Hummingbird604.com » food for thought

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Raul — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:44:31 +0000

While I’m not American (American understood as citizen of the United States of America), I have followed US history relatively well, particularly when it comes to human rights. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most famous American civil rights advocates, and Nobel Prize for Peace winner in 1964. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of every January, and I just wanted to remember him on this post. Below are a few of his quotations.

Photo credit: PBS News Hour on Flickr.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

And the one that really touches me profoundly:

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Honest Logos by Viktor Hertz

Raul — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:54:04 +0000

Hat tips to my good friend Monique Sherrett (nee Trottier, in case you, like me still get confused), who shared this on Google Plus. I find the notion of honest logos, both thought-provoking and compelling. And given how picky I am with people to be honest, truthful and direct, these really spoke to me. I’m using some of them on the post with full credit to Viktor Hertz on Flickr, as he has Creative-Commons Licensed them. Check his whole stream. From his writeup on Flickr:

An idea for a series with honest logos, revealing the actual content of the company, what they really should be called. Some are cheap, some might be a bit funny, some will maybe be brilliant. I don’t know.

(now you understand why I don’t do Facebook too often)

(if you have a little too much vodka!)

(this, so much!)

Fantastic work, Viktor!

Home is not a place: It’s people

Raul — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:29:55 +0000

In the past few weeks, I have been talking to my friends about whether I would move away from Vancouver. Most of my friends, strangely enough, have encouraged me NOT to move, in particular because of the strong social network I have here in Vancouver (not only my offline friends from long time ago, but also newer friends and associates I have met through my blog). The truth is, through the power of online social networks, I don’t actually think that if I were to move away from Vancouver I would have to re-start from scratch. Admittedly, I might need to have people introduce me to other people, but with the size of network I have, I don’t see that as something I might need to fear. 2012 sounds like a year for much change. And whether we like change or not, we should always be reminded that our home is the people that we come home to. Vancouver has been and will always be my home, because of the many people whom I love and love me here.

Remembering the Montréal École Polytechnique massacre

Raul — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:35:22 +0000

When I teach Public Policy, I often explore feminist theories of public policy (well, technically not me – I always ask my good friend Janni Aragon to come and guest-lecture as she is an expert in feminist theories of public policy). To me, feminist lenses are important for the study of public policy and politics and the role of women in political life is relevant. I am the son of a political scientist (my Mom did her PhD in Government, Politics and Public Administration at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain) and my Dad always made sure to instill in me and my brothers the sense that women had the same rights, capabilities, etc. than men.

Growing up, I became a chemical engineer and the top 5 grades in my cohort of 45 students were the 4 women who were studying chemical engineering and myself. So, I grew up without even remotely thinking that there was any reason to discriminate against women. I lived in a very egalitarian household. Thus, it is almost bewildering to me that the Montréal École Polytechnique massacre happened in Canada.

Even more shocking is the reason underneath it: an attack on feminism. Can you imagine? Being shot *just* for being a woman (in a supposedly male-dominated field, engineering). Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, and I have those women in my mind.

From the government of Canada website:

December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. They died because they were women.

As well as commemorating the 14 young women whose lives ended in an act of gender-based violence that shocked the nation, December 6 represents an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. It is also an opportunity to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality, and to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. And finally, it is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

One month after the hiatus: on friendships, blogging and the future

Raul — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:22:23 +0000

I am still here.

And yes, I am actually blogging even though I have announced a hiatus. I maintained it for a very, very long period of time. I spent a solid 3 weeks without writing any blog posts. Out of about 30-35 posts I published in November, I only wrote 3 during the month of November.

What did you do with the rest of November, Raul?

I hung out with friends. Close friends. The kind that I can call at 3:00am and break down and sob uncontrollably. The kind I built even before becoming ‘a social hummingbird’. The kind who call me out when I need to, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, the kind who whenever I say “I need you”, they come to my aid. Not the “friends on paper”, but the ones who will stand for me and be there by my side when I am sick and when I am healthy, in defeat but also in victory.

I said NO. A lot. I gave myself permission to NOT feel responsible for promoting the arts community in Vancouver. I gave myself permission to decline pitches, invites to events, offers for goodies and freebies. I allowed myself to decide which social media outlet (if any) I was going to use to communicate with the world.

I focused on my academic life. I worked on several manuscripts I have kept in the back-burner. I spent the majority of the month of November thinking about my scholarly future. I had the opportunity to see some of my academic pursuits flourish and my research agenda broaden, diversify and build towards a bright future. I had time to THINK. Think hard about the kinds of things I want to further.

I reconnected with some friends and family members I had neglected. I had the time to actually schedule hang outs and phone conversations. I read some of my nieces’ essays. I engaged in conversations that I had wanted to have for a long, long time. I purposefully built time for the people in my life that I hadn’t had time for in the past few weeks. And I ensured to follow through, instead of (as I normally would be), be rushed and give them only a short period of time.

And they appreciated it.

The blogging world is a curious thing, I will tell you. It’s brought me a lot of fun, and it also has brought a lot of pain. On balance, the fun has outweighed the pain. The I’m incredibly busy you always hear me say is now a very, very good busy. I pick and choose what I do regardless of what is happening around me. I chat on Twitter for the fun of it, and I keep thinking that if my traffic goes down, I will not care at all.

But it hasn’t.

My traffic (yes, I do check my stats – anybody who tells you they don’t is lying to you) has not gone anywhere. I totally thought that, the less I blogged, the less people would read whatever blog posts I had pre-written. And they keep reading. YOU keep reading. You keep engaged with me on Twitter, on my blog, and on my other social platforms. My community is still here, alive and kicking, strong and robust.

THAT is the reason why I keep coming back.

Because for all the challenges I face, I have exactly what I need and what I want: I have a job that is incredibly rewarding, I have a family that loves and adores me, I have friends who have my back AT ALL TIMES, not only when the things are going well, but also when the going gets tough. And I have a wonderful, robust and thriving online community.

I have EVERYTHING I need. I am happy.

As I said online, I could get used to this blogging hiatus thingie. But the truth is, come January, I have a new plan for what Hummingbird604.com is going to look like, what kind of projects I will be tackling and the way in which I am going to keep my personal blog alive while allowing my academic life to continue thriving.

Stay tuned.

On giving thanks and the American tradition of Thanksgiving

Raul — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:57:53 +0000

In the US, Thanksgiving is a really big deal, perhaps even more relevant than Christmas for some Christians/Catholics. It’s a day when families gather around and have dinner together (although secular right now, the original meaning of thanksgiving was actually religious, as it was a day to give thanks to God for having arrived safely to the New World). It is, indeed, a beautiful celebration. This year, American Thanksgiving fell on Thursday November 24th, and coincided with Thursday, a day that I’ve taken as an opportunity to mention people who I am very grateful for (I keep the hashtag #ThankfulThurs in the tweet).

The reality is, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have just about everything I need (maybe not everything I want, but definitely everything I need). I’m alive, complete, fulfilled, and given the circumstances of my birth, I have so much to be thankful for to my parents, especially my Mom. There is a back story to this, as my parents tell me.

When my Mom came to complete her full term, my Grandma tried to help her deliver at home (my Grandma was a registered ob-gyn nurse, and a labor doula, so she had plenty training to help my Mom with my birth – she helped with my previous brothers). At the time, after hours and hours of painful labor, my Grandma realized I was not able to come out and that there were probably other medical reasons why, so my Dad and Grandma took my Mom to the hospital, where luckily, they bumped into my Mom’s best friend (an ob-gyn doctor who quickly assessed the situation and got me out using forceps).

A few years ago, my Dad and I were at a social gathering with a few of his friends, and his friends noted that my personality was vivacious and I looked very fulfilled. My Dad said to them the same thing he told me a couple of years later: he was so close to not actually being born that he probably lives intensely to make the most of life, because he is thankful to be alive. In 2006, Mom, Dad and I had a more in-depth conversation about this topic, and I was really touched. My parents believed in me and the medical capacity of the people who helped deliver me into this world. And that’s one of the reasons I am incredibly thankful. I almost wasn’t born, and I’m still here, alive and thriving. I have suffered heartbreak, and survived it even though I completely thought I would die of the pain.

I’m thankful to be alive, to do the things I love to do, and get paid for it, to have the friends and family I have and to have succeeded in the realms I have ever decided to venture, academia first and foremost, but blogging included. That is, indeed, why I would have no problem quitting at all. If I were ever to quit blogging or doing anything I do, I still would be happy just simply because I was given an opportunity to do what I do. I live to the fullest because I am every day, every minute of my life saying to my parents “thanks, thanks for helping me get here and making of me who I am right now”.

On retiring at the top of my game

Raul — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:35:27 +0000

When I injured my knee a few years ago, at an international volleyball event, I knew my volleyball career was over. I was retiring, but not because it was my choice. I was retiring from the sport I have loved the most because something else had terminated my career: an injury.

Photo credit: Jana Hanova

Contrary to my (rather illustrious) career in volleyball, retiring from blogging is a choice I could easily make. Not a decision that would be prompted because something more forceful would take me out. In the case of volleyball, I HAD to quit. There would be no way I would be EVER able to play competitively to the provincial and national levels. Not with that injury.

But in blogging, it’s different. I didn’t start out blogging to make a name for myself. I didn’t start with the goal to be the biggest, best, more relevant blogger in Vancouver. I started because I wanted to have a voice and to be heard. I still do. I still blog because I love it, not because I need it. I attend events and write about them, because I find something interesting to say about them. I don’t NEED to be invited. I can, and I often am, but I decline hundreds of invites. HUNDREDS.

