It was an honour to be invited to an historic ceremony at Mary Lake, Sunday January 23rd, honouring "Past Stewards of the Land".
It was the first time that hereditary chiefs from the five local tribes came together for an event that was not political.Respected Tsartlip elder Tom Sampson spoke. The Yellow Wolf Drummers and Singers offered 3 songs: a prayer, a song to honour the past stewards of the land, and a song to honour elders and ancestors.
The gathering, recognizing Nancy McMinn (instrumental in saving the Gowland Tod lands), Peter and Violet Brotherston (original owners of Mary Lake) and ancestors of the Saanich Coast Salish Peoples for their roles as protectors of the natural world, was hosted by the Mary Lake Conservancy and the Greater Victoria Greenbelt Society.Currently Mary Lake is the subject of a campaign to raise an initial $1M before January 31, 2011 in order to secure bridge financing, and eventually $4M for the purchase of this unique property in the Highlands of Victoria BC.
Mary Lake sits in the midst of a treasured 107-acre parcel of carefully conserved and endangered Dry Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem. Only a very small percentage of the land in the Dry Coastal Douglas Fir Zone is permanently protected.
Its acquisition would ensure a green corridor joining Thetis Lake and Mount Work parks.
Individuals are encouraged to purchase their $10 square metre of Mary Lake to preserve the property in perpetuity. Social media has had a big role in the outreach of campaigners.There is the possibility to text donations using "MARY" and sending to 45678. A video contest "The Power of Many" asks people to create a video encouraging others in their lives to save a square metre of Mary Lake. Prizes up to $10,000 will be awarded; the contest closes January 31st.
Local documentary filmmakers Mandy Leith and Nicole Sorochan are spearheading a live web-a-thon on Thursday January 27th from 4-8pm at Cabin 12, 607 Pandora Avenue. There will be a "tweet bar" and live feed.
To learn more about how you can become involved in this campaign and the importance to the regional bio-sphere of the Mary Lake property, please visit the Save Mary Lake website.
I recently learned of the following way to support new residents of Queens Manor
"The City of Victoria Sustainability Department will be accepting donated household items and gifts this week that go towards Christmas baskets for residents of Queens Manor - the former Traveller’s Inn property, recently purchased by the City of Victoria. Queens Manor is operated by the Victoria Cool Aid Society and provides safe and supportive short-term housing to individuals who would otherwise be homeless.
Donated household items would be greatly appreciated by residents as they transition from homelessness to living independently in a new home. Residents include both men and women. Suggested items for donation include:New or gently used kitchen items: such as a can opener, oven mitts, whisk, plastic jug, tea/coffee mugs, pots, new non-stick pans, and new dish cloths.Toiletries: such as shower gel, soap, toothbrushes/toothpaste, hand lotion, or razors.Home comforts: such as new or surplus Christmas decorations, tea, instant coffee, hot chocolate, microwave popcorn, Christmas chocolates or candies.Donations will be accepted until Friday, December 17 at 4:30 pm and may be dropped off in a bin located in the foyer at City Hall. Donations can also be made directly to the St. John the Divine office at 1611 Quadra Street. Baskets will be assembled Monday, December 20 at St. John the Divine."
We discussed costumes! Of course it had to be Twitter bird related. Janine and AJ @VIHippieChick worked hard on outfitting us for our performance. Saturday December 4th saw us singing away as "The Tweets" outside the Bay Centre. In all, twelve groups competed for prizes in:
Large Group or Choir (5 or more)
Small Group (4 or less)
Local Business or Organization (any size group)
Best Dressed Group
Local celebrity judges included music teachers, performers, politicians and prominent business people.
It was great fun and we'll definitely repeat it again next year. Hopefully other #yyj twitterers will be willing to join us!
December 4 2010 was the first International Open Data Hackathon Day. Originially instigated by David Eaves @daeaves and some of his friends, it saw people in over 63 cities, in 25 countries, and on 5 continents participate.
Herb Lainchbury @herblainchbury organized Victoria's event. Here's his recap of the event.
"Yesterday's Victoria hackathon was a great success. Much gratitude to David Eaves! Big huge thank you to Nelson Lah @nlah and CGI Victoria @cgivic for providing us an awesome space here in Victoria, an endless supply of coffee, snacks and pizza. And mostly, thanks to everyone who came out. We had over 30 people, started and/or advanced 8 projects!
We are in the process moving the new projects to public URLs so folks can see them.
The projects we worked on are:
Eatsure Victoria (status: working demo) RideNow - crowd sourced transit stops/schedules application (status: semi-working prototype) OpenLegislature.ca - fork of openparliament.ca for provincial legislatures (status: instance running, data being compiled) Waterly.ca - (status: new watering jurisdictions KML files created to be added) Victoria instance of VanTrash (status: prototype) Rezoning Notifier - notifies residents of rezoning appications and displays on a map (status: data collected) MyRep - app that displays who represents you at every government level given a location (status: data partially collected) OpenDataBC Catalogue - completed list of BC public bodies for the catalogue (status: complete)
Hackathons aren't just for developers and geeks. The Victoria group is planning another event for early 2011 and would love to see more citizens involved. After all - we are the end users of all the applications being worked on.
