Tips from the Social Media Idol that can help build your business online

Click to read my blog for TELUS Talks Business on how small businesses can use social media to grow their businesses…

What will it take?

Last night, Stratford’s Avonova group hosted a panel discussing “Doing Tech in Stratford: Why or Why not?” The guest panelists spoke to the merits and challenges of establishing a technology business or career in Stratford, Ontario versus other centres like Kitchener-Waterloo, London or Toronto.

Our panelists were:

• Gary Wreford, VP, Central Processing Technology, Scotiabank, heads the bank’s worldwide IT services from Stratford.
• Tim Ellis, Chief Operating Officer of Waterloo’s Accelerator Centre, a world-renowned, award-winning centre for cultivation of technology entrepreneurship, and
• Jason Clarke, a Web and Social Media Content Creator (videographer) for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and recent émigré from London, Ontario where he founded the Short Film Showcase.

Moderated by yours truly, our panelists brought their very diverse perspectives to the conversation, yet overwhelmingly they agreed on the following most salient points:

Strengths:

• Strength of our brand: Stratford’s brand is very strong and evokes awareness of creativity, culture and arts. This distinguishes the city from other centres (i.e. K-W is noted for being a high tech hub and London is noted for its impact on the Life Sciences).
• Creative & Content: Stratford is in a unique position to highlight its talent base and its ability to generate world-renowned content. We should focus on what makes us different from other centres and not try to duplicate what’s going on elsewhere.
• University of Waterloo Stratford Campus and the Stratford Institute: the presence of these two institutions fares incredibly well for Stratford, bringing a global focus to our city and shoring up our image as a world-class city where anything is possible.
• Relationships: Stratford’s champions range from our Governor-General, corporate leaders (OpenText, RIM), and provincial and federal political representatives. Those relationships are not only based on goodwill, but on well versed strategic planning and investment in ideas that will put us on the global stage in yet another realm.
• History: We have a history of being innovative; the Stratford Shakespeare Festival started in a tent…and grew. The same is expected of our push to be considered one of Canada’s premier digital media hubs for innovation and entrepreneurialism.
• Leadership: Our municipal leadership is responsible for putting Stratford in the enviable position that it is in currently. Our ability to present smart leadership to our closest communities and the world at large will continue to bring opportunities to the city.
• Our Digital Renaissance and Infrastructure: We have the technology in place to support new businesses; that’s the easy part. Pushing forward on our bid for the world’s most Intelligent Community continues to put Stratford on the global map and reinforces our commitment to the ideals of what constitutes an intelligent city.

Opportunities:

• Attracting and Keeping Talent: Stratford needs to find a way to keep the 25-35 year old demographic here, rather than watching the brain drain to our larger centres. Providing life experiences (“there’s nothing to do”) and social outlets is paramount here.
• Ambassadors: “Stratford is a friendly town, but it’s hard to make a friend.” Finding ways to connect new residents to the city life and enable social connections is essential to ensuring that new residents don’t feel ostracized and isolated.
• Incubator Centre: creation of an Incubator Centre will support entrepreneurs, instill loyalty and set the foundation for future innovation and business opportunities that stay here in Stratford.

Many of our audience members shared their stories as to why they chose Stratford and what has kept them here, growing their businesses and establishing family roots here. The clear message from last night was that our success will come from looking at the city experience holistically. Providing support and opportunities for businesses directly related to technology, as well as providing outlets for socializing and community engagement will take a concerted effort. Achieving this state will come from the collaborative effort of all parts of our city, and not just city leaders.

Our sincerest thanks to Gary, Tim and Jason, for sharing their perspectives and ideas with our audience. 

Like Finds Like

On Monday, September 19, 2001, I attended The Marketplace Conference hosted by the Small Business Community Network at The Museum in Kitchener, Ontario. I was participating as an audience member, but I was also vying for the title of Social Media Idol. During the competition segment of the day, all contestants were asked one question and the question that came to me was “how has social media impacted your every day?”

