On the etiquette of re-tweets – a response

One of the things I have been pondering about for a while now is social media etiquette. So much that I even organized a panel to talk about it. I will preface this post by disclosing that I have evolved with and within the online space. I think about the ecosystem and I feel part of it now (much more than I used to when I first started using social media tools and writing a blog). I don’t claim to be an expert in social media nor in etiquette. But I’ve been reflecting about it for a while now.

In the next few weeks, I want to bring back some elements that I see are missing in the late 2009 social media world…. linking back, being courteous, being reciprocal and responding in a larger form than 140 characters. I see a lot of people giving quick, snappy, witty comments online via Twitter, but not always engaging in one of the best platforms that allows for more than 140 character: a blog.

I am quite fortunate that my readers choose to drop a comment, and I try really hard to engage back and respond on my site. I do the same on Twitter, particularly when it comes to re-tweets. I try my damnedest to say “thank you” most of the time. I also tend to retweet stuff that I find interesting, valuable, worthy. I make a case to retweet stuff from people who have re-tweeted mine as well, simply out of courtesy and good manners but also because I think it’s good karma.

I have been seeing many of my tweeps retweet a recent post written by Catherine Novak, whom I consider bright, smart, social media savvy AND a good friend of mine. I repeat. Catherine and I are good friends. We are on each other’s GTalk, have hung out several times and she’s written guest posts for me for Blogathon AND retweeted the heck out of many of my tweets. Therefore, I feel 100% comfortable responding to her post knowing that she will take this not as a criticism of her post (she offered MANY fantastic suggestions) but as a way to add to the conversation on the science (or art) of retweeting.

I took a tiny bit of an issue with Catherine including “rules” in the wording of her post because I don’t think that an online space like Twitter has any real, hard-core rules. However, as a researcher who uses institutional and neo-institutional theory, I am more than aware that there are two types of rules: formal and informal. My understanding, knowing Catherine, is that she means “these are the more-or-less formalized norms about retweeting that I have learned and I actively practice” (please note the emphasis is mine and I’m paraphrasing her note). I can definitely agree with that.

I take very strong issue (and I am very opinionated) with anybody trying to say “my way is the right way to do things” in the online space, and especially on Twitter. I know that my conversations online may sound as though I actually have rules. But the only rule I try to live by is be kind and nice and follow the manners that you were taught when you were little. Therefore, I reply back when people talk to me. Look at my profile. Over 60% of my tweets are @ replies. I say “thank you” and “please”.

I acknowledge when people have sparked my thoughts or given me feedback. I say thanks when people retweet my stuff because I think that they make a conscious choice as to whether to share my stuff with their networks. I say thanks a lot. That’s not to say that my practices are the best. That’s not the point of this post. I want to spark the other side of the conversation and add to the great post of Catherine’s.

So, on to you – what is the etiquette you follow with regards to re-tweeting? Do you say thank you? Do you make a concerted effort to find something worthy of a retweet by the people who have already retweeted your stuff?

NOTE – I would have included my tweeps’ responses but that’d mean to give TweetTree my password and I am not sure I want to do that.

Guest theatre review – Bash – latter days

Writer Stacey Robinsmith can be found at www.theleftcoast.ca providing Vancouver and beyond with commentary and analysis on a daily basis that is informed, insightful and irreverent.

The Carousel Theatre is where many children’s plays such as Love you FOREVER…and more Munsch, the adaptation of children’s’ author Robert Munsch’s stories are put on the stage. However, from August 19th to 22nd, a Neil LaBute play, bash—latter day plays is playing at the Carousel. It is not possible that infanticide, gay-bashing or murder committed by seemingly normal people, could be further in theme or content from the kids’ plays that typically play on this stage.

LaBute’s play is actually comprised of three single act plays, or perhaps more accurately, three separate confessions of savage killings by three otherwise everyday folks. It is reported that initially LaBute wrote this play with the main characters overtly being members of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Not surprisingly, the church did not appreciate this nod in their direction and hence his split from the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

The opening act has Michael Bean walk on the stage set with one white straight-back plain wooden chair on an otherwise entirely black stage. Bean plays the role of a “man” who has met someone in a hotel lounge and returned to his room to confess his sin and crime. And what a confession it is; his hatred for women is confessed line by line. His nervous movements and gestures, the partially full glass of water he carries with him and the pained expressions on his sweaty face all reveal this misogynist for who he is. Bean plays the role of the confessor with stunning realism.

