A great big messy creative contented life...

I had another of my usual stimulating discussions with Lindsey Fair yesterday, a very talented Kingston artist, marketing expert and social media enthusiast. I lamented to her that my blog was schizophrenic....I want to write about marketing, parenting, art, education, creativity, a messy life...all the things I am passionate about; but this jumbled mix is tough on readers. She is facing the same issue as she revamps her website into "right brain" and "left brain" activities, but then realized the common thread for everything she does is creativity. Ditto. She nailed it.

So I unapologetically proceed with my random blog about all things above and more. One thing I promise: clear titles, so my friends can ignore my marketing posts, and my clients can ignore my parenting rants. Fair? Fair.

Thanks Linds!

p.s. how's this for a random pic? Taken during a recent jaunt to Montreal. And we thought we were going for the fine french fare!

New Year...new media

Mike has been reminding me that although I have a million ideas for blogging, I have been devoting more of my time lately to Twitter than to substantial blog posts. Now that I have built up a reasonable number of followers on Twitter, and experienced how Twitter can benefit small business, I can recommit to blogging.

As a tip to fellow bloggers and social media enthusiasts: brief, relevant blog posts can be cross-promoted using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. They each, however have distinct uses, which I can discuss in a future post. To be honest, there are other things I would rather write about (art, parenting, learning, relationships) but I have experienced a surge lately in people inquiring about using social media for their business. I will use this space to help as many businesses as possible.

Tip of the day: promoting an event? Consider programming a QR code onto your event promotional materials so interested folks can simply scan the code for more info, rather than needing to remember an event website. Programming QR codes can be done using online apps, or you can contact a local company such as 14Theories which specializes in web development and online marketing.

Watch this space for more free tips on cost effective ways to build your business.

And for occasional random ramblings...

That time of year...(sigh)

Yes, it's nearly May. My favourite month in the garden, on my bike and outside with my kids. Saying goodbye to students makes me blue but thankfully, everything else going on this time of year lifts me up (inaugural Jane's Walk on Saturday woohoo!).

This is the time of year I also think about changes for next year's batch of students ("batch" - I like that reference - like a batch of cookies). Each year in class I move further and further away from delivering traditional content (which they can easily access online) and toward giving students new ways to engage with material, deepen their critical thinking and learn about themselves. Some courses are easier to do this with than others.

The biggest learning happens outside the classroom when students take on independent projects. I am looking for new ways to facilitate this. I am looking to my readers.

I am open to your ideas....

And search marketing evolves...

I love it when information comes full circle. Excuse the geek moment but....



Here's where search marketing is moving:

1. Customized search results (think different search results on your office computer vs. home, laptop vs smartphone, all depending on past searches on said device);

2. Localized search results (mobile search is driving this...so national companies need to invest in local search);

3. Real time search results (incorporating online CONVERSATIONS...thanks Twitter) and this means REAL REAL time, not week- or month-old Google keywords;

4. Social media-integrated search results. (It's all gotta happen within FaceBook).



As always, popularity is king. If people love your site, more people will find your site. No trickery there.



So what does this mean for businesses? Mine your staff, they are golden. Encourage your on-staff experts to publish. Valuable content = higher search rankings. Don't hoarde what you know. People will pay you for the extras. If my favourite artist shares all her work online, I can still opt to buy a piece to hang on my wall. Same for business. Same for ideas.



Mitch Joel says websites should now be publishing sites. Makes sense as far as search rankings go. Seth Godin says attention is the goal, and to get it, you need to give something up. So go ahead, share it. It feels sooo goooood!

Angels in our midst...

Wow. I love being surprised.
Today, a well-known teacher, (who shall not be named) surprised me. He maintains the image of The Grouch, which he carefully cultivates and guards like a well-earned prize. Today we talked about Africa, sparked by a fundraising poster outside my office. (One of my students, Steph, is organizing a fundraiser for Kenya at the restaurant where she works.)

Anyhoo....this grumpy gus proceeded to tell me about the charity he is involved with ( www.bethanykids.org ) - not just peripherally, mind you, he is the president - and the medical services this charity provides to disabled children in Kenya. He travels there, handles media, liaises with physicians, and has mentored a young man there who is now an "on the ground" spokesperson ('mentored' is also putting it lightly). You should have seen his face change as he talked about his adventures in Kenya.

