A latte coffee at Continental: Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
Finding the best coffee in Vancouver is always a really tough call. Which coffee shop do you go to? Starbucks or Tim Hortons? Do you patronize small local businesses (like Higher Grounds) or transnational chains (like Seattle’s Best Coffee)? That’s always the debate and I’m never really sure of how I feel about different views. For example, I try as much as I can to only drink ethical, fair-traded, shade-grown coffee. Most of the time, I visit only local coffee shops, and if I’m going to a chain, I’d rather go to a local chain (Blenz or Waves).
But, tucked away at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Commercial Drive, there’s a little piece of heaven called “Continental“. Equipped with very comfy couches and lots of natural light, as well as a solid wireless connection, Continental also offers some of the best coffee in town. I dare you not to love their double shot mocha with chocolate whip cream.
Two years ago, on this day, I was getting home at 6 am from an after-hours place. I walked all the way home, fascinated with the amazing weather and the sheer beauty of the city of Vancouver. I wanted to leave this feeling for posterity and thus I started writing a personal diary, a blog of some sort. I knew very little about blogs at the time. I knew two of my best friends had blogs. I also knew that they were pretty much open for everyone to see. My friend LM used hers to keep me up-to-date about her comings and goings.
Months passed by and by the end of 2006 all I had accumulated was 55 posts. Not very productive, eh? I wrote a post every couple of days or so, just to keep myself entertained. THEN July 2007 arrived, and my world changed as I saw it. I went back and looked at what I had been doing with my blog and the vast majority was posts related to dining out. I had somehow transformed from just a blogger who just wrote random posts and who was studying environmental issues to a blogger who actually knew to a certain extent the dining out scene of Vancouver.
THEN Blogathon 2007 happened. Out of the blue, I wrote an email to Rebecca Bollwitt (aka Miss604.com) and asked her “hey do you think this would be a good idea?”. Quite frankly, I didn’t know if she would answer. She seemed nice and polite, but … she was Miss604.com, after all. Well, lo-and-behold, she answered with very encouraging words, so off I went… and I Blogathoned. And she kept checking my blog, and dropping comments and encouraging me while we both suffered through the pain of having to blog interesting content for 24 hours straight (one post every 30 minutes).
Months went by, and the number of readers who would grace my blog rose from 3 a day to about 80. I mastered Blogger and learned how to do a few tricks. However, I still hadn’t “crashed” the blogosphere party. I still felt somehow “peripheral” to the social media community. Then a few months ago, I started participating in the Vancouver Bloggers Meetups. I met with many local bloggers who welcomed me with open arms. I even live-blogged a couple of these VBMs! Through these meetins I got to know Jonathon Narvey, Richard Erikson, Karen Fung, David Drucker, Monica Hamburg, Na’im, Isabella Mori, Bokashiman, and many more.
Finally, one good day I met Rebecca in person, on her way to live-blogging yet another event. It was very nice to finally bridge the chasm and actually talk off the blogosphere. More events came, more content was blogged, and I got to know a number of other bloggers whom I now call friends too, including Rebecca’s husband John, Adam and Corinna Carlson, Phaedra McEachren, Pat Zaph, Keira-Anne Mellis, Tanya Davis, Tod Maffin, John Biehler, Matt and Maktaaq, Marina, Rastin, GusF, Ash, Jenn Lowther, Nancy Zimmerman, Sarah Marchildon, Colleen Coplick, Duane Storey…. and the list goes on, and on.
I got to bowl with a number of bloggers, attended lots of other social media events and with time, I have grown to care for a large number of Vancouver bloggers. Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Karen Parker, Derek and Airdrie Miller and Kate Milford, Gillian Gunson, amongst a number of other bloggers. And of course, who could forget THE DaveO 🙂
I now receive betwen 3,000 and 4,500 unique visits per month, and publish an average of 45 to 60 blogs a month. Throughout this process, many people helped me with tips and suggestions. However, it would be wrong of me if I didn’t acknowledge Rebecca’s very substantial contribution to my blog’s growth. In Mexican Spanish, there is a saying that goes something like this “el que no es agradecido, es un malnacido” (that guy who isn’t thankful, is a complete a@#hole). I am grateful to everyone who has helped me, and in particular to Rebecca for helping me with geeky tips, encouraging me and inviting me to guest blog.
I now look forward to meeting many of my followers and readers of my blog, including but not limited to Tyler Ingram, Jeremy Latham, Barbara Doduk, Beth Snow, Jennifer Stodart, VanKeefer and Erika Rathje. And of course, I am also waiting with baited breath to meet Stephen Rees and Paul Hillsdon, two of the local transportation gurus.
I believe that there is readership in the blogosphere for everyone. We all blog because we love it.
I believe that this blog wouldn’t be where it is if it weren’t for you, my dearest and loyal readers.
I believe that we can all get along. It’s not easy, and requires hard work, but we most certainly can.
I believe that my future in blogging looks promising. I love blogging and wouldn’t give it up now.
I believe that my social circle has just grown larger and I am very grateful to the Powers-That-Be for that.
I believe that there will be another blogaversary to celebrate next year, and hopefully, the next few weeks will be the weeks when I’ll get to implement http://hummingbird604.com. I’ve decided that I am going to buy the domain, finally!
I apologize if I have left anyone out of this post, as it hasn’t been intentional, and I also apologize for not linking to your personal blogs. I am mentally and physically exhausted and very emotional. Tears are running through my eyes and all I can say, to all of you who read me and to all of you who have now come to be part of my circle of friends… THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
Earth Day is celebrated in many countries on April 22nd. Many people offer varied stories, but the most widely accepted is that April 22nd is the anniversary of the modern American environmental movement (although some people would argue that it was the worldwide environmentalism that was born that year). Other milestones, such as the 1972 United Nations Summit on the Human Environment (Stockholm 1972) are so close to the year 1970 mark it as the birth year of environmentalism.
Earth Day Links offers a slight variation of the story with Senator Gaylord Nelson touted as the organizer of Earth Day. I’m not going to debate or dispute this, I just want to point out that environmental awareness increased between the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Although my specialization is environmental issues, and I do celebrate Earth Day, there have been some sombre developments in the lives of very close friends that really prevent me from being overly excited about Earth Day. So, instead I offer some link love for you. Have a good Earth Day!
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
– Earth Day Canada offers 10 small steps you can take to reduce your impact on the environment. Check their suggestions here.
– Evergreen’s Earth Day Vancouver celebration will take place on Saturday April 26th at Jericho Beach from 11 am to 5 pm. Most likely, I’ll be there. More info can be found here.
– To celebrate Earth Day, make sure to check the recently completed Vancouver Sun Sustainable Living EPIC Expo 2008, and look for the HappyFrog FrogBlog coverage (I got a few posts there too!).
– If you are located elsewhere on the Lower Mainland you can look here for various listings of events. It does include some Vancouver-based events!.