I know there’s a number of bloggers in Vancouver out to make a name for themselves. They feel competitive, they feel the need to have a place in the social media space. I don’t. I understand where you, all those social media types, are coming from. You can go and chase invites, try to make your mark. Go ahead. Ask, demand if you feel compelled. I am not competing with you. I’m not competing with anyone. Not even with myself.

I have been meditating on the possibility of retiring Hummingbird604.com. And whenever that possibility comes to my mind, I think about all I have accomplished. I have given the Vancouver (and Canadian) arts community (dance, theatre, fine arts) a voice. I have promoted innumerable non-profits. I have fundraised using the power of my blog and I have made a mark on many, many people’s lives. I could retire any time now and I would be retiring at the top of my game.

It’s American Thanksgiving and there are many reasons why I am giving thanks. I am thankful for the friends who are honest with me (and am thankful to those who are dishonest too, because you know, I know that you are lying and talking behind my back even when you think I can’t even tell — you really don’t know me at all). I am thankful to the people who stand by my side and have my back whenever everybody else doesn’t. I am thankful for the amazing online community I have built. I am thankful that I have established a presence and done the things I love for as long as I have.

If I *ever* retire Hummingbird604.com, if I ever stop blogging, I know I have done it with the utmost integrity, with the best interest of my community at heart, and despite the numerous attacks (anonymous and not-so-anonymous) I have received. I have, indeed, done my best, where I’ve been, with whatever I can.

On random acts of kindness…

Raul — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:07:43 +0000

if you are unemployed and need an outfit clean for an interview we will clean it for free.

This photo (well, a similar one) came across my Facebook feed today. And it made my day. I felt the need to shed a few tears, and I am glad I did. For the most part, today has been uneventful except for the part when I realized how much some people take me for granted (through observing some people’s behavior, both online and offline).

I was ready to wallow in self-pity and anger, and I chose to not do so. I chose to focus on what makes this world better. I chose to remember how *I* make this world better. For all the online (and offline) attacks I receive (which, surprising as this may sound to you, are A LOT), I do a hell of a lot of good in this world. I think that’s also part of why I get attacked and backstabbed so frequently (you may not see it as much of this happens behind the scenes).

So much of my work (both academic and in social media) has been focused on helping non-profits, on showcasing the arts, on promoting charitable causes, on being the champion of the underdog. And then I realize that yes, I’ve done a lot of great work, but there are other people out there who feel compelled to do good work, and to do random acts of kindness. God knows I’ve been on the receiving end of some of these random acts of kindness on occasion.

The photo above reminded me of how society rises above the petty fights and ridiculousness when there are serious problems that have negative effects at a systemic scale. It says “if you are unemployed and need an outfit clean for an interview we will clean it for free“. You may have seen the original post around 2009. Let me just repost it for your consideration, as it’s important to remember that there are people who have it MUCH worse than we do.

On having a voice, #OccupyVancouver #OccupyWallStreet and #ows

Raul — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:55:20 +0000

Photo credit: Lindsay Brown on Flickr and attributed as per her request

Full disclosure before you begin reading this post. I have not had the time to read much of the coverage of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Vancouver, and I have just recently watched one YouTube video that my friend Kate Milberry shared with me and read one blog post on Business Insider that my friend Morten Rand-Hendriksen has shared. So, I’m not as fully educated on the history nor the evolution of Occupy Wall Street. I am mature enough to know this.

BUT

I have 10 years of experience studying environmental social movements at the local and global scales and I have conducted hundreds of hours of fieldwork and interviews and analyzed the behavior of civil society movements to reduce pollution and confront toxic emissions. And I have studied social movements theories from a variety of analytical lenses that range from framing and social constructivism to resource mobilization and political opportunity. So, I think I’m fairly qualified to speak about Occupy Vancouver. BUT since I haven’t fully comprehended the movement YET, I’d rather just speak to the elements that sort of made me quite hopeful.

Photo credit Lindsay Brown on Flickr and attributed as per her request

The fact is I am actually not expressing much of an opinion here in favor or against OWS or Occupy Everywhere. BUT after reading hundreds of tweets from the stream, I found a quote that sort of prompted me to go from “erm, I’m not sure I understand the purpose of OWS and Occupy Everywhere” to “whether I get it or not is irrelevant, I get why it’s important to have a voice and bring that voice to an organized movement”. Anyone looking for an analytical account of OWS, I don’t have time right now to take an academic look at it it through any of the theoretical lenses I’m fluent on, so wait for a few weeks/months.

While I’m in Calgary, Occupy Vancouver has taken place in my beloved city. From all the tweets I saw on the stream, it was a very peaceful protest where the Vancouver Police Department even had a good series of conversations around this and made sure that the interactions were positive. I saw two streams of tweets, one very angry and protesting and one very hopeful and inspired.

I’m very encouraged by this. Despite the fact that I’m not 100% sure still to this point about the steps moving forward from the actual occupation (e.g. what policy options are being proposed/drafted), I’m really keen on seeing democracy in action.

The one quote that completely made me write this post is the one below. As I said on Twitter: this is why Occupy Vancouver and Occupy Everywhere matters:

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” Martin Luther King Jr.

Society can’t be silent about gross income inequalities and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. I certainly am vocal about it, I’ve never been silent about it. I do research that aims to narrow this gap, and I do applied policy work to this objective too. Whatever the goals are (and however fluid the goals are) of Occupy Vancouver and Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Everywhere, there IS value in having a voice and not being silent about how we feel.

I wish people who are participating in the Occupy movement can ALSO at the same time, exercise their democratic right and vote and change our world and our policy system.

The YouTube shared by Kate on the consensus process is shown below.

No related posts.

Homelessness Action Week (Metro Vancouver) October 10th–16th, 2011

Raul — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:04:36 +0000

Every year since I started blogging, I have written about Homelessness Action Week (which this year takes place from October 10th through 16th, 2011). This year is not the exception. Action on homelessness is an important policy issue of mine, and a few years ago I suggested (with no luck) that we should have a National Homelessness Policy Strategy for Canada. Frustrating that so many politicians take it as their “pet issue” yet very few have done anything effectively.

photo credit: Matthew Grapengieser

I’m always heartened by the actions taken by the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee to Stop Homelessness activities:

Highlights:
New this year
– a flash-mob style video launched for Homelessness Action Week imaging the story of homeless-to-housed, a people-powered message about healthy communities.
- How much do you know about homelessness? Take our Myth Busting Survey online.
- Do you want to volunteer? Use our online sign-up form and get connected to Homelessness Action Week organizers in your community.
- Watch for announcements throughout the week as we launch stories about what’s working – including what’s working for urban Aboriginals – and a special project to engage store-front businesses in solutions.

Yet there’s a lot of things we can do, and one of the most important is to raise awareness and engage in action. As a faculty member at one of the most prestigious universities in Canada, and in one of the best departments (Political Science) with some of the smartest and most engaged undergraduate students I have ever met, I take policy action and education on homelessness very seriously. This semester, I asked my students to undertake a quick 72 hour policy analysis to explore how to solve youth homelessness in the Metro Vancouver area.

For those of us (faculty members, educators and teachers) who are interested in this issue, there’s a Teacher’s Guide to Homelessness Issues in British Columbia.

More information about Homelessness Action Week 2011 can be found on their website.

Homelessness Action Week, is in its sixth year, and is organized by the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness. The week focuses on increasing awareness and action around homelessness and supports events for people who are homeless and general public around Metro Vancouver and many communities throughout BC and the Yukon.

And since today is Canadian Thanksgiving, do consider donating or doing something for those less fortunate than you, those who are on the streets and don’t have a warm meal to eat while you’re at home having a family feast. Because trust me, there are WAY more homeless people than the counts can yield.

On motivational quotes…

Raul — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:00:23 +0000

Frequently, on my personal Twitter stream, I post motivational quotes (such as the one shown here, which is at the entrance of the New Westminster campus of The Network Hub in River Market). One of the reasons, actually the primary reason why I do it is to motivate myself and have a dialogue, an inner conversation that in fact has an external component (e.g. the fact that I share it with my audience online). Much as I do share a lot of content with my followers because I feel I’m a bit of a curator of information, motivational quotes I’ll fully confess I share them out of selfishness: I love being motivated, and I share my motivational quotes with whoever reads me.

No related posts.

A Parisian hummingbird

Raul — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:00:41 +0000

My very close friend ML just came back from spending more than a month in Europe travelling through some of my favorite cities, including Paris (France). Having spent extended periods of my life in Paris, and feeling as Parisian as they can come (even though French is, out of the 7 languages I speak, the second one I speak less fluently – I almost forgot most of my Japanese).

Photo credit: Guillaume Cattiaux, on Flickr

ML was kind enough to brave the tourist crowds in Montmartre and find me a glass-blown hummingbird at an artist’s shop. She brought it for me for my birthday (which was just a couple of weeks ago). Could not have been more timely. In the past few months, I have been feeling a really strong nomadic desire.

Photo credit: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, on Flickr

Don’t get me wrong: I love Vancouver, and I have the best framework for success here. I teach at one of the top Canadian universities, have some of the brightest undergraduate students any academic could ask for, and I have wonderful academic and consulting colleagues. I have one of the fullest and happiest lives of anybody I know. I have amazing friends and someone who fills my life and completes me in ways I never thought could be possible.

