Initially when the news came out that Whistler was unsuccessful in it’s bid for the winter X Games 2013 I was shocked. Mostly because my bags were already packed and I was ready for the trip of a lifetime. However, once the pow cleared and I chewed over the news that I would in fact NOT be seeing the X Games at Whistler next year, I realized that it doesn’t come as a huge surprise.
The resort is for sale folks! Apparently hosting a little thing called the winter Olympics did them in. That world economy thing had nothing to do with it :s.
From my albeit limited experience in placing bids for large scale athletic competitions I can gather that if a resort is for sale how on earth can it be prepared to host an international competition that is televised to every snow-hungry shred fan around the world.
Moreover there is a perfectly fine home-grown event that happens annuallly at Whistler called Telus Ski and Snowboard festival. It is days upon days of snow-events featuring the best riders, musicians and artists in the biz. Everyone got so exicted about X Games coming to Canada they forgot about the event already in place. Why do we (Canadians) go so excited when there is recognition from our friends to the south? Why can’t we just focus on supporting the Telus festival and making it bigger and better rather than pouring stupid amounts of non-existant money into bids for festivals that already have the wide scale support? I just don’t get it.
I wish I had the insight as to why the final decision was made to NOT host the X Games at Whistler. I can only assume the bid wasn’t strong enough. Regardless of the reasoning I still firmly believe that Telus is something worth supporting.

My nephew is now over the year and a half mark and is in constant need of stimulation, whether that stimulation is running up and down the halls or zoning out starring at extremely colourful childrens programs like “Bo on the Go” or “The Backyardigans” is of little concern to him. Since the big happy family is all under one roof again it is next to impossible to escape the grasp of these enthralling shows. I’m not sure if its the creativity behind some of the characters, the catchy songs or the vibrant colours that attracts me (and my nephew) but I find myself enjoying the aesthetics of it all … not to mention the fun.

The chapter I recently read from my consumer behaviour text book points out, while discussing the issue of whether or not marketing creates needs in consumers, that Children’s programs can be view as nothing more than full-length toy commercials. This statement raised my eyebrows when I read it. You mean Chugginton is a way to sell more toy trains to kids instead of a welcome and colourful distraction in the day?

Obviously a certain portion of my life has been dedicated to the study of and active participation in marketing and with that in mind I always seem to side “pro marketing.” But this is one issue I just can’t overlook. If this is in fact the reason why the Backyardigans exist, just to sell toys, then I may have a problem. Young kids do not know any better. As adults we can read between the line and know when companies may be exaggerating the claims of products. With all the governance to ensure ethics are met in the marketing and advertising industry, surely promoting negative consumerist values to young children by way of cartoon programs crosses some sort of line? Since when does the TV program have to be about selling merchandise more than the development and entertainment of children?

I’m not sure if I agree fully with statements like the one my text has made… however I can’t seem to ignore the large POP displays of Dora in Toys R Us and the screaming children that beg their parents for these toys. Is this practice of offering a full line of show merchandise to kids ethical? Or is it a cash grab at their parents wallet?

Just some food for thought.

Recently I was given the task of rethinking my resume and personal brand. So far it has been quite a process and one, honestly, I wish someone taught me in school (instead I can anotize in multiple styles… when do I do this in the real world? Answer: never).

I have looked at my resume upside down. I have attempted head stands. I have done some yoga with my resume… talk about making fish pose challenging!

There have been key snipets of advice that have been mulling through my brain on a rather frequent basis “what are you going to give to a future employer? Show me you think differently and you have experience to back it up.” I have really chewed on this for awhile, thinking of all the 1,000′s of graduates out there, what is going to set me apart and make the hiring manager want to bring me in for a chat (ps… I don’t call them interviews anymore… they are chats. This is purely for psychological reasons). So while I wait for the right words to come, and they will, I turned to the nuts and bolts of my resume.

I have been very lucky to have the support of talented artists in the past but the last thing I wanted to do was ask them to create a layout for me. So, I purchased Adobe CS5 (thank goodness for student discounts) and got to it. In the past weeks I have taught myself how to redraw images in illustrator, and “place” them in indesign. With no formal training what so ever this process is lengthy and frustrating but I’m learning a great deal about the capabilities of these programs and the trained professionals who use them.