April 22nd, 2008 in
climate change,
environment,
EPIC 08,
epic08,
epic2008,
sustainability,
upcoming events,
urbanization,
Vancouver,
water |
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Well, well, well… First of all, I *was* supposed to be gone home like, about 45 minutes ago but bumped into people and had to book meetings so I couldn’t leave the office. Fine, though. I get to Twitter a few more minutes and send emails, and post some link love – just because I can.
* I have had a very intense social week with the social media folks, and still feeling lots of warm fuzzies so big shout out to all of you folks (I am sorry I’m not linking you right now but really, I am exhausted).
* Tomorrow (Apr 22) is my two year blogiversary. I have an announcement to make to celebrate. I even might throw in a prize (if I manage to find a sponsor). Having provided so much link love through the HappyFrog FrogBlog, I *should* be able to score a prize from one of the companies I’ve visited during EPIC!
* I don’t think I want to do a proper music review but if you like deep house music, Ricardo Torres and Dylan Drazen are two of the best DJ mixers out there.
* All HTML links for this post were coded by hand. I know you probably are tired of reading this, but honestly I feel like I’ve moved one step forward. 😀
Ok, I am again drained of all energy. Twitter has been acting up all day. I’m feeling exhausted and not sure if I’ll make it to the actual bus stop (probably will but cloudy/cold weather really weighs me down). So, I might make an appearance on Twitter tonight or just simply take the evening off and disconnect from the internet.
Thanks for tuning in. I’m out of here 🙂 Have a great beginning of the week all!
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This post is also cross-posted with the FrogBlog
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In this globalized world, I would like to know who doesn’t have to fly. Funny how things go, in our collective efforts to be more sustainable, we perhaps have ended up harming the environment even more by racking up air-miles traveling the world from Paris to Tokyo to Geneva to Nairobi. In the end, air travel ends up contributing more carbon to the atmosphere than what we would have emitted had we tele-commuted our way into these international environmental meetings.
However, what can we do if we ABSOLUTELY have to drive or fly? Enter carbon offsets. With carbon offsets, you’re not “buying your way into sustainability heaven“. You are trying to offset (hence the term carbon offsets!) whatever carbon you are unavoidably emitting instead of simply flying recklessly.
Offsetters is a Vancouver-based non-for-profit organization founded by Dr. Hadi Dowlatabadi and Dr. James Tansey. How can we make sure that carbon offsets are actually working? In their website, they answer your questions (the emphases are mine)
Offsetters’ carbon offsets are investments in projects that prevent greenhouse gases from being emitted into the atmosphere. All of our projects are verified by qualified third parties as being:
1. Real. Verifiers confirm that our projects take place as promised.
2. “Additional.” Offsetters investments lead to real reductions in total greenhouse gas emissions by enabling projects that would otherwise not take place.
3. Permanent. We avoid reforestation and other projects that only temporarily store carbon.
4. Socially beneficial. Offsetters projects bring social and local environmental benefits as well as climate gains [From Offsetters’ Learn More webpage]
Of course, like any climate-change related measure, carbon offsets have their critics and people who make fun of them. There’s for example the spoof CheatNeutral. However, if you really want to learn more about how you can offset your carbon emissions, check Offsetters’ website. They also have another really cool program, the Cool Air Pass program (to offset your car emissions). Check their website for more information!
If you didn’t get a chance to come to EPIC, simply log on to HappyFrog.ca and look for the FrogBlog or its green businesses directory.
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This post is also cross-posted with the FrogBlog
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As a former model and current enviro-geek (who is currently training to be a full-fledged social media geek), I am always searching for great clothes that will be (a) comfortable, (b) reflect my values and lifestyle and (c) affordable. Although (c) is not always very easy to reach, I have found some stores where at least (a) and (b) and sometimes (c) are all in the cards.
Welcome Dahlia Drive! As I was walking through the corridors of EPIC ’08 I was wondering whether someone had thought about recycling clothing (I began wandering around the exhibitor booths on the other side, closer to the green stationery, so it took me a while to reach the clothing section). Sometimes I am afraid of not being able to find a good shirt that I can wear to a night on the town. But upon finding Dahlia Drive’s recycled castoffs, I was absolutely smitten.
One of Dahlia Drive’s recycled shirts (Photo credit: Raul on Flickr)
Working out of North Vancouver, owner and founder Wendy Van Riesen brings castoffs back to life through innovative and imaginative processes of imprinting, staining, and re-assembling. I had an opportunity to peruse her website, and I was blown away. The design and the amount of work that went into putting that much content is outstanding.
Wendy’s fashion sense really clicked with mine. I particularly loved these long-sleeved shirts with rusting on them (see photos below). It was also very interesting to find that her dresses can be worn by women of all ages. I could very well see my Mom wearing this model that Wendy was wearing, so perhaps this summer I’ll bring Mom to North Vancouver so she can see some of Dahlia Drive’s outstanding designs.
Wendy Van Riesen from Dahlia Drive at the EPIC ’08 Vancouver Sun Sustainable Living Show (Photo credit: Raul on Flickr)
Dahlia Drive not only designs and creates beautiful things out of recycled castoffs, but also participates in several charitable events, which was another element that made me really appreciate their contribution to EPIC. I would seriously encourage you to peruse the website and check Wendy’s clothing line. She will probably have something of your liking!
If you didn’t get a chance to come to EPIC, simply log on to HappyFrog.ca and look for the FrogBlog or its green businesses directory.
I had one of the busiest weekends of the past few months (if you add to the weekend a social event every night of the week, I was pretty crazy). And I owe the HappyFrog FrogBlog a few posts that I think they’d be better served if I write them coherently, so I’ll skip those for now.
Quick summary with just one pretty picture to give you a preview of what’s coming:
The Lighthouse at Lighthouse Park West Vancouver (Photo credit: Raul on Flickr)
WEEKEND RECAP
* Friday night drinks and dinner @ Tequila Kitchen
* Saturday brunch with CS
* Jugo Juice and quick stroll around Waterfront Station with AF
* EPIC ’08 on Sat with the FrogSquad
* Dinner at Airdrie and Derek where I *finally* got to meet them *and* Karen, Kerry-Anne, Gillian, and a bunch of other awesome folks.
* Volleyball, last game of the season
* EPIC ’08 again on Sun with the FrogSquad
* Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver (read the blog entry on Miss604.com) and a drive around the area, dinner and movies.
PHEW. And you wonder how I do everything? Well, at this point in my life, … so do I, so do I. Admittedly, I’ve been pretty out of it, so if whenever we’ve chatted/Twittered/IM’d/MSN’d/GChat’d or simply talked on the phone or in person, and you’ve seen me exhausted, this short recap of my weekend should tell you why I feel absolutely without a gram of energy.
