Social Media Skinny

August 31st, 2009 Comments Off

Skinny this thing is not. The world of Social Media is fat. Very, very obese as a matter of fact.

Since retiring from my post as Director of SYA and Managing Editor of The Fresh Magazine, I have been undergoing the very daunting task of updating my social media profiles and strategy. I have now branded my FB, twitter, linked in  and of course this Word Press blog.

Of course there are some amazing sites out there to get anyone started in this world. Some of best sites out there to get the latest news and tips include Mashable and Seth Godin. Everyone must, absolutely must, have a twitter account which is then linked to your FB account and of course, linked in for all of your professional connections.

I’m really starting to hammer out this world in full throttle fashion so to speak. I have always been involved but on a smaller scale due to my 16 hour days developing a non-profit business and a magazine. I’ve always followed the blogs and news about what is new and great and I’ve stayed connected with some clients of mine including the band IT and with volunteer work with the Algoma Fall Festival. This marks however, the first time that I am out there creating my own personal brand.

It is daunting but for me and for anyone else, it’s necessary and it’s a lot of fun. Professional development is something that is never ending, especially in this world of 2.0 and 3.0 technologies and it will just continue to be more and more advanced and faster moving. To fall behind now, with any business, is falling behind in your business. So my advice to all is start slowly with the basic accounts and then keep learning and keep developing unti you reach your Social potential.

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Starting … Now

August 24th, 2009 Comments Off

So, it’s been three weeks now since leaving my post as the Business Director of the Sault Youth Association and Managing Editor of The Fresh Magazine. I hadn’t taken a vacation in nearly three years so I thought I would reward myself with some down-time before heading out full force on my new journey(s). Now.. let’s begin.

What have I been up to? Well of course I’ve been sending out some resumes as that goes without saying. But I’ve also been updating all of my personal affairs, as it just seems with the 12-16 hour days I was working before, my home-office and personal filing was really falling behind. I’ve also be working on devising what a new company would look like alongside my partner Jason Sproule.

So with all of that (almost) figured out and home/personal life (nearly) finalized, I’m ready to move forward on building my own company with Jason. It will be called Redmnky and will be full-servicing Marketing Communications and Design company. We’re pretty excited about it actually. I’ll also continue to seek full-time and challenging employment, but in my field, it’s hard to come by. So until I can, I’m working to build it up on my own and with that, can try to fulfill all those ideas that swarm in my head.

I’ve been doing a lot of research online lately in terms of Public Relations and Marketing tactics. This is a field where the learning and growth never stops and that is one thing that I love so much about it. Everyday you see new growth that generates new ideas and strategies.

I’m looking forward to this. If you or anyone you know is seeking Marketing, Public Relations or Design work, put more than 20 years of combined experience to work. If you know of anyone looking for someone with my skills and passion, also direct them to this site.

A great adventure awaits me. Stay tuned..

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Community of Interest in the Creative North

August 24th, 2009 Comments Off

If you have read anything else on here, you’ll have discovered that I love the arts, particularly music and film. I always have enjoyed these forms of expression and although have never had an ability (or attempt) to create any of it myself, I love to work in the industry assisting those who do create. I love to promote creative artists in all forms, I love to manage the business side of the art. It’s fun for me and I get to be a big part of an industry I so admire and enjoy.
So, having said all of that, I have been around this industry for more than 10 years and having moved back to the Sault, the creative energy and talents here continue to astound me regularly. Yet there is such little support as a community for local talent. So many say they support our  home-grown artists, yet fail to do much about it. There are some who continuously do so, but it appears that unless an artist has made it elsewhere and returns home, they’re not taken seriously and only viewed as hobbyists.
It’s unforunate and I’m perplexed. I wonder how and why in a city with so many passionate people and people with such grande visions, does it take 20-years to get progressive projects off the ground or show very little movement in the forward motion. I want to call all these people who are advocates for change, progress and diversification whether it be through our arts community or elsewhere to come together. There’s no reason why this can’t happen faster. With the stronng ‘community of interest’ proponents that I’ve spoken too banning together to advoate for progress, things may not take so long and we can be around to see our artists prosper and our community grow.
My two cents ~

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We All Screw Up …

August 24th, 2009 § 0

“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”
~ Dalai Lama

Readers of Fresh know that I like to begin my editorials with a quote. I suppose so you know where my head is at when I sit down to write something. My editorials are always the very last thing to be written and entered into the magazine because my headspace and my editorials are often inspired by the very words I’ve just read.

