Hot Docs Film Festival April 28 to May 8 2016

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Last updated: SAT May 7 2016 5:32 PM
By: Glenda MacDonald


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Event name: Hot Docs
Hashtag: #HotDocs16
Description: North America’s largest documentary festival, conference, and market.
Website: hotdocs.ca
Twitter: @hotdocs 
Dates: April 28 to May 8 2016
Location: Toronto ON Canada
My affiliation: I’m a past member of the Hot Docs Cinema and have attended many documentaries through the Cinema and this festival. I attended and am reviewing one film this year.

See also #TheHappyFilm at #HotDocs2016 (review in progress)

 

A Day for Catching Up

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Last updated: SAT May 7 2016 10:48 PM Toronto ON Canada
By: Glenda MacDonald

March 22 2016

Featured photo: Spring is coming. The crocuses have popped up.

2016 March 22 Morning crocus IMAG6469

Signs of Spring – crocuses have popped up!

My Constant Connection to Nature

Morning Squirrel

Good morning Squirly!

I live in busy metropolitan Toronto, Canada. While I’m a short walk to our extensive subway system I’m equally blessed with living in an oddly rural oasis. Our house is in an old neighbourhood with lots of trees. Our semi-detached home shares a wild and unruly back yard with our lovely next door neighbours. No fence divides us. Our secluded combined back yard is however bounded by a fence and beyond that the corner of a fairly quiet laneway. As soon as the weather warms up my ‘office’ will move to the back deck where I will be mere feet from my pear tree.  Squirly (the name I give all my squirrels) will be trying to eat the emerging buds while I gently remind him (with my outside voice) to leave them alone! I’ll wash and refill my birdbath and welcome back the robins, chickadees, grackles, cardinals, finches, and more. Woody, my woodpecker pal, may return though he doesn’t like to join in the communal bath and will keep himself busy eating insects on the crabapple tree behind the pear tree. My magic lilac bush (that decided to emerge from the dead after ten years) will hopefully blossom again this year. The lily of the valley patch will emerge and the cherry blossoms will begin.
Some days will work from my new upper deck near the treetops. Yesterday the builders completed the replacement deck that our wonderful landlord had built, twice the size of the previous deck, after she had the roof repaired.  I’m looking forward to putting our furniture back out as well as my plastic stepper and my yoga mat.  My creative writing has a lot of natural elements. Nature is my muse and another touchstone.
Updated 5:25 PM: I love my new upper deck! I brought the deck furniture and some planters back outside. I vacuumed my dusty studio, reassembled my art desk, and retrieved my tools and project bins from my husband’s office on the same floor (he’ll be happy). It’s still too cold to keep the studio door open and the sky is gray. I can’t sit out on there for long but if dressed warmly I could go out and exercise on it… but I have to get back to work… Once it is warm I will be able to use my ‘outdoor desk’ up there! Yay…Can’t wait to tell you more about container gardening when I reestablish my dormant deck garden!

Today’s Agenda

I have no specific appointments today on my Live & Current Events Schedule. But that often changes quickly. I’ll continue to watch and review the ongoing Email Success Summit (35+ recorded interviews with email marketing experts) and live-tweet some great tips as I discover them. I missed yesterday’s Canada Reads 2016 competition so I’d like to catch the replay of Day One of the elimination rounds then listen and live-tweet to this mornings Round Two elimination. I want to update my Events section. I’d like to work on my new blog Ventures in Twitterland and I need to pick which of the four of the 70+ Elegant Theme WordPress themes I’m considering. (I’m an affiliate of Elegant Themes and will eventually switch glendamacdonald.com website from its current free WordPress theme to one of theirs as well.)
Updated 5:34 PM: I updated my Past Events page and my Email Success Summit Page. I didn’t have time to watch the replay of the Round One book elimination from Canada Reads competition and only caught the end of Round Two and a bit of the Q&A livestreaming from the CBC website. With my upper deck finished I had to restore my studio and my husband’s office to pre-construction status and move the deck stuff back outside. (See the above update to the Nature section.)

