@JoelECarlson – Round 2 of today’s Twitterviews is going to begin. Everyone please welcome @maikelvdm to the program! Lets get started.

@maikelvdm – Hey @joelecarlson Thanks for having me

Q – #1    So @maikelvdm, where did you grow up, where have you lived and what kind of schooling/training have you received?

A: Grew up in Asten, The Netherlands (1.5 hrs South East of Amsterdam, 4 hrs North of Paris). Lived in both Holland and the US

School, Design Academy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Studied design, art direction and marketing.

Q – #2    Interesting. So what kind of work have you done in the past, and what got you into eco/green-marketing now?

A: Managed many jobs, graphic designer, art & creative director. Strategic director and marketing director.

Having spend almost 20 years in marketing I felt us marketers needed to take greater responsibility on how we market products

Since I have mainly worked in the consumer goods category, it’s easy to see where many great improvements can be made

Both @BjorgvinS and I were on the same page regarding all things green, which related to our European up bringing

And @Element_Six was born.

Q – #3    Awesome! Can you give some examples (pics or links) to some of your work?

A: Here are a few links of work samples http://ht.ly/37C8a & http://ht.ly/37C8S

As I’m sure you can imagine, this is not even the tip of the iceberg. So am showing my age here

Q – #4    No worries! So is your client base primarily in MN, the US or is it broader than that even?

A: We currently enjoy a very diverse client base, from Istanbul, Turkey, to LA, NYC, & Eden Prairie. What’s not to love

That said, Mpls provides us with a perfect geo location serving both coasts and direct flights back to Europe.

Q – #5    Congrats! Now for some of your FAVS: Favorite – Restaurant, store, comfort food, eco/green product and tech-gadget.

A: Restaurant – Lurcat & Namaste in Uptown. Store, Diesel, Replay, GStar and Hugo Boss store, all in Holland.

Comfort food: Dutch pancakes and anything indonesian, such a big part of the Dutch culture

Tech gadget: Anything Apple, although I wish it wasn’t so. Unfortunately, they do rock their gadgets.

Favorite green & eco product: Any type of bicycle. Peddling a bicycle is the ultimate green & health experience.

Q – #6    Cool! Now what kind of physical training are you doing now, and how long have you been involved with it?

A: Triathlons seem to be my thing. Will starting training for my second Ironman race, June 2011 in France.

Been biking and running most of my life, started tri’s roughly 4 years ago. Not a big swimmer, but am improving on this

Q – #7    You have quite a full life, in addition to your involvement with the #jmu612 group. Does it get overwhelming some times?

A: Sure seems like I have a full life, not mentioning another active wear business @ThreeActive I’m involved with.

Thing is, when you work with talented people like; @BjorgvinS @ericamayer @JoelECarlson & many others all will be good

Plus, sleep is waaay overrated, I think. Right?

Q – #8    Haha! So to end today, what life advice or mantra can you share today?

A: I don’t think I am in a position to share any life mantra or advice. I am who I am, take it or leave it. It’s all good.

@JoelECarlson – Fair enough. Thanks @maikelvdm for sharing some of your thoughts today. Have a great afternoon! #jectv

@maikelvdm – Thanks for having me, Joel. Continue fighting the good fight, sire. #jectv is a great asset to our twitter community. Cheers!

@JoelECarlson – Hello, and welcome to Twitterviews with our guest @heattherrist today. Lets get started!

@heatherrist – Good morning Joel! Thank you for having me as a Twitterview guest today.

Q – #1     So @heatherrist, where did you grow up, what High School did you attend and then where did you attend college?

A: I grew up in #Mpls. Moved to Woodbury in 7th grade through HS and then found my way back to Mpls at the U of M.

Go Royals and Gophers!

Q – #2    So which do you like more: Mpls or St.Paul? :) When you went to the #UofM, what did you major in?

A: I knew that ? was coming! I think the topic of #mpls or #stpaul sides is so funny. Ppl really do have their side of the river.

I have love for both! There is to much to take advantage of in both cities to pick one!

I majored in psych at the U of M! Its helped me get where I am now and ties in nicely with the org I work for @Avenuesforyouth

Although my career took a turn toward communications/development/marketing- its a nice background to have.

Q – #3    For sure! Especially for connecting with ppl/biz via social media. What other work have you done and are you doing now?

A: I have been with @AvenuesForYouth (Avenues for Homeless Youth) just over 4 years as the Marketing & Development Manager

I am also on the Board of Directors for communications/development (5 years) with @BalletMN, which is based in St.Paul :)

@BalletMN is a family business, so it was destined to happen! I really enjoy what I do for the org and all of the ppl.

I have found a passion for using new media/sm to connect the dots (and people) within my orgs and personally

Q – #4    Great! So who are some ppl/biz that you follow that you’ve found benefit from connecting with?

A: # Twitter has been a great tool in connecting! So many ppl want to share experience & tools- & in the world of #sm its important.

For #SM, I am a huge fan of @socialnicole and her blog http://bit.ly/anEM2d and @arikhanson blog http://bit.ly/9sqDPD.

ALso, groups for networking and sharing like #JMU612 & #Stptweetup (which you #joelecarlson are very familiar with).

Nonprofit portion – @GiveMN @smartnonprofits Lots of great conferences and workshops are offered to keep up to date and connected

Q – #5    Good for you to get benefits from SM. Now for your FAVS: Restaurant, store, comfort food, tech-gadget.

A: Love the fav portion – Restaurants – Amore Victoria, Eli’s Bar & Grill, @BulldogNE and the @BlueDoorPub for amazing Juicy Blucy’s

The @BlueDoorPub covers the comfort food questions – and then some :)

Also, a HUGE fan of @WholeFood_MPLS – best salad bar in town.

@WholeFoods_MPLS also offers great cooking classes I http://bit.ly/9VocBi

Tech-gadgets – I just crossed over into the MAC world! I am starting to see what all the #MAClovers are raving about.

Q – #6    To end, what’s a personal/business goal that you have for yourself, and what life advice or mantra do you want to share?

A: A prof goal – staying relevant in this ever changing world of #sm marketing & keep building relationships that bring new adventures.

And I love this “Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music”

Thanks so much @joelecarlson for connecting so many dots and for having me as a Twitterview guest!

@JoelECarlson – I like your quote!  Thank you @heatherrist for your comments and your time. Thanks for connecting!