Random follow #262 - @Toni_Knowles

"Inspiration - An agency, such as a person or work of art, 

that moves the intellect or emotions or prompts action or invention."

@Toni_Knowles is a young lady who inspires.  In her own quiet way her energy, drive and commitment to achieving her personal goals is right up there with the very best.  Marathon runner, Ironman and all round cool chick Toni is someone who I really enjoy following on twitter.

Just as an aside I have been following Toni for a lot longer than this blog has been going but I didn't properly make the shift to following her on this account until recently.  Why did I wait so long?  I have no idea.  I really should have moved earlier and hit the follo button sooner.

So what is there to know about this fine lady?  Well for a start she is a whizz at both marketing and social media.  She is also super friendly, highly engaging and brings a bit of fun to the twitter world.  Her tweets (much like her) are unassuming, friendly and what you see is what you get.  Straight forward, easy to engage with but doesn't suffer fools gladly.

So what does a good @Toni_Knowles look like?  Well here are a couple of examples - 

"Might have to declare tomorrow Jandal Day. Who's with me? #AucklandMarathon"

"Weather update: Rangitoto has disappeared. Watch out all you trick or treaters and pumpkins!"

"Husband: What did you google on? Me: I just googled on google #intelligentconversations"

As always it taked the support of others to help us achieve our goals.  And for Toni it is her husband.  The people behind the people who inspire are the ones who deserve the thanks and appreciation which is usually on lauded upon those actually on the course.

She is a twitter stayer and manages year in year out to both inspire others while also offering encouragement to those who need it.  One all round cool tweeter - thats Toni.  And on the other side of the coin when she is competing in Taupo in March next year I am sure all the tweets of encouragement that will flow back to her in abundance.  Because you reap what you sow!

So todays person @Toni_Knowles comes highly recommended.  

Random follow #233 - @BubblesReedy

"Whāia te iti kahurangi Ki te tūohu koe, me he maunga teitei"

@BubblesReedy is an amazing lady who lives her life in pursuit of both a challenge and excellence.  She pursues her dreams that are fulfilling not just for her but the overflow of her success goes out to her family and whanau as well.  Being involved in the teaching of digital media to young people both at Lytton High and across the Gisborne region she knows what it is to be at the coal face of dealing with youth in a complex and changing world.

Her lineage is Ngati Porou (East Coast) and she is also fluent in te reo Maori.  It is with her mastery of te reo along with her passion for teaching that has the opportunity to be involved in a number of projects whereby both the preservation of the language as well as the support of Maori students is the focus of her energies.

So what sort of challenges or pursuits of excellence is she engaged in?  Well being fluent in yet another language is one pursuit that Katarina is currently trying to master - 

"#tonganlanguageweek Malo e lelei! He Maori ahau. My word for today. Lanu = Tae = Colour.#becomingmiltilingual"

Learning how to work with digital media - 

"I'm making my superhero profile webpage (http://www.codeavengers.com/c/bubblesr/profile.html …) learning #HTML#CSS the fun way with @CodeAvengers http://www.codeavengers.com/web/1"

And then there is her own challenge which is sharing a repository of collected poems and poetry with the world.  You can view her ever growing collection by checking out her website which is located here - http://bubblesreedypoetry.blogspot.co.nz/.  Every now and then she shares a new poem via twitter too.  And here is a nice example of her work -

"New moon/Blue pearl/Orbiting her ocean king/Afloat on the black/His captivating jewel revealed/Salacia/Salt sea empress/Home at last #Poem"

So what value will she add to your timeline if you follow her?  @BubblesReedy brings creativity, a Maori world view of issues facing us today, some fantastic links to resources for both teaching and digital resources.  Her pursuits of challenges will hopefully make you stop and think.  And she also brings a fun and energetic approach to both life, and social media, that will put a smile on your dial.

Katarina is one of the absolute newest follow I have made recently I am thoroughly pleased that I did.

"Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be to a lofty mountain"

(Note - todays kiwi tweeter was recommended by @winstonmoreton. If you know of someone who you think is a great tweeter who deserves some shine feel free to drop me a line.)

Random follow #162 - @asheiBAND

@asheiBAND are a progressive rock band from Christchurch.  They have been around on the music scene for a while but they haven't yet found the magical formula that has launched them into the big time.  The thing with the music industry is that very few bands make it big straight away.

It takes blood, sweat and tears to make it in the industry.  It also takes years of hard work and practice.  There is no secret formula for success.  But there comes a point when a band reaches that sweet spot and they have their sound so perfected that you cant but help it.

