Despite the public nature of my blogging life, I am actually a rather private person. When I decided to join Facebook in early 2009 (February) I made sure to crank up my privacy settings. I had been looking through my Facebook friends who have been sharing several posts on how to opt out of the Instant Personalization (one of them from Boxcar Marketing, the company of my good friend Monique Trottier).
I looked through my own Privacy settings, and I have them cranked to the max apparently (e.g. only my Friends can post to my Wall, etc). Still, I wish there were other features for MORE privacy on Facebook, rather than LESS. There has been a lot of debate online about how Facebook keeps making it more difficult for users to keep their privacy. My question to everyone is – if Facebook is THAT “evil”, why are we all still using it? Why not be completely democratic and demonstrate (with our vote, e.g. with our not-having-a-Facebook-account) that this loss of privacy is unacceptable?
The answer is – because not enough of us care. If the millions of users of Facebook really cared that much about their privacy, they would make the Big Brother/Sister accountable (e.g. Facebook). But in a society that is valuing privacy less and less, accountability has become an afterthought and not mainstream. Sadly, that also means that we have lost the power of protecting our privacy to commercial interests. And that’s a sad thought (and for the record, I do keep a Facebook presence, but not really by choice, but because I think it’s important for me to test all social platforms).
Somehow, I manage to switch obsessions just as often as I change clothes (and my wardrobe has changed a lot lately, given my weight loss). This week’s (well, let’s make it Earth Day’s obsession is Hotel by Broken Social Scene). I recently blogged about 7/4 Shoreline, another tune from the Canadian indie band BSS. I have to say that Hotel is one of those tunes you really has stuck with me. It’s a very sexy tune, but at the same time, given the necessary conditions, I am thinking it could make me shed tears if/when I need a good cry. I’ll test it and let you know if it does. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy it. Video obtained from YouTube.
I have had an interest in environmental issues for more than 20 years. Even before I thought about starting my undergraduate degree, I knew I had an interest in protecting the environment. The better part of the last decade of my life I have spent it researching, analyzing data, interviewing government officials, activists and scholars who work in the sustainability field. I did a Doctor of Philosophy in Resource Management and Environmental Studies because I knew that I wanted to focus on pollution control policy.
While the past four years I have done a lot of personal blogging, I do have a research blog, and I am delighted that I now have extensive experience that allows me to bridge my interests: sustainability, education, social media/technology and the environment.
Unfortunately, Earth Day falls within the two weeks when I have had the most work ever, and I am really swamped for time, so I don’t have the time to recount all the pitches I received regarding events for Earth Day. BUT I will be approving comments remotely, so if you have an event for Earth Day that you’d like to tell my readers, by all means drop a comment.
For Earth Day (which coincides with my 4 years blogiversary) I am having a social gathering at my office at The Network Hub tonight, I have a short social media appearance to make before that gathering, and I am in the middle of marking papers and preparing final exams, and dealing with students. I spend every day thinking about ways in which I can improve not only my proximate environment but also that of my fellow human beings. And I’m proud of the research, consulting and teaching I do in the environment and public policy fields.
Happy Earth Day, everyone. Remember, we only have one planet. Let’s take care of it.
Not every friend of mine is pictured in this series of photos, but it’s just a sample of all the fantastic people that blogging brought into my life. For that, I am very grateful.
I am not sure how much longer I will be blogging. As with any other online medium, membership in social networking sites lends itself to the creation of a lot of drama. I eschew drama. It’s been 4 years filled with a variety of things. Good things, bad things and really nasty things. But more than anything, I blog because I love it. And I’ll continue to write on this blog for as long as I continue to love it.
I am a lucky man in that I have had always a very close group of friends. The different stages in my life have been marked by amazing people whom I’ve been lucky to count amongst my friends. When I was deciding for schools, I applied (and got accepted) to the university where my best friend HZ was about to start his PhD. We *could* have been in the same cohort, in the same university, and supervised by the same PhD advisor. This didn’t happen quite as planned. And I’m lucky for that.