So, send a message to Herb and ask to be included on the group email list. If you've got ideas of apps you think might be useful - let them know.
Help Portrait,a global movement of photographers using their time, gear and expertise to give back to those in need, was founded by celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart in 2009.
Photographers are crowd sourced using the Help Portrait website. Help Portrait's mission is to GIVE the pictures, not take them. Portraits are not for the photographers portfolios, websites, or for sale. Money isn’t involved. It's a chance, during the holiday season, to give a family or individual something they may never have had before - a professionally produced portrait.This year, in Victoria, Alan Smith took the lead on organizing and recruiting an amazing team of photographers and volunteers. People involved included hairdressers, baristas, community members and coffee shop owners.
On Saturday December 4th Relish Food and Coffee 920 Pandora gratiously offered the use of their space. The day started early, at 8am, with set up of stations - 3 photography, 3 printing, and 2 hairdressing.
By 9am everything was in place. People slowly trickled in, and were guided through the entire process by hosts who remained with them as they progressed from hair, to actual photo session, and then to printing. Participants were thrilled with the results. In all over 30 people volunteered their time for the community. A total of 148 individuals and/or groups had their portraits taken. Thanks to all involved.Help Portrait Victoria is already looking forward to next year. On their wish list is a larger space - 2000 to 4000 square feet - that would allow for additional photography, hair and even makeup stations. If you know a building owner with vacant space, please contact Alan.Makeup artists would be welcome too.People who want to get involved in 2011 can join the Help Victoria group. Planning will start late summer of 2011.
I remember reading about Pecha Kucha from the Edmonton twitter feed over 1 1/2 years ago, and thinking "This would be so fabulous to have in Victoria".
What is Pecha Kucha?
"PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds."
But I'm not a graphic designer, architect or artist. Nor do I have good connections in the design community that would have enabled me to suggest the idea and collaborate with a team of people.
Then, in early 2010, Elisa Yon, architect, Aleya Samji of Anonymous Advertising, and Amanda Smith, general manager of VEC, announced the first volume of Pecha Kucha at the Victoria Event Centre
From the beginning Pecha Kucha Nights in Victoria have been well attended, drawing from not only Victoria's design and social media communities, but also regular attendees of the Event Centre.
The format of 20 x 20 (20 slides and 20 seconds per slide) is extremely constraining, and yet, remarkable freeing. Images need to be bold and there is little room for missteps, as the slides scroll inexorably onward. This is most definitely NOT PowerPoint!
And so it is that Jaryd Zinkewich and I will take the plunge, Thursday November 25th, for our inaugural Pecha Kucha presentation, at PKN Victoria #4. We hope you will join us!
I had the opportunity recently to speak at Social Media Camp #smcv10 in Victoria BC.
Social Media Camp is the brain child of Paul Holmes, Idea Zone, and Chris Burdge, B West Interactive. I've known Paul and Chris since early 2009, ever since getting involved in Victoria's social media scene. Paul is the co-founder (with Catherine Novak) of Social Media Club Victoria, the first Canadian chapter of the much larger Social Media Club. Chris is a member of the local leadership team. Together we've been involved in regular Social Media Club Victoria meetings, tweetups, meetups, Twestival Victoria and Mashable Social Media Day.
Nothing had prepared me for the awesomeness that was Social Media Camp - over 450 attendees, 60 speakers, countless volunteers and ENERGY!
I'm still processing (mostly due to the fact that the day after, October 4th was my birthday).
But - here are the notes from my speech.
Know your value- what unique contribution do you bring to the table?
Social media is about transparency and authenticity - you can't pretend to be something you are not. Be you!
Don’t be afraid to state your passions and organizations that you support – what’s important to you?? Your passions will resonate with people (your tribe). I've met people from around the world (and in my community) because of shared interests.
If the community is already built – don’t go re-inventing the wheel – it’s respectful to LISTEN to others first. Your ideas will be welcomed if you have some idea of why things have evolved the way they have.
With deepest gratitude to Paul Holmes and Catherine Novak for founding Social Media Club Victoria, and to Tim @howlabit and Doug @dougsymington for starting tweetups in Victoria BC. They laid the foundation for everything that has come since.
Be humble. Look outside yourself for inspiration. Be open to possibilities and synergies. Social media is not linear.
Have you ever wondered where the #yyj hashtag (used as shorthand to mean Victoria, BC) comes from? #yyj is the airport code - the idea of using an airport code to shorten a city name (important on Twitter due to limited characters) first came to @wintur in #yyc (Calgary). It was picked up by @mastermaq in #yeg (Edmonton) and was then used in Victoria by people who knew @JenCrosby, a news personality in Edmonton. Edmonton and Vancouver's social media communities precede ours by many years. We continue to be inspired by them!
Be the leader and the steward of your community
It depends on you. You - be the leader! Transitioning an online community offline requires immense social capital. What are you doing to strengthen the links in your network to build that capital?
