If you’re looking at this blog and thinking “Wow, this thing has been left to die!” you would be mistaken!

Although in all honesty I can understand how you would come to that conclusion…

They Call it Gumption has officially migrated to theycallitgumption.com

Now hurry, go get caught up!

So, without any further garble, I present to you my session breakdown:

Content I: If a Blog Falls in the Forest? : How to get your blog to make a sound
OR
Content II: Kicking It Up A Notch: How to be a Content Creating Ninja

I look at these two sessions as the jumping off points for the rest of the conference. As per the titles, both seem like they’re going to cover a lot of similar, core content, just at different levels. I think I’m probably going to go for Content II as I feel like I’m in a place both personally and professionally where I’m ready to learn more about taking blog content to the next level.

I also happen to be, as mentioned at least a couple of times on this blog already, a big fan of Catherine Connors. Seeing as she’s presenting this one, I pretty much feel like I can’t miss this it.

Oh, and it has ninja in the title.

Priorities, people.

Collaborative/Community Sites: Is Bigger Better? : Citizens of Sisterhood or Lost in the Crowd?

I’m really on the fence about this one. I think exploring the different qualities of individual vs. community blogs is a legitimately interesting topic, but I’m not really feeling jazzed about it. There are definitely other sessions that I feel like I would get more out of, so this one isn’t exceptionally high on my list.

Work/Life Balance: Peaceful Coexistence Between Life and Laptop

Lets say I had to choose between this session and the previous one (like I’m thinking will probably be the case) – I would choose the previous one. It’s not that I don’t struggle with work/life balance concerns, but for me social media isn’t an exceptionally big part of that problem. I also have the feeling that this one is going to be gear more toward the mommy and family bloggers in the crowd and, being decidedly childless, I’m not convinced it would be a good fit.

Monetizing I :Making Money From Blogging: Fiscal Fact or Fiction?
OR
Monetizing II:Cashing In with a Reality Cheque

Not that I’m necessarily expecting that this blog is ever going to start generating any income, I’d like to be prepared should the opportunity so arise. I also think that, as a PR professional, this topic could be useful for in my client work as well.

As much as it pains me to say, this isn’t a subject I know much about (obviously in experience but also as a concept), so I’m probably going to have to go with Monetizing I. I say that it pains me not because I’ve got a massive ego (I’m cool with admitting when I need to learn a thing or two), but because Eric Alper is presenting Monetizing II and I really want to meet him. Eric, if you’re reading this, will you promise that our paths might cross before the conference ends? Because that would be extra cool.

I’m also going to miss Alli Worthington on the panel. GEEZE.

Being honest with yourself can be such a pain sometimes.

Women Entrepreneurs & Canadian Business Basics: What the Blogging M.B.A. would be… if it existed.

I’m with Candice 100% on this one; it sounds like such a cool session! It sounds like it’s going to be as engaging as it will be informative. I’m anticipating some quality discussion here.

Blogging for Social Action, Community And Empowerment: The Beauty of the Butterfly Effect

I also share Candice’s concern that this session and the aforementioned one will be running at the same time because I’m really not sure which one I’ll choose if they are. Social justice and community empowerment have always been a huge part of this blog and my social media presence in general. This session feels like it would be right up my alley.

Decisions, decisions…

Brand Building. Your Brand is More Than Your Tagline : Managing Perception & Reality

Ditto to Candice’s comment on this one. At the risk of sounding young and inexperienced (read: ignorant/naive/etc), I feel like I deal with this subject enough already working in the PR industry that this session probably isn’t the best use of my time at Blissdom.

That having been said, I would highly recommend this one to anyone who is just starting to establish their personal brand. This is need to know info!

Are you headed to BlissDom Canada on October 27th? What sessions are you planning on attending? What piques your interest? What are you hoping to get out of the conference? Make your own sessions post and link it up in the comments section! (or just share your thoughts there, I’m not picky )

1) The product/service/brand has changed somehow; or

2) Something has gone horribly, horribly wrong and the only way to move forward to start fresh.