The quote above follows this issue well; it also seems to follow my life in general at this particular time. I’m a strong believer in having a belief in yourself no matter your position in the world, how many times life has thrown you to the ground and no matter how hard the kick was that threw you down.

So the headline on a popular news website showed your story about how you broke into a car on a night you were particularly bored or pressured. So your parents were outraged or your parole officer threw you back into detention. You screwed up. Here’s a news headline… We All Screw Up!

It doesn’t mean you are destined to screw up forever. Man… if I think back to the many ways I’ve screwed up over the course of my life and how many times my parents went nuts on me for some of the stupid decisions I made. Ha ha. I can only laugh now. I actually apologized to my parents in my mid-twenties for all the crap I put them through. But you know what? I sucked it up and moved onwards and upwards and moved into a successful life, both professionally and personally.

Now I know I was never arrested – although it doesn’t mean I couldn’t have been on occasion. I know I grew up in a very stable and fortunate home. I know this. And I know others who were certainly not as fortunate as I was in that regard and I know many who have been in-and-out of detention centre’s, jail, social assistance and social housing. Some bounced back and moved into success and some sadly, did not.

Confidence. Confidence seems to be the key as far as I can tell. Confidence that you can break the cycle of misfortune. Confidence that you can make a good living. Confidence that you can change yourself. Confidence that you can become that person in your dreams.

You may never make a lot of money, you may never shake your criminal record, you may not have the means to get a post-secondary education, you may not have a support system at all and you may have one hell of a time getting off the drugs. So?

You can dream. And there must be something that you like doing. Drawing? Fixing cars? Doing your hair? Playing your guitar? Writing? Hanging out? Taking pictures?

Any of those things can become great jobs. Figuring out that one thing that you love to do and then figuring out how to do it for a living. That’s the dream and that’s possible for each and every one of us.

There is no such thing as luck. Good luck or bad luck. There is only opportunity meeting preparation and of course, having a belief in yourself.

I’ve let people shake my confidence many times over the years. I’ve let people sway my decisions about what I should be doing or could be doing. I’ve let people cut me down to the point where I lost the belief in my own potential and I felt there was no way that I could do something.

Well, then my stubborn Slavic side comes out and my gloves go on and I say screw it to each of those people and do what I know I can do. We can all do something. We can all do something well. Figure that out and there’s no one or anything that can ever get in your way of doing it.

Why?

Because you already know you can.

With those thoughts in my head, I also want to thank all the readers, writers and volunteers of The Fresh Magazine and SYA. Thanks to the young people and to the supporters of our young people in this community. It’s all of you who truly make the Sault significant, provide a promise for a progressive future and provide us with diversity.

Believe | Persevere

Taken from my 10th and final issue of The Fresh Magazine (summer 2009). I did not retire from my post until after this issue was printed, therefore, unfortunately I was not able to say a proper goodbye to my readers.

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What’s Your Picture?

