I love graphical representations of phenomena, even though I have a terrible hand at drawing. I remember how envious I used to be that all four of my brothers were capable of not only drawing beautifully but even painting. I guess my artistic capabilities are mostly motion-based (dancing). Anyway, I digress… the thing is, I can’t draw to save my life.
And why draw by hand if I can do it online? So, this gives you context on the reason why I needed mind mapping software was that I thoroughly enjoy systematizing ideas and creating graphical representations of the projects I’m undertaking. So I threw a lazyweb question on Twitter and requested ideas on freeware for mind mapping.
What follows below is a quick list of the ideas that were provided to me on Twitter and a few hat tips to those who provided them.
I organize events regularly (not of the scale that would require an event organizer, much like my friend Marc Smith from Amuse Consulting, but still, events large enough that would warrant catering). I recently organized a bloggers night and was looking for catering options. While normally I would have gone to the two or three that I keep on top of my head (one of them is LunchBox, the Gastown-based catering service that provided the food for Mental Health Camp), I figured I had to survey other options. So I shopped around, went to a few sushi restaurants, and even considered Costco in order to keep the costs on the low.
Coincidentally, we ended up at Costco yesterday and I got to browse through some of the platter options that the hyper-market provides. It occurred to me that my idea of keeping a file of the various catering options that I’ve explored recently wasn’t a bad idea. I would probably get some of the Costco platters if I was in a rush to do an evening event and it was something light (like fruit or veggie platters), something for a late night or early afternoon working meeting. I see the value in the services of catering and event planning, and for a large event, I probably would hire an event organizer and a caterer. Really small meetups, I source on my own.
Six years ago, on this day, I was on the other end of the worst phone call of my life.
You had found out that your feelings for me were no longer the same.
You had decided that you were yearning for something else.
You expressed despair as I asked what was going on.
And then you told me that our relationship was no more what I thought it was.
Perhaps…
Perhaps I should have restrained myself. From loving you.
I still remember the day when you told me you couldn’t help it but be in love with me.
I told you all the reasons why our relationship couldn’t be.
I explained to you, in thorough detail, the size of the debacle that would ensue should we ever break up.
And then you kissed me.
I don’t know why I’m such a dual soul, a dual personality.
My brain is usually governed by my braincells. I’m analytic, I’m predictive. I reason.
But my heart and passion can sometimes overshadow my cerebral self.
That’s something you knew and that’s how you got into my life and into my heart.
I let you in, and I paid the consequences.
Six years ago on this day I realized that you weren’t right for me.
Six years ago on this day I discovered that my heart could be broken.
Six years ago on this day I went through the worst break up of my life.
And I survived.
I know where you are. I know what you do for a living. I know the kind of life you lead.
But more importantly, I know that I’m over you.
Because, much as I am writing this post about how much pain you caused me, I don’t care about you.
At all.
I wrote this entry to test my ability to put in words raw emotions.
I wrote this entry to remind myself that I’m better than that.
I wrote this entry because I wanted you.
And because, six years ago on this day, my real life began.
Without you.
November 7th, 2009 in
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I’m fully booked the week coming, I’m going to be working tomorrow (Saturday), I had 3 business meetings today and I know that I still have work to do. But I decided to be bold and just have a date with myself. I canceled every single engagement I had for tonight, treated myself to a haircut, bought some wine, strawberries and chocolate.
I have turned off the lights in my apartment (it’s all candle-lit right now) and about to take a bath with aromatic salts. Yeah, I can treat myself quite well when I decide to do so. It’s scary. I think this week I’ve actually taken not one but TWO nights all to myself. Considering that I’ve got field research and travel coming up, that I’m overbooked every single night of the coming week and a bit of the weekend, yeah, I’ll say that I deserve a date night with myself.
I was contacted by Kelly Sheridan about Genus Theatre‘s upcoming production: The Physicists. From their press kit:
Genus Theatre proudly announces the opening of its most thrilling, twist-turning production yet, the cautionary tale of murder, betrayal, hidden agendas and earth-endangering secrets, Friederich Dürrenmatt’s The Physicists!
We live in a time of confusion and uncertainty. Our leaders have betrayed us, their motivations and decisions are suspect, and those we thought could be trusted with our well-being must now be watched with heavy caution. Science progresses at a lightning pace, from stem cells and nuclear proliferation to homemade child abducting weather balloons, humanity continues to grapple with questions of scientific responsibility and ethics. These thoughts are at the forefront of the collective consciousness.
