that?  Jane is an active participant in the #NZLead initiative.  So this is where he people focus and customer-centricness shines through.  She is able to take the best of the Tech world and bring work solutions over into the HR world thereby creating and contributing a positive and progressive view on how things can be done better.

So what does a tweet look like?

The optimist "OMG it's just gone midnight in New Zealand. I'm officially 50. Brilliant party though so will keep on pretending I'm only 21."

The realist "AUD22 a day for wifi? Hotels need to get their act together. I don't pay separately for the electricity or water I use. #Sydney #tourism"

The technologist "Merging offline data cvs file with online data via drag & drop. #boomdata I love it. Want it now. #AdobeSymp"

@JaneTHoye is a lady of a thousand talents who speaks wisely, shares the good tweets and will help to generate new thinking and ideas with you.  Head on over and check her out.  I think she is worth a follow.

Random follow #197 - @BKKJase

Sometimes you find great tweeters.  Sometimes they find you.  @BKKJase is a totally random follow who actually chose to follow me first.  And in turn I hit the follow back button.

Being an international man of mystery makes him a very appealing person to follow on twitter.  He is very much a metropolitan tweeter while also managing to not give away all his credibility.  There is a great mix of the cafeésque tweets about coffee and lunch but these are easily offset by the call to engage with beer.

He enjoys sharing his thoughts and engages in a good debate with people too.  There are lots of lots and lots of conversational tweets going which says he is very much a people person.  Topics you'll find in his timeline range from food to travel, fashion to t-shirts.  Whats even more interesting is his twitter bio which reads a little something like this -

"The Jaseverse: Where math, history, syntax, and perfectly-shaped stubble intersect. BRB.
WINNING AT LIFE."

Jase is a really nice guy who won't give up his man card (even if his dog has a sparkly pink collar) without a fight.  And whats really surprising to me is that he follows @evilkud and I DID NOT KNOW THIS!  So why follow Jase?  What follows now is a comprehensive list of really good reasons to.  From here on I am going to describe Jase in the third person.  Why?  Cos it works.

Jase is super observant. "Wow. That bathroom blowing device really dried my hands awesome - said no one. Ever."

Jase is forward thinking - "I saw this dude riding a motorised unicycle device today and I now want one."

Jase is thoughtful - "Just gave this old dude busking out Irish tunes on his guitar a dollar. He was super nice and appreciative. Love the Irish."

Jase is tall.  "Once, just ONCE I’d love to have a hotel bed where my feet are not hanging out the end."

Jase is good looking.  See here for proof - https://twitter.com/BKKJase

Jase is health conscious.  "Is beer vegan?"

Jase is a very friendly chap. "BRB. WINNING AT LIFE." 

Jase is awesome.  That is all.

Random follow #196 - @GilbertCocru

Gillian is the looks, brains and personality behind some of the most amazing twitter accounts that are coming at you out of New Zealand.  Not just one or two but three twitter accounts.  Each with its own unique personality, attributes and special essence.

It takes a lot of energy, love and dedication to be able to do social media right.  It takes even more of those ingredients to tweet about a product or service to people.  But @GilbertCocru has the gift.  Doing twitter right isn't about gimmicks, tricks or games.  It is about authenticity, being honest, being yourself and engaging with those who you follow and them that follow you.

For examples of twitter accounts that do just that you should check out - @LeEsscience and @TINKture.  I have seen and smelt these products and have first hand accounts that they are out of this world good.  One account is all about essential oils and the other is a product to help aid an active recovery product for those with fresh ink work.

Even so @GilbertCocru is more than her products and brands.  She is a beautiful woman with a fantastic husband and loads of style and grace to boot.  Her friends all absolutely rave about her with total respect, adoration and love.

So whats there to like and add to your timeline?  Well for a start with over 55,000 tweets from her own account she is well on her way towards clocking twitter.

She also has a very funny sense of humour - "My Hubs is my hero, he just doesn’t wear his undies on top of his jeans #mysuperman"

Gillian also can be a little late to the game from time to time "Last night I finally experienced Churro’s - OMG!!!! DELISH! But defo an very now and then thing! o_O" but she NEVER has a bad thing to say about anyone.  In fact she is so lovely I can't think of a time I have ever seen anything not wholesome get tweeted by her.

She is a woman on a mission "Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired!! Burned 628 calories just massaging today! No wonder I get tired!!! #justfoundout #plusiworkedout" and from all accounts it is totally working as she looks even more fab every day.

If I was given a choice of 10 and only 10 tweeters that I could follow - @GilbertCocru would be on that list.  Why?  Because she tweets EVERYONE!  You can follow Gillians timeline and see a comprehensive who's who of all the coolest tweeters in the land.  She is conversational, funny, uplifting, encouraging and expresses a natural warmth out to the world that only someone who is true to themselves can do.

For a random kiwi tweeter  @GilbertCocru is a living legend.  She is totally worth a twitter follow and from all accounts definitely worth meeting in real life.  Go for it - you'll love her too.  Xx.

Random follow #195 - @michaelgregg

Wine.  Its one of the most talked about topics and subject in social media.  Many people enjoy the quality of it, the pursuit of a good drop and the enjoyment that a bottle shared with others brings both to the senses as well as to the spirit.

@michaelgregg is someone who knows A LOT about wine.  A lot as in the entire lifecycle, process and methods by which wine is made.  Being a vintner for Harvest Estate he has a first hand knowledge and perspective on what the qualities are that make a really good wine.  Being involved, literally, at a grass roots level of production gives him a knowledge that few others may have.

