C.C. Chapman's Blog, page 42

Random Foo Pictures Has Come a Long Way

Seventeen years ago, my best friend Dan Gorgone and I started Random Foo Pictures.

Today, I was in Orlando with him filming for his employer Treehouse.

We might not have used a slate back in the day, but it was fun to have the wandering cohorts back on a set together!

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Finding Focus in a Forest of Possibilities

Spring has begun to arrive in New England and the dark cobwebs of winter will begin to be shook out of the gray matter with each breeze of fresh air I feel on my face.

The woods that hug our property are currently a tangle of brush and trees that soon will be covered in an assortment of leaves. No longer will you see the mess that they are today, but rather they will be transformed into a beautiful wall of all that is good in nature.

As goes the woods, so goes my mind, mood and mental. These da...

Interview: Content Marketing for the Hospitality Industry

Last year I keynoted TBEX which is the largest gathering of travel writers in the world. I spoke about the advantages the travel and hospitality industry have when it comes to content marketing. You can watch the entire keynote online.

So, when DigitalCoCo TV asked if I’d come on their show to discuss the topic on their show I instantly said yes.

What it boils down to is that it doesn’t matter if you are a hotel, restaurant, resort or travel destination. You must begin creating content and embr...

My Grandfather’s Cameras

My grandfather was a lover of photography and passed that love on to me at an early age.

This past weekend while visiting my parents for Easter I began going through an old box of some of his cameras and returned home with them.

It was fun looking at them one by one and wondering what photos they had taken. Of course, I giggled a bit as I took and shared photos of them with my iPhone.

My grandfather would have loved to see how photography has evolved.

Obviously, he had a love of Kodak.

It makes me...

Why I Love Field Notes

I have a bit of an obsession with notebooks.

While I love all the technology in my life, there will always be a place for writing down thoughts, doodles and plans in a paper notebook.

Yesterday, the spring collection from Field Notes arrived and they spotlight another love of mine: travel.

The America the Beautiful edition for spring are a throwback to the days on the road writing down the milage, expenses and memories along the way. My grandfather always kept a notebook in his glovebox to write...

Amazing Things at SXSW

Earlier this month I was in Austin for my yearly time at SXSW and this year I did a book reading for Amazing Things Will Happen.

The recording is now available.

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BlissDom Was Amazing

How does a weekend in Grapevine, Texas with almost one thousand success driven women sound to you?

To me, it sounded like a near perfect way to spend this past weekend so that is exactly what I did when I jumped on a plane for BlissDom 2013.

As a professional speaker I attend a lot of conferences, but there was something different about BlissDom.

Sure, there were sponsors with their booths and fun give aways. Packed sessions with crowds that tweeted out the nuggets of wisdom shared from the stag...

You Can Never Forget Yourself

A friend recently looked me in the eyes and rather firmly reminded me, “You can’t save the world if you starve yourself.”

She knew everything I’ve been working on has been helping and inspiring others, but she also knew that it wasn’t bringing in much money and that I had to never lose sight of taking care of myself.

It may have been a singlesentenceover a drink in a Las Vegas casino, but it has stuck with me ever since.

Fast forward to to SXSW and Dave Grohl takes the stage to give the opening...

Want to Write a Book? Start By Writing a Book Proposal.

As a writer, people ask me all the time for advice on writing books.

They want to know how I found a publisher (they came to me), how my books have been successful (they are good books) and how to market them (hustle, hustle, hustle).

Here is a conversation I have at almost every conference I now attend. The hope is that it’ll help you get going with that book you are itching to write.

“So C.C. I want to write a book. What advice can you give me?”

“How much do you already have written?”

“None.”

“Ok...

We Need Weekends

Saturday afternoon I saw a statement online from a friend mentioning that since they worked for themselves they didn’t get weekends.

Statements like that make me sad because no matter what kind of work you do, taking the time to rest and enjoy life is critical.

Same thing happens when I see social media addicted individuals go on vacation and stress over how connected or not they are going to be.

Technology shouldn’t dictate how you live your life.

While I firmly believe in working hard, I do it...