Go to YouTube, search Bethanykids, look for Daisy's story and share it with your kids.

Funny how quickly you can see someone in a completely new light.

p.s. While you're at it, donate a few bucks to the website. We all have more money than we need. Really.

Texting as the new Elvis...

One of my dearest friends sent me an email today titled, "Check this out - proof at last of the evils of social media!" and the "proof" was a link to an article released by Canadian Press with the headline, "Students failing because of Twitter, texting and no grammar teaching".

Ahhhh!...this is one of my peeves. Great example of poor journalism. Reporting on a study in which students fail a written test, and then making a direct (faulty) causation to texting in the headline. This is why people distrust the media. It's lazy thinking to assume texting causes this, when students are writing more now than we ever did as teens (we were on the phone for hours!). Texting is a construct, a new language.

Check this out: http://spotlight.macfound.org/blog/entry/uk_study_links_technology_strong_writing_skills/

And closer to home: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Study_at_the_University_of_Toronto_says_text_messaging_helps_with_grammar

One of the most oft-quoted studies is out of the UK and claims:
"A 2006 study by two professors at Coventry University in Britain found that 11-year-olds who used the most textisms were actually better at spelling and writing. A command of texting seems to indicate a broader facility for language. And these students seem to switch easily between text messaging and standard English."

Another interesting study:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2347413/posts


Sorry for the rant...but texting is such an easy (lazy) scapegoat for adults who maybe should be more concerned about students not reading and all the other things they are NOT doing while viewing screens. Ahhhh!

Ttyl, (LOL)

Social Media ROI

Lots of buzz about how measurable internet marketing is. Why then is the return still so low compared to traditional direct? I finally found the hard data this morning. Over 50% of MarCom budgets are spent on Direct. Mail STILL enjoys the best ROI. Email is dismal in comparison. The only channels with a lower ROI than email, are mobile and social media.

I suspect the reason is that most businesses trying new channels - because they are so cheap, quick and dirty - are doing a terrible job at it.

They are shouting rather than listening, hawking rather than offering. Companies using Twitter, Facebook and Email campaigns need to take a page from companies doing it right: Zappos, Amazon, IKEA, etc. You don't need their budgets; you need their smarts.

Coincidentally, I received Godin's new book via FedEx today; Linchpin may provide some of the answers.

If you have questions about your company's efforts, post them here. I'll be launching a marketing troubleshooter blog on this space over Reading Week in March. Stay tuned....

Big Thinkers...

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/12/what-matters-now-get-the-free-ebook.html

Those who know me know I am a big fan of Seth Godin. Much more than a marketing guru, Seth understands how the internet has changed the world for all of us, and most particularly how it has changed the way we work. He is thoughtful, creative and full of disarming insights.

His new books is available as a free download (.pdf ebook). In it he promises, "Here are more than 70 big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year." And I am doing my part by sharing it here. Now it's your turn. Check it out, then share the link on YOUR blog, or on Twitter, or Facebook, or just tell a friend. His goal is to get the free book into the hands of 5million people. I bet he will do it.

Free ebook: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/12/what-matters-now-get-the-free-ebook.html

Wondering if I should encourage all my students to download and discuss.....


If you don't like to read, listen to the CBC podcast:
Seth talking to Nora on Spark: http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/12/help-us-out-two-takes-on-the-meaning-of-work/ (Click on "This Week's Show" unless, of course, it's not this week anymore, if you know what I mean in a 'time warp' sort of way...)

I'd love to hear what you think about his newest creation.

Here's to new year's contemplation....

My students rule the world...

Check this out. One of my very savvy, intellectually curious second-year students writes a wonderfully clever blog. The Canadian Marketing Association picked up one of his thoughtful posts. Please check it out and feel free to comment.

http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com/

I feel like a proud mama bird!
(you go Brook! One day you will rule the world..)

Life is so effing messy....and fun...like mud puddles.

I don't think he'll mind me sharing this....
http://red-handed.blogspot.com/2009/12/so-you-know-what-i-look-like.html
When times are rough...look at great art. It's weirdly nourishing. I want to paint like Darryl does....