Side note: hug a graphic designer, they deserve it

Another exercise I have given myself is taking the PAGES of information I once had on my resume and using infographics to help display my experiences. I have now fit four pages into one colourful and easy to read documents.

I opted for a profile purely because the expert I spoke with said objectives were essentially passe and a profile gives the hiring marketer a better idea of who you are and how you may (or may not) fit into their company. Considering you have seconds to grab someones attention the logical placement for this is the top left. the english language is read left to right starting from the top of the page to the bottom. This ensures that it will be the first bit of information read.
To the right of my profile I placed my contact information. I included my personal website because it has links to writing samples and a list of events that I have coordinated. I put it in the top right, in BRIGHT PINK, so that in a stack of papers on someones desk my name is visable (even if a piece of copier paper sits directly on top of it).

My references are directly beneath my contact information. It seemed logical to have all the phone numbers close to each other. In this section I chose to use a QR code linking to my linkedin profile for a few reasons. 1) Shows that I understand the technology and its uses (I do make claim about my social media prowess) 2)I want the hiring manager to go to my linkedin profile to read my references from colleagues and to see more detail about my experiences.

Underneath my profile aligned to the left side of the paper is a graphic representation of my experience. I found inspiration for this from a tool called visualize.me. I felt the colours and bubbles were representational of who I am. It was a fun and difficult project redrawing this image, however it gave me the opportunity to customize it.

Underneath my graphic, again alligned to the left, is a list of accomplishments. I picked out what I have achieved through my experiences that are pertinent to the job I’m applying for. These PROOVE and back up claims I make in my profile and my letter. This info is meant to make the hiring manager go “oh wow.”

Beneath this, the last section, is a visualization of my skills. I choose circles to help me communicate my varrying proficiency. Large circle = I’m awesome at this… small circle = I’m not bad at this either. I stuck with the colour scheme to break up the colour of the copy in the above sections. I created the circles all together in illustrator and placed them in the indesign document. Key here was using the allignment tool in illustrator to make sure the circles were alligned based on the center anchor point. I considered leaving this as a “notes” section. When having “chats” the managers always seem to write things down… some more than others. I thought it would be handy having a section, but I also thought it was a waste of space when I have a SINGLE page to market myself with. I opted to leave this out of my resume to instead focus on the layout and content.

When I embarked on this project I knew I wasn’t going to be re-inventing the wheel. I didn’t want to. I just wanted to display this information in a susinct way that captures an element of my personality, my creativeness, the fact that I actually understand what it is that creative professionals do and the technology, and also that I understand the importance of linkedin.com for professional networking.

Next up the letter!!

Awhile ago I lamented on the inproper use of QR codes in advertising where mobility is reduced. I also commented, in the same article, on the volume of codes popping up… well… this has since to slow down. I’m seeing all sorts of brands use them for all sorts of creative purposes… but what I now want to know is .. who is using these?

I’m a self-professed “people watcher”… but not in a creepy stare at you through my binoculars from the adjacent building sort of way. Rather I like paying attention to the manerisms of people around me… in sort of a behavioural study sort of way. That said, through all my people watching recently, I have yet to see someone whip out their smart phone and scan a QR Code. Whether in the mall, at the grocery store, waiting for the bus/street car, or at large events… not one single person scanning. Is anyone out there using these things?

To satisfy my thirst for quantitative stats I came across a study that notes 58% of mobile users say they aren’t familiar with the technology and only 28% of respondants have used them. Thats not great when you consider the way marketers are adopting these technologies as cost-saving forms of connecting with the target market.

So I am completely frustrated with living NORTH of Finch. It takes HOURS to get anywhere, I can’t ride my bike downtown and coming home after a night out is murderous (uhh vomit comet anyone). With these valid and frustrating points very much in our heads everyday, we have decided to move.

Moving is exciting. Well, not the packing, but the looking is exciting. It is full of positive promises from new beginnings. Since making the decision to move, I have been LIVING on MLS.ca checking out all the homes in Toronto that meet my criteria. There have been some real winners and some real losers (the kind you wouldn’t enter without first wearing a haz-mat suit a la E.T.). In the epic searches that I have been doing, trying to find the “Mr. Right” in home form, I have found myself wanting to share my finds with friends. The excitement of finding a good deal on a re-done two story hard loft conversion is a thing of beauty and something that everyone needs to know about. The only re-course I have is e-mailing it to friends… how dated!?