Although I express myself easily on Twitter in those 140 character limits, to share just what kind of impact Twitter has had on my life, I want to take the time here to explain just how important this medium is to me. So, to paraphrase my own answer (somewhat), I share this…

Social media, Twitter especially, has had a profound impact on my life. I don’t use that word lightly. It has been tangible, positive and hugely influential, on both a personal and a professional level.

When my family and I first moved to Stratford, Ontario, I tried many of the traditional routes to engage more in the community. I joined a book club, a writing circle, participated in photography classes at the Gallery Stratford, joined political groups, invited couples over for dinner; but ingratiating ourselves into our new community was a slow and not very successful process. Stratford’s a small town in many ways and it seemed that everybody had enough friends already. I was flummoxed. I mean, my husband and I are nice people; we’re pretty engaging and have a wide range of interests. Surely people would want to make the time to get to know us better? It was hard not to take it personally.

Slowly, very slowly, our social circle did grow, and some of our friends from those early years have grown into being good friends to us still, but it wasn’t until I started to engage heavily in Twitter did mine and my family’s whole experience in Stratford change, dramatically.

Feeling passionate about the city we adopted as our hometown, I was eager to share all of the amazing things happening in the city with a greater audience, so I tweeted and retweeted everything and anything to do with Stratford, and I did it a lot. After a few months, I received one of my first #FollowFriday recommendations from a London, Ontario local called @late2game. It resonated so deeply with me that I remember it almost word for word: “If you want to know anything about Stratford, you should follow @karensd”.

Wow! I was SO honoured! I realized just then how powerful Twitter was for me. I was influencing people in London and my online reputation was growing.

My relationships in Stratford were growing and changing, almost exponentially too. I was meeting people from right across the city and the county that were interested in and moved by the same things I was; foodies, arts and culture, activism, politics, community building and of course, social media. The people that I call friends now I would not have been able to know on such an intimate level had it not been for Twitter opening up the avenues of dialogue and giving us the opportunity to find our “likeness” and to get to know one another better. Neither the Ignite Stratford or Social Media Breakfast Stratford events would be anywhere near as successful as they have been had it not been for Twitter and it the outreach that it enables.

At the same time, my community was also growing in Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph. I was learning about events like Ignite Waterloo and being introduced to people that I would never have known of otherwise. Facebook was still rather insular a few years ago, not nearly as open as it is now with the advent of Fan Pages and Events being so well integrated into calendars and news streams. Twitter was my conduit to these amazing people that were doing things I was interested in and who were creating them, actually making them happen.

***

I’ve been calling Twitter “the warmest handshake you’ll ever experience”. It’s a reference to my old sales days, when you’re looking for a “warm referral”; someone that knows you, likes you and is willing to introduce you to another potential customer.

I realized the power of Twitter when I attended that first Ignite Waterloo event. I was early and planted myself in the seats at The Museum and started tweeting. The organizers had one of the first Twitter walls I had seen up to that point, so when I tweeted that I was excited for the night to begin, a few moments later, I heard someone say out loud, “Ya, me too Karen!” I turned to see this guy that looked familiar to me; he smiled broadly and that’s when I met one of my favourite KW tweeps IRL (in real life), @renjie. We chatted for a while that night, about the event and the speakers. At the end of the evening, we shook hands and our engagement on Twitter continued.

A few weeks later, I was in KW again to attend a SIG hosted event at The Seagram Museum in support of Adam Kahane’s book Power and Love. It was of little surprise to me that @renjie was one of the organizers. We DM’d to find one another in a room of hundreds, and as we walked towards one another, we naturally greeted each other with a hug. I tell this story often to share how in no time at all, Renjie Butalid went from being this figure on Twitter to being someone I considered a friend. We could not have come from more diverse backgrounds, communities and environments, but through Twitter, I met this someone that I shared a huge amount of energy and “likeness” with.