November was an emotional beast. The adrenaline flood of a competition and nerves and anxiety and celebration and too much sugar, alcohol, laughs, wine-tipped cigars(?) and way too little sleep.

I contrast my days against two of my favourite gal-pals. One has faced the death of a partner, vindictive legal trouble, more than one health scare and an emotional poopfest (oh and she just had to put her cat down). The other friend was caring for a dying parent when suddenly the other parent had a health emergency.

Ugh.

I say a little prayer to my pillow each night that my kids, hubby, sibs, Omi and pets are healthy and that I have a job to die for (touch formica). Waiting for the next shoe to drop. We had a flood in our basement this morning. I just laughed. I can handle mold.

When I start to think a little too much about all the mess of life, I feel a strong pull to look at art. You can't make sense of it.

Kids flying the coop...

Can I come along?
Why does my teenager get to have all the fun?
All I want is to visit McGill for a parents' weekend, stay for a few years, and practice my french.
What could be wrong with that?

I fancy having a patron. Someone who would underwrite the cost of me completing degree after degree until I exhaust my parched brain.

Education is wasted on 18-year-olds.
I promise, I would NEVER skip a class. At $20k a year, wouldn't each lecture be worth, say, $120.00??

EQ and learning from my kids (all of them)...

On Wednesday I attended a really useful PD seminar on Emotional Intelligence (EI or E.Q. for emotional quotient). A Queen's researcher discussed the connection between EI and student success. Apparently, colleges do a much better job of embedding EQ skills into curriculum than universities do; certainly our program has made a conscious effort to build emotional and social learning into every course. One of my favourite courses to teach is Teamwork and Leadership to year ones. We do a number of personality 'inventories', including EQ. I then put students through real and contrived stressful situations throughout the term (including such things as completing complex tasks with like- and non-like-minded teammates, and in one instance, springing a pop quiz announcing it will be worth 25% of final grade.) The fake pop quiz example is very revealing. Students who self-reported high EQ's have to check their scores against how they actually react in these types of situations. Were they aware of a physiological response (rapid heart rate, flushed skin, shallow breathing) and what did they feel?? Interestingly, last year two of my mature international students reacted exactly as a "High EQ" individual would; they were calm, and they tried to calm others. With many other students (and maturity IS a factor), there was near hysteria. They were unable to calm themselves.

Research now shows that EQ can be a much more important predictor of success than IQ. Author Daniel Goleman, who coined the term and provided much of the early research synthesis, describes EQ as, "The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships." Surely in marketing, as in most fields, these skills are paramount.

Coincidentally, my youngest son Cameron attended the workshop with me. We talked about EQ and I reflected that of all our kids, I think he has an innate EQ possibly beyond that of his older sibs. Yesterday tested that theory.

Cameron had a spontaneous injury in a very...um...sensitive part of his anatomy that required emergency treatment and surgery. Basically it amounted to seven or eight hours of waiting, not knowing, and anticipating things unknown to him, including ultrasound, needles, general anaesthetic, manual torsion (ouch) and surgery. Cameron taught me a few things about EQ; about composure, about grace and humour under pressure, and about accurately labeling feelings, (at one point he said to me, "first I was nervous, now I just feel overwhelmed"). Throughout he kept me posted about how he was feeling and asked lucid, logical questions. He reacted to everyone who poked and prodded and asked him the same questions repeatedly with respect, and he was treated similarly. (He's doing just fine now. Thank god for quality Canadian healthcare. Don't let anyone tell you differently).

In short, he reminded me of my successful students. They are all my kids! And I learn way more from them than they ever do from me.


A lovely blog post in the NY Times by Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence on being happy: http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/sitting-quietly-doing-something/

http://www.ihhp.com/testsite.htm Test your own E.Q.! (This is the site and research resource shared with us from the Queen's Learning Strategist, Elspeth Christie)

Now go and hug your kids!

Kathy

Doodling at home with sick kid....

Hanging in my treehouse...doodling men with guitars, covetous objects, and summer as the leaves fall...by my windows.

netWORK IT!

I'm having a lot of fun teaching a Career, Placement and Portfolio class. I've hypothesized that students don't need a lot of the traditional job search tools (resume, cover letter, etc....) IF, (and yes, this is a big IF) they really, really, REALLY work their networks. I've given them some time-intensive tasks around building their networks, mining them, maintaining them. And the results are impressive. For those who have really embraced the exercises and put the time in, there have been some fantastic surprises; students who had no clue about the business connections in their own seemingly small circles. But most of us aren't trained to ask.