Who can be trusted? What can we do? Should we do it?
The Physicists directly tackles these issues. By presenting Dürrenmatt’s heralded script in the style of a classic film noir, Genus Theatre invites the audience to return to the treacherous world of the stylish crime drama and experience a master plot which, though it was written 50 years ago, seems more relevant than ever.
Opening night is on November 13th, and guess what? Yes, I *do* have a pair of tickets to give away. Drop a comment on this post and I’ll include you in the draw. I’ll draw the winners on Wednesday November 13th at 2pm.
I spend a substantial amount of my working life hours teaching, giving lectures, speaking at panels, presenting papers at academic conferences. Lately, I’ve been giving more seminars and workshops, and I wanted to reflect on what works best for different audiences, and to establish the difference between a seminar and a workshop. They have different objectives.
For example, recently, I gave a workshop to students of the PR program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. This was part of the Computer Skills III course, superbly taught by Carla J. Wolf. I was invited by Erin Raimondo, one of the students in the program (she won the gift certificate I donated to Twestival Vancouver). I originally had said that the 3 hour talk would be a seminar (e.g. lecture style) but I ended up doing a hands-on approach where I intermingled the theory behind social networking sites and the practice.
So how do I differentiate a workshop from a seminar? I think two characteristics make them distinct. Workshops tend to be more hands-on, interactive whereas seminars tend to be more lecture-style. Also, workshops tend to be of longer duration (maybe 3 to 6 hours, maybe a full day) whereas seminars tend to be shorter (I have given a 3 hour seminar non-stop and I can assure you, it’s not all that fun).
Being an academic, I’m very used to giving seminars. I lecture for 45 minutes to 2 hours and then I have a question-answer period. In the past decade, I have melded my previous experience consulting with clients (pre-PhD and post-undergrad and MBA) and my teaching into an interactive seminar style. I still can give seminars and I’m quite used to the “I speak, you listen” model.
I was part of a great panel recently at the Independent Power Producers Conference of British Columbia, and I spoke for 7 minutes, seminar style – I did the same with the seminar on social media for small businesses that I presented at the Vancouver Small Business Entrepreneur Meetup. I basically gave a full-on seminar (45 minutes). Those opportunities and venues don’t lend themselves to running actual workshops.
Lately, I’ve discovered that I enjoy more a hands-on, interactive, workshop style. I really enjoy working together with participants in the workshop and ensuring that they grasp the concepts I am presenting. I wouldn’t scrap the opportunity to give a seminar, but I am thinking that, as I do more teaching and seminars in the academic realm, I’ll be doing more workshops in my client and consulting work.
Two years ago, our family was blessed with the birth of my nephew LJ, who is the son of my brother S and my sister in law B. My brother S and I are extremely close and have always treated each other more than brothers like best friends. When he used to live in Vancouver, we often would spend half of the weekend together (going out for dinner, hang out at a club, brunch the next day, maybe a movie and then he would go off and see his girlfriend – now wife – and I would scoot off to meet my friends).
I remember the phone call my brother gave me to let me know that LJ had just been born and that he was healthy. It was a cold day of November of two years ago, and I was in Victoria as JT and I were there for a few days (he was there for work and I was just tagging along and finishing a research manuscript). My eyes welled with tears of joy and I called my brother to congratulate him. It was such a great feeling.
I always have photographs of my nieces and nephews at home and at my office, and little L.J.’s photo is the background in my laptop (he is getting his hair cut on that photo). I am privileged to have the family I do, and the wonderful nieces and nephews that bring so much joy to my life. I’ve got a really busy day today at the office but I’ll try to find some time throughout the day to call him via Skype. He is a fan of Elmo, so I probably will get him something Elmo-related (and yes, he loves Elmo’s Song).
Happy birthday to my lovely nephew L.J.! I’ll see you soon!
I’m a big fan of Jazzanova, St. Germain, and all those other deep house/chillout/down tempo music-makers, but tonight (coincidentally) at the Urban Reserve event, I discovered this song – Tonight, by Jazzamor. Delightful and smooth, easy to digest and dance to. Courtesy of YouTube, here’s a video with the song, hope you like it as much as I do.