Harvest Estate is located in the beautiful district of Martinborough.  It is a land space that is flat, warm and picturesque area of land that has been found to be ideally suited to the growth of grapes.  The homes are lovely, the roads flat and fast and the climate amazing.

So why would you want to follow someone on twitter whose job is to make wine?  I think the more apt question is - why wouldn't you?  Seriously.  Here's what you'll get from @michaelgregg the tweeter - 

The culinary whizz - "Kiwi Pinot Noir for dinner, now to choose some food groups to go with it #dinnerishealthierifyoudontchoosemeatfirst"

The humorist - "At least people are learning to spell Cook Strait correctly ... #brightside @eqnz"

The outdoorsman - "Ooooo ... scallop season opened in Marlborough Sounds today. They'll need some fattening up. I'll check the dive bottles are full anyway!"

Like a good bottle of wine there are many different flavors that will cross your twitter palate with Michael.  He brings a range of tweets, subjects and RTs that both appeal to the sweeter amongst us as well as the more savoury topics that many if us relish.

Michael is a really great tweeter in that he balances his personal account and likes with his passion for growing great grapes and turning out award winning wines.  Harvest Estates also have a social media presence on Facebook if you want to head over and hit the like button.  But this post is all about singing the praises of someone whose career and passion it is to produce fine wine's that the rest of us can savour and enjoy when we are looking for a special moment.

Random follow #194 - @Chandy229

One of the beautiful people of twitter, both literally and in a tweet sense, is the very lovely @Chandy229.  She hails from the deep south and brings with her a husband of many years and a wee swag of teenagers as well.  Chanelle is a really lovely person who always has a listening ear for her twitter friends which she combines with pearls of wisdom for all.

She has quite a few strings on her bow which enable her to both shoot straight but also to keep on track given the many people and places that she goes and interacts with.  I actually think that @Chandy229 would make a fabulous Bond girl.  She has it all - the looks, the glamour and a certain amount of mystery and evasiveness that keeps you on your toes and wondering.

So why do I recommend her?  Because Chanelle is a down to earth, honest and reliable person.  Being a mum she has a wider perspective of the world and she brings a different approach to social media.  Her tweets have a real down home feel and more often than not are actually quite sensible.

But even with her mature approach she is still able to change it up every now and then -

"Watching #TheVoiceAu dam Ricky Martin is as hot as when he was a poster on my teen age bedroom wall! In his boy band #Menudo"

And prolific would be another good way to describe her tweets too.  No more than your average engaged twitter user but more than your novices it would be fair to say.  But in sating that Chanelle is one of the hardest working ladies I know.  She has a farm and family business that keeps her on her toes -

"A massage would be fabulous right about now!! Lifting buckets of milk have not been kind #outapractice"

And then onto her other place of business -

"Legs are killing me!! (Mine not actual random legs)"

 

(No these are not her legs - but they are a very good replica of them)

If you want someone to follow who is open, honest, genuine, fun and an allround super tweeter - then Chanelle is your lady.  Absolutely, totally your lady.  And to close I would just like to say that having @Chandy229 as a twitter friend has been one of my best choices ever.  I truly look forward to hearing from her and knowing that her friendship is only ever a tweet away.  And she is totally on my list of MUST MEET tweeters from New Zealand.

Random follow #193 - @billbennettnz

Having the ability to think for oneself and to communicate those views and thoughts in a manner that is both accessible to the masses while at the same time challenging enough to keep the intellectuals on their toes is a skill that few have.  @billbennettnz is a holder of these skills.  As a freelance journalist he has the interesting predicament of writing stories that are provocative and interesting while also ensuring that he gets employed.

The good thing about freelancing is though that after you have put in as many years as Bill has then the papers are magazines have a fair idea of the style of writing and what the content may look like.  The other side of the story is that is takes years of practise, hard effort, along with blood sweat and tears to make in an industry like this one.

Bill is no stranger to a good conversation and he knows where to go looking to find a really great one.  Its no surprise then that he has such a great presence on twitter.  His cool, calm and collected style is appealing because he hardly ever gets into a flap about anything.  Apart from mornings -

""Mustn't grumble". How passive aggressive is that expression?"

And he also knows how to conduct a good debate without being drawn into pointless diatribe or circular reasoning.  he can string together a whole series of tweets but when they hit your timeline rather than having the crushing power of a tsunami they act more like the incoming tide at the beach.  Whats interesting though is that while he can spin together 10 or 20 tweets in a conversation they tend to be at times when I (the blogger) am not actually online.  Which makes me wonder if twitter is a distraction?  (joking)

And then there are always the communications industry usual stories - 

"Unnerved when a PR offers an exclusive, which turns out not to be an interview or hard news, just a boring product press release."

Bill is also a techie geeky sort of guy at heart.  Not one of the hardcore ones for whom writing screeds of pages of code is fun.  But a down to earth and fun guy who enjoys uncovering new technologies and developments.  And he enjoys having a crack at them too -

"Amused by Google Glass users being described as "Glassholes". Witty and appropriate."

As far as twitter goes Bill will engage with pretty much anyone about the subjects that are near and dear to his heart.  He is highly entertaining, super engaging and very energetic.  Go and follow him.  You might learn a thing or two.

And to end this post it is important that we acknowledge the important people -

"My tweets do reflect the views of my employer."