Almost 8 years after we met for the first time, my admiration and respect for you continue to grow. You continue to inspire me, in your new role as a father, in your ongoing role as your partner’s devoted partner, and in your eternal role as a fabulous son, brother and friend. My family, as you know, adores you not only because you’ve been there for me whenever I’ve needed you, but because of who I have become, partially thanks to you.
It’s only coincidental that your birthday falls on Earth Day. Your professional and academic pathway and mine always seem parallel (given your research interests and mine), but I’m always amazed at how lucky I was to have come across you. I have our common PhD supervisor for that. Thanks to him, not only do I have a PhD but also a great friend whom I’m proud to call my brother.
Happy birthday, and much love as always. Because you know how much you mean to me.
I have been playing with the Hipstamatic application on the iPhone, and as my friend Chris Walts and I were waiting for a play at The Cultch, we stopped at The Pond on Commercial Drive for a couple of beers. I took the chance to take a few snapshots of Chris with the iPhone’s Hipstamatic app, and I really liked the way they turned out. Of course, my friend Chris is handsome, but I also like the way in which the app modifies the photo.
I used to have three digital cameras but two of them are now defunct. The other one, I gave to my Mom. I was looking online and asked on Twitter whether people could recommend a camera for around $100. I decided to increase this to up to $ 150. Let me explain the rationale behind my camera needs (and before you even go there, no, I’m not buying myself a digital SLR).
My blogging itself does not bring me income. I do it because I love it. But I do eat out a lot, and I feel that lately, the restaurants where I have eaten have offered excellent food that would look oh-so-much-better on my blog if I had a nicer camera.
I am, however, bound by said problem that I have mentioned repeatedly on my blog (the fact that I have a crushing debt and I am very good with my finances – I run a tight ship). I am willing to part with up to $150 to get a reasonable camera. So, I’m taking any and all advice in here. And why here? Because Twitter has very fickle memory, and I want a permanent record! So, if you suggested something on Twitter, pretty please, suggest it here too on my blog?
I have like, 10 posts queued for Earth Day, but I didn’t want to leave all of them scheduled for the actual Earth Day (which is tomorrow, April 22nd). So, when I heard from Wilcox PR about the Whole Foods green cleaning initiative, I wanted to make sure to write about this. To help families transition to environmentally-friendly cleaning products, all four Whole Foods Markets in the Lower Mainland are hosting an Eco-friendly Product Swap on Friday, April 23 from 3 to 5 p.m.
For every conventional household cleaning product brought into the store, Whole Foods Market will trade it for a natural, sustainable replacement from AspenClean or Seventh Generation for free. I found this an interesting initiative, as Whole Foods is also doing other stuff (expanding April from Earth Day to Earth Month), including a one-year anniversary party for the Cambie Street location, a 5% community support day for Purple Thistle’s Youth Urban Agriculture Project and an Earth Day fair at the Robson Street location.
I find this a worthy initiative and although I do use green cleaning products in my household, I will encourage my friends to do the Eco-Friendly Product Swap.
“Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness”
– Bertrand Russell
I have always fallen in love in what some people find may be the stupidest way – completely and utterly recklessly. I have given my heart and my soul to the people I love (whether it is my friends, my family or my partners) fully and entirely. I am intense, and I am sometimes a lot to take. Reflecting on what my life has been over the past few years with one of my absolute best friends from Mexico (CHBV), who was visiting here this past weekend, made me realize that I have always thrown caution to the wind when I have started new friendships and romantic relationships.
Do I plan to continue this way? Absolutely, because I agree with Russell – being cautious about how I love people has never made me happy. I’ve lost friends, I have lost the love of my life (at the time), but you know what? I wouldn’t change my life a single bit. Because, in loving profoundly, I am lucky that I am loved back just as intensely.