Photo credit: Moyann Brenn, on Flickr

Yet, I’m feeling nomadic again. I’ve travelled the world, lived in Europe, North America, and I consider myself a citizen of the world. And the more I think about it, the more I think I’m going to move to Paris in the short term. Not sure when, and not sure how, but I think I’ll end up teaching at Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, or more likely, Sciences Po.

Sciences Po is a selective and diverse French university specialising in the humanities and social sciences. It devotes 40% of its budget to research

Photo credit: Moyann Brenn, on Flickr

It’s timely that I now own (and have in my office at The Network Hub campus New Westminster) a Parisian hummingbird. For all I know, I might be the Parisian hummingbird, much sooner than you think. That’s the life of the academic, and the life of a traveller who has been living abroad for decades.

Despite this, let me tell you Vancouver: Je t’aime.

I am human, I’m fallible, I’m imperfect and I’m quite ok with that…

Raul — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:50:28 +0000

“Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.
– David M. Burns”

The husband of one of my best friends is a PhD in psychology who has studied perfectionism for a very long time. The irony is, despite the fact that I had him near me to have a conversation about his research every day when we lived on campus residence, I never really paid much attention to what he was studying, even though I am a perfectionist myself, in spite of the fact that I come from a family of overachievers who are very much perfectionists themselves, and despite the reality that I sometimes have found myself self-berating for not achieving some sort of semi-impossible perfect standard. While never paid much attention to it, I did find it fascinating that psychologists would be interested in understanding perfectionism.

I KNOW I’M A PERFECTIONIST. I always have been. I really sometimes don’t know why, but I know I am. I like things well done, and sometimes I have a hard time when I fail. This is not news to me. But I am far from perfect. I am quite imperfect. I am fallible. And I’m quite ok with that.

I’m ok with it now.

Before, I would continue to self-flagellate until I achieved some sort of inner peace. I would work twice, three times as hard. But lately I have come to the realization again that perfection is not the goal. Success is what I strive for. I want to be successful, not perfect.

Recently, I realized that I put an inordinate amount of pressure on myself, on doing too many things for too many people. I’m quite successful at completing multiple projects, but sometimes things slip. Blogging is one of them. This weekend, I realized that I hadn’t blogged about some events, theatre shows, etc. Even after the fact that now 2 interns collaborate with me, sometimes that’s not even enough and I have to say NO, SORRY, CAN’T DO IT to way too many pitches I receive. I’ve dropped the ball in more than one case, and while this is improving with having Anabelle and Jessica to give me a hand, sometimes things slip through the cracks.

AND I FEEL HORRIBLE.

BUT THAT’S OK.

Because my income doesn’t depend on it. My livelihood doesn’t depend on it. If I can’t blog about something, well… I can’t blog about something, period. If sometimes I drop the ball and a post is published after the point where it’s useful (or it is not published at all) that’s my call to make, and it’s my right to NOT be perfect. I feel awful when something with my contests goes awry (as it did this weekend), particularly because I feel that it reflects poorly on me and my work ethic. And I hold myself to really high standards.

But the truth is that, long as I continue to give my clients, my students and my colleagues my best, I don’t see why I need to be perfect, an overachiever, or do everything. I’m a human. And I’m quite ok with being a human, and with not being perfect.

On the myth of the death of the printed book, and an ode to libraries

Raul — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:53:06 +0000

photo credit: ShironekoEuro

Recently, a number of friends of mine have been tweeting, nostalgically, about how they prefer the smell of a book. Or how someone else laughed or commented with snark at someone who dropped their electronic reader (e-reader, like the Amazon Kindle) and said “real books don’t break“. Unfortunately I haven’t had the time to search for solid statistics (this report on the state of the book industry in Canada is more than 4 years old).

But even if book sales decline, books aren’t really going to “die”, and the industry won’t die either. Yesterday, I was interviewed by The Ubyssey on Access Copyright and Open Access (I use e-journals and electronic, open access readings for my courses, and don’t use books). So you could say I’m one of the contributors to the decline of the book publishing industry.

Nevertheless, as I was exercising this morning, it occurred to me the impossibility of doing scholarly research online only, without any print materials. When I am writing an academic research paper (or when I was writing any of my books, or my doctoral dissertation years ago), I need to have enough surface to spread books, journal articles and notes and then assemble my thoughts and ideas.

Note the physical impossibility of having 25 e-readers on a desk and keep them open on a specific page. Same for journals. That’s what I love about libraries, and especially UBC libraries. I can grab some desk space or a table, open a few books on the topic I’m writing about, spread my printed journal articles and notes, and assemble my research and thoughts. You CANNOT, physically, do that with ONLY electronic resources. And if you say you can, you know you are wrong.

photo credit: quinn.anya

There is a place for print books, there is a place for printed materials and there is a place for libraries. And I know that libraries are transforming themselves and moving to more electronic resources. That’s awesome because even I have benefited from that – I do a lot of VPN’ing into my library and look for electronic journals. But when it comes down to the writing, I need the physical access to multiple books in one location. That’s what libraries, in my opinion, are for. And that’s why I think the death of the printed book is a myth, and why I love libraries SO MUCH. I am pretty sure that, for as long as someone needs to write a scholarly book or journal article, or school paper, or even report, there’ll be a need for libraries and print books.

What do YOU think?

On slowing down, thinking hard and the wise management of time

Raul — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:03:22 +0000

photo credit: srta.G

In the past few weeks, I have slowly but steadily been regaining more time for myself. As I reflect on the talk I gave at Freelance Camp Vancouver 2011, I have begun to ponder what exactly did I do with my time to this day. The past week I have somehow found time to blog on my research site about scholarly applications of social media (in teaching and in research).

I have found the time to write a literature review, edit a grant proposal and meet with students and colleagues. AND prepare my lectures. AND be on top of my work, consulting, and writing.

Doing many things at once and wearing many hats (e.g. being a “Renaissance man”) has taken its toll on my ability to spend extended periods of time reflecting and thinking hard about issues. If I want to create scholarship that will further our understanding of environmental policy and public policy, I need to be able to spend extended periods of time concentrating and thinking hard about the issues.

When I first recruited Anabelle and Jessica as my interns, I told them that my goal was to buy myself 30 hours a week of time for my scholarly research. That’s precisely my goal, and they have been amazing at taking on many of the tasks that managing Hummingbird604.com has presented me with.

photo credit: jgoge

I have been pondering a number of things and trying to find the time to do them all: Redesign Hummingbird604.com (specially re-theming it, something I’ve been thinking of doing for more than a year now); edit my academic CV to reflect more accurately what I do; re-shape my consultancy website. Map out my scholarly research agenda for the next 5-10 years. All of these things require time for me to sit down, alone and just THINK.

In an era where I am continuously bombarded with information, I have decided to trim down on a number of things. I am going to unfollow a substantial number of people (sorry folks, the fire hose approach is not working for me). I’m going to spend less time being active on social media, and social media events. And I’m going to start redirecting efforts towards my scholarly research agenda.

All of these changes to my life are a reflection of one of the tips I gave when I spoke at Freelance Camp Vancouver 2011: I am a tyrant with my time. I have a right to be. Now, a caveat and clarification: the fact that I decide to spend LESS time on social media doesn’t mean I have failed to manage my life WITHIN social media. Much to the contrary. I have worked in the space, put in the hours, done my time and gained a lot of insight into how I want to use social media and how much time I want to spend on it.

Now, it’s time to apply the lessons I’ve learned and stop trying to do EVERYTHING. There’s only one Raul and my goal is to keep him (me) sane. Finding the time to slow down and just THINK is exactly working towards that objective.

National Suicide Prevention Week 2011 (Sep 4-10th, 2011)

Raul — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:57:11 +0000

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Any suicide is sad in and of itself. When people are unable to emerge from the darkness that depression and other forms of mental illness submerges them in, and individuals decide to terminate their own life, it’s definitely as someone said, a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I have many friends who have experienced extremely severe bouts of depression and who have entertained suicidal thoughts.

I also have close friends who have lost a loved one to suicide. It’s thus extremely saddening and really unfortunately eery timing that Trey Pennington (a social media super star from South Carolina and great human being from every tribute I read online, and who was friends with some of my own social media friends) took his own life right around the beginning of National Suicide Prevention Week 2011. How I wish there had been someone with Trey at that moment, someone who could have helped him emerge from the profound darkness where he might have been trapped. How I wish someone could have helped everyone who has taken their own life (we’ve heard of some recent cases in the professional hockey field, like Rick Rypien).

This week marks National Suicide Prevention Week worldwide, ending on World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10th, 2011).

World Suicide Prevention Day is held on September 10th each year. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented. Disseminating information, improving education and training, and decreasing stigmatization are important tasks in such an endeavour. The theme in 2011 is “Preventing Suicide in Multicultural Societies”.

The themes of the last two years of the World Suicide Prevention Day have focussed on suicide prevention in different cultures across the world. This year’s theme aims at raising awareness of the fact that all countries in the world are multicultural. Many countries harbour different minority groups, in the form of various indigenous and/or immigrant groups, refugees and/or asylum seekers. Some countries comprise many different ethnic groups due to artificial borders having been drawn by former colonial powers. This means that in all countries there are a variety of ethnic and religious groups living in the same society.