(Okay, maybe something doesn’t have to go that horribly wrong to justify rebranding but you get the idea.)

Well, I’m in the midst of somewhat of a rebrand at the moment and I just wanted to state that, for the record, it’s not because something has gone horribly wrong.

By process of elimination, that leaves me with option number one: Something has changed.

That something, the brand in question, is me and my personal brand. I suppose it might be too much to say that I’m planning a complete overhaul – maybe I should just be calling it an evolution of my brand. All that I know is that things are changing, and I’m pretty excited about it!

When I graduated and started this blog, I knew that my personal brand was something that I was going to need to spend some time fine tuning. But I was just getting started in the world and in my career and I felt like I was really taking big steps to explore my interests for the first time. I wanted to know exactly who I was and what I had to offer before I officially gave “brand me” a cohesive structure. But that moment of clarity never seemed to materialize and before I knew it I was swept up into a flurry of activity that didn’t really allow me the time to sit and think about myself.

Then along came BlissDom and I realized that now is the perfect time (and probably the most ideal time) to really start hammering out those details. I’m about to meet hundreds of other bloggers and learn how to maximize this space so I want to go in with my best foot forward (and preferably that foot would be prepared with a shoe that coordinates with the rest of my outfit. Well developed personal brand = coordinating footwear. Am I stretching it here?)

In the just over a year that I’ve been out of school and off finding myself in the “real world” I’ve had some incredible opportunities, met wonderful people and learned a great deal. I’m a lot more confident in who I am as a public relations professional, writer, blogger and as a person.

So I’m working on some changes, which includes giving this blog a whole
new look. Lots more details on that too come!

For now, I need your help! Because I value your opinions and because I feel that the image of one’s self is only half complete without the consideration of how others regard you, I would love your feedback in choosing the news colours that will make up the visual components of my brand.

After much searching, contemplating and rearranging, I’ve come up with the following colour palettes that I’m interested in working with:

I rank colour schemes pretty high on the scale of self representation due to the various moods and images that a simple hue can conjure in the mind of the beholder. With that having been said, I’m interested in hearing what colours you think best represent me and how you currently perceive me. Your feedback will help me make my final decision.

I know it probably sounds like an odd request but I think it would be interesting to have you, my readers and peers, involved in my personal “re-branding” process. After all, you’ve all played a big part in getting me where I am today, so thank you!

It was such a great experience that I was proud to have been a part of. So needless to say, when I received an e-mail last week from Laurie Baker, my contact from the committee, about their latest endeavor I was eager to help lend a hand.

To help make the dream of bringing inclusive post secondary education to Loyalist, the IPSE committee has applied for a $100,000 grant through Pepsi’s “Refresh Everything” program.

The idea that receives the most votes between now and October 31st gets the grant so the committee and every person that could benefit from this program needs our help!

All you have to do is register with Refresh Everything, check out the IPSE profile (“Make Inclusive Education 4 Students with Intellectual Disabilities a Reality”) and vote every day between now and the end of October!

Need to be convinced? This video documents the incredible success of the IPSE program in Alberta:

Vote, spread the word and help make inclusive post secondary education a reality here in Belleville!

(Edit: Believe in the cause? Like the fan page on Facebook!)

I wasn’t sure how willing or able I was to tackle this one. It seemed a bit too personal and at the same time, not really my story to tell. I also wasn’t sure what I expected you, the reader, to take away from it. In reality I was just grieving and trying to find the right words. I guess all I needed was time and, as it turns out, a little perspective.

On June 3rd my step-cousin, Ryan Gallaher was in a moped accident in Vietnam where he had been teaching English for the past three years. Thrown from the bike, the injuries he sustained were very serious and he wound up in a coma.

My aunt, Lisa Hamilton, instantly dropped everything and flew to be by her son’s side. First he was transferred to a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand where he could receive more specialized care. But as it turned out, the health insurance that the family (including Ryan) had believed he was covered under through the company he was teaching with was bogus and getting him home turned into an absolute nightmare. With no help from the Canadian government or the teaching company, my aunt and the family were stretched to their limits having to foot the mounting medical bills while trying to figure out how to get Ryan home.