I was walking to my office at UBC when I stopped by the Student Union Building (SUB) to get my caffeine fix, and I got to meet a very nice lady who was promoting the Community Consultations for Translink’s Be Part of the Plan initiative around the Broadway-to-UBC corridor. Given that having rapid transit would make my life oh-so-much-easier with my teaching at UBC, and also given that I am usually a critic of Translink, I decided that I had to blog about this. I promised this young lady that I would be writing about the consultations. One of them takes place on April 22nd (Earth Day). The schedule:
April 22, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Student Union Building
Party Room, 2nd level
UBC Campus
May 4, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
St. James Community Square
3214 West 10th Avenue
Vancouver
May 6, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
West Point Grey United Church
4595 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver
May 11, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Centre for Digital Media at the Great Northern Way Campus
122-577 Great Northern Way
Vancouver
May 13, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Vancouver Masonic Centre
1495 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the California Wine Fair, courtesy of The Arts Club. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a wine connoisseur. That said, I’m quite impressed with how much I have learned about wine in the past three years, particularly distinguishing what I really like as far as type of wine goes (you may want to know I love Gewürztraminer).
I wouldn’t really have much to add about the event other than to say that I bumped into my friend Erin McConnell and a friend of hers, and also, David Gratton and his wife Mandy Eagles Gratton. I didn’t really have much time to browse all the wines (I’ve done wine tastings before, but I am usually bad at staying through the whole event unless I have direct pairings with each wine, as we did with the Swirl event in Parksville a few months ago).
While I love Californian wines, I have to say that I think our BC wines have very little to ask the California ones! But then again, I’m not really a wine guy. But then again, who can say no to good wine?
Disclosure: My admission to the California Wine Fair was sponsored very generously by The Arts Club. I wasn’t paid to write this post, nor was I required to do so either. In any review or post associated with an event I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form
I am a super hero geek. You will always see me first in line for the newest superhero movies. So when I heard that Kick Ass was coming out, I said to myself (and to JT) – MUST. SEE. THIS. MOVIE. Well, he joined me this past weekend (and I feel so guilty about asking him to come with me, because Kick Ass is pretty much Not Another Superhero Movie meets Quentin Tarantino). While refreshing, filled with dark humor jokes, and lots of action, I must warn anyone who wants to watch this movie. If you’re not ready to see a quasi-Tarantino movie, with lots of gore, blood and violence, you may not want to see Kick Ass.
The premise of the movie is yet another sweet geek who decides to become a superhero (Kick Ass), meeting along the way two real ones (Big Daddy and Hit Girl), and making himself the target for a gangster. Demonstrating the power of virality and social media, Kick Ass showcases a young kid who becomes instantly famous thanks to the power of a YouTube video that goes viral (the video shows him protecting a citizen from thugs). I was kind of surprised that they still showcased MySpace on the movie, when it’s so terribly dead, but heck, I suppose they didn’t think Kick Ass could have a Facebook fan page.
Overall, I did enjoy Kick Ass, thoroughly. It does have some of the typical “with great power comes great responsibility” clichés, but had a relatively non-standard ending. I have always liked gory, violent movies, a-la Quentin Tarantino. But I wouldn’t subject anyone who can’t take this type of violence, sexual references and explicit language to the movie theatre as my Plus One. I do know that my friend Lorraine will enjoy it!
Please remember that his is a movie that has violence, explicit language and sexuality. Viewer discretion is advised
My good friend Andre Malan (@ramcio on Twitter) has a lot of really great ideas, and when he and another good friend of mine, Scott Leslie, were talking about starting a CouchSurfing page for the 2010 Northern Voice, I jumped at the possibility of promoting it. After all, I do have some substantive reach in the online community in Vancouver, Canada and worldwide. So please do share the worthy effort of Andre.
The 2010 Northern Voice CouchSurfing page is here. And I have offered my couch as well. My apartment is pretty small but I am a good host, and I make a mean brunch.