For the Canadian activities, please check this link. In Vancouver, the second-annual World Suicide Prevention Day is scheduled for Saturday, September 10th, 2011 in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby St) at 12 pm. And if you know of someone (or you, yourself are suffering), know that you are alone. There is help out there.

Some resources if you know someone is suffering and/or considering suicide.

If you need immediate support, please contact 1-800-SUICIDE

Partners in support of World Suicide Prevention Day 2011:
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention
- Canadian Mental Health Association
- CHIMO Crisis Services
- The Child and Adolescent Response Team, Vancouver Coastal Health – Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia
- The Josh Platzer Society for Teen Suicide Prevention and Awareness
- S.A.F.E.R. Suicide Attempt Follow-up Education and Research, Vancouver Coastal Health

On being a child prodigy, growing up and “being a veteran”

Raul — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:47:40 +0000

The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one. — John Maxwell

I firmly believe that the best (though perhaps the most painful) way to grow is to learn from our mistakes. I often have pondered questions like “what if I had done my Masters and PhD in Chemical Engineering as I had planned all along instead of taking the career path I took with an MBA and a PhD in Environmental Studies?”. Or “should I have ever fallen in love, considering I have been heartbroken?” To Raul of 2011, maybe those decisions were (in hindsight) perhaps probably not the smartest ones. But those decisions made me the Raul I am today.

As I was growing up, I was a child prodigy in many ways. I won many “Youngest Ever” awards. I prided myself in being “the first to achieve X, Y or Z”. This fast-paced, grow-and-adapt-quickly-to-ever-changing-conditions behavior has been a consistent pattern for me. It’s one of the things that makes me realize that the hummingbird is, indeed, my spirit animal (or bird, in this case). I’ve always tried to do more things, faster, quicker, first, before anybody else. And of course, at some point, you grow old enough that you can’t win any more “Youngest Ever” awards. I reached that point when I was a PhD student, in fact.

So why have I always raced to the top, why have I always ran to achieve many things? Well, I have always felt that I will not be part of this living world to grow old. Not sure why but that’s something I have always felt. When I first expressed this to my parents, they were worried. My family and close friends get worried when I remind them that I can’t conceptualize myself in say, 30 years. And no, I absolutely have no suicidal tendencies. I just don’t seem to have the ability to think of myself as growing old. And because I have no idea how much time I have borrowed on this planet, I work incredibly hard to achieve as much as I can in the short time span that I have to live. Because let’s admit it, human beings don’t have precisely very long life spans (80-90 years old max in modern societies?)

But being a grown-up doesn’t necessarily equate with growing old. In the past few weeks I’ve been reflecting on how much more grown-up I feel, in particular as of August 2011. That doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. I still do. But I do feel a certain calm. I feel absolutely no need to chase after blogging topics, projects and events. I feel that my blog is moving in a different (and much more focused) pathway. And so am I. As Cathy Browne put it when we had coffee recently, I look and feel older. Not older in the physical aging sense, but in the “old soul” sense. I feel like a veteran. In particular, I feel like a veteran blogger. And my friends seem to agree with this. On three separate occasions I have manifested this “I feel I’m a veteran/an oldie” sensation.

The first time was when I had the chance to hang out with my lovely friends Kate Trgovac and Rosemary Rowe (Kate gave me a laptop bag from her review stash as she knew I needed one) a few weeks ago. I told Kate and Rosemary that for some reason, I feel like I’m one of the veterans, the old guard (let’s face it, I’ve been at this blogging thing for more than 5 years). My peers and friends are many of the “old bloggers”, the established ones. Kate, Rebecca, Tris, Lorraine, Tanya, Airdrie and Derek, Rob and Alex, Arieanna, David, Darren, John, Gus, Isabella, to mention just a few. I told Kate and Rosemary that I didn’t feel in the same kind of “rat race” to achieve success in the blogging sphere as I might have felt a few years ago. For the most part, for whatever is worth and whoever reads my blog, I’m an established blogger.

The second time I thought about this was when Arieanna and Jessica and I had a drink at the Taphouse at the Village in Park Royal a few weeks ago after the Rogers Chocolate store opening. I told Arieanna that I felt older, more established. Like I had achieved with Hummingbird604.com much of what I had set out to accomplish. Many of my dearest and best friends came out of meeting them through the Vancouver Blogger Meetup or at meetups/tweetups/tech events. At drinks with Arieanna and Jessica, feeling that calm sensation of “yes, we were at a media event, but I’m here with a very close and old friend of mine from the blogging world“. I didn’t feel overwhelmed. I just felt… calm.

The third time I thought about this “being a veteran” was this past week at Launch Party Grow. Newer readers of my blog may not know that I owe much of my blogging success (particularly in the early stages) to tech-focused events like Launch Party, Northern Voice and BarCamp. I blogged about and liveblogged these tech events and became friends with the Vancouver tech/startup community and my readership grew by leaps and bounds. This week, even though I was extremely busy with other things, I made a point of attending Launch Party Grow. I felt that I owed it to Maura and Danny, Sonia and Tina to show up to an event that I had never missed and that tries to build community and shine light on the local startup scene. Much of what we do at The Network Hub has a very similar approach and goal. So, yes, I made time in my extremely busy calendar to show up and take photos, say hi to many of my tech friends and blog about Launch Party Grow (post forthcoming).

And recently Cathy Browne also told me that she saw me more poised, focused, calm and “as though I had grown older”. I think I have. And no, I’m not writing a 1,200 word self-praise manifesto. I am just reflecting on the fact that I do, indeed, feel that I’m at a completely different stage in my life. I am nowhere near where I was in 2007. I’ve grown a lot and I have many people to thank for that. Particularly from the blogging community in Vancouver. In fact, I can’t think of myself without adding “blogger” to the definition, despite the fact that my main activity is academic and consultant. Blogging is way too much of a passion and a way of living. It’s too ingrained in my nature. I also think that working on projects with friends (like Jay, John and Minna, Grace, Arieanna, Lisa, Kate and Rebecca) has really changed my view of how much I have in fact accomplished in a short period of time. I feel definitely like a veteran.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Restarting the conversation around depression and mental illness in Canada

Raul — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:24:07 +0000

Photo credit: Matt Stocker on Flickr

Talking about depression still seems to instill fear in people. For one reason or another, it always feels as though people eschew the topic. I have been around people who have experienced severe clinical depression long enough to know that there is a lot of mis-education, mis-information and mis-interpretation of what being depressed means. I can’t claim to have answers, myself. I have never experienced clinical depression, at least not according to the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (which is to be administered by a clinician). There’s an online calculator (as there’s almost always is) for HAM-D (the other acronym for the HRSD).

I have been in really down moods at some points during my career (heck, not even that far ago, last week was a really down week). And for all the work I’ve done in the mental health field, I’m still very much a newbie. I usually defer to Isabella Mori, my co-organizer for Mental Health Camp, when I need to talk with someone about depression or mental illness. I defer to my friends who have spoken openly about having faced depression or bipolar. I can reach out to folks who have survived those bouts of extreme depression, of extreme manifestations of mental illness.

And every time I come across articles that mention depression, particularly in the mainstream media, it strikes me as though there’s still a lot of misinformation. Take the example of the recent passing of Rick Rypien (whom it has been indicated had been suffering from depression, or Amy Winehouse‘s decease). People still talk about depression very much “in the background” rather than acknowledging than no dose of fame, fortune or success will be enough if the depressive (or any other mental illness) symptoms aren’t identified and treated.

Photo credit: Thomas Lieser on Flickr.

You can certainly be a very successful singer or hockey player and still face depression, bipolar, eating disorders or any mood disorders too. Mental illness is pervasive. And we need to learn more about it. Even more, we need to learn to TALK about it. We need to educate people and educate ourselves. In that effort, here is a summary (PDF format) on the realities of mental illness in Canada by the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Read it. I urge you. Share it with your networks. Share it with your friends and loved ones. And if you know of someone who might need help, please direct them to resources. Depression is very real, it’s an invisible illness and it can take a loved one away from you. Don’t let this happen to your loved ones.

On giving it my everything…

Raul — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 02:22:24 +0000

“There’s only one way to succeed in anything and that is to give everything.”
- Vince Lombardi

Every year, JT and I climb The Stawamus Chief in Squamish, not only as a tradition (we used to walk through Shannon Falls until they closed the trail right besides the falls. It’s not a bad hike, but it does require some effort to make it all the way up to the top, and I thoroughly enjoy the challenge. It’s particularly challenging to climb it when you’ve injured yourself, and yet the last time I went all the way up, it hurt.

My wrist wasn’t in good condition, neither was my physique. Yet I persevered and I climbed all the way to the top. I love the view from the top of the Stawamus Chief. It’s a feeling that I don’t think has matched any other of my accomplishments, not even when I walk up the Grouse Grind (note, walk up, not run up). Climbing a mountain has more than one particular meaning. It is also a metaphor for surviving.

The kind of challenges I’ve faced in the past few weeks, and in particular the last one, are nothing like the challenges some of my other friends are facing/have faced AND survived AND thrived. Some of my friends have lost family members, their beloved partners. Me? That’s not the case. Yes, I’ve lost friends, but for the most part, I am doing perfectly ok.

This past week was particularly rough on me as I have been missing people from my life. And no, having other friends available doesn’t really soothe me. It’s an ephemeral proposition. The energy to keep going needs to come from WITHIN me, not FROM anyone else.