As quickly as Michael Bean leaves the blacked out stage a young couple appear. John, the grinning male, is played by Stafford Perry while Veronica Campbell plays the role of a gushing Sue. Perry’s 10,000 watt super smile is his prop while Campbell’s giddy enjoyment of their big night out at a party and her “little black dress” are hers. While Stafford’s ear to ear grin can warm the hearts of audience members, it is his ability to instantaneously go from the beaming youth to the darkly dangerous gay-bashing animal who himself has a latent homosexual desire that is most frightening. All the while “Sue” is describing the party scene in her childishly giddy voice. This act of the play is creepy beyond words. Fortunately after this act there is a fifteen minute intermission to let the sell-out audience escape the stifling heat of the theatre.

Post-intermission the stage is set with a chair in front of a table, with a tape recorder, cigarettes, ashtray and a glass of water on it. Enter Nevada Yates Robart in the role of a “woman”. Nevada is dressed in orange coveralls to reinforce the fact that she is in a prison-setting. Her story of childhood sexual exploitation is told in the wide-eyed wonder of a child in a woman’s body. The voice and facial expressions tell the tale of a child’s stolen innocence.

The cast and crew of this production were all unpaid volunteers. They put together a disturbing, shocking and poignant play that demonstrates how thin the veneer over the monster within everyday people really is. If you want to see theatre in its most raw form, get to the Carousel Theatre and witness this production of Neil LaBute’s bash—latter day plays. Love it or hate it, you will not soon forget the performance.

Nuba (Gastown)

The fact that my office is downtown doesn’t help much when it comes to eating out simply because I have been trying to be good on my budget and not eat out. But there are a number of places around the downtown core of Vancouver that are both easy on the wallet and tasty. Nuba is one of these places. Located at the corner of West Hastings and Cambie, it’s an easy couple of blocks stroll from my office.

I went to Nuba for lunch with Andy a couple of weeks ago(long overdue – I like to see my good friends at least once every month or couple of months, but I rarely do that with everyone!) . We settled for the garden wrap. I’m definitely a fan of Lebanese food, and I had already had the pleasure of eating there at a catered event for VEF Momentum (an event I did liveblog as well). The garden wrap was about $ 6.75 but I recall the waitress offering something extra that increased the cost to close to $ 10.00 (which is kind of weird, but I have to say – I loved the food and it was filling as a lunch item).

Would I come back to Nuba? For sure. Although perhaps next time I’ll come for dinner. Have you ever tried it?

Roxette’s comeback in the fall of 2009

I listened to Roxette’s songs in my early years and I have loved each and every single one of them. Swedish duo Marie Frederiksson and Per Gelle made history in the late 80s and early 90s with songs like “Dressed for Success”, “It Must Have Been Love” and “Spending My Time”. Of course, I had my favorites (like Paint – the early version, not the one that they tended to sing closer to 1991) but, overall, it was absolutely delightful for me to listen to their music.

I learned through their Wikipedia entry that apparently they’re getting back together as a duo and will have a full-fledged tour in the fall of 2009. Marie suffered a brain tumor and thus it’s amazing that she is back singing. Below is the May 2009 rendition of “The Look”. Roxette rules!

Bowen Island Geek Road Trip (daytrip)

I had read a few times that friends of mine have been doing day-long trips to Bowen Island and despite the fact that Robert Ballantyne lives there (and he is a good friend of mine) I haven’t really even made an effort to come visit him (James Glave also lives there and I seriously think I should make a day trip).

I haven’t really taken much time off except for my recent visit to Salt Spring Island and Sidney by the Sea. Therefore, I really would like to do a day trip to Bowen Island. I figured I’d throw the idea out there since Lynne, Terra and Minna have also mentioned they would be interested.

The price for the roundtrip water taxi to Bowen Island is $25 which is pretty affordable. I would ask JT if he wants to join me but I know he will probably decline the invite, so I’m extending it to the Vancouver community. Geek Road Trip anyone?

WorkSpace closing its doors – how can we show our appreciation?

I just received via Twitter some very disappointing and saddening news. I would say that the history of the Vancouver tech community has been intimately tied to WorkSpace (21 Water Street, 400 Suite, Gastown). I am honoured and proud that WorkSpace sponsored the space for Mental Health Camp.

As part of Vancouver’s social media/tech community I always felt the support of WorkSpace. I have not talked to Dane or anybody from WorkSpace so I have no clue as to the reason behind its closure. All I do know is that I, personally, would like to show my appreciation for the many times I was able to feel at home at WorkSpace.

My most recent event, Blogathon was superbly organized by Rebecca and hosted by WorkSpace. WorkSpace’s last hosted event will be LikeMind Vancouver (as per Travis) but I’m wondering if we could help celebrate the awesome folks of WorkSpace in the form of a tweetup, maybe bring some food/drinks.