I’m taking tomorrow pretty easy, I think. I will have to work on a paper, and have to submit a few posts to EPIC ’08 including a summary of Simon Jackson’s talk (which was podcasted by DaveO – who is totally my hero. Man, that guy is pure energy and positive vibes!). Of course, being an awesome writer and totally being on top of his game, Jonathon totally beat me to the punch with a great preview of Simon’s talk, which I think will be nicely complemented with my summary remarks *and* DaveO’s podcast of Simon’s speech (both of these forthcoming on HappyFrog’s FrogBlog and cross-posted here). You should totally check out my first ever podcast (total props to John and Rebecca Bollwitt and DaveO ). I hate my voice though 🙁
PHEW again. I am literally fading on here. I’ll also be publishing a post ranting/discussing/assessing Twitter. I was de-followed twice on Sunday, which didn’t quite contribute to the positive status of things. That being said, I was quickly followed by two folks that I absolutely really totally like because they’re awesome (and you know who you are!). So, in summary, I got a hell of a lot of stuff to write about, I just don’t have the physical energy to do it. And I’ve been overdosing on Twizzlers to be able to write this much.
One last bit – I think that Corinna and Adam and Phaedra went to the 4/20 rally. I am not 100% sure, to be honest (as I write this post, I haven’t checked any updates). But if they did, I am sure they’ll tell you ALL about it and it will be an interesting read!
The energy required to write this post was sponsored by Twizzlers. Seriously. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have them here. I would probably have passed out of exhaustion three hours ago. Talk to you all soon.
The always sweet and awesome Isabella Mori tagged me with the 8 random facts about me meme, so I am now supposed to tell you eight random facts about me. Since a while ago I had written five random facts about me, I guess I could just add three more to the list. The original five are:
1. I often sleep on my couch. Don’t ask me why. It just makes me feel … I guess less lonely? Don’t get me wrong, I love my queen size bed. But ever since I fell asleep on my couch one night after having one too many drinks, I just simply enjoyed it. And often times, I am just watching a movie and simply turn off the TV.
2. When I am sad and need a pick-me up, I make grape Jell-O. I consume this gelatin dessert with such a pleasure and end up feeling so happy that it usually takes me a few weeks to feel sad again.
3. Up until May of 2007 I had never turned on my TV. When I moved back to Vancouver in early 2006, I purchased a really cheap TV. I bought an entertainment center to go with it. I had everything connected and ready, but never got around to turning it on. And when I did… YOWZA! I had cable 🙂
4. I dream in 5 different languages (usually the ones I speak more fluently) but the only nightmares I have and the ones from which I have always had a hard time waking up are the ones where I dream in English.
5. Even though I have a photographic memory and can usually remind every one of my friends of whatever they did in the past week with uncanny accuracy, sometimes even better than what they recall they did or told me, I frequently misplace my keys in my apartment. I always manage to find them though.
And the new three ones:
6. Before yesterday (Saturday April 19th) I had *never* interviewed anyone in a different language.
7. Before yesterday, I had *never* podcasted.
8. I have never joined Facebook, yet I am on Twitter. And I’m addicted to it.
Ok, so in theory I should tag other friends of mine from the blogosphere. I’ll let you all decide if you want to follow the meme, and if you do, please do a trackback or leave me a comment so that I can read it. Have a nice day everyone!
I had been waiting with baited breath to hear Adria Vasil, a renowned journalist and best-selling book author, speak at the Vancouver Sun EPIC ’08 Sustainable Living Expo. However, I had not predicted that my weekend was going to be as busy as it is now. I’ve been running from one social engagement to another and yet to another after my tour of EPIC ’08, but I could simply not miss Adria’s talk.
I was running around Vancouver (using, of course, public transit – the 98 B-Line from Granville and Broadway to the Waterfront Skytrain station). Upon my arrival, I tried to arrange and see if I could interview Adria. My plan, originally, had been to only talk to her and make notes on her responses, but then DaveO suggested that maybe I should podcast it.
Dave’s suggestion really scared me as I feel still too much in the early stages of Geekification, but he explained to me how the digital recorder and microphone worked and made things so simple that I could simply not resist. And Rebecca kindly offered to take photos and video of the interview with Adria. Thus, I grabbed my notebook and went on to listen to Adria speak.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
After her book signing, I grabbed the podcasting equipment and asked Rebecca to join me, and off I went to interview Adria. My first impression of her is that she is a very grounded individual, and as a journalist, she is quite understanding of how challenging it can be to conduct a first interview. She was very gracious, spoke at great length about the issues I asked her about and was very candid in her responses.
Her speech was really good in many ways. First, she basically outlined how she became an eco-holic, a term that she coined circa 2004, when she started dedicating a substantial portion of her time to writing environmentally-related stuff, in a question/answer kind of format. I took many things from her talk, but one of the key concepts she delivered that really struck a chord with me was the notion of citizen engagement. Your Average Joe and Average Jane can and SHOULD be engaged in undertaking steps (however small these may be) to try and influence the government into designing and implementing better environmental policies.
Adria also touched upon an issue that I have also discussed previously on my blog, which is the fact that climate change is NOT the only environmental problem we have, and that if you are an environmental journalist, you must find a niche or carve your own niche so that you can fully plunge into the environmental journalism field. The way Adria put it, you can’t have 20,000 climate change journalists.
You will hear much more stuff in the podcast (my VERY FIRST EVER podcast) as soon as it is uploaded on to the HappyFrog FrogBlog. Hat tips and many thanks to Rebecca for photographs (and last minute recommendations on how to conduct the interview). Very sweet of you. This PondCast was brought to you by HappyFrog.ca’s FrogBlog.
I would just like to close this short comment (I have many more notes about Vasil’s talk that I could share, but I would prefer it if you listened to the podcast first) indicating that Adria Vasil was unbelievably down to Earth. Rebecca and I have this series of photographs that we have started taking (self-portraits including the both of us), and Adria very graciously agreed to join us in a group photo. Many of these are posted on Flickr and will be added to the HappyFrog Flickr Group (soon as I can sort through all of them).
In summary, I would seriously recommend that you listen to the podcast, because Adria summarizes very neatly and very nicely the main messages in her book “Eco-holic”. She fielded some tough questions from the audience, questions that are of course obvious since she writes about life-style changes.
The toughest question I think she faced was along the lines of whether she ALWAYS eat sustainably, and she made a point that she made as many organic and sustainable choices as she possibly could, which I find extremely refreshing. During the podcast interview, she also mentioned that as a journalist, you have to be upfront, honest and accountable. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing her and attending her lecture. I hope she also enjoyed the interview! (fingers crossed). And if you ever read this, Adria – you’ve really made me appreciate the work of environmental journalists. I am privileged with having a few of those, and now I see how important it is to bring the environmental message to the broader audiences. Congratulations on a job well done (and get on with the blog!).