Volunteer in your local social media community
Any community depends on volunteers. The social media community is still in it's infancy. Don't expect others alone to nurture it. Get involved! The rewards are immeasureable - in friendships, connections, relationships, business building.
Collaboration vs competition. Help others, promote others before yourself.
Social media is still very new, and largely unknown to others outside our circles. What better way to destroy our credibility than to compete? And what amazing things we can accomplish when we collaborate. Thanks to the many people who have collaborated with me on ventures during the past year and a half.
Reach out to people first. You can’t do it alone – recruit a great team. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Work with the people you’ve got.
People are very willing to help - if they are asked. It takes leadership to form teams with a disparate group of individuals, but if you are working toward a common goal, the rewards will be huge.
Thank people – over and over and over. Celebrate successes.
Thank people publicly. Be grateful. Don't stop thanking people. Be kind.
Brand ambassadors – what do you need to do to find them?
People who spread your messages are your brand ambassadors. Cherish them. (see point above). They help you to amplify your message, far beyond what you alone could accomplish.
Build alliances – do not neglect traditional MSM.
I have had the opportunity to work with many main stream media outlets and channels in Victoria.It's my pleasure to have them as partners in fundraising ventures. Together we are learning about the intersections between traditional and social media. Most MSM now have additional social media channels that further amplify your message.
Persistency and consistency are key – social media moves FAST – one post occasionally is not going to suffice. Over communicate. Use every social media platform available
Consider first what you are capable of maintaining. It does your brand no good to start, then stop, your social media efforts. Think about your demographic before engaging in a particular platform - is your audience better served by Facebook, or Twitter? Do you need to incorporate email and phone calls too?
Everything is amplified – there is NO room for negativity.
Everything you post online can eventually be seen. How do you want people to remember you?
Social media takes time – it’s not FREE!!! The learning curve is steep! It’s not something you can put on auto-pilot (at least not ALL the time)
It's a busy week in Victoria, BC for tweetups. There are simply too many to mention in a single tweet.
Wednesday August 11th noon join Dan Parks@cpudan and Sean Dhillon@I_lend_Money for the weekly 4Square High Noon Hump Day Tweetup. This week the group meets at Ric's Grill 910 Government Street. If you are a fan of mobile apps, FourSquare and the rest - this group is for you.
Thursday August 12th 8am join Janis La Couvée@lacouvee and an awesome group of local Victoria twitterers for our semi-monthly am #Victoriatweetup at Cabin 12 Restaurant @Cabin12Victoria 607 Pandora Avenue. We meet on the 2nd Thursday and 4th Wednesday of the month. Everyone is welcome. Lots of great conversations, and a chance to develop connections with other solopreneurs, business owners, professionals and community members. This tweetup was started in May 2010 as the result of a conversation between Dan Parks, Catherine Novak @Wordspring and Janis La Couvée. Twitter was fairly new in Victoria; it was and continues to be a place for people to take their online connections offline to connect face to face.
Thursday August 12th 1pm #YYJBleeders tweetup. Meet at the Canadian Blood Services 3449 Saanich Road (close to the intersection with Douglas Street). Carlone Leon @VicCityParty recently gave blood and suggested this tweetup. Blood donations are always down in the summer, the need is always up. If you are able to give blood, please consider coming. Check here first for the criteria Can I Donate? and then contact Janis La Couvée @lacouvee to ensure a time is booked for you.
Thursday August 12th 7pm Bard and Banker Scottish Pub. Join Frans Jonker @fransjonker for The Road to Port Hardy Tweetup. Frans departs August 16th for a 4 day 525 km solo charity bike ride (Victoria to Port Hardy) to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. More information about the ride can be found on his website The Road to Port Hardy or by following his tweets @roadtoporthardy. Let's send Frans off in style, with our support. Awesome door prizes courtesy of Rocky Mountain Soap (with thanks to Scott McDonald @FootButterGuy), Liquor Plus (thanks Rod Phillips @Rod_Phillips), Trotac Marine, and Janis La Couvée @lacouvee.
Saturday August 14th join Jason Whyte, @jasonwhytee-film critic, for a movie tweetup to see The Expendables. 1:30pm at Empire Capitol 6
Saturday August 14th TBD join Yukari Peerless@yukarip and other fans of the book Eat Pray Love for the EPLTweetup. See the movie with Julia Roberts, followed by a bite to eat afterwards. Contact Yukari for more details.
It all started on Twitter, doesn't it always? Alex Yates @Lunacee tweeted about International Free Hugs Day, and before you could blink we had a Facebook event and people committed to attending in front of the Visitors Information Bureau on the Inner Harbour, Saturday July 3rd 2010.
At the appointed time, we arrived - most learned about the event via Twitter, but Karen and Carol heard through the grapevine. We spent two hours greeting visitors to the city with hugs. It's interesting to see who wants to receive a hug, who backs off. In the end we all agreed that we will definitely be there for International Free Hugs Day 2011, perhaps in a spot with more locals.
Thanks to Alex, Janice, Rebecca, Karen, Carol, Kieron.