There are a number of songs that manage to score as high in my music preferences to make me obsessed with them. Charlotte Church’s “Call My Name” is one of them. I was listening to it while having a little break at the Tops and Bottoms Gay Improv Contest Judging. Apparently it’s a 2005 song. Weird. I seem to have oldie tastes in music. At any rate, I hope you like it, because I sure do!
I like the sound of your belt dropping
Your door locking, you jangle your keys, yeah
I like the sound of your heart stopping
Of lip locking, the grazing of knees, yeah
I like the sound of skin touching
Hands fumblin’, you do as you please
I like the sound of back on the wall, yeah
Shelves falling, oh yes indeed!
And I love it when you call my name
I love it when you call my name
Both ends of the candle burnt by the flame
Yeah I love it when you call my name, n-n-name
I like the sound of your shirt ripping
My will slipping under the table
I like the sound of your hand slapping
Your whip cracking, this could be painful
I may like the rain, I may like the symphony
I may like the feel of your frame on my frame
But I love it when you call my name
I love it when you call my name,yeah
Both ends of the candle burnt by the flame
Yeah I love it when you call my name, n-n-name
I may like the rain, I may like the symphony
I may like the feel of your frame on my frame
I may like your touch, i may like your next to me
I may like the sound of your name on my lips
I may like your touch, I may like your remedy
I may like the feel of your hand on my hips
I may like your talk, like you breathing heavily
I like a lot of things baby, you know me
But I love it when you call my name
I love it when you call my name
Both ends of the candle burnt by the flame
Yeah I love it when you call my name
But I love it when you call my name
I love it when you call my name (i love it when you call me!)
Both ends of the candle burnt by the flame
Yeah I love it when you call my name, n-n-name
I attended F5 Expo recently and sat through Malcolm Gladwell’s keynote talk. At the end of his talk, I asked what ended up being the last question. While the gist of his talk goes beyond “social media won’t create revolutions and there are a number of holes in Gladwell’s argument that I was going to write about, this post is focused only on one element of Gladwell’s talk – his repeated mention of Mark Granovetter’s theory of the strength of weak ties.
I am not against popularizers of science, and in particular, social science. I pride myself in being an academic who can speak plain English, and I welcome the help of people who take it upon themselves to increase access to scientific research and who conduct knowledge translation of social science. The problem I have is with the misuse of research, leading to overgeneralizations and misconceptions. There is a failure in the translation of what Granovetter meant to say and what is commonly said about his theory of the strength of weak ties.
Having surveyed the sociological literature and used it as a foundation of my academic research on environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), I am quite familiar with Granovetter’s work. I am a bit disappointed when people seem to misunderstand what Granovetter was trying to do and say.
Granovetter’s 1983 article revisits his 1973 network theory by surveying the empirical studies that occurred in the following eight years since he published his first theoretical work. In the words of Granovetter,
our acquaintances (weak ties) are less likely to be socially involved with one another than are our close friends (strong ties). Thus the set of people made up of any individual and his or her acquaintances comprises a low-density network (one in which many of the possible relational lines are absent) whereas the set consisting of the same individual and his or her close friends will be densely knit (many of the possible lines are present) (Granovetter 1983, pp. 201-202).
The main gist of Granovetter is not that social media is evil (hell, there wasn’t social media at the time), nor that our weak ties are irrelevant and that our strong ties are the only ones worth pursuing (as it is sometimes misinterpreted). The point of Granovetter’s theory was that, without those weak ties (acquaintance), no matter how many strong ties (family and friends) you had, you wouldn’t be able to know about potential job opportunities, etc. In fact, it is those weak ties that bridge groups of close-knit friends.
individuals with few weak ties will be deprived of information from distant parts of the social system and will be confined to the provincial news and views of their close friends. This deprivation will not only insulate them from the latest ideas and fashions but may put them in a disadvantaged position in the labor market, where advancement can depend, as I have documented elsewhere (1974), on knowing about appropriate job openings at just the right time. Furthermore, such individuals may be difficult to organize or integrate into political movements of any kind, since without weak ties, any momentum generated in this way does not spread beyond the clique (Granovetter 1983, p. 202).