I’ve previously asked the question of which is your favorite sushi place in Vancouver, and what is your favorite Indian food restaurant. Now, it’s good time to ask where do you go when you want to eat authentic (or pseudo-authentic) Mexican cuisine in our fair (and rainy) city. Have at it on the comments section. In case you’re curious, the photo shows a “plato combinado” (combined platter).
This idea has been resonating in my head for the past few weeks, and I don’t really know how to tackle it. I enjoy social media (all of it – the social networking sites, the offline aspect of gatherings, tweetups and meetups, the community building element). But the one reason that I keep getting turned off is the broadcasting aspect. Admittedly, I’m talkative on Twitter.
So talkative that 7,740 people have decided to follow me and then unfollow me (yeah, if you want to do the numbers, 1/3 of the people who chose to follow me continue to do so). That’s awesome. Their choice and for those who choose to read my stream, thanks a lot too – I am very grateful. But the thing that makes me feel a bit uneasy me is that some folks in the social media world just keep broadcasting instead of engaging. Over 50% of my stream is replies to people and conversation. Obviously, different strokes for different folks. I am not one to say what people should or should not do.
The problem is that arises is that I question the validity of the content of a social media message when it’s provided by someone who does not engage. If social media is all about conversations, engagement and community building, what to do when there is only broadcasting and not actual conversation? As social media enthusiasts (and I call myself one), do we look in the mirror often enough and ask of ourselves am I really engaging or just pushing my message out?. Is social media becoming an echo chamber again? I thought that 2010 would be the year of “going back to the basics and learning to engage”.
It seems my prophesy is fulfilling itself a couple of months earlier than I expected.
Last night, I was privileged to participate in the November edition of Just Singin’ Round, a monthly fundraiser for the Synergy Foundation. I was invited by the Developmental Disabilities Association (DDA), a charitable, non-profit organization that as you may know, is very near and dear to my heart. I brought along the lovely Grace Carter (Invoke Media), whom is a very dear friend of mine, but with whom I have rarely had the time to hang out (surprising, as our offices are literally like 9-10 blocks away!)
The Synergy Foundation is a community-based foundation that blends art with social responsibility. Synergy builds integrated partnerships with local Vancouver charities to support cooperative programming and help sustain community programs.
We arrived at the Vancouver Rowing Club close to 6:45pm, and sat along with Victor Tang at the DDA table. After we had dinner, we were treated to two sets of excellent musical performances. The objective of Singin’ Round is to raise funds for the Synergy Foundation, so donations for the event are minimum $ 25 (although you can donate more should you wish to do so!), and they include dinner (last night, if I’m not mistaken, was catered by Emelle) and awesome music. The charity focus for the month of November was Vancouver Adaptive Snow Society (VASS), a wonderful organization whose work I have highlighted before on my blog.
Both Grace and I love music so this was the perfect chance to listen to a great show. The group of performers included Don Alder, Danielle Hebert, Robert Wilson, Rick Parnell, Mark James Fortin, Beverley Elliott, and Yvonne McSkimming. All of them are incredibly talented, though I confess I have a really soft spot for Robert Wilson and his music, in particular his song “Big Sore Heart”. Danielle Hebert is fabulously talented and experimental. Beverley Elliott and Yvonne McSkimming were just outstanding (Yvonne’s voice is so powerful, strong and broad-reaching!).
I learned that JSR won’t be happening in January, February and March due to the Olympics. That’s really unfortunate, and I would encourage venues in Vancouver to consider jumping in and providing the Synergy Foundation with space for those three months. Trust me, it would be great exposure, it is a fantastic cause and it would definitely attract a great audience. The room was full last night and the crowd was great.
I would encourage you to participate in the upcoming monthly JSR sessions, not only for the charitable aspects, but also to be exposed to some great music and artistic performances. Tickets can be purchased online. Thanks to Grace for coming along and to the DDA for the invite!
Also, for your listening pleasure, the acoustic version of Robert Wilson’s Big Sore Heart (in concert at The Commodore, 2006).
On Sunday night, I went for a quick dinner and a movie with JT and as we were driving towards the restaurant, he asked me how was my week. I described all the things I did for my field research, client work, consulting, teaching and event planning. I am pretty sure he wasn’t surprised at how busy I was (we’ve hung out for the better part of a decade), but the thing that struck me was that he asked me “are you sure you’re achieving the right work/life balance?”. Admittedly, his question took me by surprise.