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This post is also cross-posted with the FrogBlog
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I remember when I used to think that eating seafood was intrinsically better than eating meat simply because it seemed logical that since fish were ocean-bound, they were somehow ‘organic‘ and it was “ok” to eat this “organic” food group (I was very young at the time). Year later, I decided to engage in more serious studies on environmental issues, and one of the topics I have studied is the notion of eco-labelling.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
What is an eco-label, you ask? And what exactly does it mean to have a product eco-certified? Instead of engaging you in a long-winded academic conversation, I will use a hyper-local, Vancouver-based and run eco-certification program: Ocean Wise.
So… what is OceanWise? Well…
Ocean Wise is a Vancouver Aquarium conservation program created to educate and empower consumers about the issues surrounding sustainable seafood. Ocean Wise works directly with restaurants and markets, ensuring that they have the most current scientific information regarding seafood and helping them make ocean-friendly buying decisions. The options are highlighted on their menus and display cases with the Ocean Wise symbol, making it easier for consumers to make environmentally friendly seafood choices. The Ocean Wise logo next to a menu item is a guarantee that the item is a good choice for keeping ocean life healthy and abundant for generations to come.[Vancouver Aquarium’s OceanWise website]
So say you want to go out for dinner and you are a non-meat eater. You simply go to the OceanWise restaurant listing or look for the OceanWise symbol right beside the specific dish. OceanWise can be considered an eco-label (that is, it has a specific label that certifies that the product is considered sustainable) that allows consumers to make informed choices about the specific seafood products whose consumption is under consideration.
I strongly recommend that you visit the OceanWise booth at the Vancouver Sun EPIC Sustainable Living Expo. Still running on Sunday April 20th, 2008 from 10am to 5pm. If you need any help, feel free to look for any of your friendly FrogSquad bloggers at the HappyFrog.ca booth right outside the main entrance.
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This post is also cross-posted with the FrogBlog
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When you think about sustainable food, what do you think about? Do the words ‘organic’, ‘free-range’, ‘100 mile diet’ come to you? Well, if so then you are definitely on the pathway to educating yourself on how the choices you make about your diet affect ecosystems and leave an ecological footprint. This is the first step in the steady and continuous process of reducing the environmental impacts that are due to our food choices.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
“Well, one thing is to be able to make these decisions at home, and another is to force a restaurant to be more sustainable. When I eat out, I can’t really force the restaurant owner to NOT offer me a certain type of food because it is not as sustainable as others“. Yeah, have heard this one before too. Not to worry. From now on, YOU don’t have to do the legwork and research which restaurants are more sustainable than others, which food service providers are better suited to source environmentally-friendly food products, and where you can dine out and still be environmentally-conscious and responsible. The Green Table Network is an invaluable resource, and you can visit their booth at the Vancouver Sun EPIC Expo ’08.
I have previously discussed about The Green Table Network on my personal blog, particularly when I saw that there were some people who weren’t really buying into the notion of sustainable restaurants. The way they put it, all they wanted to do was to eat their steak without having to worry whether the meat was organic, or whether the produce they were eating in their salad was locally sourced. The truth is, the concept of sustainable restaurants is really more than a gimmick.
I am really excited to see The Green Table Network (GTN) here at EPIC Expo, as I know that they missed the Green Living Show. I find that their role is key in educating the general public that there are numerous local, excellent restaurants who work hard at reducing their ecological footprint, engage in best practices for energy and water management within the food industry and still maintain a high quality level in their food.
Source: Raul on Flickr. Photo crossposted with Flickr’s HappyFrog Photo Group
Founded by Andre LaRiviere, who was a former CBC radio executive, trained in the culinary arts and worked as a chef for many years, Green Table is a network of sustainable, green businesses and organizations in the food industry. For more information on Green Table, you can click here. And make sure to check their booth at the Vancouver Sun EPIC Sustainable Living Expo. It still runs on Sunday, April 20th, from 10am to 5pm.
I am by nature a very introspective person. Before you say “wait a second, aren’t you an extrovert?”, let me tell you that both personality traits can be (and in my case are) compatible. Don’t be mistaken. I love flying “by the seat of my pants” when necessary (I did on Thursday) and have no qualms about doing things without thinking much about them. However, as a Virgo, I am analytical by nature. It’s also part of my job description. I ask questions, I look for answers, I find the empirical evidence to back up my claims.
This week, I have had a very, very, very intense work/socializing week. I attended Third Tuesday on Tuesday night, Green Drinks on Wednesday night, Vancouver Tweetup on Thursday night, and had the pleasure of going for drinks with a few blogo-friends (new term that I’ll describe in detail below) to the Tequila Kitchen last night. Today I have a brunch with CS (who is the significant other of one of my best friends, HZ), I’m supposed to meet with AF for crepes and tea at La Bretagne, have to come down to EPIC ’08 to do some live-coverage, and going for dinner with other blogo-friends (DKM and AM). Tomorrow, I have my usual volleyball and JT time routine, with the probability of a brunch somewhere in between, and will try to drop by a 4/20 rally downtown that Phaedra is attending.
Of course, most likely I’ll need to work from home on Monday because I’ll need a break from so much socializing. Yes, even hummingbirds get tired. Which leads me back again to the title of my post. This week, I have been reflecting A LOT on where my blog is headed. My readership has increased steadily, even breaking my own record (when I liveblogged Michael Geist’s lecture) by a good 4 unique views. I know I’m nowhere near the readership of many, many local bloggers, but my writing is getting out there and people seem to be liking what I write.
I need to decide if I’m going to take the next step. I recently shared this idea with Rebecca, with whom I discuss many of my thoughts and ideas on blogging, and who kindly has offered advice and tips when she thinks she can help. I also have grown to develop a very good friendship with Phaedra, and while we were at Tequila Kitchen, shared my thoughts on this issue. And since I haven’t had a chance to talk in person to many of my other blogo-friends, I wanted to share these thoughts with the blogosphere, first looking for feedback and comments, and second looking to examine my thinking (as someone would say, “thinking out loud”).
So here is the thing. My blog is a personal blog. I write about my journey through life in Vancouver and I pepper it with restaurant reviews, movie reviews, some political commentary, pretty pictures, etc. My blog is not monetized (although I have thought about it, and I have seen lots of local blogs who insert ads and are still very classy) and it isn’t a corporate blog. This blog is about Raul and his life in Vancouver, and how his life is inextricably intertwined with that of his friends, new friends and family. That’s pretty much what this blog is about.
A couple of weeks ago, I started feeling the need to upgrade, in many ways. First, my laptop died (I still haven’t contacted eMachines to see if they might be willing to toss a new laptop in my direction). Then, I just had too many pictures in my Flickr account so I had to upgrade to Flickr Pro. And then, I have started to have more of a physical *and* online presence on the blogosphere (I started twittering and if you are so inclined, you can follow me as @hummingbird604) and participating in MANY more social media events. And to top it all off, I went to an absolutely AMAZING party that Tanya organized at her place, which included many local bloggers. At this party, I met many blogo-friends that I had just had very positive and sweet interactions over email AND our respective blogs (some of these wonderful people include Corinna and Adam, MJ Ankenman and Colleen Coplick).