So I'm asking you...have you ever landed a job based solely on your network? I, personally, have never used a traditional resume. It's always been referrals and word-of-mouth.

Is this the exception or the rule??

Love to hear from you on this one....

Ten Weeks Without My Beloved

No, Mike has not been posted overseas.

I am without my BBB (my beloved BlackBerry).

It has been ten weeks. Ten long weeks. The story itself is funny enough. A little day of shopping in Ottawa with Michelle. An inadvertent lean over a public toilet in IKEA wearing a hoodie with too-shallow pockets (curse you Bench). My BlackBerry nearly flushed. My phobia around public toilets and germs quickly erased as I plunge my hand into its swirling depths to rescue my beloved. Water does permanent and irreparable damage to these cherished devices.

So what now? Did I run right out and replace beloved? Ah...beloved cannot be replaced so easily (not for reasons of nostalgia....I'm just too cheap to fork over the $500 required to buy such a device when I still have 24 months in a pricey contract).

For a trip to NYC, I marched into Telus demanding the cheapest data device. You get what you pay for. The HTC Touch phone operating on Windows was a sad and sorry replacement. I returned it as soon as I was back on Canadian soil.

I have tried to be resourceful. I want another BlackBerry but I don't want to pay hundreds for it. I have entered contests. I have pleaded with Telus, online, offline and in my dreams. I have checked Ebay for some ridiculous deal but apparently many other people have flushed their phones and need to replace them.

So I resigned myself. What would life be life without a cell phone? I read a Mark Kingswell essay this morning and his comment on technology suited me: "...But most of us, in thoughtful moments, realize that technology is entirely devoid of interest unless it makes some aspect of daily life easier or more interesting..."

Not having a cell phone has given me many more thoughtful moments. The only person it really inconveniences is Mike. And he'll get over it.

Have we all been lulled into thinking we NEED these devices? Are we willing to pay so dearly for convenience. Why are we so loathe to be a wee bit inconvenienced? And all these apps...are they just further distractions from being in the moment?

I'm going to see how long I can go. But that doesn't mean I don't still dream about my beloved. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................

Rockstar Designer Understands Life

This short videoclip on TED is definitely worth your time.

Check it out:

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/356

Have anything to add???

Endings...

I love spring. 

It's a gardening thing, and it underscores my true nature as an optimist. When I squat down and peer over my garden, where a more objective person would see shoots, some weeds, a few clumps of new perennials and lots of bare ground, I see what's coming. I don't mean this in a metaphorical way. I mean, I really envision what will be there in a week or a month or in late July. I get excited about the possibility in the green. 

This is also what makes me a little sad this time of year. The beginning of my gardening marks the end of the school year. 

Most of my faculty colleagues love our job because basically we are done teaching late April. Sure, most of us do some spring teaching, or workshops and always there are meetings. But the bulk of our main teaching with the students we know best is done. 

I miss them!

I miss the busyness of the college. It's really strange to me that there can be thousands of people crowding the halls and staircases one day, then almost no one the next. 

I miss their eagerness, their trust in me, their ridiculous excuses, their popping by my office to chat, ("Are you busy?"), and I absolutely adore their brilliant, probing, sometimes hesitant questions. 

I especially miss the graduating students. The ones I likely won't see again until at least convocation, if at all. I become very attached to my students over their two or three years in the program. I have a penchant for seeing them as individuals and not as a 'class'. The severing of these connections is not as easy for me as I think it should be, as a professional. I really LIKE my students, even the 'annoying' ones. It's hard for me when they move on, move past us, when we have become surrogate parents for may of them! 

As many move to Toronto, it's not easy to stay in touch. Online social networking has made it easier, but it's not the same as seeing them every day. 

I miss seeing the possibility in the green.

Jane Jacobs: my reason for moving downtown

http://www.janeswalk.net/participating_cities Check this out!