They (Dane and Co.) don’t know that I am thinking of this, so don’t think of my idea as something official, but I just wanted to throw it out there. I really would like to show my own appreciation. Having been a guest of WorkSpace many a time, I really owe them a lot (particularly for hosting Mental Health Camp and helping us along).

To the kind folks of WorkSpace – you rock, and you’ve rocked really hard. Thank you sincerely.

Writing cologne reviews like a pro

I don’t think anyone has written a detailed standard procedure to write reviews of colognes or perfumes, despite the fact that there’s thousands of reviews out there. I have been looking for standardized write-ups simply because I enjoy uniformity and standardization. I would have liked to be able to follow some sort of guideline when I write a cologne review. Since none of the websites I explored provides a specific guide on how to write reviews, I went and researched the elements that I know comprise most cologne reviews – the description of the three types of notes in a scent (high notes, medium notes and base notes). Wikipedia was helpful but not perfect.

The Wikipedia article on perfumes indicates that fragrances should be described in terms of “notes” (which are harmonious with one another, like a musical melody). I choose carefully my base notes as my skin retains scents a lot)

• Top notes – the first impression of a scent, right upon application on to the skin.
• Middle notes – the smell perceived after a few minutes of evaporation of the sprayed cologne/perfume.
• Base notes – the long-lasting scent, usually perceived still within a few hours of application.

I’m not a pro cologne reviewer (although I’ve known this musical metaphor for colognes for a long time now), but I’m just getting more used to finding out description using notes. It’s still quite fun for me to try and find descriptors for the different notes. In particular, while I found the Fragrance Wheel helpful, it sometimes confuses me too. I guess I’ll have to continue reviewing more fragrances with time.

The Developmental Disabilities Association (Vancouver and Lower Mainland)

The last time I taught Public Policy at the university level, I made sure that my students surveyed a broad range of policy areas. We looked at health policy, urban policy, social policy and environmental policy. Those are the areas that I feel most comfortable teaching and I’m most conversant in the literature. When one of my best students decided to focus on autism policy in Canada for his final paper, I realized that developmental disabilities (of which autism is one) may indeed be one of the least examined areas of health and social policy.

The Developmental Disabilities Association is a charitable organization located in Richmond that offers about 50 programmes of service throughout the Lower Mainland area. From their site:

The Developmental Disabilities Association is a community living agency that provides over 50 community-based programs and services to children, adults and their families with developmental disabilities in Vancouver and Richmond. We create extended networks of support, investing in individual needs, and always striving for an inclusive and safe community. Over 1600 individuals and families in the Vancouver and Richmond area are served by the Developmental Disabilities Association every year.[DDA]

I was profoundly moved and touched when I first learned about the work of the DDA, particularly because after reading my student’s paper I realized how much these disabilities remain in the shadows and are not talked about. The DDA has been embracing social media (DDA blog, DDA Twitter) and through reading more about them, I have come to learn a lot more about the range of severity of these disabilities (from mild to severe) and the broad spectrum of developmental disabilities (cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, etc).

I am very positively impressed with the work of the DDA and would strongly encourage you to donate to this worthy charity. Recently, they participated in Blogathon 2009 and it was a really fun experience to hang out with some of the staff. To learn more about the DDA check their website and blog.

Happy birthday Russ!

I’ve shared a few adventures with Gus and Russ since I became more involved with the social media community last year, and I have to say that I’ve always felt as though they are the brothers I don’t have in BC (one of my brothers lives in Alberta). Russ is working on improving his Spanish and we have shared many a conversation. He is a foodie, loves to cook, is an amazing and caring friend and more importantly, he is someone whose opinion and sage advice I trust. There have been a few times when I’ve called upon Gus and Russ to bounce ideas off and provide me with insight. Their friendship has enriched my life enormously.

On your birthday, Russ, I hope we have an opportunity to see each other. Have a wonderful one!

A Night To Remember (Fundraiser)

I met Michael-James Pennie through the social media meetups (both Third Tuesday and Vancouver Bloggers Meetup) and we’ve become good buddies. He had told me a few months ago that he was planning to hike Mountain Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity. For me, scaling Mt Kilimanjaro (which apparently is the tallest mountain in Africa at 19,330 feet above sea level) is a task I would NOT take on, even for charity, to be quite honest. I already Blogathoned three years in a row, so no mountain climbing for me. But I definitely admire Michael for undertaking such an effort. From what I understand, other 9 Canadians will join him in the enterprise.