For the most part, I give everything I do my all. And then there’s that point where I get tired, overwhelmed, overworked, and I feel miserable and alone. And I complain. And then I realize I have no reason to complain. Life, as I know it, is grand for me. Yeah, the weather has been less than stellar (with the exception of today), but, seriously – is there anything wrong with my life? No, there isn’t. Challenges, I’ll always be facing them. It’s the very nature of life.

But sometimes I’m afraid of making mistakes. And then I realize (as Lorraine said), that not making mistakes means I’m playing it too safe. And I didn’t get to where I am by playing it safe. It’s time to take more risks, perhaps more calculated (and more carefully measured) risks, but not to stop risking.

“Yesterday’s failures are today’s seeds that must be diligently planted to be able to abundantly harvest tomorrow’s successes.”
- Author Unknown

I hope I planted enough seeds this past week, because I am looking forward to more successes. It’s time to getting back to giving it all my all.

The Save Your Skin Foundation

Raul — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:49:08 +0000

This past Pride Weekend (at the beginning of August) I committed a really bad mistake, particularly considering that my Grandmother had skin cancer and her skin tone was very similar to mine. You’ll see, despite being Mexican, my skin tone is much lighter than your “average” Mexican, and as a result, I have to think about always being careful not to over-expose myself to the sun. At the beginning of the day, it was dark, cold and cloudy and thus I didn’t consider that I needed to put sunscreen on my arms, or body. Then I went on and put a spray-on hummingbird tattoo on my arm, near the shoulder.

I will admit that I did not want the sunscreen to have a negative effect and erase the temporary tattoo, so even when the sun got shining, I wasn’t really very well protected. I mentioned on Twitter that I was the poster boy for the Save Your Skin Foundation, and I asked them to comment on my burn. Below is a short blurb that David Barnard, the Executive Director of the Save Your Skin Foundation prepared to comment on my burn. I love what this Foundation is doing.

We just saw Raul’s picture of his sunburn! Ouch! Make sure to take a look at your daily UV index report and pack that sunscreen to protect yourself from those harmful UV rays. After all, none of us want to end up as burnt as Raul after a day fun in the sun.

The Save Your Skin Foundation was created by family, friends, and colleagues of Founder Kathy Barnard, who is currently battling melanoma. Save Your Skin is a Canadian based not‐for‐profit Foundation. Through events and other initiatives, the Foundation focuses on raising funds for education and awareness, providing emotional and financial support to those dealing with skin cancer, and on supporting the ongoing research and treatment of skin cancer. Funds raised go towards providing critical and timely treatments, as well as ongoing education, research, and awareness initiatives.

You can learn more about the Save Your Skin Foundation by following them on Twitter too. Thanks David for answering my request for more information on the Save Your Skin Foundation! I’m keen to promote causes that are associated with preventing and treating cancers of all types.

On self-discovery

Raul — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:00:36 +0000

One of the main things I know about myself, is that I know myself pretty well. This may sound kind of moronic or even counter-intuitive, but it’s definitely true. I know who I am, I know what I want, and I know what kind of work will take me where I want to go. I’m good at defining my own path.

I’m definitely very happy with my life, even more so right now. My consulting, my research, my teaching, and my social media lives are all working like well-greased little engines. But *just* staying there, cruising along, would be akin to stopping myself. Something I can’t nor will be able to afford.

I only half-jokingly referred to my team (Anabelle and Jessica) as Operation Universe Domination Team. I’m definitely not kidding. I know I can take myself, my team, my blog and my life to a completely different level. But to do that, I need to remove the clutter that every few months forms in my brain (and sometimes, in my physical living area) and spend time on self-reflection.

So today, on British Columbia Day (normally a statutory holiday), I’m going to do a tiny, tiny bit of work and then head out and find a beautiful spot in the lower mainland and just sit down and reflect on where I’m going and the pathway I’ve formulated for myself. August is going to be a great month, and I hope that 2011 will end really great.

On to you, my dear readers…

How often do you spend time on self-discovery?

Happy birthday, Marshall McLuhan

Raul — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:46:09 +0000

photo credit: Abode of Chaos

I remember even in my early years of graduate school, I heard somewhere the phrase “the medium is the message”. While I can’t recall where I saw a debate on whether Canadian Marshall McLuhan had actually written “the medium is the message” as such (and I recall having seen an online debate about it), it’s been widely accepted as a key McLuhan phrase. It’s been at least linked once.

By the way, thanks Lois Patterson and Robert Ballantyne for extracts of McLuhan’s works (also thanks to Karen Quinn Fung for this discussion on Marshall McLuhan and Me. My good friend Jesse Hirsch is involved in the 100th anniversary celebration of McLuhan’s birthday in Toronto (check McLuhan 100). I’m an academic nerd, so I am fascinated by academic studies and analyses, and media unfortunately does not escape my analytical mind. I always keep thinking (for better or worse) on the future of media, on the impact of social media in the transformation of the media landscape and the global evolution of society in a fully connected, networked world.

It’s clear that McLuhan had a big impact in society, and in the way we think about media, communications and the evolutionary structure of connection amongst individuals. Happy birthday, Marshall McLuhan.

2011: a year of loss

Raul — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 07:10:57 +0000

photo credit: Andreas Øverland

2011 will go down in history as one of my most successful professional years. I was offered the course I’ve been wanting to teach for 5 years (Latin American Environmental Politics), my consulting practice is thriving and I’m still doing research, publishing papers, doing fieldwork and advancing my academic career. I maintain a 1-2 course load during the academic year and for the first time I’m teaching a summer undergraduate course. Unfortunately, 2011 has also been a year of extreme loss for my loved ones and for me.

As of the time of writing, 8 people close to me have passed away and it’s not even middle of July. I’m at a loss, seriously. And at times, I’m emotionally numb. I’ve had to grieve in the face of life. I’ve had to put up a brave front and continue to do the stuff I’m supposed to be doing. It’s been a really rough year.

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster and one that doesn’t pull punches. The Vancouver riots even left me mentally and emotionally wounded. At times, all I’ve really wanted to do is escape and go to Paris for a year and forget about everything that’s been happening to my loved ones and around me. But I can’t really do that.

So I go on.

And to be quite frank, I don’t even find that much comfort in the online community. I find comfort in my offline life. I find comfort in doing things with the people I love. I find solace in spending time with my Mom, even if I do some work on my laptop while we watch a movie. I love going to Main Street for the Car Free Festival. I love having drinks with my friends, or a coffee, or go for a long walk. Or shop at dollar stores. You know, REAL LIFE.

2011 has showed me in many ways that, while my friend Alexandra Samuel is right in that online is also real life, and at times it also has kept me sane, I very much cherish my offline life. And I intend to continue living it to the fullest, for however long I’m borrowed to this world.

My interview with David Berner on The Power of Social Media in Public Policy

Raul — Fri, 20 May 2011 03:07:15 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by David Berner to be a guest on his show on Shaw Community TV on The Power of Social Media in Public Policy. Given my experience in the field (I teach and do research on Public Policy, and I have a strong social media presence and work and consult on this topic), I felt particularly honored and felt that this was an incredibly fitting opportunity to discuss issues of how we use social media in public policy. Below is the full 30 minute show.

Thanks to David for inviting me to his show and giving me the opportunity to discuss issues that I’m passionate about and that I’m currently working on. It was a wonderful conversation. And I think it’s particularly timely.

Heteronormative wedding imagery: Are we really ready for gay marriage in Canada?

Raul — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:00:53 +0000

It’s been a while since I have posted an opinion piece on my blog. Mostly, I write about food, theatre, dance, lifestyle, music, cocktails, wine, restaurants, and events. But last night I was browsing websites associated with weddings (ironically, not because I’m thinking of my own wedding, but because of the fact that the Vancouver Parks Board has a few suggested sites where people can get married in Vancouver). Shall make note… but I digress!

Photo credit: European Parliament, on Flickr.

I began reflecting and pondering on the fact that most of the photographic imagery I find on websites that offer wedding services (location rentals, and the like) showcased heterosexual couples. Admittedly, queer folks (gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and double-spirited) are a minority rather than a majority. But you would think that you would find in a country that is celebrating 6 years of the legalization of gay marriage in Canada, many websites would contain queer-positive wedding imagery.

Photo credit: Darcy and Katherine

My good friend Candice Albach (Albach Studios) recently hosted a photography reception called TYPO at the Roundhouse Community Centre, where she aimed to break down stereotypical imagery. She took an absolutely beautiful photo of two gay men and their child (see photo to the right). The way she built the sequence of photographs, you would think that a stereotypical family would be a man, a woman and a child. And I couldn’t help but be profoundly moved by the beauty of the photo that Candice captured. I have many good friends who are gay couples and have children and their families are absolutely beautiful.

Why is it that, despite the openness and welcoming attitude of Canadians, and especially Vancouverites (where the queer population is quite visible and noticeable), we still have predominantly heteronormative wedding imagery on Canadian/Vancouverite provider websites? Or am I just making an absolutely broad generalization (which I shouldn’t make, given my academic background).

Photo credit: CarbonNYC, David Goehring on Flickr.

I’m just noting anecdotes of the numerous websites I browsed that depicted wedding imagery, and I began to ponder. And when I ponder, I turn to my blog to have a conversation with my readers. Would love to hear your thoughts.