***

On Thursday, September 15, 2011, I spent the day at the first 140 Character Conference in Canada held at The Tannery in Kitchener. Created by Jeff Pulver, the conference is described as:

“The #140conf events provide a platform for the worldwide twitter community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time internet on business.”

A dedicated team of volunteers in Kitchener worked for months to bring this conference to fruition, and one only has to read through the #140ConfOnt hashtag stream on twitter to realize the effect that the speakers had on the audience.

Most of the people that spoke that day were sharing their stories of how Twitter has impacted their lives. Some of them has us in tears, like Heather Hamilton who spoke of how her twitter community rallied to raise $41,000, blowing pas the $25,000 goal to help build a room at York Central Hospital in honour of her son Zack, whom she lost earlier this year. Jodi Sonoda showed true bravery in being vulnerable by sharing how she turned to her Twitter community in times of great despair, now calling Twitter “her place to fall in case I fall again”. Or Matt Scobel, who spoke of bringing his love of marketing, technology and doing something together under Project Macfrica, giving new life to used Macs and creating computer labs in Africa.

I spent the entire day of the #140ConfOnt conversing in real life with some of the most amazing people that I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. These are people, that if it hadn’t been for Twitter, I never would’ve met otherwise, and because of Twitter, I’m able to learn more about and help support them and their passions. Whether we met at events organized and announced on Twitter, or they recognized me at the #IronChefUptown events held at Nick & Nat’s Uptown21, or at the #SMBWR breakfasts, or the Slow Food Perth County market, these are the kinds of people that I want to know. We’re all amazingly diverse, but fundamentally, these are the kind of people that I need in my life to help me feel fulfilled, engaged and connected. They are passionate, active visionaries and they inspire me each and every single day.

Twitter has also shown me, quite clearly, where my real passion and “feed my soul work” is. It has shown me where I need to make changes in my professional life and it’s this online community that reinforces for me that where I’m heading is where I’m meant to be. It’s where I’m most passionate and most compelled. That realization is priceless, in anyone’s development and growth. This community has given me unfiltered feedback on companies and organizations that I’ve encountered, or have considered working with or for. They’ve provided me feedback on my profiles and online presence, without expecting anything back. They do, because they’re of that ilk.

It was while chatting with my friend @TheKarlTopia at dinner the other night (after winning Social Media Idol at the Marketplace Conference and who by the way, I met up with only because I saw his tweet that he was eating at The Bauer Kitchen and I was only a few blocks away), that I shared with him how much I love Twitter because it lets all of us, every single one of the users of this amazing outlet, find our chosen kin. “Like finds like,” I said.

I can only hope that I bring some of the same energy, knowledge, experience and authenticity to those that I consider my community, and although I couldn’t possibly name all of you here, if I follow you or list you, it’s because I consider you an essential part of my growth, development, realization and life experience.

Thank you, Twitter. Thank you, all…

Goodwill, Value Village and me…

I love old things. You can tell by the fact that I live in a house that was built in 1917. I love the imperfect walls (how they made flat walls with plaster & lathe is still beyond me!) and the stories that live in these walls. I love discovering hidden, forgotten things; like newspapers from the 50s which were used as insulation in our fireplace (that was a fun discovery when we had a lining inserted & repointed the chimney), the seven layers of paint and paper that line just about every room (in both directions, ceilings included), the two “Bottled in Stratford, Ontario” Coca~Cola bottle caps that were embedded in the plaster in our master bedroom, behind more painted over wallpaper, and I love living in a City where I find out more about this house from people that visit than I did from the previous owners (“oh, I remember when the tub fell through the ceiling!”; so that’s why the ceiling is wonky there!).

It’s this sensibility that draws me to places like Goodwill, Talize and Value Village. A lot. I have frequent buyer cards for two of the outfits that offer them; that and the fact that I have twin seven-year-old boys, who go through clothes like nobody’s business.