Email Success Summit March 14 to 23 2016 by Small Today

There are over 35 of the world’s top experts in email marketing presenting at this virtual summit presented by Small Today an organization which focuses on the needs of small and medium-sized businesses including solopreneurs and startups.  I’m watching and reviewing all the interviews Founder Liam Austin conducted with the experts and tweeting my best takeaways of email marketing tips from the experts. See my separate blog post for the event. You can use my affiliate link to register for a free pass to watch the live (prerecorded) interviews for today as well as the new ones and Liam’s wrap-up on Wednesday. You can view Monday’s sessions for free until Wednesday evening and today’s until Thursday evening. I upgraded to an All Access Pass which alows me to view all the interviews forever at my own pace in an online course format. I’m also part of a private Facebook group chatting with other All Access Pass holders as we deep-dive through the materials and share how we can implement the tools and ideas as small businesses. Time for me to get back to work doing the reviews! I am continuing to review the interviews form Day 2. I will also keep an eye on the @smalltoday Twitter feed today though I won’t be watching the current sessions live as I want to continue to do them chronologically and I’m still on last week due to the intensive content.

Time for Tea and Cookies!

Hi there! I’m popping back in just before 6 p.m.. It has been a long day of website updates and returning the furniture and stuff to my studio and upper deck in the aftermath of our renovation. 2016 Mar 22 tea and cookies IMAG6471So I’m taking a cookie and tea break before I get back to reviewing the Email Success Summit.  As mentioned in a previous post I love food, eating food and talking about food! So today I am showing you a typical afternoon tea break for me. I drink coffee in the morning then switch to decaf tea in the late afternoon and usually have some cookies with it! Today’s mug is courtesy of Bioroof Systems. I attend many industry events and pick up a LOT of free branded gifts. In keeping with my nature theme today I think a bioroof-themed mug is appropriate! I’m drinking decaf Earl Grey tea (I forget which brand.. will have to check later) and eating one Fudgeeo* cookie (a half serving) and 9 mini-Oreos (one serving). I’m using unflavoured almond milk in my tea. (Again I forget the brand but I will check later.) As a marketing professional who studies personal and corporate branding these things matter to me and I will pay closer attention! So there, even though I’m taking a break, I’m still working…
*Footnote about Fudgeeos… on a recent #gentschat where the topic was food one of my American Twitter friends didn’t know what Fudgeeos were. I explained that they’re a bit like Oreos but with fudge in the middle. I’m going to have to do more research on this as perhaps, heaven forbid, Americans don’t have Fudgeeos! 

Photography

The photography on this site is my own unless otherwise stated. I’m not automatically posting the ones on my website to Instagram. To view more of my photography please visit me on Instagram:

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What’s your story?

 I’d love to get to know you better. Please send me your comments or questions through the contact form, connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn, or use the comments box below. I’d especially like to hear from other startups, creatives, and freelancers. I also have a soft spot for social enterprise and love to promote good causes.

What Happened to Spring…?!

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Last updated: April 23 2016 1:47 PM Toronto ON Canada
By: Glenda MacDonald

March 21 2016

Featured photo: Second Day of Spring

Tues. Morning 2nd Day of Spring

Tuesday morning Second Day of Spring

The 24/7 Startup

I was working late (til 2 AM) this morning. Hence my late start to today’s blog.  Burning-the-midnight-oil is common for startups, especially those of us who work in social media where time-zones are fairly irrelevant. If I’m up Saturday morning before CBC Radio One comes on with one of my favourite shows Fresh Air, I listen to radio shows from Australia, Ireland, England, or Germany.. whatever show CBC is streaming before their own shows start. On Saturday I said good morning to Mary Ito, the host of Fresh Air , on their Facebook page when I went to check out their three-hour show lineup. Mary replied “You’re up early”. I replied that as a startup it’s “early to bed, early to rise…” and that she’s  making me wise while I work away on the wealthy part…

Spring Has Sprung Right off the Springboard! It’s Winter Again

My supreme joy yesterday for the first day of Spring, the annual day of happiness, and my excitement about the nearing completion of my new upper deck, has had a chilling reality check today. 30% chance of snow flurries! The deck builder will be finished today but it will be too cold to start moving my furniture back out there and it looks like quite a while before my “outdoor office” will be welcoming me. I stepped out into the back yard about 7 a.m. to take the photo above and it was very very cold out.

