Last year Gary Vaynerchuk declared April 3rd Good People Day! This year he said that you had to write a blog post or make a video to talk about Good People. Seeing that today is my 1 year anniversary of randomsarah.com, and that I started this blog with a Good People Day video last year, I thought it was only fitting to do a post this year to talk about all the GREAT people that I have met over the past year.

Gary Vaynerchuk, I would not be writing this post if it wasn’t for you. You were the first person who told me to trust in my community when you pushed me to raise money for the Thunder Cruise and you have been very supportive ever since. So thank you for starting good people day, and for being a great person yourself.

I wanted to focus on people that have really helped me feel more comfortable in this space, and who have given me a great chance to grow.

Matt Knell. You were the first person to ever come up to me, already knowing who I was, at a Mashable event back last summer. It was one of the most flattering moments EVER. Since then you have become a great friend and provided me with some great advice over the past year. You have never stopped believing in me and pushing me to be the best person I can be.

Rob Blatt. You have always believed in What’s it all About from the very beginning. Thank you for taking a chance on me and helping me produce and edit the show. You have been a lifesaver. And Amber (I know you don’t want me to use your last name) you have been wonderful over these last few months, you are a great writer and you inspire me to be a better blogger every day.

Tim Kress-Spatz you believed in What’s it all About, and decided to help me with the show by bringing the show into the Ambush TV family and I could not be more thankful to you. You are a great entrprenuer and you inspire me.

Jonathan Dingman, simply @dingman to most people. Jonathan you have taught me so many things, from how to love Google, to understanding SEO, and the art of kicking a** and taking names with Wordpress. You are a great friend and an even better Wordpress developer!

Who can describe Brett Petersel, Oz Sultan, Micheal Gruen, and Nater Kane. You four have made this entry into the New York Tech Community one of the best experiences of my life. It’s been a crazy ride, but I am ready for another year.

Chris Brogan… there are no words for how awesome you are. I can only aspire to be a fraction of your awesomeness, but it’s something I work toward every day! Thank you for your words of encouragement every time we see each other.

Jeff Pulver, I have to thank you for always believing in me, and for giving me all the opportunities that you have to succeed. Thank you for believing that I am a rock star, and lifting my spirits every time I see you.

Whitney Hess, you are an amazing woman. People just couldn’t wait for us to meet each other and we clicked the second that we did. I am proud to call you my friend and I am thankful for all the great advice you have given me.

Walt Ribeiro, YOU ARE AWESOME! When you first met me, you came up to me and said “oh my god, it’s Random Sarah!” Like I was the best person on earth!  You are a great musician and a wonderful friend. You are a true rock star!

Finally Cali Lewis, you were my person for Good People Day last year, but you need to be on this list again. I wanted to thank you for all the great help, advice and feedback you have given me over this past year. Thank you for inspiring me to start doing online video and for continuing to be a great mentor.

And to all of my friends and family who knew me before I was blogging, and before I was on twitter, and who were reading my blog daily when no one else was…you guys are what keeps me going every day! Thank you for being so supportive.

On Tuesday I attended Jeff Pulver’s SocComm (Social Communications Summit). There were some really great speakers and a wonderful active audience. It was a long day but it was a lot of fun. Over the next few days I will be writing posts about some of the thoughts and bits that inspired me to think and discuss further at SocComm.

Today I really want to talk about something that Fred Wilson said during his presentation on truth. He predicted that Harvard university will not exist in 50 years, that everyone would be able to create their own form of education. This is something that is very interesting to me, and I sincerely hope it comes true.

A few days ago I re-blogged this video on my tumblr titled: Learning to Change-Changing to Learn this video was produced by the Consortium for School Networking. Founded in 1992, the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) is the premier professional association for school district technology leaders. CoSN is committed to providing the leadership, community and advocacy tools essential for the success of these leaders. Their mission is to empower K-12 school district technology leaders to use technology strategically to improve teaching and learning.

Some of my favorite points from the video:

Education was ranked the lowest industry in IT intensiveness!

Kids are rich content developers!

Every turned off device is potentially a turned off child!

We live in a “nearly now” space.

We have a classroom system when we could have a community system!

This is the main reason that when I have children, no matter where the education system is, they will be home schooled. Having been in the education system for the majority of my life so far I can tell you that it is useless. I have learned more by asking questions, talking to the right people, and attending events like SocComm, than I have in entire semesters of higher education.

Social tools have the power to teach us anything we want to learn. The Internet bridges the physical gap between me and a school in France. I should be able to take classes whereever I am from the BEST Professors in the world! This future, and the future that we are all building for the next generation is what makes me wake up in the morning.

I know that I am a part of an industry that will shake every other industry as we know it – from Publishing to Government, from Education to Hospitality. Everything is about to change and I have NO IDEA where the chips will fall and when the walls will crumble, but I can’t wait!

Related articles by Zemanta

• To my friend Jon Arnold: SocComm is right for these times (pulverblog.pulver.com)
• SocComm Videos – Febuary 10th, 2009 NY (webmetricsguru.com)
• Attending SocComm and Search Engine Strategies NYC 09 (list-your-blog.com)
• Pulver’s SocComm. Feb 10, NYC (saunderslog.com)
• Shelly Palmer: Why You Need to Translate Value Into Wealth (prevential.com)
• Why Obama Can’t Ignore Education Tech (businessweek.com)
• Is Traditional School a ‘Must’? (chris.pirillo.com)

Next week is Social Media Week in NYC. I am most excited about being able to attend the Social Communications Summit.

At SocComm, we will explore the state of Social Communications, where things are headed in the future and where the money is today and will be tomorrow.

It’s shaping up to be a great day with some wonderful speakers.

The last time I attended a Jeff Pulver event I wrote this post and it quickly became one of my most commented posts ever. I know great things will come from me attending SocComm. Jeff Pulver was kind enough to award me a scholarship so that I would be able to attend (since there was no way I could afford the nearly $500 pass). I know great things will come from me attending SocComm.

Here is the rest of the event schedule for social media week.

Feb 09:

• Fireside chat with Karp and Forman (7pm-9pm Venue TBD)*
• SocComm: The Social Communications Summit (VIP Dinner)
• O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing Conference (7:45am-6pm)

Feb 10:

• O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing Conference (7:45am-6pm)
  
• SocComm: The Social Communications Summit (8:30am-7pm)
  
• FYI’s ‘Social Media + Video = Social Entertainment’ (12pm-2pm)*
  
• Fleishman Hillard’s ‘When Social Media Becomes Unsociable’ (4pm-6pm Venue TBD)*
• 33 Million People in the Room – Book Launch (Venue & time TBD)*

Feb 11:

• O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing Conference (7:45am-6pm)
• Online Community Unconference: East (8am-7pm)
• World Record Appreciation Society (7pm-11pm)
• The Shorty Awards (7pm-late)

Feb 12:

• Social Media Breakfast (8:30am-10:30am at Roger Smith Hotel)
• The Politics of Social Media (12pm-2pm Venue TBD)*
• drop.io stream ‘speakeasy’ (4pm-6pm at Drop.io offices)*
• NYC Twestival (7:30pm-10:30pm at M:2)

Feb 13:

• Urban Music meets Social Media (5pm-7pm Venue TBD)*
  
• Social Media Week – Closing party/drinks (7pm-9pm Venue TBD)*

RSVP details for SMW events will be available shortly.

* Official Social Media Week events