Actually, there are a number of good reasons that I love to stroll through these second hand stores.  Need a second DVD? $7, check! Need a VCR to play all those Disney tapes I still have from when my university bound daughter was a toddler? $3, check! Weight scales, air popcorn poppers, cast iron skillets for camping, practically brand new, brand name clothes (a genuine Dolce & Gabbana trench for $14, swear to gawd!) sometimes with their original store tags still on them; I’m so happy when I find something for a few bucks that would’ve usually set me back thrice its value or more.

And then sometimes, I find a real treasure. Not one that’s worth any significant cash value, but ones that are worth much more to me because of their story, their history.

A couple of years ago now, I found a large, black frame (with a lousy picture in it) at my local Goodwill, so I bought it, brought it home and then found this picture behind it.

The gentleman’s name is Sam Cheezo from the Cree Nation who lived in Quebec. I couldn’t find anything online about the man or the photographer, so I searched a little harder and I found an email for the office of the Embassy of the Cree Nation in Ottawa. I forwarded a picture of the photograph to them and they were able to connect me with the Director of Operations for the Cree Nation of Nemaska and he was able to tell me this about Sam Cheezo:

As far I can remember, Sam was one of our village elders at Nemaska Post. I believe he passed away in the mid-fifties. Sam was one of those rare individuals who was quite active in his early years as he was a sought after Foreman for various community projects since he knew how to interact with people. He taught himself English (he never went school) and he became our interpreter at church services and other events.

He was a person of jovial character and he was one of the Cree voyageurs working for the Hudson’s Bay Company during the days of the canoe brigades before the arrival of the bush plane.

There is a reference to him from a manuscript made by the Reverend James Scanlon, titled ‘A Different Time Among the Northern Cree’ which can be purchased from the Highway Book Shop, Cobalt, Ontario.

 Website: www.highwaybooks.ca

I can’t tell you how happy I was to discover this smallest snippet of Sam’s story. I was moved that through the effort of a few emails, I was able to be connected to people that not only knew how to get to Sam’s story, but who actually knew Sam himself. Mostly though, I was happiest to send this large photo of Sam back to the Culture Director of the Nemaska First Nation, where it belonged.

Then, a few weeks ago now, I participated in a local, online auction where I purchased an entire box of cameras, lenses and other photography peripheries. The owner of the equipment obviously loved photography and cared for their equipment, because it was in impeccable shape. The best discovery for me though, was the fact that two of the cameras still had film in them.  I immediately took them to my local camera shop and you can view the pictures yourself here (a couple of samples are below).

The photos aren’t particularly exceptional, or one of those incredible finds like John Maloof had of Vivian Maier’s work, but I love them. They capture a part of someone’s life. I’m guessing a teacher, a lover of art, a mother.  I also found a receipt in the aging box, I’d love to find out more about Katherine Gatto. A Google search revealed nothing, but isn’t too surprising when you realize that the equipment and the pictures reveal a world that existed well before digital photography and just as personal computers were making their way onto the work desk.

My last adventure takes me from again, the Goodwill in Stratford to Cross Creek, New Brunswick. I came across this stunning, hand-stitched leather satchel, for which I paid all of $30 for. That girl was coming home with me.

The leather was not in rough shape, per se, but it’s definitely not as pliable as it would have once been.  Thanks to an imprinted piece inside the bag, I was quickly able to find the maker of this beauty; Northern Lights Leathers was kind enough to respond to my email query and let me know that they made this type “school bag” about 10 years ago and it’s original sticker price would’ve been approximately $250.  How is it a handmade leather bag from New Brunswick ended up in Stratford, Ontario? I really do hope one day to find that out…

…and that’s just one of those other amazingly beautiful things about using our social media networks and the technology and tools that are available to us. These are the ultimate storytelling tools, which puts the story right in our laps, if we want to take that journey…

Don’t Feed The Trolls

 Don’t try to win over haters. You’re not the Jackass Whisperer. ~Scott Stratten, @unmarketing

June 11, 2011, I spent a full day with some of the best of the best of London, Ontario at Podcamp London 11 held at The Research Park. For those of you that don’t know, a Podcamp is described as:

… an open community for new and social media enthusiasts and professionals including bloggers, podcasters, social networkers, and anyone curious about new media to share and learn.