But where the government and company failed, friends, family and the community at large prevailed. A slew of fundraising events, many held by my aunt’s co-workers at International Truckload Services Ltd. in Belleville, have been held, with almost $39,000 raised to date by countless unbelievably generous people to help with the $140,000 in medical bills this ordeal has amassed. Thanks to the same amazing people, Ryan finally made it back to Canada in late June. The family was overwhelmed with the incredible outpouring of support and love that proved again and again just how powerful a community united could be.

Ryan’s health had begun to improve dramatically once he was home again, rousing from his coma and surrounded by family, friends and dedicated health care professionals. The last report I had heard was that he was beginning to communicate, move and even smile again. Everyone was so happy.

This is why it came as such a shock to me when my mother woke me on August 2nd to tearfully inform me that Ryan had passed away in the night.

I sadly never had the chance to get to know Ryan as well as I would have liked. It breaks my heart every time I think about how much he and my family, especially my aunt, had to suffer and fight only to have to be faced with such a sad and tragic ending. I can’t even begin to fathom the pain that Lisa and the rest of Ryan’s closest loved ones are going through.

Ryan, my aunt Lisa and her other son, Ty

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of Ryan’s passing, a situation, very different and yet at the same time so very similar, began to unfold not that far from here.

If you’re a fan of Catherine Connors’ blog, Her Bad Mother, then you’re most likely familiar with the story of her nephew, Tanner who is dying of Muscular Dystrophy. You are probably then also familiar with Tutus for Tanner, an initiative started to help raise awareness for the disease.

One of the family’s biggest wishes has been to have Tanner be able to spend his final days at home instead of in a hospital or care facility. Last week, Catherine, Tanner and his mother prepared to head down to the Blogher 2010 Conference in NYC where Tanner would be able to witness a tutu’d charity run in his honour. In the spirit of such a momentous occasion, Scott Stratten (aka @unmarketing) launched a 30 hour tweetathon and, thanks to the compassion and generosity of the online community, they managed to raise $25,000 to help renovate Tanner’s home with the equipment needed to help him and his family cope with his illness.

Twitter + a lot of wonderful people = a dream come true for Tanner and his family.

But then, as the Blogher-bound crew made their way to New York, tragedy struck when Air Canada was unable to reassemble Tanner’s $15,000 electric wheelchair after they had disassembled it for shipping. They agreed to fix it, but it wouldn’t be ready until Monday. This was Wednesday and the charity run was the next day. Oh, and did I mention that Tanner is immobile without a wheelchair and can’t operate a manual one?

Yeah, bad scene.

What happened next is probably one of the most epic examples of the power of social media that I’ve seen in a long time (if not ever).

Catherine sent out a tweet. One, rage-filled tweet about what had happened. That was all it took to start a firestorm of activity on Twitter. Users expressed their outrage towards Air Canada in a relentless onslaught of tweets that got everyone’s attention. Suddenly, Tanner’s story was being picked up by major news outlets across both Canada and the United States (Like this one in the Toronto Star), and in the end, not only was his chair replaced but Air Canada also decided to make up for its poor handling of the situation by making another one of Tanner’s dreams come true by offering to send him and his family to Disney World.

When bad things happen to good people, especially when those good people are ones we love, grief and the anger often hits us hard. When mom and I found out about Ryan’s passing, she kept asking why – why did the family have to go through so much and suffer for so long only to have Ryan taken from us just as things were starting to look up? It didn’t seem fair. The same goes for Tanner – It hardly seems fair that a happy and vibrant 10-year old boy would be given such a sort time on this Earth.

But sometimes (if not every time) it helps to try and see what the bigger implications of these heartbreaking events might be. Whether we see people called to action, lives changed for the better or valuable lessons learned it’s important to know that a loss or injustice has not happened in vain.

For me personally, it helps to look at the positive impact of both Ryan and Tanner’s stories. In both cases, we saw communities at their best – rallying behind causes they believed in to help make a difference and make life better for people that, for the most part, were complete strangers. Did these people have anything to gain directly from their show of compassion? Nope, they just did it because it was the right thing to do.