So you’ll see, even though I am very well connected in the environmental field, I am becoming much more connected in the social media field. I want to be able to bring them both together, to make my currently personal writing mesh with my future professional career (as I am in the process of assessing my career path).
THE QUESTIONS THAT I AM MULLING OVER
Basically, I am trying to decide on the next steps for my blog, IF AND ONLY IF I decide to take them. In my view, these steps are as follows:
a) Buy the domain for www.hummingbird604.com – that, of course, requires shelling out the cash that I’m not 100% sure I can shell out right this very moment.
b) Upgrade both of my computers (desktop and laptop) and POSSIBLY go Mac. I see how much easier my friends’ lives are with their MacBooks and stuff, I am sure I could adapt.
c) Come out publicly with my last name and include it on my blog. This would mean that a LOT of my personal information would be on the blogosphere, something I’m not 100% sold on.
d) Possibly monetize my blog. Obviously, I wouldn’t expect this to be a steady source of income, but … whatever.
e) Upgrade my technical skills (including learning to code PHP and all that jazz).
f) Geekify myself (I just made up that word, and submitted it to the Urban Dictionary for consideration). That is, I will probably need to upgrade to several levels and scales, including maybe buying an iPhone, or a relatively more sophisticated cell phone (right now I don’t have one). You could argue that that’s the same as (b) but I don’t agree.
I think that geekifying myself would require going beyond what I estimated was my original baseline for blogging. So far, thanks to the kind help of many people (including, but not limited to, Rebecca, Nomade Moderne, Arjana to name a few) my blog is where it is right now. I am very proud of where my blog is now and what I have accomplished, and as Sir Isaac Newton put it, “if I have seen a little further, it’s been because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”.
THUS, IN CLOSING…
As I was wrapping up this conversation with Phaedra last night, I told her what I told Rebecca on Thursday, and my Mom on Wednesday. NOBODY can make this decision for me. I value (and I make a point to tell every one from whom I seek advice) their advice, but only I can decide what is best for me. Rebecca was in fact the one person who brought up the issue of buying the domain for Hummingbird604.com (it was SO cute to hear Lisa say “I can’t believe that I am sitting in the same table as Miss604!” on Thursday at the Vancouver Tweetup). I completely agree with Rebecca. If I want to be recognized as ‘the brand’ Hummingbird604, I might need to switch from a WordPress.com hosted blog to actually going all the way to www.Hummingbird604.com. For example, a few other great blogs out there are .com – Maktaaq.com and GusGreeper.com, to give you just two examples. John Bollwitt recently switched from being Audihertz to now JohnBollwitt.com. John Biehler (who was in Hawaii with his wife for a much deserved vacation) is also .Com.
So, the question is out there, and any and all advice will be gladly received, either via e-mail (hummingbird604[a]gmail.com, substitute [a] for @) or Twitter (@hummingbird604) or in person at one of the WordPress camps, Third Tuesdays, Green Drinks and the myriad of other social engagements I have. Thank you in advance.
Well, if you want the summary of this place I can tell you two words: IT SUCKS.
I did expect more than the last time I had been here (when I wasn’t a blogger and thus didn’t feel any need to review it). Well… how to begin? The service was slow, the food was poor (with the exception of the bruschetta, which I have to say was fairly decent).
The bruschetta was decent but Jenn’s dish was overcooked (duck) and undercooked (pasta)
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
The waitress took FOREVER to get our drinks, my caipirinha was absolutely awful. You want me to stop right there, right? No? Ok, let me continue… Jenn’s duck was overcooked, the pasta was UNDERCOOKED, there was absolutely no atmosphere.
Rebecca thought the food was good… but her face says otherwise, hehe!
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr
The only thing that was a saving grace was that it was a Tweetup. But I will NEVER, as in NEVER come back to The Granville Room. It was a toss between Roxy Burger and Granville Room. We *should* have gone to the Roxy Burger. SERIOUSLY. Not funny. On top of that, the cocktails are a tad overpriced for the place. Sorry, this is downtown, not Yaletown. A caipirinha for $10? Well. Ok, say I want to pay that amount of money… but give me a decent one. In summary, not the bar I’ll be patronizing in the near future.
The only thing I would fault Uva Wine Bar with would be that they don’t have hors d’oeuvres. The place is chic (a tad small for a Tweetup but totally fine for a decent glass of wine and/or a drink), the staff are really on the ball, friendly and sweet, and the drinks are good. Fairly decently priced (within what I’d expect in Yaletown, $ 9 for a martini).
Vancouver Tweeters taking iPhone pictures of everyone at Uva in Yaletown on Seymour and Smithe.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr
Located where it used to be The Dufferin (a queer-friendly bar that was highly valued by the community but ended up being gentrified), Uva is a classic European wine bar. The staff is really friendly and very prompt and attentive. And they know their drinks. One of the managers/owners mentioned that they would get some food (and they are right – they are a wine bar, so really they’re not supposed to have FOOD and drinks, it’s more like they got DRINKS and some food. Basically, the concept is a wine bar (like Europe, you know?)
I’ve had SO much to do today that I haven’t even had a minute to blog. But there will be content. Oh, yes, there will be content! I have two bar reviews (UVA Wine Bar and Granville Room), and a recap of Thursday’s Tweetup. Tip hats to Colleen Coplick for organizing said Tweetup. Lovely to see everyone!
I never know how to call these, since La Grotta Del Fromaggio (literally, the cavern of cheese) is more than just a deli. It is a small little piece of heaven tucked in the heart of Commercial Drive, kitty corner from my favorite coffee place, Continental. It is kind of obvious (as those of you who have read my About page) that I shouldn’t really know about La Grotta Del Fromaggio, simply because I don’t eat cheese. But today I met with my good friends H and I, who flew in from the Netherlands, and we went there for lunch.
OH MY GOD. BEST-SANDWICHES-EVER! I had a small bun Montreal smoked meat sandwich ($ 5.00) and it was so filling I am still feeling full. I’m headed over to Uva Wine Bar for a Tweetup, and I still don’t feel the need to eat, because I am SO full. I’m glad that I and H brought me there, not only because it gave me an opportunity to try a new place to eat (inexpensive as well!) but also because I could practice my Italian. Of course, I ended up throwing some Portuguese and Spanish here and there, but overall, it sounded really good.
I’ll post more about the reasons why I am so happy I saw H and I, but I have to head to Uva for the Tweetup. So I’ll talk to you guys later.
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This post is cross-posted with HappyFrog’s FrogBlog and will be also available on
EPIC ’08’s blog
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The whole concept of EPIC is exciting in and of itself, and while trying to find which events I wanted to attend, I needed to peruse the list of “Who Is in the Main Stage”. Just about everybody is excited about Mike Holmes (from “Holmes on Homes” fame). Since I am renting and opportunities to own in Vancouver are looking quite slim, I decided to let the Holmes enthusiasts flood the room and instead, I’ll be probably hanging out and doing interviews with some of the exhibitors at EPIC 2008.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
The list of speakers sounds really exciting, and one of those that I am excited to see is Adria Vasil, author of Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products and Services in Canada. What is Ecoholic, you ask?