Photography

The photography on this site is my own unless otherwise stated. The above photo is of morning sky from my back yard. You can see the streetlight is still on in the laneway. To view more of my photography visit me on Instagram:

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Email Success Summit March 14 to 23 2016 by Small Today

There are over 35 of the world’s top experts in email marketing presenting at this virtual summit presented by Small Today an organization which focuses on the needs of small and medium-sized businesses including solopreneurs and startups. You may notice that  I don’t have a newsletter set up yet.. it’s now on my to do list! I’m watching and reviewing all the interviews Founder Liam Austin conducted with the experts and tweeting my best take-aways of email marketing tips from the experts. See my separate blog post for the event ). You can use my affiliate link to register for a free pass to watch the live (prerecorded) interviews for today and Tuesday as well as the new ones and Liam’s wrap-up on Wednesday. I have an All Access Pass which entitles me to view the interviews forever as well as some bonus materials in an online course format, at my own pace. I am also part of a private Facebook group chatting with other All Access Pass holders as we deep-dive through the materials and share how we can implement the tools and ideas as small businesses. Time for me to get back to work doing the reviews! I am continuing to review the interviews form Day 2. I will also keep an eye on the @smalltoday Twitter feed today though I won’t be watching the current sessions live as I want to do them chronologically and I am on last week still.

Glenda

Email Success Summit March 14 to 23 2016 (Now an Online Course)

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ESS_MediumRectangleBannerLast updated: TUES March 29 2016 7:47 PM Toronto ON Canada
By: Glenda MacDonald, MBA, Freelance Writer, Social Media Strategist and Marketing Professional

Event Name: Email Success Summit Virtual Educational Event
Dates: March 14 to 23 2016 (Live portion completed; virtual course now open 24/7 with optional All Access Pass)
My hashtag: #ESS
My Affiliation: I’m an affiliate of Small Today for the Email Success Summit and the previous LinkedIn Success Summit. The opinions stated here are my own. Many people attended portions of the event for free. Those who chose/choose to upgrade to the All Access Pass using my affiliate link also assist me in defraying the costs of my time reviewing the event.
Location: online
Time Zone: EST 24/7
Price: purchase an All Access Lifetime pass (affiliate link above) or VIP Pass for fast-track
Registration through my Affiliate Link: Register for a Lifetime All Access Lifetime Pass including participation in a Private Facebook Group.
Event Presenter: Small Today
Host: Liam Austin, Founder, of Small Today. Summit Host and Interviewer.
Speakers:  35+ international email marketing experts (one-on-one prerecorded interviews were released daily). See the full agenda by clicking the registration link.

Overview

Over 35 of the world’s top experts in email marketing presented at this virtual summit presented by Small Today . Liam Austin is the Founder of Small Today, an organization which focuses on the needs of small and medium-sized businesses including solopreneurs and startups. (I’m both a solopreneur and a startup! ) Liam personally live-interviewed each of the amazing experts from around the world via Skype.The interviews were recorded and curated over the last couple of months in preparation for sharing with us through this Summit. The experts were so generous, sharing what they’ve learned, including mistakes they’ve made and hacks they’ve discovered to shorten our learning curve in applying ideas to our own businesses.

As I watch each interview from the comfort of my home office using my laptop, an external monitor, and my cushy headphones, I’m finding that this format creates a very intimate experience… as if you’re alone in a room with Liam and the presenter! Liam is engaging and professional. He has an excellent rapport with the experts which makes for lively unscripted interviews and unpredictable segues! I’m thoroughly enjoying watching and learning at my own pace and am glad I upgraded to the lifetime All Access Pass which includes participation in a private Facebook Group set up for the All Access Pass holders.  I pop in there often to meet virtually with other attendees where we are becoming friends and helping each other apply the concepts to our own businesses with the moderation of Liam and his equally delightful co-founder partner Sarah Thorslund.

I’m deep-diving into the content-rich interviews as I review them and take extensive notes and tweet my insights. This Summit is not only for those beginning to look at email marketing. Even though I have decades of experience as a marketing professional who is now a freelancer, I’m learning so much more. While I’m trained as a Social Media Manager I haven’t done more than edit and write newsletters for other organizations. Integrating social media with lead magnets and landing pages or pop-ups, and understanding the many options for service providers and apps can be a little mind boggling. And that’s not the half of it! We also get into the psychology of the copywriting and graphic design! Some lectures I sail through quickly based on my experience. Others I keep having to pause.

Liam curated the interviews in a specific order with a different theme for each day so I feel compelled to watch them chronologically. I’m currently reviewing Day Two Speaker Three. I’m tweeting what I think are the most important points from each interview.  Click my attiliate link here to register for a Lifetime All Access Pass.

