Getting to know An Bui – @anwith1n

An Bui

I use tweetdeck to manage my @replies, direct messages, and grouping people. I try to help as many people as I can on Twitter – if people are looking for something or wanting to know something, I jump in if I think I can help. I want good ideas to spread and to learn new things. This ongoing learning and sharing cycle is a ride I want to stay on.

Tell us where you are from and what you do for a living?

I’m from all over – I grew up in Texas but my time on the East Coast really shaped my thinking and approach to the world. As far as what I do for a living, that’s an interesting question. I’m a consultant – I work with organizations to identify ways they can communicate value, both internally and externally. An engagement may look like connecting a company to its users and potential users by teaching them how to connect using blogging, twitter, and other relevant social media tools. Another engagement may look like helping teams within an organization communicate value to other teams within that same organization. The end result are teams that understand how their work fits in the larger context of the organization, are more collaborative, and are more efficient.

Do you know others who use Social Media tools like Twitter in your area? What would you say about the knowledge of people in your area about Social Media in general?

In Seattle, social media tools (including Twitter) are pretty popular, so you end up seeing a broad range of knowledge. There are people who are aware of social media in general, due to the start up and technology culture of Seattle. Actual deep tissue knowledge may vary, so it depends on background. People from a PR background understand social media differently than those from an entrepreneurial background whose understanding differs from those with an information design background… it really depends on the context.

What gets you really motivated and excited?

I wake up in the morning to help others discover how new technologies can improve their lives, understand how collaboration can enable them to achieve greater things, discover new ideas and how to integrate them in new ways to solve problems.

Give us one crazy fact about yourself you haven’t already shared.

Define crazy ;)

I have bus friends, grocery store friends, coffee shop friends, random sidewalk friends… I tend to make friends everywhere. One of my favorite random friends I met because we sat next to each other on a flight from Los Angeles to Seattle. We had such a great time talking about our lives and the lessons we’ve learned from the experiences we’ve had, I was actually disappointed when the plane landed.

Any other tidbits you would like to offer?

One of my favorite books is Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. I read it at a time I was going through personal and professional transitions and found its message highly relevant. Since then, I’ll re-read passages when I want to remind myself how lucky I am to pursue my dreams and fortunate I am to be passionate about the work I do and the clients I work with.

Coelho wrote: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” The universe has brought me people like you, my family, great friends, (Emily, Daren, Sarah, Taki, Jared, Kirk, Chelle and Blake), amazing professional mentors (Andrew, Jim Benson and Mack Collier) who have contributed, and still contribute, greatly to my life.

I’ll leave you with this thought – “Nothing great in the world was accomplished without passion.” – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Tags: An Bui, craig sutton, interview, Social Media

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 11:34 am and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.