When the world’s environmental woes get you down, turn to Ecoholic – Canada’s best resource for practical tips and products that help you do your part for the earth. You’ll get the dirt on what not to buy and why, and the dish on great gifts, clothes, home supplies and more. Based on the popular and authoritative “Ecoholic” column that appears weekly in NOW, Ecoholic is a cheeky and eye-opening guide to all of life’s greenest predicaments.
[From Random House website]
Why am I excited to hear her speak? Several reasons, but one of the most important, I believe, is that I have always been curious about environmental journalism. What drives a journalist to cover sustainability issues? Are they well-educated on the issues, on the topics? How does writing for a broader audience work and how do you engage and encourage said broad audience in trying to go green?
Adria Vasil has been writing the Ecoholic column for NOW Magazine since the spring of 2004 and has covered environmental issues for NOW’s news section for four years. Vasil has a degree in development politics and cultural anthropology from the University of Toronto and a degree in magazine journalism from Ryerson. An advocate for the earth, women’s issues and human rights since her teens, Vasil has appeared on MTV Canada and CBC’s Newsworld to promote environmentalism.
[From RandomHouse website]
Adria’s talk is on Saturday April 19th at 3:00pm. I’ll most likely be around and close to the HappyFrog booth, so if you want to come down and talk to me, I’ll have my name tag. And I’ll see if I can score an interview with Adria either before or after the talk. A blogger interviewing someone who is more in the mainstream media… how geeky!
I have always had this image of myself as being always capable of doing everything I set out to do. I knew that physical limitations would exist to the amount of work I could do, the sports I could practice, even the food I could eat. In more recent years, I have tried to concentrate on developing only a few areas of my life, not every one of them. I have also learned to ask for help. Before, I would spend hours, days, weeks, learning a new skill so that I could do the thing I needed to get done. Now, I am very comfortable asking for help, whenever I need something I know that someone else is much more skilled at doing. For example, if I need something on my PC fixed, I’ll ask JT, and without any hesitation, he’ll always lend a hand. If I need blogging advice, I’ll ask Rebecca, and she’ll always be glad to help. If I want personal advice on professional career choices, I’ll ask HZ. If I need to learn how to take pretty pictures, I’ll ask Arjana. And the list goes on and on… I am now very capable of asking those whom I believe are more skilled than me in a particular realm, to help me in a particular situation.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuDREr8G61A&hl=en]
Video: Jennifer Garner trips, and mentions “I do my own stunts”
Even though in many ways, as Jennifer Garner said it at one of the Oscars’ nights, “I do my own stunts” . That means, I’ll still try to learn new things and tricks that will move me forward. I have discovered that I now feel much more comfortable coding by hand. I found myself writing my own codes as of late, instead of actually using the HTML editor. And I feel quite proud! I have started manipulating the values of the numbers on the height and width of my newly imported photographs, adding codes for bold and italics. The one that I still seem to be not so comfortable is the referrer for hyperlinks. Although, let me let you in a little secret. I coded the hyperlinks for Miss604.com and Arjana all by myself, by hand… 🙂 Yipee!
I know that the phrase is “the beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. But the thing is, I didn’t want to write specifically about that. I wanted to speak to the fact that there are different eye beholders. Let me provide you with some context. I was reading 24Hrs.ca (shocking, I know… but anyway…). One of their best columnists is Siobhan Rowe, in my humble opinion. While she had some caustic and wonderfully incisive posts in the past couple of years, she seemed to spend a few months writing more “fluffy”, less punchy stuff. But she’s back with a vengeance with her story on breast enhancements and the reasons behind why women do it.
The basic premise she puts forward for readers to consider is whether looks should be the currency women trade on (if I understood her point correctly), and she suggests that looks should be less relevant as the person is more important as a whole. This brings me to my own experience and I could also point you to other personal journeys of bloggers who have often spoken about body image, self-confidence and that sort of thing. However, I think that if they choose to share their stories, you’ll hear from them, not from me, I want to respect their privacy.
Anyhow, here’s my story and my take on the “beauty in the eye of the beholder” concept. I modeled (men fashion) for a few years while I was in undergraduate and almost right out of high school. Modeling seriously increased my self-confidence for many reasons:
– I was always very well dressed (well, I studied chemical engineering, so it wasn’t all that hard to be the best dressed in the classroom).
– I was always up-to-date with male fashion comings-and-goings, which also meant that I had other interesting topics to talk about with people.
– I was given the chance to practice my Italian.
And, of course…
– I was in really good shape (which was also the result of my intense volleyball and dancing training).
Now, one of the reasons why I quit (and basically the MAIN reason), you’d be surprised to hear, wasn’t my studies. I always managed to have very good grades even with all the work that modeling entailed. No, the reason behind my quitting modeling was that I had been asked to have plastic surgery in my nose. Now, I recognize that maybe in my early years, I wasn’t all that happy with the nose I had because it didn’t look straight or pointy enough. But as time has gone through (and as more and more people have been fascinated with my physical features), I’ve realized that maybe I wasn’t seeing something in my own physique that other people were seeing. Maybe my nose wasn’t all that bad. So I learned to like myself the way I was (and the way I am) by appreciating what I had been given as a “vessel” to use my friend Phaedra‘s words.
I am *very* happy with the vessel right now. I recognize that sometimes I feel that I’m not photogenic enough, or that I’ve gained weight. But I still command a good degree of self-confidence, and I still am able to attract a lot more people than I thought I would. Why? Well, here’s the thing… I am not sure it’s because I am all that cute or that I’m super hot. I think it’s because INSIDE I have a good heart and that somehow shines through. And I’m not being conceited here, I’m just being honest. I think that I have a lot of pretty hot male and female friends. But do I really care that they are considered physically attractive? Not really. What I care for is that I love them and I value them REGARDLESS of their physical appearance.
Yes, I have a lot of great friends, both bloggers and civilians, whom I consider super hot, but (and this is something you all have to keep in mind), I consider them hot for what is INSIDE them. The OUTSIDE is pretty much irrelevant to me. I don’t care if you are tall, short, curvy, skinny. If I love you, I love you regardless of what you look like. And I know for sure that if my friends love me, they love me regardless of whether I weigh 170 pounds (which I do know) or 150 (which I did when I was modeling).
So, coming back to the modeling story, and as a closing note, I quit modeling ages ago, because I refused to conform to the standards of “traditional beauty”. I refused to get a nose job, I refused to remain skinny, and I don’t regret a single thing. If people love me, they’ll have to love my personality, my brain. My body is a nice vessel to contain it all (again, using Phaedra’s metaphor of the vessel) but I think it is the inside that counts, not the outside. So, really, I think beauty is not dependent on the eye of the beholder, it is intrinsic within us. We just need to find it.