I have met a lot of people through social media, and created very strong ties. Initially, when I met them, we were mere acquaintances. But I have found that our relationship strengthened through repeated in-person contact. Thus I have suggested that weak ties can help you create a first bond, and then it is up to you to strengthen it with in-person, real life interactions. Thus, I propose the following three notions:
– Building new connections through social media (weak ties) may lead through time to creating wonderful friendships/working relationships (having strong ties). As I have frequently said, social media is a marathon, not a sprint race.
– Strengthening relationships requires in-person (face-to-face) contact. You can’t fully trust someone just through online networks. At some point you will have to use richer media to strengthen the bond (and I find that meeting in person really does strengthen that bond).
– Creating new relationships with acquaintances (weak ties) will have no impact on network growth if there is no reciprocity and bidirectionality. Stronger ties are derived from reciprocal interaction.
At the end of the day, I still have a lot of appreciation for my weak ties. I just hope people my work helps dispel misunderstandings around Granovetter’s ideas. And the negative notion around “weak ties”. There is no need for always having strong ties. There is A LOT of value for weak ties. Never forget it.
A while ago (very possibly 3-4 years ago), when I was beginning my love affair with deep house/chillout music, I came across the work of DJ Dylan Drazen. He mixed some really cool tunes, and the one that absolutely described my Kodak moment for when I was leaving my house on a warm spring day and walking towards the bus was “Lovebird” by Lovebirds, who feature Marie Tweek of The Rurals. As a bar/drinks place, you’d totally win me over by having this tune in your surround sound system.
This is a tip that is perhaps very unique to me, but sometimes, despite the fact that I receive hundreds of PR pitches, I don’t feel that they are appropriate for me to write or they fly by me. Sometimes I find something interesting that I think “I should write about this” but I don’t get around doing it. Thus, what I do is I take photographs (lately, mostly with my iPhone camera) and then build a blog entry around them. For example, I was fascinated by the fact that the Bellini I had when I went to see Billy Bishop Goes to War and had a drink at the Backstage Lounge was so pretty. So, I took a photo of said Bellini.
I am an absolute addict to Indian food. Rarely have I found (with the exception of Ethiopian food) any cuisine that I enjoy as much as I do Indian (with perhaps the exception of Mexican and Ethiopian).
I had heard of Sitar, and I had definitely walked by, but I had never made a point of having dinner there. Particularly, since it’s in Gastown and thus close to the office.
A few nights ago, while out on a walk with Jay Catalan and Minna Van, dear friends of mine and co-founders of The Network Hub, we were hungry so we decided to go for dinner. Sadly, late at night, it is really hard to find a place open. BUT we did score. We found Sitar, and the management team was kind enough to make dinner for us.
We shared a few dishes for dinner amongst the three of us, but I have to say that my favorite wasn’t even the food (which was really good) but the mango lassi. To-die-for. We ordered butter chicken (Jay), korma (myself) and tandoori chicken (Minna), all of which were accompanied with rice and papad. I had to have two mango lassi’s because they were SO GOOD.
Not sure how to compare with other Indian food places that I’ve tried, since I’ll pretty much eat anything that is remotely Indian cuisine, but I would say that Sitar is definitely on par with some of the best Indian I’ve tried (heck, even Rangoli’s). I would definitely bring a good friend here for dinner, and I’m grateful to Minna and Jay for inviting me here, because it was a great experience. The service was really good and the portions generous and tasty.
