I Have My Own Life to Live

Traditionally December would be a month of planning holiday celebrations! Not for the Victoria social media community. Janine Theobald  came to Social Media Camp and Club, and was inspired to create the #twamper drive   and tweetup  held December 17th at Cabin 12 . Two families were assisted through these efforts.

Earlier in the month Alan Smith organized a Victoria event for Help Portrait, providing free portraits for Victoria families and individuals who might be otherwise unable to have a professional portrait. More than 30 photographers and volunteers provided 148 sessions. Help Portrait 2011 is December 3rd. Become part of the Help Portrait Victoria community here:

On the same day, Herb Lainchbury  rallied over 30 geeks for International Open Data Hachathon Day locally. There are now plans to hold montly hackathons with the first scheduled for January 22nd. Contact Herb for more details. Anyone (not just geeks) interested in open data can attend.

Victoria's inaugural Figgy Pudding Carolling Competition was also December 4th. It all started with a tweet, and soon @JanineAnnT @VIHippieChick @jagamer and @lacouvee were forming a group "The Tweets".    It was so much fun, there are now plans for a much larger "Twitter choir" next year.

TEDxVictoria hosted simulcasts at the University of Victoria for the first TED Women  Congratulations to organizer Sherry Moir for the very first TED event in Victoria.

TEDxJuandeFuca has plans for another TEDx event in April 2011.

The year ended in a flurry of tweetups #victoriatweetup (breakfast, WestShore, High Noon Hump Day, #U30 ladies, ladies, gents) and one final Social Media Club "Holiday Open Mic".  See Mike Vardy's "The Twelve Days of Christmas: Social Media Remix".

Photo: Eventualism.com

 

Words can never convey my huge debt of gratitude to everyone involved in making this a simply amazing year. 2010 will be remembered as the year social media came into its own in Victoria. Each and every one of you played a HUGE part.

I'm sure I've forgotten people and events that need to be remembered - it's not intentional. Please let me know.

Happy New Year! Here's to a fabulous 2011.

There is much to look forward to - #yyjbleeders tweetup January 15th,  Word Camp Victoria January 22nd, Frans Jonker and my wedding tweetup/meetup February 17th (stay tuned for details), IdeaWave February 26th & 27th, Twestival Victoria March 24th, TEDxJuandeFuca in April, Social Media Camp June 3rd and 4th, as well as regular Social Media Club Victoria meetings (3rd Monday of the month at the Victoria Event Centre) and many a #victoriatweetup.

 

 

In time for Social Media Camp October 3rd, the Victoriatweetup meetup group  launched as a means to promote tweetups that need more concrete numbers for venues. 

Paul Holmes and Chris Burdge pulled out all the stops for Social Media Camp, with over 450 people in attendance from all over the Pacific Northwest. I was honoured to be included as a speaker " Community Building – Transitioning Online to Offline"  along with Don Power and Brenda Johima. Notes from my presentation.

The "after party"  at Bard and Banker allowed people from further afield the chance to connect with Victoria social media aficionados in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Volunteer Victoria was kind enough to invite me to guest blog on their website about "Using Social Media To Promote Events".

Teresa Sims started the #U30 lunch tweetups for young entrepreneurial and business minded women in October. Follow Teresa and tweet her for more details.

A second #yyjbleeders tweetup had 8 people sign up to give blood! Thanks for giving the "gift of life".

October is a month of birthdays for local Twitter users, and we celebrated at the Canoe Club on October 23rd. Shortly after some of the attendees (@Shelter68 @Phleygas @VIHippieChick @socialmediasean) started #randomtweetup - fun tweetups at a moment's notice.

José Albis, the Albis Group, presented on "Self Publishing and Launching Your Personal Brand" to Social Media Club in October.
 

Photo: tpholmes 

October was again a month of connecting to long distance tweeps face to face. I love theatre and events as my twitter feed and blog posts will attest. Mid 2009, I stumbled upon #2amt, a group of theatre practioners on Twitter who literally "met" at 2am and started to consider the future of theatre.

These discussions led to the #2amt hashtag, Twitter handle @2amt and blog, as well as professional collaborations. When Simon Ogden, author of The Next Stage Magazine, moved to Victoria (check out his outstanding bartending at Veneto) we simply had to have coffee. In October I met Kate Foy @dramagirl from Australia and Lois Watson @smlois from Vancouver (soon to be in Edmonton) too!

Although Gisela @lifeasafestival is not part of the #2amt tribe - we managed to find one another through our love of festivals and celebrations. Gisela is travelling the world and volunteering/interning at festivals. It was a pleasure to meet her in Victoria.

Patrick Tussie is not a long distance tweep, but rather a movie fan in Victoria. We had very different views of some 2010's "hit" movies. Twitter allowed us to connect. Finally, we met for coffee. Congratulations to Patrick on his recent engagement.  I love how Twitter allows us to see the world through other people's eyes - IF we are open to that experience.