However, I have to admit that I am quite in awe of Michael-James as his effort to raise awareness and a minimum individual amount of $10,000 for the Alzheimer Society of B.C. is pretty much based solely in social media and (as he called it) an event blitz. I didn’t know that Michael’s father was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2003. My Grandpa (my Mom’s dad) had Parkinson’s and I know how debilitating and terrible both of these degenerative diseases can be.

There will be a wine tasting and silent auction hosted by The Wine Room on Burrard and West Pender on August 24th, which is this coming Monday. Tickets can be purchased online in advance ($25) and $30 at the door. Tickets include a Best of B.C red or white wine flight. Michael is also requesting donations for silent auction items and door prizes, which will be accepted up to the date. All donations for auction prizes are welcome and greatly appreciated. Guests are encouraged to order food and drinks beyond that, as all the staff working at the event have committed to donating their tips to Michael’s campaign.

You can learn more about the Tweet To Remember campaign through Michael’s website and contact him at michael@michaeljamespennie.com.

Sponsor J. Karen Parker for the 2009 Bicycle Trek for Life and Breath

If you want to know who first moved my blog to a self-hosted install, customized my website’s theme (this one) and helped me upgrade all my sites to the latest version of WordPress, that’d be J. Karen Parker. Information architecture maven, avid cyclist, synchro swimmer, sporty and a wonderful friend, Karen is someone who is always looking for ways to help people. This is just one of many.

This is the second year Karen does the Bicycle Trek for Life and Breath, and I am hoping some of my readers will be able to help her reach her fundraising goal. Karen’s donation page can be viewed here (you obviously can sponsor in any amount, every dollar helps).

If you want an added bonus, Karen will be providing 30 minutes of WordPress help in exchange for a $25 donation). Should you want my honest opinion, that’s a great deal. It’s for charity, and I can tell you that Karen has saved my WordPress life more times than I can count (she recently walked me through the manual upgrading of all my three sites). And more importantly, Karen is a very good friend of mine and she is doing this for charity, so please help if you can.

Review: HP PhotoSmart Premium Fax series C309

I am a geek, there’s no point in denying that. I love computers and I love peripheral accessories, particularly if they make my life easier. I am, however, semi-useless when it comes to setting up hardware. Software? Not a problem. Love playing with computer programs. I would have asked JT to install the HP PhotoSmart All-In-One C309 on my behalf, but I felt really bad doing that. I figured “hey, I can do my own stunts when it comes to software and programming, I can do the hardware”.

I began unpacking the different components and putting them away around July 5th or so, as soon as I received the printer. I felt overwhelmed (mostly because I’m not really all that excited about setting up hardware and in particular printers). However, I realized soon that it wasn’t all that difficult. The fact is – it’s not hard to set up this printer, if you just have the attention span required (and you’re good at following instructions). Knowing me, as a ‘hummingbird’, I sort of procrastinated, until I finally set it up. The printer comes with abundant, plug-and-play instructions.

It’s really hard for me sometimes to follow instructions that are printed on a manual, but I managed to control myself enough to just set the printer up. Overall, it did take less than 30 minutes (if I count from the moment I started unpacking to when I was done, it’d be about an hour altogether, including wireless setup).

One thing did confuse me – I didn’t know why I could only set up either wireless or wired connection. But the wireless works great, so that’s not a problem. Small drawbacks that I noticed include:

• The cache doesn’t seem to be properly working. So if I start printing and I realize that I’m in the wrong wireless network, the printer doesn’t start once I connect the laptop to the proper network. So I’ve had to cancel the printing job and then re-start the printer and send the print job again to the queue.
• The amount of black ink spent seems a bit too high. I don’t think I’ve printed over 100 pages (in both color and black and white simultaneously) and the cartridge seems almost 25% spent. This may be just a mistake in the display, but I’d be VERY shocked if the black cartridge ran out really fast (see image below)

Elements I really enjoyed include:

• The fact that it’s an All-In-One. I really didn’t want to test a printer that only had one function (and it’s kind of useless for my purposes. I use the printer in the context of an office space, so I need to have every single feature. I’ve had to ask friends to let me scan to PDF before, and it’s not a good feeling. Now I can do it from my own desk.
• The fact that it’s wireless. Given the fact that the printer is at my office at The Network Hub, it’s kind of useless or irrelevant to have it set up as wireless, but it’s kind of nice to know that I can just simply move around the office and still print. In particular, I can easily print from the lobby (while I can still do some multi-tasking, like talking to a potential client).
• The great online support from HP. This is great, if there are any problems with the printer, there’s an Auto-Diagnostics feature that connects with HP Support online. As someone who is software-savvy but hardware-not-so-savy, this is very helpful.