July 22nd, 2009 § 0

From the February 2009 issue of The Fresh Magazine


“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

~ Pablo Picasso

Imagine yourself in this conversation…
“What is that?”
“It’s a sunrise,” was the reply.
“Wow, it’s beautiful. Who painted that picture?”
This is what my three-year-old son said one morning on his way to daycare. It touched me deeply to hear these words come from him. You always hear about the innocence of a child. You are always encouraged to try to see the world through the eyes of a child.  You hear all about this – the child’s perspective of innocence. Yet for me, I never fully grasped what it was to see through my son’s eyes until this moment.
Throughout life, we inevitably have “experiences.” Whether these experiences are positive or negative, good or bad, they are the same experiences that eventually shape who we are and contribute to how we view others and the world around us. A child knows nothing of this. But they do know how to play, use their imagination, love and be loved, laugh, and recognize and appreciate the beauty all around us – the very beauty we have stopped noticing.
I’ve lived. There is no doubt about that. Since having a son and hearing his perspective on beauty, I’ve reflected a lot about my life. Mainly, how you get to where you are and how you become who you are. It’s been quite the journey of self-actualization. And thanks to those innocent words of a three-year-old boy, I am now realizing this for myself.
I may have technically “grown up” in Toronto, since I spent fifteen-years of my young adult life there. However, my most formative years, those years that really mark the beginning of self, happened right here in this small, isolated, and Northern Ontario city.
Like many of you reading this, I really did not like Sault Ste. Marie as a teenager and wanted more than anything to “get out.” And I did just that – I left. When I left and made friends in Southern Ontario, I realized that we do have a true community in Sault Ste. Marie. We have unique experiences and perspectives that not one of my friends who grew up “down South” could completely relate to. I think that is why there is such a large contingent of “Saulites” who congregate regularly in Toronto. They (we) can relate to each other like no one else can, and in their (our) heart-of-hearts, despite the bitching and complaining and the horror stories, this is “home.” It was always, “are you going home for the holidays?” Think about this.
I can recall my youth spent in Sault Ste. Marie and there will always be some times that I think are best forgotten. Even in this short time since I’ve returned home to the Soo, there still have been some experiences that I wish were never experienced. But you know what, Toronto wasn’t, and isn’t, that much different from my life here. There were good times, bad times, crazy party till’ you drop times, times with many tears and of course, times with a lot of laughter. This is what you get anywhere you go. It’s life. And no matter what, you are still living it and all of the emotions that follow and those experiences are vital to have to shape us, and today, I have no regrets and in reflection, am glad I had all the experiences I did – the good, the bad and the ugly.
For our young people, you know what Sault Ste. Marie does for you – it makes you stronger. This is not a lie, we are “tough little cookies.” We’re isolated. Our winters are long and hard. Everyone knows our mothers, fathers, friends and our personal business. You can’t escape any of this. But all of these things also force us to be fierce. In the end, we are made capable and unstoppable because of our community.
I sit here in SSM now and look around at how it has changed in the past 20 years since I was a teenager. I see growth. I see potential. And most of all, I see more diversity – diversity in our cultures, in our landscapes, and in our industries. This to me is what is “beautiful.”
No matter where we go in this world, we appreciate its beautiful pictures. Who doesn’t log on to Facebook and look at their friend’s pictures from where they’ve travelled? But I think somewhere in the midst of the complaints and the bitter attitudes about Sault Ste. Marie, we forget to appreciate our “pictures” from home. I know I did. For me, it took the innocent words of a three-year-old boy to awaken my spirit and appreciation for our sunrises, sunsets, parks, beaches, snowy trees, wilderness, and people.
What’s your “picture”?

- FYI: The answer provided to the question “Who painted that picture?” was of course, God.

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Our Security | Our Change

July 22nd, 2009 § 0

From the Summer 2008 issue of The Fresh  Magazine

“Our only security is our ability to change.” – John Lilly

So that is what this editorial is about – change. It’s an inevitable part of all our lives, or at least for those who choose to truly live.

It’s necessary for growth. No matter how much we innately fear it, or how much hurt it may cause us as we experience it, it tends to always bring with it an opportunity, if we allow ourselves to open our eyes to see that opportunity. It seems to be how we view these changes in our life that provides the ability to turn that fear of it into a courage that embraces it.