Both cases have also shown the power of a community to hold higher and often stronger powers accountable for their indiscretions, to draw awareness to matters of great importance and, most importantly, to create positive change. Making the best of the worst isn’t always easy, but when people come together in a sense of collective compassion, amazing things can happen.

On behalf of my family I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the incredible community that rallied behind Ryan and my aunt, Lisa over the past couple of months. Your love, support and contributions have carried the family through some incredibly dark days. Fundraising efforts are continuing and, motivated by her ordeal, my aunt has launched a campaign called “Ryan’s Rights” that aims to hold the Canadian government responsible for its citizens when they are critically injured abroad. You can find more details and make donations at bringryanhome.ca. Thank you.

Well, I guess I didn’t actually crash it, per se. Technically I was invited, along with everyone else in Belleville and Quinte. But I definitely didn’t know the couple, so there was that.

Oh, and the wedding was held at the Quinte Mall.

This lavish ceremony with all the trimmings was the end result of a contest that started, if my memory serves me correctly, almost a year ago when local radio station, Mix 97 sent out a call for couples to tell them why they deserved to win a free wedding (valued at approximately $15, 000). With the average cost for a wedding in Canada sitting around the $20, 000 mark these days (according to Wedding Bells Magazine), it’s not hard to see why a contest offering to foot the bill would be so appealing to so many couples. The (if you choose to consider it one) “catch”? The ceremony, as mentioned above, would take place at the Mall.

Oh, and the public would be helping you pick the details (i.e. the important stuff: the dress, tux, bouquet, honeymoon destination and first dance song). And don’t forget that said public would be in attendance too.

Yeah, it sounds weird, but bear with me here.

From a PR perspective, the whole campaign was a truly creative and fun way to promote the local economy in relation to such a huge industry ($4 billion annually here in Canada). Initiated by the Quinte Mall and in partnership with Mix 97, each element of the wedding was sponsored by a business, with a number of them being locally owned and operated. It was a great way to show that a bride and groom needn’t go far for the details for their perfect day.

Aside from being a great collaborative effort by many members of the community, the event was, as eluded above, very creatively executed. From the radio contest that kicked it off to the online voting on details like what dress the bride would wear or where the couple would be headed to for their honeymoon, the community was invited to engage with the whole planning process. This interactive approach really allowed people to become more emotionally invested in the event. (In case you were wondering, I voted on the bouquet and I am proud to say that the arrangement I voted for was the one that won. And yes, it made me feel like I was part of the bigger picture. Mission accomplished, Quinte Mall).

Given this rather substantial focus on community from the very beginning, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised when I heard that the public was invited to attend the ceremony. But I was. I guess I probably should have also assumed that people were allowed to be there based on the fact that the wedding was taking place in a shopping mall during store hours, but I was also hung up on the fact that it was somebody’s wedding.

I was on the fence about attending. On one hand I thought it was a really fun way to celebrate both a marriage and the finale of a campaign well run. On the other hand, it was all of the other things I’ve already mentioned multiple times: a wedding between two people I don’t know at the mall.

I asked around to see what other people were thinking about it and the sentiments all seemed rather similar. The majority of people didn’t really like the idea of getting married in a mall. They seemed to think that it was weird and maybe even downright tacky. But at the same time, nearly everyone was intrigued.

But were they intrigued enough to attend?

Well, I may have only seen one person from my informal sampling but judging by how packed Kindness Court (the Quinte Mall’s central space) was, plenty of other Belleville and Quinte residents were curious enough to attend.

In the end, it was a truly unique event to be a part of. The ceremony itself was lovely and while very untraditional, you can tell that it’s something that the whole wedding party will always remember. I had fun and was impressed with how well the event was executed (bonus points go to San Souci Special Occasion Catering for offering delicious hors d’oeuvres to spectators like myself. Definitely a nice touch ).