As of this blog post (mid-August 2009) I have only tested wireless printing features, so I am well aware that I haven’t even explored the other elements. My next post will describe the scanning, fax and copying features.

Via Beatrice [win tickets!]

My Mom was a trained opera singer, so I grew up listening to arias. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the Blogger Night program by the Vancouver Opera before (also, Tris took me to see Carmen and we did a video review for Sexy in VanCity, and my very good friend JT took me to see Rigoletto, which I also reviewed). Therefore, it’s no surprise that I’m intrigued to know what Via Beatrice is all about. I am most intrigued because the world premiere of this Fugue Theatre production took place on August 14th at the Playwrights Theatre Centre (Granville Island). I’m delighted that I’ve been invited to see it.

I’ll be giving away a pair of tickets for this operetta, so to enter the contest, just drop a comment on this post. Via Beatrice will run from August 19th to the 22nd, so you might want to check it out soon. From the production’s website:

A woman travels to Italy after the suicide of her daughter. They were supposed to take the trip together. Practically giving up all hope for life itself, the woman stumbles upon a haunted tour of Rome led by a slick Italian tour guide. He has his own demons. Together, they become entwined with the ghost of Beatrice Cenci in a roller-coaster ride of sensuality, fright, grief and hope.

You can purchase tickets online ($25 general admission, $18 students/seniors with ID). I will be drawing randomly a winner tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2pm.

Bash – Latter Days (win tickets to opening night) #theatre

This summer has been chock full of fantastic theatre, and it looks like August will continue to be so. Xua Xua Productions’ presentation of Neil Labute’s triad of one-act plays BASH: LATTER-DAY PLAYS runs Aug.19-22nd (with a 2-for-1 preview on Aug. 18th) at Carousel Theatre (in Granville Island). Tickets are $ 12 in advance and $ 15 at the door. It looks like this play will be very interesting. I’ve got a knack for dark humor and for the topic of confessions (and I’m known to be able to draw confessions out of people sooner rather than later, heh).

From the media release:

In Xua Xua Productions’ presentation of Neil Labute’s bash: latter-day plays, three confessions are drawn out of the basement and into the spotlight. These three dark one-act plays inspired by Greek mythology, the Bible, and pop culture, feature Labute’s trademark talent for hunting down the sinister underpinnings of the all-American glow
and yanking it to the forefront.

I have a pair of tickets for opening night, Wednesday Aug. 19th. You can win by dropping a comment on this post. I will draw the winner on Tuesday August 18th at 2pm.

Giving good talks (my Top Ten Suggestions)

I was browsing through the archives of my blog, and found a post I published around this time last year. Since I’m about to speak at WordCamp Fraser Valley (this coming Saturday) I figured I’d resurrect and republish that post. As I was about to do that, I looked again at my suggestions and decided to re-phrase some of them. Therefore, this is a re-adapted version of my previous post on Raul’s Top Ten Suggestions on how to give good talks.

1. Realize that being nervous is perfectly alright. Then, forget about it
I have given hundreds of talks, and some of these included defending a doctoral thesis. Sometimes I have been nervous (more recently, when I speak about social media or tech-related topics, I’ve become less and less nervous). If you feel worried or stressed or nervous about your talk, just recognize it, embrace it, and admit it to yourself. Then move on and start thinking about the actual topic you are going to address. You will soon realize that your nerves will dissipate.

2. Understand your audience and tailor your talk accordingly.
One mistake I have seen time and again when I see other speakers is that their talk is not tailored to the specific audience. This is something that often happens when you are giving a talk for the first time. The secret here is to do some research about who will be your audience and target your message accordingly. If you are speaking to developers, go all geeky on them. If your talk is aimed at bloggers, ensure that you touch upon themes that are relevant to them. Don’t “talk up” – if necessary, “talk down”.

3. Speak CLEARLY and SLOWLY
I am guilty of doing things way too fast, and sometimes I worry about whether audiences will understand what I am saying. Since I give a lot of talks in other languages (particularly English) I try to slow down and articulate my vowels and consonants more clearly. Slowly doesn’t mean that you need to slur your words, but you have to help your audience. Sometimes your audience’s ability to listen to your talk is hindered by the room’s poor acoustics. Make sure that the participants can listen to what you are saying clearly. Check acoustics if necessary before your talk. Enunciate properly and place your emphasis properly.