Personally, I have experienced so many big, scary changes in the past few years of my life, as have many people, that I have learned to embrace them.  I have cried so many times in great joy and in intense pain, over precious gifts and over great losses, and it seems that no matter what change is thrown my way, around the corner comes an opportunity.

In these brief three years, I have brought new life into this world. I found my name again. I left one life behind to blindly begin a new one. I lost my best friend. I found love. I walked away from a great career. I reached out and grabbed my dream.

For many years I feared change. I now embrace it. I now know that with it, whether or not we can see it or feel it at the time the emotion runs its greatest, comes a new chance. Because at least for myself, nothing provides a better opportunity to learn and achieve whatever it is we want to achieve, than the most painful, the scariest and the greatest changes that we experience.

If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.

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Patriotism and Progression

July 22nd, 2009 § 0

From the December 2008 issue of The Fresh Magazine

So as you read through this issue of the Fresh Magazine, you are going to notice a common thread – Sault Ste. Marie patriotism and progression. I’m serious. Really.

It’s not even with just this issue but submissions for this one in particular have really reflected these things. You see, one thing I’ve noticed in my work with the youth and the community of SSM over the past couple of years is how many people are involved, want to be involved and are working towards making a better Quality of Life for our young people.

It’s true. You’ll see it from this issue and stories from past issues. From one corner of the city to another, from the private and public sectors, from youth and educators alike, to our members and staff working in the City, career blazers and recreational. Working towards building a better community for our youth is their vision, their mission, their knowledge and their passion.

It’s funny though. One key ingredient from all of these youth supporters that seems to be missing is a strong youth voice. I don’t know if any of you young people out there are reading this or will believe me, but really, there is a whole crew of people like myself and the SYA team who are working towards developing Sault Ste. Marie. What we need to make it happen and create the change, make it happen faster and more be more progressive, are your united voices.

We’re out there doing it. We’re out there doing it for our community and for you but we’d like to do it with you. It’s important all our young people, all who have something to say, all who want to see our city grow and develop, are all heard so we can unify our voices, strengthen our cause and get things done.

Sure, there are a lot of people around who still look down on youth and believe that you are a bunch of trouble makers. Recently there has been a lot of talk in the community about Youth Crime and the rise of it within our city and what can we do about it. What can we do about it? You tell us. They want to form a committee to address the issue, we’d love to hear from you. You can email me your thoughts at joanne@thefreshmagazine and I assure you, I will get your voices heard to those who need to hear it, those that are speaking about this issue. Adults working for you have their ideas but we want to hear yours. Speak up.

Also, 2008 was declared “Year of the Youth” by our Mayor. I know that many youth are sitting back and thinking nothing has happened. But it has. As one article pointed out in this issue by Bill Howe, “youth today are instantly gratified by technologies available to them.” This is true. But nothing happens instantly. But in Sault Ste. Marie over the past year, strides are being made to work towards building this a youth friendly, youth progressive community from all sides and sectors of the community.

For example, this past year has finally seen the Skatepark come to break ground. We at SYA, together with our supporting partners including the Ontario Government (Trillium), the Municipality of the City of SSM, YMCA and YECS and many more, are working towards developing and instituting a city-wide youth strategy, getting SSM declared a youth friendly community, developing plans for a new facility and have hosted new arts events, developed a new YMCA Rocks program for career education in the music and entertainment sector and so much more. And we spent a lot of time in developing new projects for 2009.

It is happening. The level of awareness in the community and support is outstanding. So many young professionals moving back to our city because they love it and see its potential (I’m one of them), the committed people working for our youth because we know the importance of this, we understand, we have vision and purpose but we need your voices.

Speak up. You now have access to this magazine to discuss ANYTHING you want to say. We are uncensored, you can be anonymous if you want, we can print whatever you want to say. Participate in survey’s and youth forums when called upon. Become a member of SYA and join in on the change, create movement and events that you want with our full support.

If you stay silent and uninvolved, change will be slower. We need your voices and your thoughts. You can be heard. You will be heard. You have a lot of support.

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