My Twitter Reviews

The interviews are intensive, content-rich and often fast-paced. It’s challenging and exhausting to watch and absorb them all live continuously. So I’m reviewing and transcribing each interview at my own pace, gleaning some fabulous tips and insights from Liam and the other experts. As a solopreneur I want to learn from these speakers and think about how I can apply their ideas and tools to my own evolution of becoming an email marketer (something I am a newbie at). So thank you for your patience. I hope you find my tweets helpful. When I have completed all the reviews I’ll use my notes for a comprehensive blog post with my overall impressions as a small business, marketing professional, and social media coach. Any questions? Chat with me on Twitter, comment below, or reach me via my Contact form.

You can find my tweets and reviews by searching Twitter for #ESS AND @glenda_macd
I am also embedding completed tweets here.  I’ll also update the speaker bios. Each interview is between 45 and 60 minutes in length.

Twitter Review IN PROGRESS

Day 2 THEME: List Growth (TUES March 15 2016 Original Air Date)
Day2Spkr3:
Speaker: Steve Chou
Topic: System to double your daily email opt-ins

COMPLETED Twitter Reviews:

Day 1 March 14 2016 Original Air Date (Speakers 1 to 6)

Day 2 March 15 2016 Original Air Date (Speakers 1 & 2)

Enjoy!

Glenda

Happy Spring!

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Last updated: SAT April 23 2016 2:05 PM Toronto ON Canada

March 20 2016

Featured photos: “First day of Spring” – at sunrise and at sunset. I’m happy and have a spring in my step! Today’s the and ! And I have a new upper deck with which to survey my immediate surroundings and the world beyond.

2016 March 20 Sunrise Pic Twitter IMAG6401

Sunrise first day of Spring from my new upper deck in Toronto!

Sunset view from new upper deck first day of Spring

Sunset view from new upper deck first day of Spring

Photography

 To view some more of my photography visit me on Instagram:

Instagram

Ventures in Twitterland New Website

As a social media coach I love ALL platforms but my favourite is Twitter. I love Twitter so much that I will be launching a separate blog Ventures In Twitterland dedicated to my adventures in Twitterland, the people and companies I meet (especially startups, arts & entertainment, technology companies), the events I attend and live-tweet, and more.  As a sole proprietor I am a do-it-yourselfer. I’ll be sharing my learning process as I set up my new website which I’m designing using Elegant Themes for which I’m a new affiliate.  The current theme for glendamacdonald.com is a free basic WordPress theme. This site will be converted to one from Elegant Themes once I decide which suits it best.

Email Success Summit March 14 to 23 2016 by Small Today

There are over 35 of the world’s top experts in email marketing presenting at this virtual summit presented by Small Today an organization which focuses on the needs of small and medium-sized businesses including solopreneurs and startups. You may notice that  I don’t have a newsletter set up yet.. it’s now on my to do list! I’m watching and reviewing all the interviews Founder Liam Austin conducted with the experts and tweeting my reviews. (I just set up a separate blog post for the event ). You can use my affiliate link to register for a free pass to watch the Friday interviews as well as the new ones Monday and Tuesday and Liam’s wrap-up on Wednesday. I have an All Access Pass which entitles me to view the interviews forever at my own pace and I am part of a private Facebook group other All Access Pass holders. Time for me to get back to work doing the reviews! I have completed Day 1 and there are many days! (I am now in the middle of Day 2).

Glenda

EVENT REVIEW: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Science #AppelSalon

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Last updated: May 7, 2015. This article will be updated when the link to the event recording is available from the Toronto Public Library.DispatchesBannerGMIMAG0159When it comes to getting tickets to the #AppelSalon lecture series hosted by the Toronto Public Library you have to plan ahead and be quick to register. I nabbed two free tickets to this sold out event the day registration opened! As my way of thanking the library I was happy to live-tweet the event and write this review.

     Dispatches from the Frontiers of Science, was held at the Bluma Appel Salon on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library on May 6 at 7 p.m..  I live-tweeted from my third-row seat. Here are some chronological highlights from this informative evening. I was really pleased to see women scientists with fascinating research as a major highlight of this event. Go #STEM !

     A Toronto Reference Library representative opened the event. Noting that it is York University’s 50th anniversary, the Dean of Science Ray Jayawardhana welcomed the audience. Aside from the guest speaker the researchers were from York University. Moderator Anna Maria Tremonti introduced each speaker then engaged them further at the podium after each presentation with thoughtful questions, probing more deeply into their research findings and predictions.