We travelled to Nanaimo for the 3rd Nanaimo Tweetup hosted by the Vitamin House. Although tweetup culture in Nanaimo is still in its infancy, tweetups are very well attended and organized.

After the #poutineoff came the #pumpkinoff October 29th between the Fairmont Empress and Hotel Grand Pacific. Chefs Ito and Choy produced some phenomenal carvings and desserts for judging by @ScrimporSplurge @AwesomeYoga @magsedoyle @lacouvee @cpudan @sashaangus. Once again, Chef Ito and the Empress team won out - very narrowly besting Chef Choy (by one point).

 

WestShore coffee tweetups gained momentum in September and have continued since, usually every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month. We've been meeting at Mirage Coffee on Goldstream but may need to move soon as the group keeps growing. Search for the words "Westshore coffee #victoriatweetup".

Regulars include: @Growlies @CrisVleck @brandscaping @Chris_Synesael @DrMarkWagner @psbdelegation @westcoast_dave @chiatweet @StyleRunner @Ahkonsu @KPAthleticWear @WestShoreLife @K9HQ @DustypupVI @CalebDelamont @taylorjenn @pearlbriteyyj @WillWinterPhoto @cpudan

Finally, after months of watching the "Gents #Victoriatweetup" from the sidelines, and prompted by tweets from @KirstySheldon @GDGeek @Auryanna, the ladies managed to organize their own tweetup! It looks like this too may become a monthly affair. Keep on eye on http://meetup.com/victoriatweetup for more details.

In early 2010, I introduced Sandy Ibrahmin @hittofit of Victoria to Eleni Kehagiaras @ekehagiaras of Portland via Twitter. Sandy and Eleni went on to arrange a business partnership and @hittofitpdx was born. I finally got to meet Eleni in person in September.

September was a good month for face to face meetings with long distance tweeps. Jamie Gale was moving to Victoria from Vancouver - we'd tweeted back and forth a bit and connected for coffee and more networking. Jamie understands the value of moving online to offline in order to build stronger relationships. He's a great addition to the Victoria community. 

Photos: Debra Brash Times Colonist

Sarah Petrescu  from the Times Colonist often sources models for her articles via Twitter. That's how Melissa McLeod and I came to be featured in "Basic Instincts" an article on fall "must haves". Rumon Carter and Sean Dhillon  were the models for "Fearless Fashion"  in November.

The 3rd Mashable meetup on Sept 23rd for Social Media Good Day  was hosted by Parkside Victoria  and Lina Zussino. Discussions centered on using social media for social good. How can we effect social change using social media?

UVIC's LipDup went viral. But wait - it was UVIC in Spain.

In response, lead by Shawn Slavin, UVic filmed their own lipdub on September 25th. What an amazing experience to be part of a HUGE group of people focused on creating this video.  Chris Ruffell from Aclara Promotions will be presenting at Social Media Club in January.

Photo: tpholmes

September's Social Media Club meeting  "Religion, Spirituality and Social Media" with @Eshusan (Victoria Zen Centre) @NickTheViking (Saanich Baptist) and @DrMarkWagner (Salvation Army) had attendees considering the nature of community, as much as spirituality. Juhli Selby recapped the evening in two parts. 

One of the "ideas" to come out of the Ideas Victoria meetings was "Awesome Shit Club"  where "awesomites" grant money to "awesomers".  The inaugural event saw slam poet Missie Peters  win $600 towards creating the First Victoria Spoken Word Festival (February 23rd-26th). There is an event scheduled for January 2011.

For three years Frans Jonker reclaimed his fitness by biking. His introduction to most of the Victoria twitter community in July 2009 was through tweets about his rides. Originally he planned to cycle to Port Hardy as a personal challenge but people encouraged him to use it as an opportunity to raise funds for charity.

Thus, The Road to Port Hardy charity bike ride for the BC Cancer Foundation became reality. After a tweetup Aug 12th, Frans launched his ride August 16th, cycling 525km in 4 days and raising almost $10,000!

Photo:  Veloweb

Pecha Kucha Volume 3 August 12th focused on food.

Social Media Club's August meeting featured Social Video  with Don Power , Daniel Barton and Cris Vleck.

photo by tpholmes

Carl Leone @VicCityParty who most of us met at Social Media Day, went to give blood in early August. That sparked the beginning of the #yyjbleeders tweetups (August 12th and October 23rd).

The next #yyjbleeders is Saturday January 15th. If you've never given blood before - why not make this a resolution for 2011? Please read the meetup description carefully.

The founders of Social Media Club, Kristie Wells and Chris Heuer, visited Victoria June 4th to meet the social media community face to face. What a tweetup that turned out to be with over 100 people in attendance.

photos by Kristie Wells

Later in June Paul Holmes, CEO of IdeaZone and Chris Burdge, BWest Interactive, members of the Social Media leadership team, presented "Leveraging Facebook and LinkedIn" at our monthly Social Media Club Victoria meeting.

June 30th was Social Media Day worldwide (as proclaimed by Mashable). Organizer Paul Holmes was able to have the day officially recognized by the City of Victoria. This made Mashable's front page!  The Fairmont Empress hosted a tweetup/meetup at the Bengal Lounge.