Some of the folks that were running the event & attending, I have been twitter friends with for a while, and that day I met a number of other tweeple that I have been following for a while, but hadn’t yet had a chance to meet IRL. This was my first Podcamp and I had heard such great things from others that I wanted to ensure that I took the day to fully participate and I was not disappointed; well, mostly…

I loved learning about Podcasting 101 from @billdeys, watching the unbot in action, and I fully agree with @jclarkey about how you can Schedule for Good using Twitter (sorry @unmarketing, but there is a way to be authentic and efficient and effective). The talks were diverse, some fully polished, some not so, but the speakers that I listened to were earnest and open to sharing their knowledge and points of view.

And then, the trolls reared their ugly heads.

A group of four white, privileged, bigoted, misogynistic boys that called themselves “podcasters” (I guess  you can call yourself a podcaster when you have 11 followers…?) started their “radio show” of sorts, which was really just an excuse to showcase just how white, privileged, bigoted and misogynistic they were. They were no Daniel Tosh, who brilliantly touches and crosses those touchy lines. They weren’t irreverent, funny, smart or entertaining. They were just…trolls. And I for one, wasn’t going to sit in that environment and just let them spout their racism and go on about their “rape fantasy” without being held accountable, so I tweeted how boring they were, how untalented and then of course, these particular trolls showed themselves for what they really are…cowards and insecure little bullies.

One thing I’ve written about previously is how when you’re engaging in social media, you have to accept that you don’t own your message. As soon as you hit Enter or Upload, as soon as you publish your content, in whichever medium you choose, it’s your audience that owns that content and they can do whatever they want with it. Mashup, malign, masticate, once it’s out there, it’s out there.

These boys couldn’t handle the criticism or the gift of honest feedback, so of course, the trolls that they are, they started to attack me, personally. I’m a “stupid bitch”, telling me to “leave” because they just wanted to circle jerk with their white, privileged, young audience and not be held accountable.

Not a chance little men. You don’t get to tell me what to do, nor do you get to control how this audience member responds to your content.  You’ve obviously not gotten the point of social media.

Later, during the social part of the evening, I stopped one of the little trolls and looked him in the face and told him that he wasn’t allowed to call me a bitch or use me for fodder for his base attempt at holding an audience unless he had the balls to look me in the face and call me a bitch to my face.  Guess what? He couldn’t; well, not until he was backed up by two of his friends. He was dumbstruck, speechless and pathetically “out of his league” (as was tweeted by @late2game), as most bullies are. The best he could muster was that I was “fat”. He may have gone on and called me other things in the long email he sent me the next day, but I decided to listen to @jonpilon, as he was the one that reminded me to “Not Feed The Trolls” and delete that email without reading it. They’d already had enough of my energy.

The reason that I’m blogging about this experience now almost two months later is because I’ve experienced a few episodes in the last few weeks which has led me to realize that the world is FULL of trolls. Frauds, bullies, liars, gossips, toppers, energy vampires, whatever you call them, they’re everywhere. At work, in friendships, in your social, in your home and most dangerously, in yourself.

I’m strong enough to admit that I’ve been a troll and I still, some days, have troll tendencies. I judge, I  mock, I gossip, I bully. I won’t put up with others’ trollish behaviour, so why is it acceptable when it comes from within me?

Well, of course, it’s not.

What I’m trying to do though is be more aware of when I’m acting like a troll myself and I’m actively working to stop feeding any trolls that I encounter.

So, especially after just completing a 21 day cleanse, here’s to feeding that better part of my soul and my community, more presently and more mindfully.

 

G‘Morning!

Some of my dear readers may know already that I’ve been in the midst of a 21 day cleanse, inspired by Kris Carr’s book Crazy Sexy Diet. Part of my commitment this summer was to lose a few pounds, do a good accounting of my overall health and well being, and make some good, fundamental changes in my every day routines.