Here's a test....I'm putting a call out on Twitter, Facebook and here on my blog. We need a Jane's Walk in Kingston. Imagine a tour of the uber-cool courtyards, back alley residences and hidden out-of-the-way architecture downtown. Have you ever walked along Bagot Street, peeked down the arched driveway of a row-house and glimpsed a coach house in the alley behind the home? What a treat it would be to share these secret spots.



If you don't know Jane Jacobs, please do yourself a favour and read at least one of her smart, common sense-filled books which contain a vision of liveable cities. She and Richard Florida provided all the motivation we needed for our move downtown. http://www.creativeclass.com/



I've contacted the Canadian director. Now....who wants to be involved???



"No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at ...suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities. You've got to get out and walk." - Jacobs, Downtown is for People, 1957.

Who would you pay for??

We love live music. We especially love seeing enthusiastic musicians in really small venues, like the Grad Club here in Kingston. What I don't love, are large concert venues where you pay $85 a seat and need binoculars to see who's jumping up and down on stage. We have a new concert arena here in Kingston which has given rise to a new game Mike likes to play..."Who would you pay to see?". There are very few musicians I would pay 85 bucks to see. I'd rather listen at home with a glass of wine and the liner notes. But there are a few.... (I'd pay just about anything to see Hawksley up close and personal, and have done so on many occasions).



Last week, Mike mentioned wanting to take ALL our kids to a music festival in Belleville. Lovely sentiment, n'est pas? Keep in mind that ALL our kids means four kids = $300 for a lovely day of outdoor music. Naturally, the frugal half of our wedded bliss -that's me - balked at the suggestion.



Mike reminded me I had just paid over $100 to take our youngest and myself to see Jane Goodall. JANE GOODALL! We are talking about a woman who appeared in a MAC poster series alongside Gandhi, Einstein, John Lennon and Louis Armstrong (in other words, a living legend, and yes, the 10-year old has the posters on his bedroom wall).



Who wouldn't pay $100 to see her? To hear her? To SOB in her presence (that too was yours truly)? Who else straddles the eons between both my childhood and my son's? (other than Princess Leia, of course).



But it did raise an interesting debate. I didn't bat an eyelid paying to see her. Nor would I hesitate to pay to hear other equally inspiring people to speak.



Who would you pay a king's ransom to see perform?

Really REALLY instant messaging...

As a college prof, I have been privy first-hand to the change in adoption of new technology by young people. Every year I observe or ask about such things as cellphone and laptop ownership, use of social networking tools and the average number of texts students send daily. This has been a remarkable experiment in witnessing the explosion of technology use. I can't think of any other phenomenon that has seen such exponential growth, and which has become so ubiquitous, so quickly. Students refuse to turn off their phones - placating me by setting them to vibrate - because of the delay in receiving messages after the phones are turned back on. My tired joke to them is that if anyone is expecting to be called into surgery to operate, they can leave them on. Let's be honest; most are receiving messages from friends asking such vital questions as, "What's up?". Anyone who works with teens, or shares their home with teens, knows what I am talking about. The rest of you have heard the stories. I can't convey how rapid the change has been. I'm talking about going from one school year to the next and seeing completely different uptake in constant use of new tech. They are amazingly adaptable (and sadly, unquestioning about how much of this they really need, what the real effects are, and what on earth they are constantly distracting themselves from).

But this week I really saw the future of this technology. Imagine this scenario: I was walking up to my class with my Blackberry, something I don't normally bring to class, but which I needed because of kids at home alone, (excuse the rationalizing aside). On my way up the stairs, I received a text from  a part-time teacher I mentor, asking about a student who needed to be accommodated for a test. I replied back that this student had not given enough notice. Full stop. When I walked into class, I saw the student sitting there with her laptop open.  I mentioned to her that she would not be accommodated and she replied with utter surprise that she had JUST emailed the other teacher, and how on earth did I know?

The humour of startling students with their own technology is one thing. But it really made me think about the future of such technologies as texting, IM, and social tools like Twitter. Great science fiction is all about extending current realities to their logical next steps, sometimes many steps beyond. The natural next step of these devices is wearing and implantation. Scoff if you will, but I'd bet on it. The "molar cell" will read our thoughts, and ask our permission (hopefully!) to transmit. Telepathy is the next gen Blackberry!

I'm not being facetious. Instant communication, anywhere, any time, is here. Take it en masse with something like Twitter and hold on for the ride!!