A few days ago, I was invited by Nicole Grima on behalf of Best Buy Canada to mentor a group of high-school students on how to use the power of social media to spread their message. Eric Hamber Secondary School is one of three schools in the Vancouver School Board District that were participating in this program, where three renowned bloggers in Vancouver would be mentoring a school each one to help them spread their message.
This is part of a city-wide, one time initiative sponsored by Best Buy as part of their program to give back to the community, whereby secondary Schools in Vancouver will take part in a one day recycling drive on April 22, 2010 (Earth Day).
The event is called ‘Tech It Away’ as the initiative is geared towards collecting unwanted electronics – from fax machines to DVD players to batteries – for recycling and/or safe disposal. The schools are competing against each other to collect the most items – and the winning school will be awarded an additional $2,000 from Best Buy to fund an eco-friendly school project.
My good friends Gillian Shaw and Rebecca Bollwitt are mentoring the other two schools, where I spoke to the students of Eric Hamber Secondary School. I shared with the President of the Environmental Club at Eric Hamber and a few other students what little I know about the power of social media. Now, please do help them out if you so choose. Share on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, re-tweet, etc.
And more importantly, if you have unwanted electronics, please do consider dropping them off on April 22nd (my blogiversary and Earth Day) at Eric Hamber. Drop off your e-waste @ 5025 Willow St, Vancouver Apr 21-22 before school 8:00-8:30 or after 3:00-3:30 Apr 22 8:00am-4:00pm. It’s close to Queen Elizabeth Park.
Eric Hamber Tech It Away account is @HamberTech so please follow there.
I had an opportunity to hang out with my friend Nathan Tippe at the Backstage Lounge as we recently saw “Billy Bishop Goes To War” (he was my Plus One that evening). We had a drink just before and I ordered a bellini. I’ve always had a soft spot for bellinis, but recently when I went to Market at Shangri-La, I ordered one and I really didn’t enjoy it. My favorite spots so far for bellinis are Earls and Milestones. Which other places have nice bellinis? If you have a suggestion for a place/bar/restaurant that has good bellinis, please drop it on the comment box. Much appreciated!
I have learned a lot about blogging from my good friend Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604), I’ve always said that left, right and center. Whenever I go back on my older posts and I read comments from her, or I remember the times when we’ve just sat down and geeked out at coffee shops, gone for Mexican food for lunch, etc., I always get a really nice, warm and fuzzy feeling.
Recently, I had the chance to swing by very briefly by an event put together by London Drugs where Rebecca signed copies of her recent book “Blogging to Drive Business”.
Unfortunately, I had a previous engagement so I arrived late, but I still caught a few glimpses of Rebecca’s live contests and managed to win a prize! Congratulations Rebecca on your book launch! I am glad that there’ll now be many people who will share in the lessons you gave me while hanging out with me on a regular basis. Truly appreciative of our friendship, and very proud of you.
I’ve been pondering about this for a while, as lately (even though I’ve had a fairly solid and steady income stream, I’m still buried in debt) I had been trying to find ways to have inexpensive fun with friends in Vancouver. Now that the winter seems to be behind us (hopefully! fingers crossed), it’s time to devise not-expensive, fun stuff. I thought of a few things that I’ve done that don’t cost much (e.g. bus fare, etc.)
– Hiking in Deep Cove and going for a walk along the beach in Panorama (North Vancouver).
– Going for a walk in Vancouver (there are lots of places, including the seawall).
– Attending the free exhibits at Vancouver Art Gallery (I seem to recall there are a few).
What else can you think of that can be done on the inexpensive? All suggestions most appreciated.
Earlier this year, I submitted three panels to Northern Voice 2010, as you may have read on my blog. One of the three got accepted, and I am very honored to be joined by the fantastic folks who will be part of this panel. Joining me in the panel are David Hume, Andrea Reimer and Ian Capstick.