So, I’ve been getting up early most mornings and usually getting out for a 10km ride around Lake Victoria in Stratford (yes folks, it’s Lake Victoria, not the Avon River in the heart of town). Each morning, I see many of the same folks either running or walking along the trail around the Lake, and as we pass one another each time, we smile and either call out or mouth, “G’Morning!” to one another. Sometimes, if someone’s looking particularly grumpy, I’ll make a specific point of smiling and greeting them, hoping to kickstart their day in a different way.

 

East side of Lake Victoria, near the trestle bridge

That simple gesture if one of the many, many things I love about living in this fair city of ours. It’s neighbourly, a way of connecting, of acknowledging, “yah, you’re crazy for being up this early too, and I like that!”…and when you see some of the people that are awake that early and charging head first into their day, it’s no wonder they’re as successful as they are…

I’ve found that it’s rather rare for people to actively avoid looking at one another as we pass on by (and funnily enough, it’s usually women runners in pairs that do that). Otherwise, young and old, running, walking, coffee sipping strollers, just about everyone   will make a point of making that eye contact and making that effort.

I encourage you to make the effort as you walk about wherever you are. Who knows what the simple nod will foster…

 

 

30 Days of Creativity in Stratford

They say it takes 21 days to create a new habit. They say a lot of things, don’t they?

About a week ago, I signed up and tweeted out loud that starting June 1, I’m going to create something every day for the entire month of June. It’s an idea put forth by http://30daysofcreativity.com/

I remember seeing this in 2010 and being fully intrigued but quite non-committal about it.  I’m making a different choice this year.

It will be interesting to see how much I can push myself, or how much I may repeat myself too. I’ve called myself a renaissance woman, so let’s see how much of that is really true.

I know that I in fact create something every single day. Those creations are usually under the guise of doing for my family or producing for work.

The creations in this 30 days, these creations are going to be all for me.

I’ll be creating a Facebook page for all the locals that have decided to take up the call, so look for 30 Days of Creativity in Stratford if you’re so inclined.

See you on the flip side…

Flip the page…

Last night I attended three very different events.

The first was an information session regarding the new Local Market Co-op. A collective of earnest, grassroots social innovators that are helping to revitalize one of the empty storefronts in downtown Stratford with a grocery store that will feature local producers and purveyors, and has an eye on eventually producing from their site as well.

The project is being driven by a group of people that I have a great deal of respect for. They’ve seen a need, they’ve done the research in the form of a feasibility study and looking at other co-operative models, and now they’re acting on that need. I think it’s so incredibly brave, and the energy that they’re bringing to this venture is so positive that I vow to do all that I can to support them and their success, which starts with a $150/yr subscription. Look for the opening on June 1st(ish)…

From that meeting, I headed over to the fabulous Factory 163, where I had been the night before attending a very unique networking event, to watch some storytellers in action.  The Factory is another site that is very special in Stratford, and the women that run it are another example of social innovators that open their space to creatives and community builders and will hopefully reap the rewards of being that unique supportive and collaborative space.

The storytellers and their stories were very diverse and all wonderfully engaging. I love the idea of a community of people coming together to either practice their craft or share some of who they are by letting us into their lives one small tidbit at a time. I’ve committed to sharing a story at an upcoming event, now I just have to choose one that my friends and family haven’t all heard five times already…

Note: There’s a storytelling festival being held in St. Marys from June 1-4 put on by Once Upon A Thames. They’re still looking for a few storytellers for their Story Slam on June 1st, so if you’re interested in sharing your story, please get in touch… 

I left the storytelling event to go watch the Iron Chef Waterloo event at Nik & Nat’s Uptown 21 with my good friend Shawn from Simple. Fish and Chips (and new friend Tim from The Church). This event has become quite legendary in foodie circles in Perth County and Waterloo Regions and I was so pleased to be able to be witness to it live. I ran into a number of local friends that were also there watching the cook-off live, and what made the night even more special for me was having people stop me and introduce themselves to me because they recognized me from Twitter. Talk about an engaged and warm community!