     The first speaker was New York Times bestselling author Leonard Mlodonow.

     Next up was Professor Matthew Johnson who asked the question “Is our universe the only one?”. His answers were so fascinating and raised so many more questions that he was a darling of the panel discussion at the end of the evening!

     Professor Sapna Sharma then asked the question “Will northern fish populations be in hot water due to climate change?”. Ominous response.

 

      Professor Demian Ifa asked the question “Will biometrics eliminate privacy?”.  Well, there seems to be a lot more to your fingerprints than you realize, such as what substances you have been in contact with. And this all can go into big databases!  

     Professor Edward Jones-Inhotep asked the question “Should we trust the machines?”. His answers were many-layered and took into consideration a history of the relationship with man and machines. The other panelists were as interested in his response as the audience was! And the final conclusion was a mix of wariness and hopefulness.

     Last, though definitely not least, was Professor Jane Hefferman who entertained and educated the audience with a rousing demonstration of how mathematics can be used for disease modelling asking the question “How can we prevent a zombie plague?”. Need more info? Buy the book from University of Ottawa Bookstore!

     A highly-skilled moderator, Anna Maria Tremonti led a lively panel discussion with all of the speakers followed by Q&A from the audience.  

     And here are some of the post-event comments from the speakers! Bravo to Toronto Public Library for presenting another phenomenal event.  

Watch my Upcoming Events page for details about a selection of other great future #AppelSalon events. If you are interested in having your event covered by me please use the Contact Form. While I am a professional live-tweeter and blogger I do fit in some pro bono coverage for good causes.

Glenda MacDonald


EVENT REVIEW: Coming Home: The Moth in Toronto

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The Moth gently flitted in to a glowing reception at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on Thursday night. This is not surprising as tickets to the event were sold out within minutes of it being announced. I recall hearing on CBC Radio quite a while back that the acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to live storytelling was coming to Toronto. I was one of the fast-fingered fortunates who immediately logged into their Bloor Hot Docs Cinema account and purchased a ticket to the event sponsored by The Globe and Mail

The excitement in the VIP cocktail lounge was palpable. As the hors d’ouevres were being served and the patrons enjoyed the open bar I chatted with others who like me had come knowing a little bit about the concept, curious and sensing that something very special was about to happen. There is a strong storytelling community in Toronto. One of the world’s top urban storytelling celebrations Toronto Storytelling Festival will run March 19 to 29  will welcome storytellers from around the world.

The excellent comedic host was Ophira Eisenberg, who according to her website is “smart, friendly, slightly self-deprecating, and one heck of a writer.”, to which I would have to agree on all counts.  A Canadian now living in New York she entertained the audience with her observations of coming back to Toronto where she once lived and noticing how much and how little things have changed in her old neighbourhood. It is this focus on the minutiae of daily existence, things which  might otherwise be overlooked, that is the foundation for oral storytelling. Ophira is a regular host and storyteller with The Moth.

The theme for this event was Coming Home. Ophira had asked each of the storytellers to talk about the most unusual place they’d felt like they were coming home.

Musical entertainment was provided by fiddle player Ali Raney who is part of the country duo The Lovelocks . Her fiddle told it’s own story as it settled and roused the audience in her expert hands.