Ashei (ash-eye) have been working their butts off for years.  They have been practicing, playing gigs and spreading the good word about their sound.  Twitter is yet another platform that they use to expose the world to what they are good at.

I am aware that their music is available online through iTunes and you can listen to it as well on YouTube.

But what do they tweet?  Well stuff like this -->

"Hi followers old&new! We've decided to give you a free download of one of our songs! PM or mention us in a tweet & we will send you a link x"

"New video from us! A cover of a @frank_ocean lost track "Eyes Like Sky"Hope you like it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq1JYqfyl4A …"

"If you're wondering what that's about and might want to support us too, head to http://tinyurl.com/ashei-EP for all the details #indiegogo"

And if you are wanting to see them play live you'll have to move quick because they are on their way to Australia in a couple of weeks time.  Just a quick heads up - the band have linked their Facebook account to twitter so most of their tweets now are links to their Facebook page.  I really hope that they start tweeting properly again but who knows.

And as always I try to give the last word to the Random Kiwi Tweeter of the day.  So here it is - 

Random follow #114 - @run2beatcancer

It takes some kind of dedication to run.  Not just to run but to run well.  It takes someone really special with all sorts of dedication, determination and desperation to set a goal so lofty and so high that many people sit back and marvel at the sheer thought of it.

@run2beatcancer is setting out to undertake a run that is simply mind blowing in its size and scale.  Travelling by foot from one coast of the United States to the other in an effort to both raise funds as well as awareness of the disease called cancer.  That is a total of about 2,800 miles which is roughly 4,510 kilometers.  

That is some kind of awesome right there.  But when you sit back and consider all the people whom you may know that have been taken by, are battling with or have beaten cancer it is a very scary number.  And cancer is a very scary disease.  It attacks anyone and everyone.  It is a silent killer that stalks the streets looking for its prey anywhere and everywhere people are.

And a journey like this can't be done completely alone.  There are support people, friends and hopefully the various running communities across the United States who will share their homes, their stories and maybe even a few miles with Alison as she runs.

One thing I do know is that she is saving the hills to last.  Just before you get to California there are a whole bunch of mountains you have to cross so in a month or two's time Alison is going to need some real support to get herself through those final stages and over the finish line.  This journey really is the ultimate coast to coast.

@run2beatcancer has started on her journey already and is about two days in now.  This is going to be a long trip and journey that will test her spirit, fortitude and ability to stay sane.  At the moment the twitter account only has a handful of followers.  So I encourage you to get on board and join the adventure now so you can one day say "I was part of something truly awesome".

You can find out more information if you check out her website - http://run2fightcancer.webstarts.com/index.html.

I love this tweet here because it totally captures the spirit of the journey and Alison herself.  Humble, unstated and going to give it everything that she has - 

"Here goes nothing!"

Random follow #112 - @runningwildnz

The focus of this blog is tell New Zealand about some of the undiscovered and truly inspirational people who live on these fine islands we call home.  @runningwildnz is one of those people through and through.  Malcolm Law is, I think, one of the most committed athletes I have ever met.

He isn't an athlete that will get a lot of coverage on television (he gets some but not as much as he deserves for his exploits).  You might hear about him on the radio if you're lucky.  But the most likely way you will hear about Malcolm is by either spotting his book at your local bookstore or through the trail/ultra running community.

Some people struggle to fathom running 5kms.  Other people think running 42.2 kms is a bit nuts.  Well @runningwildnz eclipses all of those distances.  And he does it over and over and over again.  To be fair running a marathon is like going for a medium distance training run for Malcolm.

Putting it out there - I started following Malcolm's exploits via Facebook back in 2012 when he and another running partner undertook a huge run over in England.  And I have also met Malcolm in real life and his personality is just as big as his running.  He is a man who is full of life, highly intelligent, willing to take a risk and is always looking for his next adventure.

Don't expect to be inundated with tweets from Malcolm.  He is usually off an adventure somewhere (and I don't mean just on the weekends - I mean ALL THE TIME!) so tweets come through from time to time.  Or for as long as he is able to actually sit still in any one place at any one time.

When he does tweet often times what you will get are updates from his Facebook feed.  But don't let that put you off because he does occasionally find the time to actually write proper tweets.  Here is a sample of what you can expect to see -

:-) (tweeted January 14th)

and lots of tweets saying thank you to people who have either read his book or who have reviewed it.

@runningwildnz is about more than just Malcolm and his running exploits.  Well actually it is.  So if you don't like - running, being inspired or being challenged then you may be better off going and checking out some other twitter account like Grumpy Cat.