Just back from four days on the island of O‘ahu, with the last two spent at the inaugural run of PodCamp Hawai‘i, and from the standpoint of someone who has spent much of her career in the catering and convention planning business, it was impressive.

The attendance was not huge, but this was a conference you would not describe as small – not by a long shot. It was truly testament to what can happen when passion becomes part of someone’s work, in this case the work of Roxanne Darling and Shane Robinson of Bare Feet Studios. From their site:

Bare Feet Studios LLC is a small, curious, tech-savvy company based in
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, owned by Roxanne Darling and Shane Robinson. We
participate in and advise on New Media and the Social Web to connect
people and solve problems. Let us be your guide to social networking,
podcasting, twitter, online marketing, and personal branding. (And
we’ll be happy to start by explaining all those buzz words! Your
business can grow with them.)

99.9% of us think about doing something grand, but then we allow doubts to snuff out the allure of the grandness, and we shrink back and never get started.

Hard work scares us off.

Then there are the 00.1% like Roxanne and Shane who take their leaps of faith, work solely within the realm of their passion, and get the grand done.

Hard work morphs into satisfying work well done, for it was the work of our most passionate intentions.

Last post I asked you about your influence, and if you are using it. Clearly Roxanne and Shane are, and during the last two days it was inspiring to see the leverage they’ve created for themselves – and for the prospects of technology and social media in Hawai‘i – because they Ho‘ohana, and do their intentional work.

Best of all, I am betting that everyone who attended that conference can now more clearly see how they can make things happen too, whether their own passions are in technology, New Media and the Social Web, or something entirely different. The industry and the vision is not the defining component: Your passion is.

Passion simply means you love the work instead of dreading it: You chose it deliberately instead of getting it assigned to you by someone else. You do it on your own terms.

Read more about Ho‘ohana again, and take your own leap of faith.

If you are in Hawai‘i – or looking for a great excuse to make the trip over here! – keep tabs on the PodCamp Hawai‘i site so you can get involved at some point, for planning has already begun for the next conference. If you want to become an Influencer, you are well advised to surround yourself with people who already are. Catch the energy of their passion, and then trigger your own.