Government 2.0: Politics, Policy and Social Media in Canada: A Multi-Level Exploration
US President Barack Obama has been touted left, right and center as “the social media president”. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a Twitter account, yet fails to engage with his constituents. Politicians, bureaucrats, policy makers and public service providers have been heavily criticized for their inability to incorporate social media into their political campaigns and overall platforms and strategies. Yet, we find a dearth of analytical explorations of successful experiences and lessons learned. This panel will explore how the government at various scales (federal, municipal, provincial) is working towards incorporating social media, what are the challenges. etc.
Andrea Reimer will speak to the political circumstances that led to approval and expansion of social media tools in the local government in Vancouver. She will describe the experience in Vancouver with social media, open government and a number of other initiatives she has championed. Andrea’s work was instrumental in having Vancouver approve the open data initiative.
Ian Capstick brings bring a perspective from Ottawa (federal implications) and as a citizen who organizes in-person open source events and consultations which almost always start as a reaction to a need from digital grassroots.
David Hume will share his experiences as the government of British Columbia’s first-ever Executive Director for Citizen Engagement in BC’s Ministry of Citizens’ Services and the lessons that this provincial government has learned from the past 12 months.
Raul Pacheco-Vega, PhD will describe his experiences as the editor of BCVote.ca (a pluralistic, non-partisan aggregator) during the BC Premier election of 2009. He will also aim to provide an analytical framework that can be used to outline best practices of social media use in public policy and politics.
Our panel will take place on Friday May 7th, 2010 from 10:30am to 11:30am at the UBC Life Sciences Centre building and will be moderated by David Eaves (thanks Dave for accepting the invite!).
I organized this panel mostly because of the fact that I teach in a Department of Political Science, that I teach Public Policy (both at the domestic and comparative level) and because a lot of my own consulting work is in the field of public policy. Moreover, for those of you not following at home, I have conducted research on information dissemination policy instruments for pollution control (pollutant release and transfer registries), and online tools are the best platforms for citizens to use these PRTRs to put pressure on polluters to reduce their emissions.
I started this blog (as Random Thoughts of a Student of the Environment) on Earth Day of 2006 (April 22nd – well, technically on the 23rd as I was arriving home after a celebration on the 22nd). Coincidentally, that’s also the birthday of my best friend, who lives here in Vancouver as well and who is also an academic (we did our PhDs under the same supervisor). To be quite honest, if somebody had told me that one day my blog would be read by more than 3 people (which is the number of folks who read my blog at the time, actually 3 of my friends!), I would have never believed it. Four years later, more than 2,600 blog entries and 5,600 comments, I still blog.
Blogging has brought me fantastic friends. Naming each one of them would take me a long, long time. You know who you are. I’m quite happy with what I have accomplished with this blog. I had been thinking about how to celebrate this accomplishment, because to be quite honest, I do think it’s worth throwing a party for. My good friend Minna Van (The Network Hub) thought it would be a good idea to throw a party at the office (3rd floor, 422 Richards Street). I didn’t want to make it a big fuss, personally, but it’s always good to hang out with friends and fellow social media enthusiasts.
I did invite personally my Facebook friends (after a painstakingly long process, as there is no “Invite All” button that really works for Facebook), but I am hereby opening the invitation to everyone who might be interested in dropping by. Most likely, we’ll have some wine, some finger foods and more importantly, we’ll have a chance to mingle and socialize. I didn’t want to hijack the Vancouver Blogger Meetup for this, so there will be a separate event for the VBM (of which I am the organizer).
Do feel free to drop by, but if you do plan to come, please RSVP on the Facebook invite! In good ol’ fashion, I’ll have a live Twitter event on ScribbleLive (you can tag your tweets #4yrsHB604 should you wish to do so!).
In celebration of my 4 years blogaversary here is the manifesto I published when I reached 2 years of blogging:
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!
To everyone who has helped me along the way, from reading my posts, to dropping a comment, to re-tweeting them, to those who have sponsored contests, ticket giveaway and freebies for my readers, THANK YOU.