The event at Uptown21 was extraordinary to watch; literal poetry (or food porn) in motion. Young chefs, that obviously love what they do, sweating it out and working in a shared kitchen space to create amazing tastes and dishes for no other reason than to enjoy the camaraderie, share their love of cooking and food with the hosts and the gathered crowd, and raise money for a local charity. Even though the team from Langdon Hall was declared the official winner over Six Thirty Nine, everyone that was there was a clear winner to have just been a part of the experience.

Each stop last night clearly had it’s own unique narrative, but there were many common themes throughout them all; community, connecting, sharing, building, exploring, innovating. How spectacular!

At the Local Market Co-op, their story is about people, working as a community for the betterment of the community. Their story is about action.

At the Factory163 storytelling event, while the story may literally be the story, it’s also about sharing wonderful, strange, embarrassing, revealing insights that give us a glimpse into one’s life and the events that shape one’s character. Those stories are about “us”.

And at Iron Chef Waterloo, that story is about how food goes from farm to table and all the hands that have a part it that journey. It’s about local farmers, a community of foodies, chefs and business people that support and show regard for the greater community, the ingredients, and the process.

When I was younger, I used to scoff at storytellers. I thought that films and TV shows and everything about them was a waste of time; that there were so many more compelling issues and important challenges that deserved our time and energies.

The reality is of course, that all action, all human activity is part of a story. It’s our stories from our past or those stories that we’re actively forming by living them that makes the us part of the whole.

When I was 13 years old, I wrote the following poem (be kind, I was 13):

 My life is a canvas

Everyone leaves their own mark with their own style and colour

From the man who asks the time

To the friend I’ve always had

To all the people who entered my life

You made a masterpiece.

I love being older now and having a more active role in how my next chapters unfold and welcoming all of the wonderful, warm, and challenging characters that are already central characters and those that I’ve yet to meet who will be a part of that. I am ready to flip the page.

On Being a Biddy

In a few weeks, for the third year in a row, I will take up my duties as a member of one of the most extraordinary volunteer organizations that I’ve ever had the pleasure to work for; the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Friends of the Festival (FoF).

Founded in 1985, the Festival now boasts over 200 active, associate and honourary members. When I first moved to Stratford, I put myself on the waiting list to be considered as a volunteer and it took three years for me to be called on to join The Friends (and to be referred to as a “biddy” by a local transplant that learned of my new appointment). That’s a three year waiting list to volunteer!

The Friends provide the Festival with support that ends up being valued at literally hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. They provide tours of the gardens, back of the house, and archives, staff the information desks for each and every performance in the two main theatres, shadow The Festival’s administrative team in performing office duties and generally performing volunteering to fulfill any role that is needed.

The FoF and its Executive can teach every business owner, large and small, a great deal about how to serve their customers.  Before each patron has even walked in the door, there are dozens of hours of preparation in place; a foundation of education and implicit training for each role to ensure that every member of the FoF is prepared to create an experience at The Festival which is a positive and memorable one. The Executive and the volunteers are extraordinary in their attention to detail and they are thorough in their execution.

It’s true that I’m a number of years younger than most of the members of the Friends, many of whom are retired and support the Festival year round with their hours, and it’s not only the Festival that is the lucky recipient of the volunteers’ knowledge and experience. I’ve rarely been in such amazing company and it’s an honour to be exposed to a certain sensibility that’s almost lost these days in the new paradigm of work. One of the very real reasons that the Festival is such a success year after year is due to the longevity of the volunteers, their commitment to the Festival and equally to the Friends organization; that sensibility is one based on Service and a devout loyalty.

Not only am I surrounded by an obviously devoted crew of people that adore both the Festival and the theatre and relish just being a part of the whole experience, but I find myself in the midst of consummate professionals who consistently exhibit the type of dedication it takes to make an organization run smoothly.  They’re also fully adept at  adapting to the changing needs of their customers (both the Festival itself and the “bums in the seats”) for each and every season.