Check out some shots from the evening:

Kindness Court, transformed

More of Kindness Court

Centrepieces

The newlyweds with a sneak peek at the cake

Mix 97's Sean Kelly and Orlena Caine take over as emcees for the reception

I think if I were to offer any criticism regarding the “Get Married at the Quinte Mall” event, if would be in regards to how social media was incorporated into the grand scheme of things. A blog was made part of the event website and was used to document the whole process from start to finish. I my opinion, it was used pretty well.

However, this event also marked the Quinte Mall’s first real foray with social media and unfortunately they let their personal brand on both Facebook and Twitter get dominated by it. As of the time of this post being published, neither account has posted anything about retailers or other events taking place at the mall and neither of them have been updated since the wedding.

This event was a great jumping off point for the Quinte Mall to start engaging with its patrons via social media. Unfortunately, by posting nothing but content relating to the wedding, they worked to exclude users who were more interested in retailers and deals than the event. Also, by ceasing to remain active on the accounts after the event was over, they are running the risk of losing (if they haven’t already) their ability to capitalize on the momentum the wedding gave both accounts to start promoting the Quinte Mall and its retailers in general.

Other than this, I think everyone involved did a great job and pulled off a truly memorable event with class. I highly encourage everyone to check out the event website where you can browse more (and better!) photos from the wedding and take a look at all of the sponsors that were involved in making it a reality!

p.s. And just so that there’s no confusion, this post has not been sponsored in any way. I just thought it was an interesting local case study that was worth sharing with everyone

This conversation eventually led to the topic of work/life balance. Everyone at the table leads very busy lives and with the project being in the middle of a particularly busy phase, the subject of knowing how and when to separate ourselves from work and why it was important was a popular one.

We went around the table talking about what we each like to do to unwind and get back in touch with ourselves outside of the job. Activities such as reading, gardening and cooking all came up as favourite pastimes that worked well when it came time to detach. I myself love hitting the trails with my dog, Jasper when I need to relax. We’ll spend hours hiking and exploring and I always come back feeling so relaxed and closer to the world around me.

Jasper and I, enjoying the great outdoors

Naturally, vacations were a pretty unanimous preference as well. Taking a holiday to get away from work related stress and get back in touch with one’s self was regarded as the ultimate way of regaining balance. Physically leaving your associations with everyday work life and engaging in new and/or relaxing activities just seems like everyone’s favourite option.

I actually took my first vacation in a very long time over the Canada Day/Independence Day long weekend. As with many others, time and financial factors mean that vacations aren’t usually and option for me. So when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance. We spent four days down in Washington DC (a personal favourite destination) and I didn’t open my computer once. We took it easy and when I got back I was amazed at the difference the downtime had made. I felt reenergized and refocused and most importantly, I felt relaxed. There was obviously a lot waiting for me back at home but I felt ready to dive in with new ideas and a clear mind. I felt balanced

Hanging out at the White House

It’s easy to forget everything else when you’re buried in your work – whether you’re totally satisfied with said work or not. Finding and maintaining that work/life balance isn’t just good for your health (mind, body and soul) but it also helps to refresh you creatively. Whether it’s something as big as a full-blown vacation away from the everyday or just slotting in some me-time into your daily routine, remember to make room for yourself and see what kind of a difference it makes.

What do you think? Do you feel like you’ve got your work/life balance figured out or do you need a bit of work at getting back to the basics? What are your favourite ways to find balance? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Last Friday was like Christmas morning for me. Except that on this Christmas morning I had to wait until noon to get to to unwrap my presents and there was really no guarantee that there was even going to be a present under the tree at all. It was hard to focus – I was too busy being excited and nervous all at the same time.

The day had finally arrived – Early bird tickets for BlissDom Canada were going on sale at noon and it was all I could think about. After an long morning spent distracted and tweeting with other early bird hopefuls on Twitter, the clock finally struck 12 and the race was on. After an intense few minutes spent navigating minor hiccups in an otherwise flawless plan via text message, my dear friend Candice, who was ordering the tickets for both of us seeing as I didn’t have the ability to at work, sent me the news…

Success! We’re going to BLISSDOM CANADA!