I am the kind of person who prides himself in working hard, playing hard. I do a lot of socializing even within the work I do. My life is incredibly filled with fun, interesting research, teaching and consulting projects. But more importantly, while I will admit that I am a bit of a workaholic, I really enjoy the work I do, and I have no problem putting in long hours. Let me give you an example – on Thursday night, after I had already helped with the organization and execution of an event, I stayed late to help a friend and colleague from The Network Hub community with his project.
We sat around the boardroom table and spent an hour working around the ideas that he had, along with a number of other entrepreneurs. At the end of it, we all took the kind offer of one of our colleagues who drove us all home. As we were making our way to the parking lot, it struck me really hard: when I work hard in what I love doing, I feel incredibly alive. I love consulting, I love teaching, I love research.
I am able to do all of that and maintain a social life. And I’m really enjoying it. All of it. I guess that is why I feel I have a work/life balance.
I am a big supporter of anything that my friends Jacqui Macdonald, Steve Anderson, Rodger Levesque and Kate Milberry do. Unfortunately, not always am I able to be at the organizational meetings for the events they put together. That said, I did remember that I promised to write about Media Democracy Day ’09 in Vancouver and since the date is approaching (sadly, at the same time as Boobalicious ’09) I should give you some information about it.
Media Democracy Day 2009 will take place at the Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia Street, on Saturday November 7th 2009 from 11 am to 6 pm. Admission is by donation and open to everyone.
The great thing that my friends have implemented and I absolutely love is that they’re following the model we used at Mental Health Camp (and based on Rhizome) – nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. If you can’t afford the $ 7.50 suggested donation (or be a Champion and pay the $ 20) you can just pay what you can at the door.
I am pretty sure I have something else booked for Saturday but at least I’ll try to attend the first part, because Rafe Mair and Gwen Barlee will be talking about greenwashing and BC rivers. I’m wondering if we will be headed for a full-on head clash, as I’m not an activist, and I am not someone who believes that much greenwashing is happening. The Media Democracy Day programme looks amazing. I would strongly encourage my readers to attend MDD.
The date is fast approaching (Saturday November 7th, 2009), so I figured I’d write about it and remind people about a very worthy cause. We just ended October, Breast Cancer Awareness month, but the activities towards raising awareness do not just stop there. From the Boobalicious website:
Step right up! Gather Round Folks! Join us on Saturday, November 7th for Vancouver’s 3rd Annual Boobalicious – a Breast Cancer Prevention & Awareness fundraiser – presents a dazzling Carnival incarnation and sizzling hotspot for one night only to give a little back – in style.
Staged at the gorgeous Rocky Mountaineer Train Station, Boobalicious – The Pink Playground – ain’t your run of the mill party or club night. No sir – Boobalicious – the Pink Play Ground is a full on show – a Carnival for your Senses – granting you a naughty peek into the deep, dark, mysterious world behind the carnival scene. A look into the carnie’s back lot trailer where the trapeze artists kick off their shoes and the toothless carnie has a beer with the stilt walker. A true carnival for your senses, get ready to enter a world where no character is too strange.
Despite the fact that I keep my online identities separate (Raul the academic and Raul the social media guy), I am the same person all the same. I pride myself in being very real. So I figured I’d keep things fun by giving you a little Blogthings quiz. How real are you? Apparently I’m 91% real (the other 9% must be a figment of someone’s imagination, heh!)
You Are 91% Real
There’s hardly a person on this earth more real than you are.
You have no problem showing people who you are, flaws and all.
For you, there couldn’t be any other way. Because it’s way too stressful to live an inauthentic life.
You’re very comfortable with yourself. And because of this, you’re able to live an exciting, interesting, and challenging life.
I usually take the first day of the month to plan my month ahead. It helps me decide on targets and goals, and allows me to schedule the appropriate amount of time for each task. Unfortunately, even with the best monthly plan, variations and changes to my schedule are unavoidable. So I have learned to break down my monthly plan to weekly plans. It helps me readjust whenever any sudden changes to my plans happen.
I print out monthly calendars and weekly schedule sheets. On the first or second day of the month, I draft a rough monthly schedule of what I need to do (blogging, client work, research, teaching, preparation, speaking engagements, organizing events, etc.) Then, I break down those monthly plans to weekly schedules, including the number of hours I am devoting to each task. I also pencil in the personal time, including seeing my friends, doing laundry, etc. And then I just re-adjust the monthly plan as changes come along.
Do you have a monthly planning tool? Or how do you plan your workload?
