Five Hole For Food Victoria – help the Mustard Seed Food Bank – Friday July 19th 2013

Join the team from Five Hole for Food (FHFF), this Friday July 19th at Saanich Plaza from 2 to 6pm, as they play Canada’s favourite pastime – road hockey - and raise donations of food and cash for Victoria’s Mustard Seed Food Bank. I first became aware of Five Hole for Food, founded in Vancouver in 2010, through my online social media connections, and am happy to lend my support to their ongoing efforts to raise awareness of, and support … [Read more...]

Idea Wave 2012

In 2010,  Kris Constable conceived Idea Wave - a two day conference of short 10 minute presentations by people who had an idea - big or small, on any subject.  Since then, there have been three Idea Wave conferences, the latest February 25 and 26th in Victoria BC.  I've had the pleasure of speaking at all three and would personally like to thank Kris for creating a space/place and community for people who share a passion for thinking, ideas, … [Read more...]

Impressions from “A Conversation on Amalgamation” February 7th, 2012 Victoria BC

I arrived at SJ Willis Educational Centre to a packed auditorium - 150 people determined to share in this "Conversation on Amalgamation" convened by a volunteer committee of: Shellie Gudgeon, Tamara Hernandez, Rod Phillips, Susan Jones and Mat Wright.  Since their involvement started largely due to conversations on Twitter, there was naturally a new media component to the evening. Here is the #yyjgov tweet stream as curated using … [Read more...]

Gourmet Gala in the Cowichan Valley – a Success!

If attendance at Gourmet Gala October 1st  is any indication, the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce deserves to be extremely proud. It was a big leap of faith to go from previous galas, held in much smaller venues, to this year's event, held in the brand-new Mellor Hall at the Cowichan Exhibition grounds. When the organizers learned that I would be celebrating a birthday, they graciously extended an invitation … [Read more...]

Five Hole for Food – Help the Mustard Seed Food Bank

It's no secret that a good deal of my news concerning special events comes from social media via Twitter and Facebook. So, when Dixon Tam tweeted me about Five Hole For Food, I was only more than happy to help promote this fundraiser/foodraiser for the Mustard Seed Food Bank. I've known Dixon virtually for several years now; Five Hole For Food is his volunteer commitment. It will be an added bonus to meet him in person. What is Five Hole … [Read more...]

Darth Fiddler and His New Violin

Darth Fiddler is back performing on the Inner Harbour and looks forward to the Victoria International Buskers Festival. We stopped by to visit with him briefly and listen to his music, performed on the violin donated by Larsen Music. For more information on the attack on Darth Fiddler June 11th, see here: … [Read more...]

Darth Fiddler and his violin – can we help?

2pm June 14th, please read below for an update It started as a mention on Twitter: (#yyj is Twitter shorthand for Victoria BC). And before you knew it, everyone was weighing in.  Within minutes, we had the official news from the Victoria Police Department via their website. And while the site does not specifically name "Darth Fiddler" as the victim of this assault, nor mention that his means of livelihood - his violin - was damaged, it … [Read more...]

Social Media Camp Victoria 2011 #smcv11

It's a week later and I'm still processing Social Media Camp 2011, #SMCV11, held at the Victoria Conference Centre on June 3rd and 4th. Exhilarating, sharing, connecting, community, fun, generosity, gratitude - these are a few of the words that come to mind when trying to explain my experiences for outsiders. When we live in the "social media bubble" we forget, at times, that there are people who do not know what a blog is, let alone social … [Read more...]

Social Media and Friendship

From Flickr: Photo of Raul Pacheco (aka Hummingbird604) and Janis La Couvée at WordCampVictoria May 2010 Whenever people ask me about the return on investment (ROI) of social media, particularly as it pertains to me personally, I'm left at a loss for words. I've had individuals say "I'm not looking to expand my social circles, so social media is a waste of time for me". Fair enough! That was not my case. Widowed in 2001, with children … [Read more...]

MISA BC April 28 -29 Nanaimo BC

I've made some amazing connections since signing up for Twitter on April 8 2009. These connections happen with incredible synchronicity, and leap-frogging.  Thus it was for Jason Birch and I. Jason works in IT for the City of Nanaimo, his spouse is francophone - this was actually our first "linkage". We share a passion for community, and for "open".  Jason invited me to speak to the spring MISA BC (Municipal Information Systems Association of … [Read more...]