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, BlissDom is a conference for women that focuses on blogging, social media and networking. Started 3 years ago by Allison Worthington of Blissful Media Group who eventually joined forces with Barbara Jones of One2One Network (they met on Twitter!), BlissDom conferences brought thought-provoking and inspiring speakers and topics to women that engage online in a fun and comfortable real life setting. BlissDom Canada will be taking place from October 27-29 in Toronto and marks the first time that the conference has come to the Great White North.

I’ve been aware of all this Bliss for just over a year now. I started noticing more and more blogging women buzzing about their experiences and I couldn’t help but get caught up in it. Everything about th experience sounded amazing – the learning and the sharing, the connections that were made and the friendships that came from those three days of getting to know other like-minded women. I was dreaming of the day when I’d be able to get myself down to one of these conferences. I wasn’t sure how or when, but I knew that I was going to get into on it eventually.

I caught wind of BlissDom Canada a few months ago and I knew that this was my chance. I’m beyond excited to be getting to attend and to be going with such a good friend. I’ve already started connecting with amazing new people because of the conference and it’s thrilling to see my network growing not only larger, but also stronger. I can’t wait to meet these women in October!

BlissDom Canada is still about 3 1/2 months away and while it seems like such a long time to have to wait for something so awesome, I think I’m going to need that time to prepare. This will be my first time going to something like this and I want to make sure I make the most of it. I have so many questions (Is it better t stay at the hotel? How does one go about getting sponsorship?) and am looking for tips and advice and ultimately, to connect with other BlissDom goers. What has always stuck out for me as the biggest take-away from BlissDom according to other bloggers are the people you meet. Personally, I am so thrilled to start connecting!

This experience is really important to me so expect more than a few posts about it along the way!

If you’re going to BlissDom Canada, I’d love to hear from you! Been to a BlissDom conference before? I’d love to pick your brain!

Let the Road to BlissDom begin!

Well I have obviously long since received my files and I was absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. It was honestly such a great investment, and if there is anyone in the Kingston-Belleville-Quinte areas (or even beyond for that matter) that is looking for some quality photographers for personal shots, I can’t recommend Lucas and Melissa enough.

I hadn’t posted any of the shots because I intend to use them on various profiles and layouts and I didn’t really want to get them all out there right away before I had done any of that. Still, people have been asking about the ones that I have been using so I thought I’d post them here so everyone can get an idea of the quality of work that the Violets produce!

Most of these I have already used in different places online already:

This was the first shot I revealed. It’s my current Facebook profile photo and it makes me feel like Taylor Swift

I have this photo up in the About section of this site. I
love the water and lighting!

I used this as my headshot on LinkedIn and Visual CV (in progress). We might have snuck into a derelict building to shoot this series. I was amazed with the results. Lucas is basically a genius.

Don’t forget to follow Lucas on Melissa on Twitter too!

A little while ago I did some pro bono media relations work for an event being run by an amazing local non-profit. I like when I am able to take the time for projects like these. It alway feels good to work hard for a good cause and it also helps me to stay on top of my game. If I get to work with great people on great projects at the same time? Bonus! The campaign went great and in the end both parties walked away satisfied.

Something I learned very quickly when I first started working in PR was to always say thank you.

Did a journalist pick up the story you pitched them? Send them an e-mail to say thanks.

Did your volunteers do an amazing job making an event successful? Thank them for their time and commitment.

Did you work with someone on a project? Tell them that you appreciated their support.

Saying thank you isn’t just a polite and thoughtful (not to mention the socially appropriate thing to do). In business, taking the time to show your appreciation helps make your relationship stand out as a partnership rather than just another business transaction. When it comes to our jobs, the work we do on a daily basis can quickly become routine and lose the personal significance it once held. Having someone acknowledge when you do a good job can help to remind us why we do what we do in the first place.

After the campaign wrapped up, I put together a small thank you card and mailed it off to my client. Shortly thereafter, a card came for me from her, thanking me for all my help.

It made me feel great and it let me know that I’m on the right track. And you know what else? It was a small gesture that I will remember for a long time.

These are the little things that people remember.

So, who are you going to thank today?