I have made a point of attending all the Metro Vancouver sustainability breakfasts that I can. Not because I actually *have* the time, but because these gatherings are an effort on the part of the regional body (not sure if I could call Metro Vancouver a regional ‘authority’ since they don’t enforce or make law) to increase public participation. This month’s sustainability breakfast will probably be a heated one, because of the discussions about the possibility of implementing a Waste-To-Energy facility here in Vancouver. As I mentioned when I sat in the Regional Dialogue a few weeks back, I think Metro Vancouver is, indeed, trying to implement a good public participation strategy. I will definitely be at this breakfast.
For the longest time (and perhaps the early readers of my blog may remember this) I’ve had a really hard time saying “no” to things. One more book chapter. One more social media event. One more party. One more thing. Always. There would be times when I would attend two tweetups and another social media event on the same night. Within 3 hours. That is, I would spend less than 45 minutes at each single event.
In the past few months, I’ve learned to just take time for myself. I’ve said “sorry, but I can’t” or “thanks, but I’m taking a night for myself” or “I appreciate the invite, I can’t make it, I need time for myself” more often.
And quite frankly, I feel less and less guilty now. I still attend events (heck, I was exhausted and I participated on a panel at Fresh Media in the past couple of weeks) but I am now more selective with what I do. I feel a strong responsibility to attend theatre shows to support the local artistic community, but if I can’t make it, well, I can’t make it. Sorry, and so be it.
Finally, it seems as though I’ve begun to learn to take time for myself. And it feels great.
Today I was part of the social media panel organized by Elisha McCallum (Director of Communications for Plutonic Power) at the Independent Power Producers conference, held in Vancouver, November 2nd and 3rd, 2009. I was honored to share the stage with Alexandra Samuel (Social Signal), James Glave (Hoggan & Associates), Chris Hatch (PowerUp Canada) and Gillian Shaw (Vancouver Sun). While I hadn’t met Chris before, I am friends with the remainder of the panel so the chemistry and flow of information in the panel was incredibly smooth. I created a ScribbleLive iFrame so that people could read the live-tweets (it’s embedded on my research blog but you can also read it below).
I was the last panelist, which is almost always a total risk because you never know what the other speakers are going to say. Two themes resonated within the panel: the importance of sharing your story online and building an online presence and brand. I spoke about 4 things that social media will not do for your power producing company and my top 10 best tips for doing social media within the alternative energy online space. These tips are definitely applicable to other brands, verticals and online spaces, but I spoke directly to energy issues in this talk. What follows below is a very loose crib of my actual talk.
The crib begins here
Thank you everyone for coming to our panel. I am the last panelist so my points will definitely resonate with what you have heard from my amazing colleagues. While I admit that I have a bit of split personality (I have two online personas, one that is social media and consulting and the other, my academic self), my talk will actually discourage you from doing what I do (yeah, Raul, practice what you preach, eh?) and instead, I will urge you to create a unified, coherent and cohesive online presence. There are reasons why I keep my identities online separate that I can share with you in the question and answer period if you are still interested.
First of all, I am going to tell you the 4 things that social media will NOT accomplish for you:
1. Social media will NOT replace your all of your other communication strategies. Social media will augment whatever other communications efforts you are using to put your message out there. But what it won’t do is to substitute for a solid strategy. So, if you don’t have a solid, coherent and broad communication strategy within which you insert social media tools, you probably should start with that, first of all.
2. Social media will NOT avoid the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) phenomenon for your company. I am an academic. I know that NIMBY happens, and it actually happens with a multitude of alternative power producers’ technologies. I’ve read the literature on NIMBY opposition to wind farms to extensive lengths. I would not be surprised if people oppose your alternative power projects. And whether you like it or not, you have to accept that social media won’t avoid NIMBY conflicts. It may, however, help you manage your relationships with the community you are immersed within. And perhaps, that might just help you deal and mitigate NIMBY opposition.
3. Social media will not create your community just by producing and maintaining an online presence. It’s up to you and your company’s staff to build a community around your website, around your company and around your online platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, to name a few).
4. Social media will not pay back immediately. Whoever tells you that social media will produce an immediate return on investment and that it doesn’t cost a cent is lying to you, and you should refer them to me so that I can slap them silly. I’m just half-kidding here. Social media is about community building, and the same way that Rome wasn’t built in one day, online communities aren’t built in 3 weeks. Whoever tells you otherwise is lying to you. And that, in good time, will come and bite them back.