4. Provide an introduction, a main body, and summarize in a conclusion.
Some people call this the law of “say what you are going to say, then say it, then say what you just said”, or the law of threes. Begin your talk by providing little snippets of what you are going to say. Then, develop the message throughout your talk. Finally, make sure that the participants have really grasped your message by summarizing it at the end.

5. Engage the audience
In academic circles, I have seen hundreds of talks where this point is not taken to heart, and that usually leads me to leave the room and completely avoid attending that speaker’s talks ever again. There is nothing more boring than listening to a 45 minute speech without any sort of interaction with the public. Talk to the audience, engage with them. You will find that you will learn as much from them as they are learning from you.

6. Use visuals.
And by this I don’t mean that you need to always use some sort of presentation software. Whether you use Power Point, a piece of paper, or other kinds of visuals, make sure that your audience can see something other than yourself. I really like a lot of presenters who don’t make presentations with Power Point, and use alternative methods. But I’ll admit I use open source versions of presentation software. Don’t read off of your visual aids, though!

7. Don’t read – speak!
I am too used to the talks given by specialists in the humanities, who actually READ from a paper. I guess that comes from the time when papers were actually read. I have even heard spme humanities folks saying “I’m reading a paper on so and so” – and they DO! EEEWWW. When giving a talk, you can always have a piece of paper with talking points that you can refer to (or index cards, for that matter). But don’t read out of your 40 page paper!

8. Err on the side of giving a shorter talk.
I hate talks that drag on, and on, and on. I am pretty sure I’m not alone in this. I just attended an academic panel recently where the speaker had 15 minutes and he went on for 30. I was actually praying that the talk would end, by the time he was done, I had left the room. If you really need to fill the time, you can always talk to the audience (which in turn will be delighted that the talk was short and the interaction and question/answer period was longer).

9. Provide link love.
This doesn’t mean that you need to link to other bloggers in and of itself – what I mean by this is – link your talk to your fellow speakers if you are in a panel, or provide MANY examples of what you are presenting that are NOT yours. I know that I am guilty of self-citations in many of my own papers, but I also cite LOTS of other academics. There’s a lot to be said for link love.

10. If at all possible, provide handouts.
While I frequently participate as a speaker at geek (and academic) conferences, and that I am all for saving trees, I will be the first to admit that sometimes, you DO need a physical, printed piece of paper. I find it somewhat funny that at EVERY social media/tech/PR event I attend, people ask me for my CARD. I always tell them that I am anti-cards, and I tell them “find me on the internet” – so, I’ve come to realize that it’s true, people still DO read printed pieces of paper. And handouts can really help a reader follow your train of thought.

These are a few things that I’ve learned through my many years of public speaking. I am by no means a perfect speaker, but I have learned a lot from practice. Now, on to YOU – what would you say are your top tips for giving good talks?

On the Other Hand, Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery (Review) – VQFF

The start to my coverage of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival was phenomenal. I had a chance to see On the Other Hand, Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery. A fantastic film starring Chad Allen, Sebastian Spence, Margot Kidder, Gabrielle Rose, Nelson Wong, Daryl Shuttleworth, Damon Runyan, Lori Taiolo, and directed by Ron Oliver, this movie was fully filmed in Vancouver (more accurately, Langley).

From the film’s summary

When Dorothy Fisher is suspended from her job as a high school counsellor it seems that homophobic parents are to blame. But when her suspension is followed by a home invasion, blackmail and murder, detective Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) takes the case.

I found the film not only very entertaining and campy but a great experiment in convoluted plotting. There were A LOT of laughs (of course, sometimes the jokes were very much queer-themed, not surprisingly). But even more profound, Oliver was capable of intertwining themes of coming of age, coming out, acceptance of homosexuality and queer love and equality of rights with an entertaining mystery story. There were moments where I almost shed tears, and moments when I was at the absolute edge of my seat, paying very close attention so that I wouldn’t lose any details from the complicated plot.

Allen is spot-on as Detective Strachey, definitely gay but more than anything, definitely human. This is not the story of a super-detective. It’s the tale of continuous struggles to maintain a solid long-term relationship while working as a private investigator. I wish I had been able to stay for the second movie and for the party, but that was not possible. I do hope that both movies end up being released either in theatrical form or on DVD. If you have a chance, you should take in some of the fantastic movies that the VQFF is offering. The line-up is fantastic.

On a side note, I really wish that the film festivals were more like the theatre productions I’ve been able to attend, where you can go in with your media pass and bring with you a +1. Sharing these movies with a friend or a loved one definitely makes the experience much nicer.

What’s your favorite Indian food place in Vancouver?

