3 reasons why I deleted Periscope -- and it felt GREAT!

Just on the off-chance that you haven't heard of Periscope, it's an app owned by Twitter that lets you broadcast live to the world through your cell phone. I had heard about the app earlier this year, while I was crossing my fingers that it was not one more social media tool I would have to master for my previous job as the Media Relations Manager at the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society. Since I handled all their social media, it really put a damper on my desire to do my OWN social media, and the thought of another platform was just TOO MUCH for me at the time.

 

Broadcast live from your phone on Periscope

 

I remembered hearing that Lion Country Safari's Marketing Director was broadcasting a lot of their animals live. My previous boss at the Zoo was like, "You would enjoy promoting the Zoo through Periscope, because you have experience reporting live." I immediately responded with a firm, "No thanks! I have too much to do, keeping up with and creating all the content for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram." 

Photo from Periscope

 

But here's the thing-- I DO have a lot of experience reporting live from back in my news days. I enjoyed liveshots, even when it had me out in less-than-desirable spots...

 

Got a lot of sympathy for this one -- and it was one of my final live shots!

 

So when I finally tried Periscoping (or "Scoping"), I was HOOKED. I mean, really hooked -- so much so, that my battery drained down to 15% every time I would broadcast, LOL! Note: the app really does drain your juice quickly, so I recommend a Mophie or a portable juicepack so your phone doesn't die mid-Scope.

 



 

Within 20 days, I did 80 Periscope broadcasts and garnered more than 50,000 hearts. Those are kinda like "likes," and you can get unlimited hearts from viewers of your Scopes.

 

I even bought a Joto Universal waterproof case... yep, this link to the product is my Amazon affiliate link...

 



...just so I could Scope live while I was snorkeling my favorite place, the snorkel trail at Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach. That got a ton of positive reactions!

 

 

 

I also bought a cool set of clip-on lenses...
 

 ...that give you a wider perspective. I only used them in one scope at Palm Beach, but I have had fun taking photos with them.

My Palm Beach photo! This, and Singer Island, were my favorite places to Scope



So, you may be wondering WHY did I delete the app from my phone? Let me count the ways:

1. I was getting notifications like crazy from people that I follow who would Scope. After your phone buzzes 6 times in 10 minutes during a business meeting, people start giving you the "eye." It got annoying, especially when it was a Scope labeled "Test" (from when someone would be doing their first Scope). *Update -- see below comments -- yes, you can turn off notifications, but even if I had known that (because I did NOT know that) I doubt I would have turned them off. I actually enjoyed scopes from Lion Country Safari and PenguinSix and wouldn't have wanted to miss them.

2. It felt like I couldn't find my footing. I did have my largest amount of hearts broadcasting from a beach sunrise on Miami Beach, because the Miami name gets automatic recognition. I don't live in Miami, and most people (unfortunately) don't recognize Palm Beach as quickly as they would Miami. I am working to change that now in my current role as PR Manager for Discover The Palm Beaches, the official tourism marketing organization for Palm Beach County... but I also wanted to try doing more than beach Scoping.

I tried doing a makeup tutorial, because I love doing those on my YouTube channel and they are well-received, but that flopped (and a Hater/Troll called me "ugly!" I told him his spirit was ugly, and he actually agreed with me, bless his heart-- he needs prayer). I tried doing a Scope after a church service where I play, and the singer sang "Ave Maria" while I accompanied her-- that actually had a crazy-high retention rate, but only 11 total live viewers. Well, come on, now, we're giving you a concert experience! A little bit frustrating trying to figure out a niche.

3. The main reason is because it started becoming WORK. It was fun at first, but after a few days, I realized I was broadcasting just to broadcast and get hearts. Felt like I was losing my soul, haha! Ok, that's overdramatic, and not really -- but I did feel like I was not paying attention to the location where I was actually standing, because I was staring at my screen and responding to comments and questions. It took away my enjoyment of what I was doing.

When I was Scoping, I felt like I was reporting live, even if it was on the beach. For perspective --the first time I did a beach liveshot at Bathtub Beach on Hutchinson Island, I felt so thrilled. Then when the night wore on, I was like, "I'm WORKING at the beach. Who am I kidding? This ain't fun." That's how I started feeling about Periscope.

