The Brighter Side of Moving

I am a resident New Yorker, but I haven’t understood or even cared about my home state’s major attractions.

I’ll explain why.

Recently, my company moved from its midtown digs to plusher and more greener pastures at South Ferry.  There’s a conglomerate of shops, businesses, restaurants and of course Battery Park to name a few.  My initial attitude upon hearing that we were moving, was that of reservation or even unhappiness.  Why would my company decide to pick up and leave our present location to a new area that could pose to be  difficult – navigation wise?

How dare they!

After two and a half-months, the area has really grown on me.  I’m proud to say where I now work, since it’s an ideal location for any business or resident to work or live in.  I hadn’t known the many things my company was lacking in terms of location, location, location!

One of the goals any business considers when choosing where to do business – is the location.  Location is key.  It can prove to be beneficial or devastating – to say the least.

Our former address in midtown proved to be devastating because the daily walk from the subway was a schlep no one cared for especially in nasty weather.   There were a limited variety of restaurants and shops and I mean, limited!  It took an half-hour to arrive at an ideal restaurant or even a local store.

Or try eating at the same restaurant, week after week.  Who does that?  On many occasions, I’d forgo eating lunch and resort to having a snack instead, until I got home later in the evening.

So before you’re faced with a change however intense it may be, trying looking at the brighter side of things.  Who knows, you may learn a true life lesson that drastically enriches you!

Miranda A. Walker is currently in her freshman year in the B.A. in Communication & Culture program at CUNY School of Professional Studies.  She works in the multi-media industry as an Executive Assistant at the New York Daily News.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her children and reading immensely.  Her dream is to one day run her own company.

#CUNYSPS 9: The Future is Location Based. And Delicious.

Location based social networking had been heralded by many as the new frontier of online interaction. Letting people know where you are and what your doing adds an entirely new dimension to the standard social equation.

Sites like Foursquare and Gowalla have been leading the pack, with Facebook adding a location based layer called “Places” to its interface. You can let your friends know where you are, and easily meet up or share tips.

It’s the location based tip sharing that many find so interesting. At SPS, we’ve recently created a Foursquare account so that our community can share and swap knowledge about all that New York City has to offer.

Our first location based initiative will be tied into our upcoming 2011 Commencement at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. If you visit our Foursquare profile, you can see that we’ve begun to put up some tips for great meals around our commencement venue. We’ll be adding many more “Graduation Grub” tips in the coming weeks as we gear up to an exciting, memorable, and delicious ceremony.

For those unfamiliar with Foursquare, here is a short video that will help familiarize you with the concept.

Even if you don’t want to share your location and every move with your friends, Foursquare is still a powerful tool for finding great locations in your immediate vicinity.

If you’re inclined to start exploring with Foursquare, or are already using the application, be sure to connect with us as we continue to explore all the amazing food options for graduation.

Shawn Abraham is SPS’ Virtual Campus Manager, which means he gets to have a lot of fun building an online community for the school. He also has a lot of fun reading books about zombies. These two things rarely intersect.