Paul Holmes organized a second WordCamp May15th.  Attendance at both has been over 100 each time.

Don't miss the third WordCamp Saturday January 22nd. Registration costs are modest, and the speaker line-up  includes options for beginners, advanced and technical users. I'll be moderating a blogger panel with Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss 604), Mike Vardy (Eventualism) and Lorraine Murphy (Raincoaster) and speaking on "Promoting Through Blogging".

Pecha Kucha Night volume 2 was held on May 27th. Speakers included Ben Ziegler and Karen Rivers.

from The Vancouverite

May 25th @RealReporter Salim Jiwa spoke to Social Media Club on "Trends In Journalism Today & The Impact of Social Media". Here's some thoughts from one of the attendees, Yule Heibel.

photo from youcookca

Kudos to the Fairmont Empress and Inn at Laurel Point for innovative marketing. May 12th saw the inaugural #poutineoff on the lawns of the Empress Hotel. Judges, sourced via Twitter, were @cqwww @toots11 @flygirlWS @seedtocup @lacouvee @EATmagazine @TravelWithTaste @youcookca. Mayor Dean Fortin was the MC. Fairmont Empress Chef Ito's "Tiger Poutine" was narrowly declared the winner.

photo from youcookca

Rod Cooper organized BC Social Media Summit April 7th as a fundraiser for his participation in The Ride To Conquer Cancer . Speakers included Chris Burdge, Rod Phillips, Tracy McAllister, Paul Holmes, Terri Davies, Rob Cooper, Ross Dunn, Janis La Couvée. My presentation "Building a Brand, Lessons Learned from Twestival Victoria" is here.

from BCSocialMediaSummit.com

 

Evening tweetups continued sporadically. We met at the Bard and Banker on April 17th for a great evening out.  

April 14th also marked the beginning of the very successful "gents #victoriatweetup" organized by Frans Jonker. These continue on a regular monthly basis. Contact Frans for more details.

April's Social Media Club meeting topic was "Traditional Media Meets Social Media" with participation from Deborah Wilson (CBC), Dana Hutchings (CHEK News), Bryan Capistrano (the Q! and the Zone), Amanda Farrell (Monday Magazine) and Sarah Petrescu (Times Colonist). The discussion and debate were lively! Here are Yule Heibel's original and follow up posts. Did you attend? What did you think?

Social Media Club's topic was "Using Social Media to Advance and Promote Your Business" with Scott McDonald, Rocky Mountain Soap Victoria, Rod Phillips, Liquor Plus, and Michael Steveluk, Scooter Underground.  Scott, Rod and Michael are pioneers locally in their use of social media to engage with their customers.

image by B_West

Pecha Kucha Night Victoria debuted to a sold out audience at the Victoria Event Centre. Congratulations to Elisa Yon, Aleya Samji and Amanda Smith for their leadership in creating this exciting event in Victoria. To date 4 evenings have been organized - the next one is February 11, 2011 . 10-15 presenters focus on sharing their presentation - 20 slides at a rate of  20 seconds per slide. Challenging! Follow PKNVictoria on Twitter and join the Facebook group for more information.

 

The year began January 2nd with a movie #victoriatweetup . Cindy Stephenson looked down the row of people and said "a year ago I didn't know one of these ppl". It's the power of Twitter. (I met Frans Jonker at that tweetup!).

Although it took until the fall of 2010 for them to become regular, the first WestShore tweetup was January 8th.

Social Media Club Victoria continued to attract powerful international speakers. Julien Smith, co-author with Chris Brogan of "Trust Agents, brought his unique style to Victoria for a presentation on January 20th.  (And returned for Social Media Camp in October - we were lucky!!)

The Blue Bridge counter petition successfully met it's goal. Organizers Ross Crockford, Yule Heibel and Mat Wright used social media extensively to rally supporters, petition signers, and media attention through Johnson Street Bridge.org

Photo by: www.FinancialAidPodcast.com and www.ChristopherSPenn.com. Licensed under the Creative Commons By Attribution, Non Commercial Use Only license.

At the end of 2009, Social Media Club Victoria was 9 months old, most traditional media in Victoria did not yet have a social media presence, and the only regularly scheduled tweetup was the am #Victoriatweetup held the 2nd Thursday and 4th Wednesday of the month at Cabin 12. 

Social media successes for 2009 included Twestival Victoria (September), WordCamp (November), Johnson Street Bridge.org and presentations by Raul Pacheco, Lorraine Murphy and Joe Solomon @engagejoe  at Social Media Club.

2010 saw incredible growth, not only in the numbers of active users of social media, but in the offline events, groups, and meetings. The online to offline community blossomed!

Here's a Social Media Review for Victoria BC in 2010. It's highly subjective. What have I forgotten?

Since this post originally ran to over 3000 words - I've decided to break it down by month (below). Enjoy reading - comments welcome!

January February March April May June July August September October November December