When I was snorkeling and doing those broadcasts, my friends with me were having good times, admiring the sealife. But there I was, chugging along, holding my phone up and down, above and below the water... trying to squint to read the screen in the bright sunlight... there in body, but not in spirit. So it was like a huge wakeup call, and one of the last Periscopes that I have done.

Well, at least THEY were having fun that day...



I realize that it's a hot trend right now to Scope, and some of my blogger friends like Nicole at One Picky Chick and Lauren at Working Mom Magic are doing a #SeptemberScopers challenge. I am all about supporting them, and if you want to watch some cool ladies do their thing broadcasting, this is the group to follow.

But having written all of that, let me just say that I do not regret deleting the app from my phone. I re-installed it temporarily, just for this blogpost so I could screenshot some of the images on my profile, and my phone started crazy buzzing again with all the people Scoping. It was a reminder of why I was just DONE with it... at least for now. Will I ever Scope again? Maybe! Only time will tell... and you will have to stay tuned and follow me on Twitter to find out!





"I'd rather be snorkeling!" Blue Heron Bridge snorkel on 6-9-14, with a manatee, octopus and eel

My awesome friend Carli Segelson, who works for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is my snorkel buddy. We go ALL THE TIME and she's about as obsessed with snorkeling as I am... so I wasn't surprised Monday during the work day when she kept texting me that she was definitely going snorkeling after work. It doesn't take much for me to be tempted to go, so I did-- and I'm SO GLAD we went!

All photos, and flag usage (safety first!), courtesy Carli Segelson ;) 

It was the first late-day snorkel I've ever done, since high tide was around 6:23pm and that's about the exact time we entered the water on Monday, June 9, 2014. Visibility was great and temperature was fine, although a bit chilly entering. We swam straight out at the Blue Heron Bridge underwater snorkel trail at Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach. The first thing I saw when I dove down to look at a small fish was an OCTOPUS! It was adorable!

This is so obviously my new Facebook cover photo!

The little critter was so friendly! Coming out to say hello!

We also saw a flounder, of course the giant starfish and a small, interesting starfish I had never seen before, and a school of huge parrotfish, which is absolutely my favorite thing to see fish-wise. When I see that, I feel like I'm snorkeling in the Keys. :) The school had one dark-capped parrotfish, which is a navy-colored one. 

Can you see the flounder?

Needlefish... the bridge has tons of them and barracuda

 I always enjoy the queens

Somebody remind me what these are called? But spot the tiny porkfish

This spotted eel was super-cool!

In a GRAND FINALE of the evening, I saw a manatee! I started squealing for Carli, who didn't hear me since she was submerged, but she saw it on her own and started taking photos. Here's one! 

MANATEE!!!

It swam right by me, like 5-10 feet away! This is the SECOND TIME I have happened upon a manatee in the snorkel trail area. Click HERE to watch a video of the first time I ever saw a manatee there. I was the first to spot it that time, too, and I called over the divers who took the video of it. Gotta share the dive love!

I absolutely love this magical spot, and I'm blessed to be able to free dive here all the time. :) #HappyHappyJoyJoy

Photos from our 8-day Carnival "Breeze" Cruise to Aruba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos

Nathan and I did an 8-day Southern Caribbean cruise from Miami in April, and I've been meaning to post these pics in a blog for weeks now. Better late than never! Here's a QUICK VIDEO from Carnival on the ports of call and the ship we took.

Leaving Miami

It was the longest cruise we've ever done, and it was the 6th cruise we've taken. All of the ports of call were new to us, which is great because when you cruise from Miami a lot you can start to see the same Caribbean ports of call as options (like, we've cruised to Cozumel twice, and the Bahamas twice... not that I'm complaining, you understand).

A view of our ship from the water in Grand Turk

With such a long cruise, there are enough sea days to allow you to fully relax. I loaded up my iPhone's Kindle app with books, and brought books to keep me entertained. I also enjoyed the ship itself, the Carnival Breeze, which had watersides, the Punchliner comedy club presented by George Lopez (which we loved), and even a multi-dimensional Thrill Theater, which made you feel more immersed in what you were watching since it would spray you with water, blow wind at you and move the seats during the 3D showings.