The power of vulnerability: A TEDxHouston talk by Brené Brown

Raul — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 23:33:43 +0000

I recently posted on my Facebook (personal and thus, private) Wall that I didn’t really get what the appeal was for TED (the brand) and TED talks in general. Call me skeptic, but most of the TED talks I have seen don’t seem all that inspiring to me. Nor the TEDx talks. Obviously, given that some of the folks I am friends with are involved with the TEDx movements, it also looks kind of bad (potentially) to post on my decently-widely-read blog that I eschew TED and TEDx talks, in general. It’s perhaps a bad social move. Why? Because by dissing the brand, people (and in general those of my friends who have organized TEDx events or spoken at TEDx) may get the wrong impression I don’t appreciate their hard work.

Nothing further from the truth.

But here I am, baring my own thoughts for the world to read. Even my thoughts that criticize TED and TEDx as elitist brands. And in a nothing-short-of-spectacular-life-coming-back-full-circle way, I found through two completely different routes the TEDxHouston 2010 talk of Dr. Brené Brown on the power of vulnerability (Dr. Brown studies vulnerability in a very different way to the way *I* study vulnerability – I study vulnerability and resilience of urban ecosystems, whereas she studies human behavior, compassion and courage – but I digress). And for the second time ever (the first, Jane McGonigal’s talk on games and saving the world) I felt inspired and I felt a real connection to the topic.

And the crazy thing is: I felt inspired by a TEDx talk.

You’ll see – a couple of years ago, I had a fantastic phone conversation with my friend Robert Ballantyne, who indicated to me that perhaps one of the reasons why my blog and my online persona (as Hummingbird604) are so successful is that I show myself vulnerable (not as the ivory-tower academic self that I also have). Not weak, not incapable of doing anything, just vulnerable. And what Brené said in her talk, being able to be comfortable with being vulnerable is actually really empowering, resonated with me and with the conversation I had with Robert. So much so that I had to blog about it.

Being able to say “I love you”first, is perhaps one of the key phrases that Brené’s talk really resonated in my brain. I love fully, completely, deeply, even though I have been heartbroken. I do everything I do with passion, with love and with my whole self. As Brené’s research would indicate, I live wholeheartedly. And I love it.

It really inspired me to see the theme of vulnerability permeate through my own academic, teaching and online lives. Like Brené, I am BOTH an academic AND a storyteller. And like Brené, I love qualitative research (we just focus on very different things). And I also remembered last fall, when I attended Susanne Conrad’s workshop at Imagine 1 Day, I remembered what my friend André Malan said to me: “you are a lot more human and less bullet-proof than Hummingbird604 is”. And it’s true. I’m vulnerable. And I’m quite happy with it.

In letting my students see both of my lives (my quite-neatly-separated personal and professional selves), I recognize there’s an inherent vulnerability. But that’s also what makes me different and puts me in a very different position to other educators who may or may not want to show a vulnerable side of them: I am a human being too, and in being human, I also may have pitfalls and shortcomings. I’m not only the flawless, hard-working professor Pacheco, but I am also Raul, who can at times feel exhausted, frustrated, and why not? sad too.

For the second time ever, a TED talk has inspired me, and I want to thank Brené Brown, PhD for a most inspiring message: vulnerability DOES have inner power. And quite frankly, unashamedly and unabashedly, I honestly believe I am enough (if you watch Brené’s talk, you will understand what I meant by that).

For your viewing pleasure, here is her TEDx talk.

Do actions speak louder than words? On saying “I love you”

Raul — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 02:08:42 +0000

photo credit: GabrielaP93

I’ve blogged about how it looks almost as though some particular cultural groups and ethnicities seem to be able to say “I love you” more often than others. I am the kind of guy who will say “I love you” way faster and way earlier than other folks will say it to me. Saying it (and obviously meaning it) comes naturally to me, and I’m not sure if it’s my Latin blood or just the nature of who I am.

My brothers are very loving too, but they aren’t that particularly affectionate. They will often do stuff that clearly demonstrates how profoundly they love me, but they don’t usually say to me “I love you” or at least, not as often as I do.

This weekend, while at dinner with JT and one of his very best friends, we talked about saying I love you”. It occurred to me today that, while I definitely appreciate the gestures (and in particular, the grand gestures), I’m quite fond of being told “I love you”. As Valentine’s Day approaches, I usually tend to be more ‘mushy’ and affectionate towards my friends, because V-Day to me is more about the friendship than it is about romantic love.

I’m not saying that actions are irrelevant. Words without actual meaning or actions, don’t really show much love. But I think there is value in saying “I love you” as much as meaning it and doing stuff for your loved ones (friends, family and/or romantic partners).

What do YOU think?

Grant me the serenity…

Raul — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:29:24 +0000

photo credit: CanadaPenguin

I saw on the Facebook page of a very dear friend of mine something that reminded me of this prayer. It’s attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr although I also read on the Wikipedia page that its authorship is sometimes disputed. I heard similar versions when I was in high school (attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi). With a life as hectic and fast-paced as mine, sometimes confronted with challenges that somehow seem unsurmountable, it was nice to remember this as JT himself gave me a reminder this past week about how I need to learn to be patient. Hummingbirds aren’t patient, but it’s time for me to remind myself of the need to be serene and quiet within myself sometimes.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that You will make all things right If I surrender to Your Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen

On the digital disconnect (or how to take a real holiday from online life)

Raul — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:10:47 +0000

Last year, I attempted (quite unsuccessfully I might add) to completely disconnect from the world. No email, no Twitter, no Facebook. While I know that my good friend Gillian Shaw, the digital editor of the Vancouver Sun did, indeed, manage to break the umbilical cord with the social networking platforms, I have had a rough time. So rough that even if I said I wouldn’t check Twitter, I’ve had to deal with a couple of things (mostly, contests and stuff I had already prescheduled and needed to get done or edits to posts I had written), so in the end I have (though very, very infrequently) checked briefly my email, peeked a couple of times on my Twitter stream and gave a quick visit to Facebook.

photo credit: adria.richards

For the most part, disconnecting is going about 80% well, I would say. I’ve gotten SO MUCH WORK done. I’ve been able to say “no, you don’t need to check Twitter/Facebook/email for the next 6 hours” and in fact, do it. But I am still blogging. Mostly, because I want to make sure all my posts are scheduled for the 10 days that I plan to completely, totally disconnect.

I think the fact that it’s taken me a solid 3 days to wean myself out from checking Twitter (which, admittedly, I checked four times over the course of the past 3 days) is a testament to how strongly embedded Twitter is in my personal life. But the thing is, I’ve already done this. I’ve disconnected for a full 24, 48 and 72 hours. All I need to do is refocus. Don’t let the curiosity get the best of me.

And learn to make people wait until I respond. Because I’m always the hummingbird. Always the fast. Always the one who has a response RIGHT THERE AND THEN. Truth is, nobody needs me to respond immediately. And even *I* can (and am supposed to) take holidays. But it’s sooooo hard to disconnect. All of the above said, since I announced my digital holidays on Wednesday, my community on Twitter and on my blog have been incredibly respectful of my time and know that I am actually not checking my social streams. In fact, every tweet you’ve seen on my stream except for one on Christmas Day were fully pre-scheduled. And I cross-posted a couple of photos iPhone -> Flickr -> Twitter.

But I’ve managed to stop myself from checking! And it’s incredibly re-invigorating. I am indeed blogging, but for the most part, the content you’re reading is stuff I had pre-written and pre-scheduled. There IS value for taking a digital holiday. And I am enjoying it to the fullest.

Making things happen: On why I can’t move to a different country

Raul — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 02:47:27 +0000

My very good friend Minna Van (one of the cofounders of The Network Hub, the coworking space where my consultancy studio has an office) and I have a number of characteristics that make us very compatible as friends and very similar in our behaviours and attitudes. First, we both work insanely hard. Second, we are both very caring and focus a lot on our personal relationships. But third, we both like making things happen. Minna and I have a standing joke: whenever see each other and talk about a project, we both flail our arms and wave our hands in unison, while saying “let’s make it happen“.

And we do.

We have the ability to make things happen.

And that’s something I just can’t let go of.

Whenever I think back about what has happened to me in 2010 (perhaps one of my absolute best years), and in fact in the past couple of years, I think about all the wonderful things I have made happen. I ponder about whether I would have been able to co-organize Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2009 and 2010 if I didn’t have the support system I have. If I would have had the support for the BC Cancer Foundation that I did during my Blogathon in 2009. I wonder if I could have been able to face all the challenges and make all the things that I (in collaboration with a number of people, because nobody achieves things only on their own) made possible this year.

I am successful here not only because I work really hard but because I have the infrastructure, the framework, the relationships, the collaborative network, the friendships and love of the people who support my work. Moving back to Mexico (or moving elsewhere in the world) would mean starting all over again.

And I don’t know if I can or want to do that.

Maybe the hummingbird is not a migratory bird after all.

On advancing my field of research (in environment and public policy)

Raul — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 22:04:45 +0000

This post is probably most suited for my research blog, but I feel it has a personal element to it, so that’s why I decided to write it on here. I am cleaning my apartment and (quite obviously) there’s a lot of older research stuff that I am sorting and packing away (stuff that I read when I was doing my PhD, old books, some of my research interview tapes).

I came across the January-February 2000 issue of a journal called “Business Strategy and the Environment” (which I think has morphed now into Corporate Environmental Strategy). In my early career, I focused a lot on regulatory versus non-regulatory policy instruments (in plain English, on how and under what conditions do people comply with environmental regulations and standards, and whether having a voluntary agreement to reduce pollution actually works).