Each of the storytellers brilliantly shone their lights and we in the audience were moths to their flames. Samuel James, a musician and the creator of a video series Kitty Critic, told a poignant story of his experiences as a young boy finding kindness from a gentle new friend and her family when the foster system and his own relatives were failing him. As Samuel expressed his thoughts and moved his arms his metal watch cast a tiny white reflection on the black backdrop and it oddly looked like a little moth circling behind him.  Falen Johnson talked about how as a woman with Native heritage she sometimes feels invisible due to the lightness of her skin. She regaled us with a fascinating and amusing tale of giving a walking tour in Toronto for a motley crew of pamphlet-holders as she tried to address the issue of the “invisible” people who populate the rough neighbourhood, only to find that two seemingly threatening interlopers were the ones who inadvertently provided the most insightful contributions. Comedy writer and storyteller Sam Mullins (who by the way has an awesome blog with tips for would-be storytellers) connected with many in the audience who related to some of his issues of social anxiety. He adeptly pulled us into his world from childhood to adulthood with all the dreams, disappointments, rebellions, and the letting go and showed how the last place he wanted to be was where he found his centre. I think I laughed the hardest at Steve Zimmer‘s deadpan delivery of his grade five fascination with the ancient city of Rome and his attempts to conscript his friend and his brother to help him recreate the Coliseum from snow and ice on his front yard only to find the fall of his own small mutinous civilization yet the smugly eloquent art that emerged from the melting ruins.
Bookending the evening was another serious story, after the humorous inbetweeners. The grand finale was by musician Martha Wainwright of the famous musical family, daughter of the late Kate McGarrigle. In her soft, measured voice she told the story of becoming a new mother with a premature infant just as her own mother was “growing wings” and dying of cancer many miles away and the excruciating challenges due to medical restrictions on travel that kept separating them when the last moments were so precious. She talked of love and sadness, the movement of the generations. She shared some dark humour by bringing us inside a private moment when she and her brother Rufus were readying their mother for her “final appearance”. As much as I had laughed out loud at Steve’s previous story I was bawling inside listening to Martha.
This is why we tell stories. They herd a dark room of 700 people onto a country porch under the stars to share life’s moments as they watch the moths circle the light.
Glenda MacDonald
Last updated: March 13, 2015

Discover Your Personal Brand conference – August 16, 2014 – Toronto

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Last updated: August 9, 2014

Are you the who you want to be?
Is your who what others see?

The first time I considered the concept of personal brand was when I was a newly-minted MBA working as the Advertising Manager for an international specialty metals manufacturer. I don’t remember the context of the phone call I received from a woman one morning but my direct and honest response to her request elicited the following feedback – “You have real integrity. Don’t ever lose that. It is something rare.” This has become part of my personal brand and I work hard to maintain that aspect of my reputation.

Have you thought about what it means to be you? What is your authentic self and how does that translate into your personal brand in the eyes of others? Certainly how we dress and speak is part of it but it extends to so much more, especially in the virtual environment. These are considerations that are important whether you are working for someone, job-seeking, or running your own business. Personal brand is a work in process and will evolve as you gain more experience and your goals change. In a competitive environment having a clear sense of your personal brand and that it matches your goals may increase your confidence in yourself and the confidence of others in what you have to offer.

I will be live-tweeting and blogging at the Discover Your Personal Brand Conference on Saturday August 16 from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the OISE Building, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. West. A panel of industry experts will share their experience on personal branding to help you define and enhance your authentic personal brand. The conference is being presented by Bobby Umar, 4x TEDx Speaker on Leadership & Development.   Register today at my affiliate link above!

Here is the speaker lineup:

● Bobby Umar,4x TEDx Speaker on Leadership & Development,  Raeallan
● Alfredo Tan, Group Director of Marketing Solutions, Facebook Canada
● Nathan Downer, Reporter/ Anchor,  CP24
● Darrell Keezer, CEO, Candybox Marketing
● Marina Piccioni, Marketing Manager, Hudson’s Bay Company
● Fahad Meer, Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers
● Nicholas Kusmich, Strategic Consultant for Lifestyle Entrepreneurs, Everyday Prosperity Inc .
● Corey Herscu, Technology Publicist | Journalist TV Personality,  HerscuPR
● Ryan Coelho, Personal Development Specialist, RyanCoelho.com
● Katia Millar, Founder & Chief Inspiration Officer, Positive Fabulous Women
● Don Sagarese, Founder, On The Move catering
● Jahmeelah Gamble, TV Personality, Rogers
● Mahfuz Chowdhury, Digital Marketer, Candybox Marketing
● Hamoon Ekhtiari, Director, StudioY at MaRS,  and Social Media Coach & Strategic Consultant,  Socially Good
● Tamika Auwai, Power Presence Expert, Tamika Auwai
● Julia Sheldon,  – Operations Manager, The Acoustic Opera
● Cher Jones, Corporate Social Media Trainer, Socially Active
● Joseph Luk, Director, Solution Marketing Department, Huawei
● Ada Barlatt, Management Sciences Professor, University of Waterloo Engineering

The event will be followed by a career fair.

Follow the event with hashtag #DYPB14 .  See you there!

Glenda MacDonald

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SMOJoe SEO 101 Meetup – Live Blogged

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RobCampbellSmojoeSEOHTCRob Campbell of SMOJoe SEO demonstrating some features of Moz

The following notes were live-blogged from the event and have since been slightly edited. For the official recap with more details about the event visit http://ancestryguru.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/smojoe-seo-show-at-chalkers-pub-17-june-2014/

I am attending a great live event at Chalkers Pub on Marlee in Toronto, an SEO 101 Meetup  hosted by Rob Campbell of SMOJoeSEO There are over twenty people in the audience aptly listening to Rob’s insider secrets about SEO and blogging.