E-mailing a link is pretty 2006. I couldn’t believe that I would have to e-mail this amazing home find individually to each one of my friends as opposed to just hitting the “share” button. Where is my link to facebook? Where is my link to twitter? Come on MLS.ca it’s 2011 and you HAVE TO have one of the most visited websites in real estate!

Moreover, why isn’t there a mobile site for mls.ca? I was at a showing a week ago and wanted to do a quick search of the area to see if there was any other units for sale in the neighbourhood. I whipped out my iPhone, plugged in mls.ca and there I stood for 20 minutes while everything loaded and even then it was IMPOSSIBLE to navigate on my phone. Real estate agents are very mobile people… surely having a mobile connection to this site would improve their productivity leaps and bounds. Its all about efficiency here folks. Not many people can take multiple days off work to go view places… having the ability to do searches on the spot for places with lock boxes in the neighbourhood that you can view could save an additional day.

Also, imagine the ability to check-in to showings and link it to mls listings?

There is something being missed here by MLS. I suggest they jump on it.

It’s mid-day on Monday which means just one thing… I am preparing for the onslaught of heavily tattooed sweaty men in spandex that is Monday night #RAW.  I have been watching wrestling for a long time (my all time faves are Undertaker and Ray Mysterio), I blame my brother who was present for WWE 8 … thats when it was called WWF and Hulk Hogan was King.  His enthusiasm and influence over me is the reason I started watching in the first place… if my brother did it… I thought it was cool.  I took a vacation from wrestling when I was teenager, for a variety of obvious reasons (mostly because as a teenager you haven’t quite mastered laughing at yourself).  But now, as a 25.9 year old Canadian female with a good sense of humour, I’m dragged back in to wrestling and I’m glued to these over-the-top storylines and pure athleticism of the WWE’s performers. 

As my boyfriend and I watch the man-drama unfold every Monday night my phone explodes with twitter updates from athletes and WWE controlled feeds.  The opinions on the match ups and man-drama come in at a furious pace… 100′s by the second from all over the world.  Where are all these people coming from?  I thought wrestling was taboo and only something that folks with mullets and nascar jackets took seriously?  Apparently said nascar jacket wearing folks amount up to 14 – 15 million unique visitors globally.  The #WWE claims one of the largest online community on the www with it’s top fan sites receiving approximately 1 billion post impressions (likes, comments etc.) last year alone.  

As someone who is studying marketing and fascinated with the explosion of social media … the #WWE impresses me… greatly… and not just for the non-stop drama and muscles.  But deciphering percisely the spark that ignited their fire storm through social media is a bit tougher.  Is it the storylines?  The optimization of accounts?  The online marketing specialists at WWE HQ?  The content?  The constant updating of accounts?  The branded athlete accounts and the freedom of said athletes to update at will?  Who knows really.  But there are some important things to point out.

1.  They carry the conversation on between episodes.  As I type I am currently updating myself from what I missed in the last week so that when I tune in tonight I’m amped.  The beef between wrestlers continues on twitter… CM Punk stokes the fire with John Cena and taunts the entire WWE Universe with his authority questioning posts and call to “bring back the WWE ice cream bars.”  They keep the snowball rolling from monday through to sunday night updating Youtube, linking to their website with photos and polling their fans.  They pay attention to their community between fights. 

2.  Polls.  The official WWE universe is constantly asking me what I liked the most and what I’m looking forward to at Summer Slam (or any of the big pay per view specials).  They are obtaining a realtime opinion from MILLIONS of viewers so they can cater and promote more efficiently.  Why are they going to waste the time promoting to the 1million people who think WWE spreads violence amongst youth when they can pay attention to their dedicated fan opinions that they get (very cheaply) through social media.  Their ability to “mediate” the conversation between fans and company as well as fans and athletes is what I think lends to their success. 

They monitor what gets the most feedback (be it negative or positive) and then give the people what they want making the “like” button the modern day gladiator thumbs up (and similarily thumbs down). 

Regardless of the message and content another smart move the WWE made was going to the fans, rather than trying to bring them to the WWE.  Through strategy their promotions, polls and updates were created across 100′s of WWE controlled feeds where their fans were already discussing the latest beat-downs. 

They kept it simple, they optimized the be-jesus out of all their accounts and plug away at it consistently to create an online conversation of WWE fans which is something we all can learn from.