I love having a chance to meet a bunch of enviro-geeks, and well, a beer is not so bad either, so I have tried to be a loyal fan of Green Drinks Vancouver. However, I have to say that tonight I was VERY disappointed. As in, REALLY disappointed. There are several elements that were highlights and a number that were the low points. So, I’ll briefly summarize them here.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Meeting Sarah Marchildon, her friend Paul, and other enviro-folks (I may miss some, but I had a chance to meet the folks at Projecting Change – Lindsay and Brady, Lynn, Tim, Kim – who just completed a North Shore program to find their career path – Heather and Will, of course, Jeremy, James, Sean, Jeff, Pam, and a bunch of other folks). But seriously, meeting Sarah Marchildon was AWESOME. She is as sweet and genuine and wholesome and beautiful in person as she is online.
* Having a chance to just be immersed in environmental issues. Since I have been working from home lately, I have had very little interaction with enviro-folks. Which will be quickly remedied since I’ll be blogging about EPIC 2008 and I will also be cross-posting with HappyFrog‘s FrogBlog. Check our live feed, I’m joined by an outstanding group of Vancouver bloggers! Tips of the hat to DaveO for inviting and EPIC ’08 for making this possible.
Now, for the NEGATIVE SIDE OF IT.
* Super expensive beer. I’m sorry, but $ 6.00 for a beer doesn’t cut it for me. First of all, I’m on a budget here. Second of all, the beer was an awful lager that didn’t really taste good for me. Third of all, I can get beer and a burger at The Five Point on Main and 16th for $ 10. Thanks, but no thanks. I’m getting turned off with Steamworks. Which leads me to the second point…
* Pretentious location. I am definitely not very impressed lately. Would this change if my paycheck was heftier? I don’t think so. I find this bar kind of pretentious. And I’ve had this issue for a long time. My brother loves it, my colleagues organize gatherings here all the time, and I come all the time, not because I’m a fan of the place, but because that’s where gatherings are organized. But really unhappy with the place, the beer. The saving grace? The staff. Waiters, waitresses, hostesses, and bartenders are all very, very nice and prompt.
* Lack of a steady crowd. I mentioned this to Christina (one of the super able organizers, with an unbelievably sweet smile and gorgeous eyes). I’ve been to MANY GDV events. I have a photographic memory, so I can tell you who has been there repeatedly and who hasn’t. The degree to which people attend GDV repeatedly is VERY LOW. As in, really low. What are the implications for [UPDATE – Clearly I was exhausted last night, so here is the rest of that sentence] community building? Well, this sequence of events…
… LEADS ME TO PONDERING…
– Why are we, environmentally-minded folks, not patronizing a more organic, enviro-friendly place like Rhizome?
– Why aren’t folks returning?
THUS, I HAVE THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ORGANIZERS OF GREEN DRINKS
(a) Get Green Greeter Volunteers. This is a big issue I have with GDV. I am a super outgoing, ultra social guy. But when I’m at GDV, I freeze. I don’t feel comfortably approaching people, not because I am shy, but because I find it hard. Groups are quickly formed, and yeah you can tell me that I can break into them (I did, and I have always done it), but can you imagine? I freeze, and I’m an extrovert! Can you imagine if I wasn’t? The organizes could help by recruiting a few volunteers who could go around the room greeting people and helping bring others to already-formed small groups.
(b) Change the venue. Seriously. I love Christina, Rika and Lyda, and I know all this work is 100% volunteer (and if you didn’t know, YES they have day jobs and NO they’re not getting paid to organize Green Drinks Vancouver!). But Steamworks feels to me pretentious and it makes me feel part of a group of Green Yuppies. Considering the state of the debate on whether you need to make enough money to be sustainable, we are seriously contributing to fuelling the idea that we are Green Yuppies. I for one, am not. And I refuse to be identified that way. I prefer to be a Hippie than a Yuppie. So, I vote for Rhizome or some other enviro-minded venue.
(c) Do a survey. Why aren’t people coming back? What is it that they are NOT getting at GDV? Heck, if you need the web support, I am even willing to create the survey and post a link on my blog. And I’ll even throw in the statistical analysis for free.
(d) Create a sense of a community. Right now, GDV looks like a room full of enviro folks who don’t know each other, who don’t really relate to each other, and who don’t seem to be very connected to each other. Maybe organize “ice-breakers”, give a shout-out in public to the participants, etc. There’s plenty of ways to do this.
I *know* about this issue (community building). Come on, I’ve moved to four different countries in the past 15 years, I know exactly what I am talking about. If members of a group are always transient and never steady, no sense of community is built. Now that I have been in two local Vancouver teams, and have been playing regularly, I NOW feel part of the teams. Look at my current activities in the blogosphere. I have attended many social media gatherings, and now people start to recognize me and have begun to make great friends who are also bloggers. I am now part of the Vancouver blogging and social media community. THAT is how you build community. You interact with them in REAL LIFE, REPEATEDLY.
WHILE position_in_community IS EQUAL TO not_established
REPEAT
Participate_In_Gatherings
ENDWHILE
Again, I am trying not to be overly critical, particularly because I fully endorse and support Green Drinks Vancouver. I am just making suggestions, in hopes that they will help the organizers make a better event.
At the excellent suggestion of MJ Ankeman on Twitter, I’ve decided to update my “About Me” page, changing it now to “About Raul (that is, me)“. You will also notice that I’ve inserted a hummingbird in the header of my website, thanks to Rebecca. Ok, and now you can resume your normal activities. Comments always welcome.
You might have noticed a slight change on my blog 🙂 It now has the image of a hummingbird, thanks to the always lovely Miss604 herself, Rebecca Bollwitt. I think it looks awesome!
First of all, my congratulations to Monica Hamburg for an excellent talk, to Rebecca for a phenomenal live-blog (AND for the prize giveaway, even though I didn’t win – great to see GusF win though!) and to Tanya for organizing. Hat tips to The Network Hub for hosting Third Tuesday. You should check out The Network Hub, seriously.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
I have a tendency to try and distill the lessons of what I have learned in an attempt to (a) make more sense and keep my notes organized and (b) perhaps help my readers AND the presenter gather the main points. For example, when I have given talks, it’s always nice to hear other perspectives on what the audience learned, and I figured these notes could complement an already great job in the live blog by Rebecca.