I’ve had Indian food (South Indian and North Indian too) almost everywhere in this city, and I would venture that we almost have as many Indian food restaurants as we have sushi joints. When I lived in Manchester, it was the only kind I could really enjoy (frankly, I’ve never been a fish and chips guy and I was a graduate student at the time so I was under a much tighter budget than I’d like to).

So, my question to you this time is (like I did with sushi places a few posts ago)… where do you get your dose of Indian food? Bonus points for being sustainable. Even more bonus points if it’s inexpensive 🙂

Which are your favorite WordPress plugins?

I’m speaking next weekend (August 22nd) on the second-ever WordCamp Fraser Valley. Last year I spoke about moving from Blogger to WordPress.com (both of whom are non-self-hosted sites). I admit that the evolution of my WordPress experience was very slow as I was hesitant to (a) move platforms and (b) switch to a self-hosted install. My life has been SO MUCH BETTER since I switched to being self-hosted.

One of the elements that enhances the versatility and functionality of a website on WordPress is the broad variety of plugins. This site (Hummingbird604.com) has a number of plugins installed to enhance the readability and user experience. I have chosen which plugins I’ve added to ensure that my readers get the best experience. I have also made those conscious decisions based on which plugins would make it easier for me to blog.

Those of you who use WordPress plugins – which ones are your favorite? I’m trying to see which ones are more popular and maybe I’ll include those too in my talk.

Happy birthday Monica Hamburg!

My very good friend Monica Hamburg is a speaker, researcher, social media maven but above all of these things, she’s a wonderful human being with whom I’ve been able to strike a really close friendship. I met Monica precisely at one of the events she helps co-organize, Third Tuesday. We hit it off from day one, and I’ve been very lucky to also become really good friends with her life partner, Chris. We’ve shared lots of adventures, including numerous Rock Band parties at Tanya’s, several events where either we both have been speakers or at least one of us has spoken. I have relied on Monica many a time for sage advice and support during tough times, and I’m very blessed to have her as my friend. And, the great thing is, we seem to have the same strange sense of humour (which is only a bonus). On this day, my dear friend, happy birthday to you! I am sorry I missed your birthday last year but heck, I’m here this year so… 🙂 much love always!

Shine (Musical theatre review)

The Vancouver theatre scene is just amazing, let me tell you. Greg and I were talking about this while having a drink at the Backstage Lounge just before entering the theatre for opening night of Shine, a wonderful burlesque musical production. Fair warning – burlesque, by its very nature, this type of musical production does have some degree of nudity and coarse language. And yes, there was full frontal nudity.

But the most important element was, in my view, the fact that this amazing production was able to bring the audience to their feet, clapping, singing along and giving a standing ovation for over 10 minutes. The storyline shows the intertwined lives of several burlesque has-beens, wannabes and potentials, attempting to resurrect a derelict theatre and a seemingly dead career in musical theatre. Every member of the cast is powerful and the singing is fantastic (although at some points, I could tell that the voice of Noelle Pion overpowered that of almost every other member of the cast – she is simply amazing). Cass King shines as (coincidentally) Shine Mionne, the main character and owner of The Aristocrat, the theatre she’s trying to save (along with the close-knit family of artists).

Shine does indeed shine, it’s a wonderful musical and I have to thank the production team for inviting me to see it, frankly as I have mentioned before, I only recommend things that I myself would have paid to see, and I’d definitely drop the coin to see Shine again. Very much worth it. Warning – it has nudity (full frontal), coarse language and A LOT of references to Vancouver. The fact that it is so well adapted to Vancouver and it does so many references made it even more fun to see.

Shutting down the 98 B-Line is a mistake

I was reading The Buzzer today and I read that once the Canada Line starts in operation (August 17th, 2009) the service that the 98 B-Line (Richmond Centre-Waterfront Station) was going to be discontinued. I shouted on Twitter that I thought this was not a good idea. Some tweeps responded to me that there would be duplication of services and that it didn’t make sense to keep them both.

Um. That’s not true, on several accounts.

First – the Canada Line runs on Cambie. The 98 B-Line runs on Granville. The last time I checked the distance amongst both major north-south corridor it was a substantial 12 blocks. Frankly, if I worked on Granville Street and I wanted to get somewhere, I wouldn’t take the Canada Line and then switch. It’s not a short walk, I can tell you (I’ve walked it many a time).

Second – what happens if for some reason the Canada Line is disrupted substantially? Yeah, you can say “oh well, we have the 15 Cambie”. Whose frequency, by the way, is going to be substantially reduced.