Now, for the top 10 tips I can give you on how to best do social media…
[The rest of my crib is actually just going to be the tips themselves. I think they’re self-explanatory]
1. Tell a story. Your company has a story to tell. Tell it!
2. Go multi-platform. Don’t just stick to Twitter or Facebook. Go where your audience is.
3. Be authentic. If you screw up, admit it and clean up after yourself. We are all humans behind the computer screen.
4. Monitor your brand. Your company is being talked about online, even if you think it’s not.
5. Build a community. I can’t stress this enough. Social media is about building a community around you.
6. Be patient. Success overnight takes between 10 and 15 years. So, don’t expect to build a community in 4 weeks.
7. Hire a good consultant. Same as with coaching, there’s only so much you can do. And then, you get someone to help you move forward. Be choosy when you ask for consulting services.
8. Align your social media strategy to your overall strategy. Nothing worse than having a social media strategy that achieves only part of the overall goals of the company.
9. Build a cohesive online identity. Create a central platform (I use my blog and recommend you do too) and then use social networking sites to share your message and bring the community back to your core platform.
10. Remember to network wisely. Don’t abuse your networks. Share stuff, be generous, and remember that everyone is connected in this day and age.
I hope that these notes are helpful. Comments, as usual, most welcome.
I am sometimes embarrassed to admit that I’ve been somewhat disconnected from Mexican culture in Canada for a long, long time. Yes, I eat Mexican food as often as I can. Yes, I’ve written about Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo and other celebrations. But you wouldn’t know that in a decade, I’ve stepped on to the Mexican Consulate only twice, and both occasions were this year. I know, I should be more in touch. But I digress.
One of the Mexican traditions that I have been not able to keep up with every single year, but I really try hard to do even when I am not in Mexico is setting an altar for my deceased loved ones on the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), which happens to be November 2nd. When I am in Mexico, I visit the graves of my aunties and grandparents to drop a bouquet of flowers. On this day, I am often reminded of the loved ones I’ve lost to several diseases (diabetes and cancer, for the most part). I am also keenly aware of how fleeting our lives are. However, as it usually happens with Mexican traditions, it feels more like a celebration of the lives that we were lucky to have rather than a time of sadness, mourning and feelings of loss.
Frankly, I love speaking both Spanish and English, because the Spanish version of the Wikipedia entry for Dia de los Muertos is substantively better (and way more accurate) than the English version for Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead is a perfect example of syncretism, a melding of the Spaniard observance of All Saints Day (November 1st) and the Aztec celebration of the Ueymicailhuitl (the party of the dead).
Today, even though it is a really busy day (I will be speaking on a panel, having 3 business meetings and doing some planning), I plan to take some quiet time to set an altar to my deceased loved ones, to celebrate their existence. I hope you enjoy your Dia de los Muertos as well.
You may remember that a few months ago I participated in a blogger relations program by Hill & Knowlton on behalf of their client Hewlett Packard Canada. I reviewed their HP Photosmart Premium All-In-One C309 (part 1 and part 2). Quite frankly, I wasn’t expecting anything (since I already kept the printer, as HP Canada indicated I could do – I could have also returned it, but it’s proven very useful for my day-to-day activities).
But then I got an email from Linda North indicating that they were giving me an HP PhotoSmart A646 Compact photo-printer to give away on my site. I found this quite a generous offer, and I love giving away stuff on my site. As I said before, I don’t do this for money or the fame, but if people read my site and I can provide my readers with free stuff, all the better. So, I gladly accepted. They couriered the printer to me and I finally got an opportunity to write about it. I found the environmental features of the photo printer very appealing. From their communications, I found out that this new compact printer has some great environmental features. It’s shipped in a reusable tote bag made from recycled plastics and its body is made with more than 32 per cent recycled plastic material.
You can enter the contest just dropping a comment on this post. I’ll draw a winner on Thursday November 5th, 2009. Feel free to re-tweet, share, and spread the word. And thanks to H&K and HP Canada for giving me a chance to give something away for my readers!
The printer I’m giving away to my readers is provided by Hewlett Packard Canada as a token of appreciation for participating in reviewing the HP Premium C309 as part of a blogger relations program by Hill and Knowlton on behalf of their client HP Canada. In any review I write, I retain editorial control at all times and thus getting a free item does not guarantee a favorable review. Should you have any questions or should your company want to send me a product for review, feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.