So here is what I learned on Crowd Sourcing, from the always lovable and extremely brilliant, Monica Hamburg:
* Crowdsourcing is basically taking a job and outsourcing it as an open call. It is a form of mass collaboration, tapping into a collective pool of knowledge, creative potential and artistic prowess. The fact that you outsource a job to (pretty much) the world allows you to broaden the scope, and since the job is “out there”, it’s basically a process that is repeated until you find the right product for whatever you are crowdsourcing, and then you stop (I hope my geeky friends love this), something basically like this:
WHILE product NOT EQUAL TO specifications
DO outsource WITHIN target population
ENDWHILE
Three business examples provided by Monica are summarized on Rebecca’s liveblog (Threadless, NetFlix and Sell A Band), and two non-business examples are Wikipedia (a volunteer-written and edited online encyclopedia) and NowPublic (a volunteer, citizen-journalist site). [UPDATE – Corinna can tell you more about the Threadless t-shirt as she owns one! and Monica indeed said “if Corinna was here, I could show you how cool these shirts are”. But Corinna was taking care of Adam, so no go on Third Tuesday!]
Two different types of participants in the crowdsourcing process are solvers (of problems), and seekers (of solutions). Most solvers will tackle a particular problem because (a) they are passionate about it, primarily and (b) they see a gain (that may actually be purely non-monetary). In some of these cases, the only gain is a recognition as an expert in the field.
Important factors that you might want to consider when crowdsourcing:
1) The project needs a style of leadership without a heavy hand
2) The project owners need to be really open to feedback
3) You have to be very transparent in regards to what it is that (a) you are seeking and (b) the gains that participants in the crowdsourced project will gain
4) You have to be very upfront (see item 3) and establish all the rules very clearly.
Potential problems that you can have with crowdsourcing
1) Exploitation (which in other fields is called a race to the bottom): “Well, you do this project for $1,000, I got someone else who can do it for $ 500).
2) Low quality of submissions (Sturgeon’s law – 90% of everything is crap)
3) It can’t be done short term, requires more time so that the project is crowdsourced during a long enough period of time that it actually can be properly done.
4) It isn’t the answer to everything: And a lot of people can see it as a panacea.
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The Pa-Co-Re Hamburg Law of Crowdsourcing
Be PAssionate, build a COmmunity, and have REspect for every actor
involved in the crowdsourcing project.
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NOW AN EXPLANATION OF MY COMMENT TO MONICA
A lot of people seemed to get the impression from a comment I made that I hate Wikipedia or that I think it is absolutely crappy. It is indeed important to explain exactly what is my pet peeve with it, as it can lead to misunderstandings. I do not think Wikipedia is absolutely crappy, but I do see a problems with it.
Wikipedia seen as an authoritative source instead as a first source. – This relates to the transparency and being upfront comments from Monica, shown above. I haven’t been able to find anywhere on Wikipedia (or on any treatise on the encyclopedia) any mention to the fact that quality control still is required. I find that, in some of my own realms of expertise, the available Wikipedia information is absolutely crappy (and sometimes entirely wrong from a factual viewpoint). In other realms, particularly those where I am NOT an expert, I find Wikipedia an excellent first source. Note what I said: FIRST. The problem is that many people (and some of my former students have committed this mistake) take Wikipedia as the one and all source of knowledge. It’s not. It is a great first approximation, and in some fields, I could bet you it IS indeed the authoritative source. But unless you have a LOT of experts participating as writers AND editors, you will have a resource whose quality can be questionable. All I ask is for anyone who praises Wikipedia to be upfront about the potential challenges and drawbacks that the source has. Anybody who reads my blog knows that I link to Wikipedia constantly. I find it valuable and interesting. But I can’t say that it is the most authoritative source out there, that’s all.
This leads me to my next pet peeve: NowPublic.
NowPublic seen as the authoritative source of information: I have read some of NowPublic reports, and I can absolutely value the fact that a lot of people contribute to it in a self-less way, as volunteer citizen reporters. That’s the next thing that worries me, and it’s linked to my criticism of Wikipedia. Think about it… if you have seen the movie “Gossip” with Lena Headey, James Marsden, Joshua Jackson and Kate Hudson, you’ll recognize the phrase “People are people, we do what we do… and then we gossip about it“. That is precisely the risk with NowPublic. Unless there is some sort of third-party audit, the quality of submissions can be fairly low and there *is* an inherent risk. Take the recent lock-down of UBC. I read about it on NowPublic… I read a LOT of commentary on it, and pretty much nobody really knew anything, and the discussion just contributed to a general state of concern for the security of students and faculty members at the university. That is the problem with citizen journalism… that there is no specific standards that you can subject the citizen journalists to. Codes of ethics? Nowhere to be found (unless somebody knows more about NowPublic than I do, which they probably do, so I’d be more than happy to be enlightened).
The thing is, both Wikipedia and NowPublic should be taken, I think, for what they are… first approximations that should be taken with a grain of salt. Great crowdsourcing projects, however, and I do have praise for both. I don’t intend to diminish the value of either, I just voice my concerns (which I think are pretty legitimate).
After a *really* long explanation, I should get back to the paper I am currently writing. Kudos again to Monica Hamburg for doing a great job with this talk. As I said in my speech, I *did* learn a lot, and I’ll make sure that if I ever crowdsource, I will make good use of the PaCoRe Hamburg Law of Crowdsourcing.
April 16th, 2008 in
Vancouver |
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Just a friendly reminder that tonight at 7:00pm at The Network Hub (on Richards Street. Closest Skytrain is Waterfront Station) is Third Tuesday, with Monica Hamburg speaking about CrowdSourcing and Rebecca Bollwitt (aka Miss604.com) as the media sponsor. Rebecca will be live-blogging. This one is organize by Tanya Davis (aka NetChick) and Tod Maffin (CBC’s Chief Geeky Officer).
I will be attending and taking some photos and some notes, but mostly will be there just to hear Monica’s insights and to socialize with other social media folks. Check out an explanation of what Third Tuesday is here and Rebecca’s live blog here. I am very much looking forward to seeing a lot of you there, you know who you are!
… ok, you opened it… so here it goes. I am currently writing a paper. As you can imagine, my progress hasn’t been all that awesome but I’m getting to the point where I just need to get it out of my hair, so I’m actually trying to buckle down and focus so that I can finish the paper and submit it to a journal. I have MSN, GMail Chat and Thwirl open. You can imagine why I am not making much progress 🙂 hehehe. So I complain with my friend PT that I have been on Twitter for 20 minutes without any updates. Nobody seems to be posting anything there. And I’m horribly bored with the paper.
The truth is, I *am* impatient. I’ve always been. Hence why I am nicknamed “hummingbird“. If I were patient, I wouldn’t type between 70 and 105 words per minute (105 on a REALLY good day), I wouldn’t speak as fast as I do, I wouldn’t have the social and work life I have. I love the adrenaline rush! And I love always living to the fullest, going as fast and as steady as I can. I understand that this may lead to (as it has happened before) burnout.
How to avoid being burned out *and* being bored at the same time? I know, I realize that I should just focus and turn everything off, but I feel a bit isolated when I work at home. And with my laptop near death, my mobility is seriously trumped. Argh. Ok, sorry for wasting 3 minutes of your time, but I needed to get that off of my chest 😀