Anyone that says that seniors aren’t adopters of technology haven’t met the team that supports The Friends as they are certainly on the cusp of how to best use digital media to support their business and enhance the patron’s experience.  They have a website which houses all their current and historical administrative, communications and educational materials. All of the skills management and scheduling is conducted online and the Friends run training and education programs partnering with the Festival that is so thorough and insightful that they would put most corporate organizations to shame. There are also more Friends comfortably sourcing information for the patrons using their smartphones than you’d originally suspect.

I’ve been asked many times why I choose to volunteer at the Festival, considering all of my other commitments, both professionally and personally. Simply put, the City of Stratford is what it is in great part due to the Festival’s existence.  The creative culture, the innovative mindset, the cosmopolitan sensibility, the restaurants, the shops; all of these things come together to create a unique and extraordinary place to live and raise my family. The least that I can do is give back 30 hours a year to the organization that fosters this reality as my way to say thank you and be a part of perpetuating that original entrepreneurial vision.

So, I’m happy to be considered a biddy if it means that I get the opportunity to watch and learn from a committed group of people that come together year after year to be a part of an experience that feeds the souls of themselves and all of those that patronize the City of Stratford and The Festival, and perhaps one day I’ll be celebrating with my own 25 year pin of Service, fully owning that biddy title.

The Gift of Honest Feedback

“You are about to receive the gift of honest feedback.” ~ Unknown (on office desk plaques everywhere)

I have a friend that makes people uncomfortable. She makes them uncomfortable because she will never allow racist, sexist, homophobic or unjust comments or actions just be. She can’t. It’s innate in her and I absolutely love her for it. She will call you out no matter where you’re at, no matter the context.

It also means that she’s not always the most popular person in the room. It means that she does make people uncomfortable, because she holds people accountable for their actions. There’s a reason we get along.  I fully believe that ”All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke) and it’s just not within my nature to not act on the side of what I perceive as justice.

At work, I’ve been calling myself an Elephant Hunter for years now, which usually means that my colleagues love me and my bosses, ummm, sometimes not so much, and I’m way okay with that too. I hold leaders accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. I ask the direct questions, put the elephant on the table. I realize that that too makes people uncomfortable. People don’t like to feel uncomfortable.

But you see, my job is not to make you feel better about your mediocrity or your soundbite or trite idea. Nor is it my job to allow horrible things be said or done without being a witness to it and saying that “that’s not okay.” My job is to challenge you, ask you questions and hold you accountable for your output. That’s my job because I’m your reader, your colleague, your audience and we are part of one another’s collective.

When there’s dialogue there are two things that occur. Either a) I determine that you’re totally full of shit and I decide to not waste my energies on engaging or supporting you or b) I find out that you’re an authentic, open soul whose idea, thought or expression comes from that same intent and regardless of whether or not I agree with you, I will engage you and unfailingly support you.

It’s the same approach I took to my last blog post about the team of @strombo deleting my comments when I attempted a dialogue with them publicly on their Fan Page on Facebook.

Now, for the record, I’m not under any delusions of grandeur and don’t equate Team @strombo deleting my comments as being  akin to spouting off racist, sexist, homophobic vitriol, nor do I think that my comments were that important either.

What I can’t abide is manipulation, inflated senses of import and people failing to provide even the base amount of effort to ensure that a wrong hasn’t been committed. That crap just rankles me to the core.

I had nothing to gain from posting my last blog (do you see any ads on this page?) except to generate a dialogue. I was merely providing that gift of honest feedback both to George and his team and apparently, that resonated with a number of bloggers and other readers.

So, Team @strombo decided what they’ll do with that feedback and I decided that they fell under my a) category. And that makes them feel uncomfortable. I get it.

So, you see that elephant there in the middle of the room? Why don’t you join me in grabbing a fork and knife and let’s eat that elephant.