The more things change in life, the more we grow to appreciate what we have. Our loved ones, our communities, a regular paycheck, our health. All things we take for granted. But when one piece goes away, what happens?

Two weeks ago, my position with The Social Media Party went away. I was let go with less than 4 days notice. I have been struggling to come to terms with what happened. I have been trying to keep positive as I (yet again) look for new contracts and new work.

It is great to have supportive friends whom I can call on when the edges blur. It is great to have work to do that keeps me moving through these times. Without the connections I have here on the social web and in Phoenix, it would be harder than it is. Without the prayers and support of my family, I wouldn’t know how to move on.

But moving on is what my life has taught me to do. I am not good at pricing what I do for a living. I am not good at asking for help for myself. I am good at getting people what they need and what they desire. Holding on to those skills will keep me going at night.

Moving on means finding a new job. Moving on means finding a way to pay the bills. Moving on means updating all my social web profiles and my resume. Moving on means worrying about myself as much as I worry about others. (In one of life’s great contradictions: Worrying about and sending prayers and strength to those who need it makes handling all this a bit easier.)

The old standbys have helped. I am answering Office questions again – this time out on Microsoft’s Social Answers site. I am playing with and learning all about new social websites. (Tried Amplify? If not – do it.) I am putting the word out that I am available. I am keeping connected to my real world network in Phoenix. I am throwing myself into PodCampAZ preparation and APCUG work. I am putting feelers out for speaking engagements and applying to speak where I can.

And… I am learning:

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Logistics:

• When: February 20 and 21
• Where: UAT in Tempe AZ (same place we hold PodCampAZ every year)
• Cost: $55 if you pre-register online. $85 at the door

It’s going to be an awesome conference!

Great speakers. Great volunteers organizing and running it. Great location. (Who can resist the Valley of the Sun in late February?)

So, what’s not to work? The conference itself. That’s because we don’t have very many people coming. Less than 100 at this point. I am hoping you will help me to change that.

We’ve got content for almost everyone. Mac people, PC people, new users, IT Pros, security geeks, user group leaders, digital photographers, genealogy geeks, social media geeks.

Speakers? Yeah, we have some good ones there too. Jay Ferron will be speaking on Windows 7 as our opening keynote. Carey Holzman will be talking about free software. Karen Hart will be talking about security. Bruce Jacobs will be talking about disaster recovery.

Sponsors are doing their share too. AiSquared will be there, as will LifeLock. Serving Online Seniors will be talking, as will SoftQue. We have talks by committee members and board members on FireTrust and Roxio. We even have Darin Travis of Microsoft coming to talk about Windows Mobile.

We’ve got some prizes (though we won’t turn down more prize donations), including copies of Camtasia and SnagIt. We’ve got food. We’ve even got a couple of build events – one Saturday to learn how to install Linux on your existing machine and one Friday night to build your own PC.

Did that one get your attention? It isn’t too late to sign up for the Friday night event. Bruce will be stepping the build event participants through building their own machine. Cost for that is an extra $510, but that gets you a great machine, a copy of Windows 7 for the machine, and an understanding of what goes into building one.

The price is more than reasonable too: Register online before the conference starts and it will only cost you $55! That price includes lunches both days, by the way…

So, tell me… why haven’t more people registered? You tell me! This being a volunteer driven event, we can still add more content…. What else should we do to get people to come?

Disclosure: I have a very vested interest in this conference working out. I am the VP of APCUG and one of the original drivers of the conference.

Update: I forgot the link for the conference information http://phoenix.apcug.org/