I think my favorite port of call for the sheer enjoyment factor was Grand Turk in Turks and Caicos. It was just a simple place where as soon as you walked off the ship, you were on the beach. You didn't have to worry about taxis, going far away, etc. Everything was right there!

Our shore excursion was a boat ride to a small, private island, where the water was shallow and we got to encounter stingrays. 

Unfortunately, I left my ship towel on the small boat, so the second half of my excursion was filled with a bit of worry while I waited for it to return with the other excursion crowd. But it made it back in time for me to grab my towel and get back on the big cruise ship. We almost missed our cruise ship a couple of cruises ago in St. Maarten, and I never want to go through that stress again!!

My favorite relaxation spot in the entire cruise! Look how close our beach was to the ship... and the snorkeling was great right there.

The next port of call was the southeastern tip of the Dominican Republic, La Romana. I really enjoyed the history of that place, because we took the Santo Domingo city tour. It's the capital of the DR. The bus ride was almost two hours long, but our tour guide was AMAZING and talked about La Romana the entire time... he kept it really interesting. 

The lighthouse where Christopher Columbus' remains lie... the Columbus Lighthouse honors the memory of the discoverer of the Americas.

 

The photo on the left shows the outside Alcazar de Colon, the palace of Hispaniola's first Governor and son of Christopher Columbus, Don Diego Colon... it had a lot of historic artifacts inside, seen on the right. 

This is the First Cathedral of the Americas! So historic!!

We walked through the Colonial Zone and visited the National Pantheon. This is a Christopher Columbus statue. I was worried about pigeon poo. Watch your head! ;)

Lots of walking, lots to see

The next port was Dutch Curaçao, which was adorable/funky! Just pulling in to the port, you are immediately greeted by the sight of those bright Easter-egg-colored buildings. Love it.

We learned during our city tour that the reason the bright painting began was because of political corruption-- a former governor said he had an eye condition that caused him pain when he looked at white buildings, so he passed a law that required buildings to be painted colors. After he died, it turned out that he OWNED the paint factories! So he was profiting from it. Despite those negative beginnings, it has probably paid off for the island in terms of recognition and tourism value through the years.

Hello, cuteness!

The flag, and our ship in the distance behind the awesome cityscape

The city tour had a nice stop at the local aquarium

We stopped at an original Curacao liqueur factory, which makes a liqueur flavored with the dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit

This is the famous "swinging lady," the Queen Emma Bridge-- hinged and opens for passing boats

Getting back on the boat, with a fellow passenger taking a picture beside us, haha

Our final port of call was Aruba. After singing the Beach Boys song "Kokomo" for years, I was excited about this one-- and it ended up being a tiny bit of a let-down. Maybe I was just "cruised-out," or we chose the wrong shore excursion, but I just wasn't that impressed. Still, it's a Caribbean island, so you can't go too wrong with it! ;) 

We snorkeled, and the boat ride there was fun because it took us along the shoreline so we got to see the island edges of Aruba.

I know I'm spoiled because I snorkel all the time here in Florida, but I wasn't loving the snorkeling there. Visibility was not great, although it was kind of hauntingly cool to see the submerged ship off the coastline (it was deliberately sunk to avoid capture by the Germans some decades ago).

A lot of times on cruises, you can just wander around in the tourist areas and shop, but we are not really into that. So after walking around for a bit, I was ready to hop back on the boat and head home.

The ship itself was nice and new, and the entertainment was pretty good, with the comedy club being my favorite. All I did was EAT AND EAT AND EAT, and I also loved our balcony room. It was so nice to sit on the balcony, watch the waves and read a book. :) Yay cruising!

Ship atrium

  

I love the cruising life! Super fun and relaxing!

With one of the hilarious comedians 

Our dining buddies

The waiters always put on a show

So, all in all, a very successful trip that left me relaxed and refreshed. I also love how your cell phone loses signal when you are off-shore, so you are truly unplugged. I highly recommend cruising if you haven't done it yet!