As a blogger I confess that I have focused more on the love of writing than thinking about what goes on behind the scenes.

Learning the ins and outs of SEO for bloggers. Rob is a delightful instructur, teaching us about Google algorithms. We have three bloggers in the room.

Measure incoming links with Backlink Watch .

Majestic SEO gives you lots of good info about your website. Another free tool. They talk about “trust flows”. Different way than Moz does it.

Want to know how many good incoming links you have…referring domains.

We are looking at one attendee’s site www.italytraveltours.biz . Has had her blog for over 9 years.

Check out schema.org and learn about rich snippets. One of three new markup languages. The one Tim Berners-Lee is behind.

If see “Google Author”, that is a rich snippet. Ex. Type in the words “mango salad” and will see two rich snippets… info plus photo.. Third party piece that can complement a description. ie. See picture, reviews, actual recipe and ingredients, prep time.. So many things now.. up to 32 things you can have but can’t have them all so pick and choose what is important re rich snippets to show.. Can’t put all or listing will be too big. Rich snippets very important. You have to study schema.org if want to do it. ie. when building your site. There are two other languages you can use ex. Canadian Living source code…can see the code “meta itemprop” = name ex. Even shows schmea.org markup for Google. Integrated. Something they added on top.. Take this to your developers and say you need to put this in.  Ex. for travel reviews, authors, products and places. The things that are getting all the attention – getting ‘rich snippeted”.    Can use control U to view source code of any site.

I won a door prize –  toothpaste and travel toothbrush –  courtesy of Toronto dentist  Dr. Natalie Archer of Archer Dental. Thanks Dr. Archer!

Now reviewing www.sweethomespaces.com , another attendee’s site.

I won a book by Neville Pokroy Big Bang for Business – 8 Steps to Create Explosive Growth and Success. 100+ marketing ideas to create explosive growth at www.bigbangforbusiness.com . He signed my book with some advice – “Ask more questions. Make better decisions.”Neville Pokroy IMAG4094_1

Now reviewing www.transformaesthetics.com .

Now reviewing www.willym.ca .

Three places you can get incoming links: articles, blogs, and discussion forums. Make incoming links that people care about.

Now reviewing www.thisistomjones.com , a Tom Jones impersonator attending the event. Live stage shows performed by Dave LaFame.

Sarafino IMAG4093And.. I won a door prize from Angelo Tramonti, President and Certified Oil Taster –  bottles  of Sarafino extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, bottled by his family. See www.sarafino.com. Thanks Angelo!

A fun and informative evening! Thanks for the invite Rob.

by Glenda MacDonald

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Last updated: June 27, 2014

 

Understanding Canada’s New Anti-Spam Law (CASL) – Free seminar May 6 Toronto

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As of July 1st 2014 Canada’s new Anti-Spam Law (CASL) will be coming into effect. Have you been wondering what your organization will need to do to comply with this new legislation? Client relationship management including email communications will be affected and penalties will apply in the event of non-compliance!

I have just learned about an upcoming free event to address the needs of small business owners being organized by Lisette Andreyko of Kaleidoscope Consulting. Space is limited so register asap at the Eventbrite link below!

Understanding CASL: The new anti-spam law
Tues. May 6 2014 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (EDT)
ING Direct – Network Orange Cafe
221 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5B 1M4
Presenter:  Jonathan MacKenzie of  Aluvion Law
Jonathan is a lawyer who works with small businesses and entrepreneurs, drawing on his former entrepreneurial experience. Jonathon will cover  the current law on sending business communications, summarize the upcoming changes with the CASL legislation, and how businesses can ensure that they stay compliant.

Click here to register and to contact Lisette Andreyko of Kaleidoscope Consulting.

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This is part of a weekly meetup “Strategic Focus for Startups” that Kaleidoscope Consulting organizes. Group members provide peer support, sound advice, best practices and networking opportunities to improve focus.  Kaleidoscope Consulting offers start-up organizational advice and mentoring services to help you gain #strategicfocus and implement your unique business roadmap through personalized and practical workshops.

Glenda MacDonald
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Last updated: April 22, 2014