My take on this is that the assumption is – everyone who takes the 98 B-Line works at the Airport so since we have the Canada Line we can remove the 98 B-Line. What about the people who LIVE and WORK around the Granville corridor? It just blows my mind that such a great route will be removed.

So, as I usually do – have at it – discuss on my blog.

Following #OpenEd09

A number of friends that I am connected with on Twitter, including Alec Couros, Nancy White and Scott Leslie, are participating (and/or in the organizing committee) for Open Education 2009 (the first time, from what I’ve read) from Aug 12th to Aug 14th, 2009.

Sadly, I didn’t have the $ to fork out for the conference, but as an academic and an educator with a strong social media presence, I have been pretty much glued to the computer monitor for the uStream and the tweets.

Moreover, since I can’t make it to OpenEd ’09 itself, I’d love to see them organize a Tweetup. I know that Scott told me he’d inform me if they had a tweetup, but just wanted to throw the idea out there again 🙂 To everyone participating in Open Education ’09 – welcome to Vancouver! Enjoy the fantastic sessions (and the gorgeous weather, we ordered it just for you).

Win a copy of Blog Blazers

I’ve been known to read the odd book about blogging, and I’ve read this one and I’d like to pass it along (I hate having books that stay on my shelves and don’t get read – so I prefer to recycle them). I figured the best way was to share it was to give it away to one lucky reader. Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets by Stephane Grenier is a good summary of interviews with a number of top bloggers (primarily US-based, but useful advice nonetheless). I will draw randomly from the entries (comments on this site) tomorrow at the same time as I draw the tickets to Rent.

Ning-based social networks

My friends in the Vancouver (and abroad) tech/social media communities have been creating a number of social networks using Ning.com. I’ve tested the framework and I’m registered in several of them (for example, the Social Media Club Education network, which is relevant to what I do professionally both as an academic and as a social media enthusiast). I consider myself computer-savvy enough to know when I’m doing something wrong and when the framework is just not being friendly to me. I think this is a case of the latter.

Duane was suggesting that I should just install BuddyPress (and seeing as the creator of BuddyPress is a good friend of mine, Duane’s suggestion is actually quite a good idea – I feel confident that if I need any help, I can ask either Duane or Andy Peatling), but I’m just wondering why the proliferation of Ning-based social networks. Frankly, the framework sort of annoys me.

1) I can’t seem to be able to integrate it with all my other networks. Thus I have to manually add friends and ask them to add me to the network.

2) The previous problem also leads me to wonder how I can integrate my social networks across (for example, the League of Kickass Business People network with Social Media Club Education).

Argh. One day I might become a hermit and abandon all social networking sites 🙂

Rent (Musical) by Fighting Chance Productions – Theatre review

Last spring, I was invited by Ryan Mooney (Artistic Director of Fighting Change Productions) to see TICK TICK Boom! The show was fantastic and by the end of it, I had an opportunity to talk to Ryan about their upcoming productions. He mentioned that they were preparing RENT, and asked me whether I’d come for opening night of their first 2009-2010 production. Well, the time came already as I was joined last night by Lorraine at the opening night of Rent as a guest of FCP, at the Presentation House Theatre in North Vancouver.

With intertwined themes of love, poverty, passion, heartbreak, homelessness and redemption, Rent is a fantastic musical that shows you just how important is love in human life. From the description on Wikipedia:

Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York’s Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of AIDS.

I really enjoyed this all-Canadian production of Rent. Since it was opening night, I am sure that there’ll be things that the production will want to smooth. For the first number, I wish the sound engineering had been more focused on the actors’ voices than the music. The rest of the show was absolutely delightful. The actor who plays Angel definitely steals the show, regardless of the fact that Rent is a multiple-actor cast production. And not surprisingly (I’ve seen other Fighting Chance Productions), the closing number brought the audience to their feet.

Without a doubt, this was one of the most enjoyable versions of Rent I’ve witnessed, and from what I understand, the first time Rent is presented with an all-Canadian cast. I recognized a couple of actors from other productions and I had a chance to have a brief chat with them along with Lorraine. I would strongly recommend attending this musical. It will run from August 7th to 30th, 2009 at Presentation House in North Vancouver. Below you can find the video to the popular song “Seasons of Love” (not with the cast of this particular production, though)

Ryan gave me a pair of tickets to give away on my site, and an invite to see the show myself, which I really appreciate. Since the theme of rent is in great part, homelessness, to win these tickets, just drop a comment here offering an idea (no matter how far-fetched it may be) to solve homelessness. I will draw the winner on Wednesday August 12th at 4pm.