It hit me abruptly, after I read it, that we are still asking the same question in 2010. It’s been a decade and we still haven’t seen much conclusive work in the regulatory realities of environmental law enforcement. I mused on Twitter that I felt I hadn’t advanced my field that much. But truth be told, at least I try. I work hard, long hours to try and understand human-environment interactions and the best way to design environmental policy.

I may have not advanced my field much, but it’s so vast and broad, at least I feel I have contributed, even if a tiny bit.

On early mornings, discipline and routines

Raul — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:02:08 +0000

I used to be a night owl. I used to do my best work between 9 pm and 4 am. That was probably the biggest problem I had when I was working full time. But since I did research in an R&D centre, I never had that problem. Or at least I didn’t, so much. But I’ve been reflecting on early mornings, discipline and routines for a while.

It was over a year and a few months ago that I decided to just wake up early in the morning, like any usual person who has a 9am-5pm job. I decided there would be no more late nights for me. I have been extremely disciplined with this, and only once this year I broke the rule.

My routine every morning, without going into much detail is usually as follows: I wake up around 4:45am to 5:00am, I check Twitter, my email for anything urgent, prepare my gym bag, head to the gym, workout for a solid 30-45 minutes or more, walk home, check Twitter again while I have breakfast and my coffee, read the news, then head to the university (or my office downtown), and start working on projects.

I usually devote my evenings to social events, arts performances, or seeing my friends. And then I do a bit more work when I get home. I try to be in bed by 10pm, but sometimes I have so much work I stay up, and I don’t get enough sleep. But what I have realized is that having these routines and staying disciplined has actually had a very, very positive impact on my life.

And I like that.

Are you a morning person? Do you follow routines? Do you stay disciplined? Have at it on the comments section!

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women – December 6, 2010

Raul — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:28:24 +0000

photo credit: Joanne and Matt

I am a chemical engineer, and within my group of peers, there were 5 women (40 men and 5 women). Interestingly enough, 4 of the 5 women (and yours truly) were always at the top of the class when it came to grades. I’ve always believed in women equality (my Mom is an academic, also a PhD and a very strong woman). In my brain, I can’t really fathom how someone could, in 1989, open fire at Montreal Polytechnique and kill 14 women. Just because they were women and because they wanted to be engineers. It just boggles my mind. Some of my best female friends are chemical engineers. I learned to love chemical engineering because of my Separation Processes professor. So, for me, women can be just as good engineers as men.

From the Status of Women Canada website:

December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. They died because they were women.

I was pleased to see a number of elements and events at UBC memorializing and paying tribute to the young women whose lives were cut short by a senseless act of violence. It made me very proud of being a faculty member here. I hope this tragic event never, ever repeats itself.

Liveblogging vs. live-tweeting in social media events

Raul — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:09:31 +0000

I have been unable to attend two of the latest Third Tuesday Vancouver, and I (as others often do) relied heavily on the live-tweets that people sent and hashtagged “3tyvr”. Third Tuesday Vancouver is one of the three major social media meetups in our beautiful city (the others being, Social Media Club Vancouver and Vancouver Bloggers Meetup, the meetup organized by yours truly).

Both of the previous months’ Third Tuesday Vancouver meetups were of interest to me, and I caught myself in a whirlwind both of work and having to deal with personal issues (friends needed time with me and I will always ditch anything for my loved ones), so I missed being there in person. I tried to follow the Twitter stream with live-tweets hashtagged #3tyvr and it was an absolute mess.

Sorry guys, I know that many of you live-tweeted as well as you could for those of us who couldn’t get in on the action, but I find it really hard to draw any actual insights from the live tweets. There is a reason why I blogged earlier this year about how important it was to have liveblogs of talks.

You’ll see, for a couple of years, I liveblogged almost every single meetup in Vancouver (2008-early 2009). I attended the vast majority of them, many times along with my good friend Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604), and we would both liveblog events (for the most part, entirely free) in benefit of the community at large. We both liveblogged Northern Voice 2009. We both liveblogged many of the BarCamp 2009 sessions. But I got to a point where I refused to do any more liveblogging for free (actually, ANY work for free). And I also got way too busy with my consulting, my research and my teaching.

The reality is, there is a real dearth of liveblogs of events out there in Vancouver anymore. With the exception of some Social Media Club events I’ve seen liveblogged, and a few times that I have volunteered my own blog to capture the live-tweetage of conferences, liveblogging is primarily, not done. I know that this post may not earn me any sympathies, but I wish there were more people in Vancouver doing what Rebecca and I used to do for the community: liveblog events. Because the live-tweeting is just not cutting it anymore.

I recognize that liveblogging is an activity that is draining, takes time and technical expertise and savvy. I know that better than anyone. It should be rewarded as a professional activity. People should hire and pay livebloggers. I have been in fact one of the people who have championed being paid to do work that we used to do for free. Of course, you could say that *I* could very well pay to have the events I miss liveblogged. That’s not the point (and I won’t, of course).

The point is, live-tweeting is good for quick snippets of thoughts, but we need a real long form liveblog. Live-tweeting brings up one important issue – attribution. In 140 characters, how do you attribute a particular thought to a particular speaker? I saw lots of examples of thoughts that were the panel’s that were being re-tweeted as though they were the person live-tweeting. And I can list many other examples.

There is a reason why liveblogs should come back. And there is a point where they’ll come back. I am feeling that this might be the time.

It does get better… with a strong support network

Raul — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:01:17 +0000

photo credit: keepitsurreal

Monday evening, right after I finished teaching my Environmental Politics and Policy class, I stayed behind in the classroom to check the news. I have been so busy I haven’t had enough time to really follow what’s happening in the world. I came across the news of the suicide of a gay teen who studied at Rutgers University, Tyler Clementi. The more I dug into the story, the more my blood boiled. I felt outraged.

Bullying is wrong in all its forms, and while it’s easy to blame cyberbullying on social media as an enabling agent, online technologies aren’t to blame: it’s society at large and its corrupt behavioral norms.

As I walked towards the bus stop, tears kept rolling down my cheeks. I pondered if my students would see me shedding tears and what they would think. But then I reflected on the reason why I felt so sad: young kids’ lives cut short, because they couldn’t cope with societal pressure and bullying. What are we doing to help them?

I called my Mom when I got home and told her about the story. Her heart broke too. I was relentlessly bullied in an all-male grade school (that’s why I had to learn martial arts). I told her “that could have been me, 15 years ago” and then she said “but you weren’t”. I thought to myself – what, exactly, helped me survive grade-school bullying? And I realized that it had never been my friends. My “friends” sided with my bullies. My brothers, on the other hand, jumped to protect me and never let anyone hurt me.

My parents were always there for me, and we were one strong family unit. I never had the support from my secondary school, nor from teachers, nor from counsellors. It was my family.

I have considered whether to develop an “It Gets Better” video (as per Dan Savage’s campaign), but I have been pondering whether it actually accomplishes anything. Because the truth is, I feel as though if I say “it does get better and I’m an example of it“, it will sound empty. What exactly does “it gets better” say? “I was strong and had the support network to survive, hopefully you do too?” … I am not sure.

All I can say is if there is any way in which I can help struggling kids who are being bullied, I hope I can find a way to help them. Because life does get better, and they should be alive to see it. My life is amazing, right now. And I was bullied when I was a kid, so in a way, I suppose I am an example of how it does get better. I still don’t know how to help…

Living my life as an open book: The Living Library Project at UBC’s @ikblc

Raul — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:36:39 +0000

A few months ago, I was invited by Glenn Drexhage (Communications Officer at the Irving K. Barber Library at UBC) to be part of the first-ever “Living Library” event on campus. I am both an alumnus from UBC and a faculty member, so I thought it would be good for me to give back to the community and share my experiences, as a “living book”.

photo credit: adactio

The event ran for 3 hours, which I thought at the beginning would be A LOT of time, and in truth, I wish the event had gone for longer. 3 hours is very little time if you have a long line of people who want to “read” you. By the time the event was over, I still had someone having a conversation with me. It was really a delightful event (and, true to my social media split personality, I live-tweeted my experience).

There were several elements that stood out and made me reflect on the event itself. First, the mere fact of being a “Living Book”. I already live my life as an open book. I am a very public person, in both of my personalities. As an academic, and an educator, I am public because I teach and I publish my research findings. As a social media quasi-internet celebrity, I am public in the way I live my online (and offline) life. My Flickr account and my Twitter stream both are public, and everybody can read my tweets and see my photos. My Facebook account, on the other hand, is extremely private, and I have refused many invitations to be Facebook friends, even from people I really, really like (sorry, it’s not you, it’s me). So, it was interesting to be an “open book” in person, speaking with people much in the way I do at social media events, or when I give talks.

I was also absolutely delighted with the interactive nature of the Living Library project. Contrary to what happens with books (where the interaction is unidirectional, you read the book, it’s not like you can talk to the book), in the Living Library project I was able to learn just as much from my “readers” (those who “signed me out”). My fellow Living Books mentioned similar (and delightful) experiences. This reflexivity made me ponder the nature of interactive media and the whole process of learning. While reading academic books allows me to learn, interacting with other individuals is a much richer form of learning.