I know I’m going to lose some of my “good taste in music” credibility when I admit that I like Linkin Park. To add to my sins, I am absolutely enthralled by the song “End of the World”, by Dead by Sunrise. According to Wikipedia, Dead by Sunrise is a side project of Linkin Park’s vocalist. For those of you who know me well, both in person and online, you’ll know that there are reasons why I love this tune. It’s energetic, it has lots of intense bass and guitar and when I listen to it I feel incredibly re-energized and ready to face the week. Below, as shown on YouTube, the video of a recent performance of this song, in Hollywood.
I think one of the things I enjoy the most when people read my blog is receiving feedback on stuff that I write and that people find useful. One of the elements I have incorporated on my site is a list of productivity tips. Short little snippets of suggestions on how to be more productive. But I don’t just list them as though they are abstract ideas. I list here what I do to be more productive, in a “this is how I do it, so I hope it’ll work for you too” kind of way.
While this week has been rather slow for my blogging, my client work, teaching and research productivity have been through the roof. One of the productivity elements I have assimilated into my work and personal life is to get rid of the Box of Miscellaneous Stuff (BMS). Another element I’ve incorporated is to devote one day (in full or at least a few hours) to clean up my desk/office/home. That way, as the month begins, I have different challenges, and cleaning up and organizing is not one of them. I start the month with a clean slate.
I did that a few weeks back with my apartment, and as I sit here at my office at The Network Hub listening to Styx and Friendly Fires, I’m cleaning up my desk, filing up stuff, creating labels for my folders, sorting supplies, organizing the monthly workload and schedule. Tomorrow is November 1st, and I will have a clean slate (and an organized office and home).
So, I am pretty sure I said happy birthday on Facebook, but just in case, I just wanted to have a post for her. My dear friend N.E. did her PhD under the same supervisor that I did. We are so similar in many ways. She is athletic (loves ultimate frisbee), artistic, and multitalented (she speaks several languages, including some Spanish). We are both very much free spirits, and we shared lots of stories of personal and professional challenges as we were working on our PhDs. We are both extremely social and we worked really hard to maintain our networks of friends while undertaking such a lonely task as doing a doctorate. She was one of the very few academic peers with whom I shared my personal blog, and she has always been extremely supportive. For all that you mean in my life, happy birthday (even if a tad belated) and much love.
Last night, one night before Halloween, Lorraine and I came down to visit Gus and Russ for dinner and then we all went to see DSR Productions’ Evil Dead: The Musical. Just before I went to the musical, I had a little enlightening conversation with my friend Corey Rollins (from AdHack) at Strutta‘s CouchBeers (I went by their offices to hijack their show and do the draw for my contest live, to increase transparency – also, yesterday was the Halloween edition – you should have seen Corey as Freddie Kruger). Corey mentioned some of the great work that Sam Raimi had done, and Evil Dead is based on some of his cult movies – Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, etc). What I didn’t expect was the kind of laughter and enjoyment I had. You’ll be surprised to read that I wasn’t expecting to laugh this much. Well, it’s a horror/comedy/musical show. I expected fun, but the performance really was much better than I could have expected. Kudos to DSR Productions, the cast, the production team. It was absolutely hilarious.
As mentioned before, Rebecca Coleman and DSR Productionsgave me a pair of complimentary tickets to go see Evil Dead: The Musical. The Evil Dead production by DSR (which I hashtagged #evildeaddsr) takes place at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, which is located within the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre on 41st and Oak. An absolutely beautiful space and a wonderful theatre. My first time at this location, indeed.
As you know, the premise is that 5 young lads and ladies head to a remote cabin in the woods for a weekend of debauchery and then end up possessed by demons. Your usual horror movie fare. But this musical has nothing usual about it. It’s a fantastic 1.5 hours (plus a 20 min intermission) filled with campy songs, lots of dancing and yes, of course, lots of blood and dismemberment. But done in a fun way. Strongly recommended. And I’m not the only one saying this. You should have been there, the theatre was full and the crowd was raving at all points. I could hear Gus, Russ and Lorraine laughing all the way.
Disclosure: The tickets to attend the play were sponsored very generously by DSR Productions. Thanks to Rebecca Coleman for making arrangements for the tickets. While I did not pay to attend the musical, I would gladly pay to attend, as it is a great production. This post hasn’t been paid for either. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times, and producers and publicists are well aware of this. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.
