I Almost Forgot How Much I LOVE Being a Speaker

Friday morning I had the pleasure of presenting to a small class at Trebas institute in Toronto. The Students are studying to become event coordinators and managers and were in need of basic help regarding the use of social media.
I feel honoured to have been asked to speak to such a great group.  There is no better satisfaction than sharing important and useful information with people who really are interested in what you have to say. I felt like they were hanging off every word!
It was awesome. 
Here are some of the points I shared today at #CrashTrebas (Clever aren't I?) 




Good Examples of Social Media Use: (Local Toronto Companies and accounts I follow)
@AcuraSherway
@LeDolci

With Screen Shots

Both of these local companies have been able to build a strong following and fan base through sharing good content. Content that is both relevant to their industries and relevant to their audience (Not the same thing). Both brands exhibit a sense of interest when engaging with members of their audience on social media platforms like twitter. Through their efforts @AcuraSherway and @LeDolci have gained the trust of their audience - fan base and followers.

Some Social Media Facts…
-Twitter users welcome 2012 with 16,000 tweets-per-second, more than doubling last year's record. (Source: MediaBistro) 
-3% of adults say they get news and information about local businesses from social media, while38% claim to use Internet search engines. (Source: Pew Internet) 

Other brief points shared:

-There are many Social Media tools and platforms, there will always be new tools – Social Media and it’s use is "Ever Changing and Growing"

-It can make a good product/service better or a bad one worse

-Share good and diverse content across a variety of platforms “Cross Pollination”  

-The number of online users will grow exponentially year to year

-Experts speculate Mobile devices will be the number one connector to the internet in the very near future

-Don’t feed the trollz – Be classy

-It's ok to post lol catz from time to time (the humourous portion of the presentation)

-Using the right voice for your audience and brand are paramount

-Differences in LinkedIn Facebook and Twitter and other platforms regarding what kind of content should be posted

I don't want to bore you guys with too many details, this is my personal blog after all.

Do you like Public Speaking? Share some of your experiences.

Thinking about Crashaversary

Last night I was reminiscing about a party I had a while back.  Crashaversary was a tweetup of sorts. I organized it around a difficult time in my life, and rather than let the dark feelings win over my true light hearted and happy nature... (Is that sarcasm? It might be. You decide.) I wanted to celebrate the fact that I am still here and able to be sarcastic and silly.

I was touched by the amount of people who joined me in my (more like our) celebration of life. Everyone's been through something. I believe that everyone has personal victories and we should celebrate them. Having a Crashaversary was a great way to commemorate everyone's strength and passion for life.

The event was held at @e11evenToronto, and did we ever enjoy the venue the service and food. The social media engagement specialist (yes, I made that title up) Sam, was wonderful and gave out vouchers for our next visit. The sommelier @JonnyDrinks also took the time out to visit with us. Truly a wonderful experience and we were all happy to meet the people behind the twitter handles and restaurant. We've been there a few times since and plan to go back again. 

I can't thank the people who attended enough. I think of all of you, and appreciate you for just... well being you. I hope that we will have many more opportunities to celebrate life and milestones and life victories (large or small) together.   

One of my "tweeps" @DoomzTO even wrote his own blog post about our little gathering. *Thanks Casey.

If you 'd like to check out the people who joined us (I suggest you follow them on twitter) check out the list.

I May Shoot Myself in the Foot but, At Least I'm Consistent.

This was Posted on my other blog Social Media and Me


So... This past week in my "Social Media Life" I received a DM (direct message) from a follower who gave me an ultimatum. I was surprised that some one would have the gumption regardless of what their professional capacity is to give me an ultimatum based on my social media use and preference.
I was shocked and incredibly dismayed that this "follower", happens to dislike one of the third party location based applications that I use and occasionally use to update my twitter account.
Anyhow, this "follower" sends me a DM which I mistook for someone looking to have a conversation about said third party application. Man was I wrong. Thankfully it did not get too ugly, but I made sure that person was aware that I am not accustomed to ultimatums in my personal or professional life. Furthermore if the the ultimatum was either stop using the third party app or loose them as a follower, I'm sure you know what decision I made.
I don't even use that application all that much, but it was more about the principle than the application.
The best part of this story is that the "follower" who tweeted with me through DM, and subsequently blocked is quite well known and works in the PR field (So I guess that means they have a right to dictate what I can and cannot use on mobile devices that I bought and paid for, on an account that I have maintained... WRONG).
Way to stick to your guns while shooting your self in the foot.
Do I regret my decision? No I don't.
It's called being true to one's self ILR (in real life) and ISM(in social media) I would never put up with an ultimatum IRL so why would I put up with them in ISM.
So there you have it. I shot my self in the foot, but at least I'm consistent.