None of the “readers” asked me the same thing, which was also a real treat. I got a chance to explain why I choose to have very separate lives (as a social media power user and as an academic), how I developed my academic career, what drew me to social media and how has blogging influenced my writing, and whether it has furthered my career. Overall, it was a delightful experience, and one that I would repeat as well.

Several comments from the “readers” made my day, but one stood out from them all: the last “reader” I had said to me “WOW, I hope they can repeat this event. I would come to the library *JUST* for this!“.

THAT is the definition of a successful event. Customer satisfaction at its best.

Complementary skills: Thinking for the web and writing for the web

Raul — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:50:52 +0000

photo credit: Ethan Hein

As an academic, before I started writing a blog, all I thought about was how to conduct my research in a rigorous, theoretically-sound, empirically-testable way. My writing was intended to explain phenomena and describe my research methodology in an accurate and precise way. Then I entered the world of tech (via blogging)

While I began hanging out with tech types, reading tech blogs and engaging on social networking sites, I sometimes continued to write in “academiquese”. My writing was jargon-laden and often abstruse. Then I realized that there was a world out there of things I had never thought about, until I started creating my own website and writing for a broader audience. I designed my research website from scratch and personalized Hummingbird604.com as it is right now.

I began to think about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I learned to write keyword-rich text and found about the meaning of “content strategy“. Copywriting, DNS-propagation and clean URLs all became part of my vocabulary. And as I was having beers with my good friend Susie Gardner (co-author of Blogging for Dummies, in case you were wondering) the other day, I realized that to be successful online, you need to know a bit about how to build websites (thinking for the web) and about how to write compelling content that will be crawled by search engines and found and engage your reader (writing for the web). Susie agreed with my viewpoint, adding that you may not need to be a website builder, but know enough about how to make websites to make your writing shine in said website.

It seems to me as though the most successful people online are those who are able to master, to some solid degree, both sets of complementary skills. What do you think?

Empowering women in traditionally-male-dominated professions: Interurban bus drivers

Raul — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:00:48 +0000

A couple of months ago, my niece E asked me for my thoughts about women in traditionally-male professions (e.g. engineering, science, math, to name but a few). One of the professions where I did not see women as I grew up was interurban bus driver. Same with taxi drivers. It seemed to me as though women were not encouraged to drive buses from city to city.

And then I recently met this lovely lady

She drove the Greyhound all the way from Whistler to Vancouver, and it was a breeze, a very safe ride. I ponder why are so very few women out there who drive interurban buses and taxi cabs. Any idea why? Why are so few women in so many traditionally-male-dominated professions?

On privacy, Facebook and the future of our information online

Raul — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:48:21 +0000

If privacy is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy.
~ Philip Zimmermann

I never wanted to be on Facebook, in the first place. There, I said it.

I caved and joined Facebook on February 2nd, 2009. For the most part, I joined because (a) my nieces are on Facebook and I like having the opportunity to communicate with them in this social platform (b) a vast majority of my friends, academic colleagues and social media friends are on Facebook, and (c) now a lot of my family members are on the platform. It was kind of a no-brainer.

I resisted joining Facebook for years, as you can tell from all the posts I’ve written about Facebook. When I started becoming more involved in social media, I thought to myself “how much longer will I be able to hold off of Facebook AND still maintain a certain degree of respectability as someone knowledgeable in the field of social media”. I don’t feel comfortably preaching about the sociability and fit of platforms without actually testing them.

Was Quit Facebook Day a success or a failure?

Facebook has progressively eroded the privacy of users, and quite unsurprisingly, there has been a backlash. We all like our privacy, don’t we? At least, I do. But I didn’t quit Facebook. I recently read two very good posts from Tris Hussey and Rob Cottingham assessing the outcome of Quit Facebook Day (May 31st). A good friend of mine indeed, quit Facebook (and even before QFD was announced). I think my friend made the right choice.

On May 31st, reportedly about 30,000 people did quit Facebook (or so pledged). The QFD campaign not only raised awareness of the inappropriate way in which Facebook was handling privacy settings, but more than that, I posit the hypothesis that it pressured Zuckerberg and his team rethink how they were handling this issue. Zuckerberg has been, as most of you can tell, grilled and attacked left, right and center for his mis-management of people’s information, and for his position on privacy (i.e. that everything should be public).

Orwell, surveillance and who controls your information

We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government.
~ William Orville Douglas

Many people worry about government surveillance, and how bureaucracies control citizen’s information. But Facebook is not a government agency, and it is not a regulated space either. It’s a free online social networking platform. One of the key issues here, being the word “free“. In the case of government agencies, citizens can pressure them and hold them accountable with their votes. In the case of corporations, citizens can hold them accountable with their money (making responsible choices and eschewing businesses that don’t respect their rights). But in the case of a free online platform, how can we make them accountable if we don’t pay for it. It becomes a sticky issue. You get what you pay for (or in this case, what you DON’T pay for). And the sad case with Facebook, is that it seems that, despite touting itself as a private social network, it seems as though it would be moving towards a business model where our privacy is protected by paying for it (EDIT – just discovered this great post by Shel Israel asking Zuckerberg to step down from Facebook CEO position, where Shel makes the point that customers/users should be first, regardless of whether you pay or not).

Facebook’s new privacy settings and the future of our information online

One of the biggest problems that I have with Facebook is that, from the start, it promoted itself as a private network where people would only have access to your information if they were your friends. By loosening privacy settings and allowing third parties to access people’s information, Facebook effectively stripped the users from the right to choose what information they share with the world. If Facebook touted itself as a non-private network in the free version and a private network in the premium version, I would not have a problem with that. Because then, those who choose to join a free version would be fully aware of what rights to privacy they are giving away when using a free network.

The problem comes when you are told that your information is safe and private and then you discover it is not. More than anything, the backlash against Facebook, I believe, is the perceived breach of trust. This reminds me of something that my friend John Biehler told me about Facebook, while we were having a Twitter chat – it’s a free service, you should expect that your information is not going to be private.

Twitter allows you to control who can see your tweets (by giving you the choice to protect them). But once you tweet, nobody stops somebody else who follows you from retweeting something that you might not want the world, but only your friends and followers, to know. These online platforms aren’t very good at giving the user the choice as to how much information they want to share with the world. So when I tweet something, I make sure it’s something I can back up and own up to.

Own your presence online, under your own terms and responsibly

After careful deliberation, I decided that I will continue to use Facebook as a free social networking platform, but I have made substantial adjustments to my privacy settings. In fact, I know that some people may not feel very happy that I haven’t accepted them as Facebook friends. Sorry. The thing is, I am (much as people see me as a public figure) in fact, a very private person. I’m private with my personal life, and I’m fiercely protective of my friends’ privacy.

I put a lot of content out there on the web, but I own the information I post (be it videos, photos, comments or blog entries). And by “own”, I mean, I am fully aware of what I post and what I don’t. I own my online presence in my own terms. I made a choice to be public, others should have that same right too. Because I have a right to privacy, and so do you.

In closing, if there is one recommendation I can make when dealing with Facebook and every other online social platform or space is – think about what privacy means to you and adjust your online behaviour accordingly. Don’t post anything you don’t want the world to know, and be aware that being private doesn’t mean you can’t have content on the web. I really enjoy how Derek says in a recent post that “he seems to have the online privacy instincts of a 17 year old” (read his recent post on Facebook, which is also noteworthy along with Tris’ and Rob’s). From what a recent Pew report indicates, it would appear teenagers ARE indeed more concerned with privacy than some older people are.

I believe in privacy, I believe in choice, and in the right to choose what information we share with whom and to what extent their privacy is maintained. Don’t expect Facebook or any other online tool to give you that right, but also, don’t let Facebook nor any other online platform strip you of that right either.

The relevance of the BP oil spill for global environmental politics

Raul — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:04:12 +0000

photo credit: centralasian

Having had one of the world’s foremost authorities on climate change as a PhD advisor when I was doing my doctorate was a bit challenging at times, because a lot of people didn’t understand how could I be supervised by a climate expert and NOT be interested in climate policy at all. I now do a bit of climate work. This year I have started a project on climate change and water, and since 2006 I have incorporated climate-related examples in the classroom when I teach environmental politics.

I have no problem admitting that it irks me when people assume that climate change is THE one and only environmental problem that we have. I can’t even begin to tell you how many people start their conversations with me by mentioning Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth. And of course, I smile sweetly and roll my eyes. I am a pollution control specialist, not a climate one. I will fully admit that, up until I had to start teaching with examples from the climate negotiations, I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in climate policy. My focus was, and continues to be, finding ways to minimize the impact WE (humans) already have on the planet.

I have spent the better part of the last decade studying human behaviour and processes to minimize and curtail pollution in solid waste and in water. I am one of the very, very few social scientists who study wastewater governance, worldwide. Most of the focus on water is on QUANTITY not on QUALITY. And it does disappoint me when people forget that there are MANY other environmental problems worldwide beyond climate. This is one of the reasons why I have never been too fond of the excessive exposure that global warming and climate change have in the media.

While I am completely and utterly heartbroken by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (not only for the negative environmental consequences, but also because of the magnitude and extent of the damage), I am somewhat hopeful. Yes, this may sound contradictory, but I feel vindicated. The BP oil disaster has reminded the world that pollution is STILL one of the most important environmental problems we haven’t solved. We need to continue to work to reduce our impacts on the environment, and pollution is a big impact.

I mused on Twitter that the next time somebody tells me why I eschew climate policy in favor of water and pollution control policy, my answer will be just two words: “BP Spill”.