Clarkeblog

Podcasters Across Borders 2010 #pab2010

I've been meaning to write about what a great time I had at Podcasters Across Borders for some time now. Almost a month has passed, but I haven't forgotten a few things:

• Ottawa is a beautiful city! I've visited once before for a family wedding, but that was several years ago and I didn't get the chance to see much of the city. This was my first time actually seeing the downtown area, the market, Parliament Hill, the river, etc. I really loved it and insist on going back soon, as one of my younger sisters lives there and has a very comfy couch I can sleep on anytime. Ottawa, I'll be back.
• Canada's podcasters are like a family. There's a real sense of community among the attendees of #pab2010 that I felt very much a part of for the weekend. The people really know each other and care quite deeply about the well-being of everyone. At times emotional, at times hilarious, and others bizarre, the feel was more "family reunion" than social media conference. 
• PAB 2010 had something for everyone. I'll readily admit that not everything was pertinent to me since I no longer produce podcasts or get involved in the day-to-day happenings of the social media space, but there were some great insights gleaned from the sessions offered at PAB 2010. I have to hand it to Mark Blevis and Bob Goyetche - the weekend had something for everyone, and everything was done to perfection.
• Lunch was amazing! A three-course sit-down lunch in the beautiful National Arts Centre? No conference lunch will ever compare. Well done. 
• Boat cruise! Really, really glad I didn't miss it.
• Jolts are a terrific idea! Interspersed between longform presentations and keynotes, Jolts are only a few minutes long and provide something completely different for the audience. I think Jolts should be a part of every conference. Another great idea, Bob and Mark!

It was great seeing some familiar faces and catching up, too! I'm looking forward to PAB 2011 already!

Podcamp London 2010 #pclo10

I spent the weekend in lovely London, Ontario re-immersing myself in the city I used to call home for Podcamp London 2010. I last visited for Podcamp 2009, and this year I came away so impressed that I couldn't not write a blog post gushing about the great work put forth to make this the best unconference I've ever attended - by a lot.

Here's the rundown of the weekend: I hitched a ride with Miranda aka @ilovecpstyle, Rick @rickweiss and Brent @closetgeekshow and we made it to London (in spite of the torrential downpour and thunderstorm) just in time to miss the get-together that the organizers put on at the Coat of Arms pub downtown. Rick, Brent and I still sat down and had a beverage before heading back to the hotel to rest up for the night.

Saturday was the big day, and we arrived promptly at The Research Park in London, where Podcamp London was being hosted. It's a great facility - I regularly overheard comments from attendees of the "green"-ness of the building. We arrived at about 8:30 a.m. and immediately began networking, running into old friends from London and some of the local digerati I had met at previous Podcamps.

The sessions were mostly terrific. Steve Groves from the London Free Press (@steveATlfpress) and Stuart Thompson from the UWO Gazette (stuartATgazette) were the very first session I attended and, based on how great a similar session went last year, I had high expectations. The two did not disappoint, showing off graphs and charts while sharing anecdotes from some of the most sensational news days they've had this year. There was not nearly enough time to cover everything the audience wanted to get into, so we were left wanting more - the mark of a great presentation.

I managed to miss the next block of sessions, but had the chance to enjoy Bill Wittur aka @bottree's session, Bling Your Blog with Hotwords. I learned a trick or two and, should I ever need some Google juice for my blog, I'll definitely put some of the tools Bill shared to work for Clarkeblog. Thanks Bill!

The next interesting session was hosted by Pat Dryburgh aka @patdryburgh, titled "The Talk Formerly Known as "NRRW", Which is Now Just A Freestyle Soliloquy on How Social Media Influenced My Decision To Quit My Job and Go Freelance." It was a candid and interactive session and I came away with one big idea: if you can do great work, you can do whatever you want and have a great career. As Pat said, you may not get rich, but you'll have success.

Lunctime came, and after hanging out chatting with fellow attendees and eating as many cookies as I possibly could, I decided to hang out some more in the defacto common area and chat with some of the other attendees who needed an extended break. I rejoined the stream for Michael Banovsky's aka @banovsky session on social media bullshit. I found him engaging, interesting, and wish he would have talked more from his own perspective and from his own social media experiences...but he already knows that and told me as much on Twitter.

The last session I attended involved Chatroulette. It's almost too NSFW to even talk about, but suffice to it was a riot and someone won $16. Great session to wrap up the day!

After a nap, Miranda, Rick and I headed to the Ceeps for the official afterparty. There was food, there was drink, and there was entertainment. It was an amazing party and I had tons of fun. The organizers did a great job making everyone feel welcome, and nothing says "welcome" like free food and drink among friends. Special props to the organizers of Podcamp London: Bill Deys, Titus Ferguson, Kevin Van Lierop (and anyone else I'm not aware of or forgetting!) thank you guys so much! It was amazing, and everything about #pclo10 was absolutely top notch, from the venues for the event and after party to the quality and variety of the sessions offered to the other things that few people recognize (unless you've done some event planning) like the great t-shirts, the awesome name badges, the ubiquitous wifi, the sponsored snacks, and all the other things that made Podcamp London great!

See you next year for Podcamp London 2011!

Thirsty Thursday

If I could, I would retweet this blog post by Parker inviting all of Toronto's young PR, comms, social media, marketing, etc. people to Thirsty Thursday next week on Thursday, April 15 at Pauper's Pub around 6 p.m. He sums things up nicely.

Come celebrate Parker turning 28. Feel free to bring a friend or two. RSVP to the event on Facebook: http://bit.ly/ctoTZH

Final Eastern Conference Playoff Spot in the NBA: Toronto or Chicago?

I was talking to my "main man" in the office today, Ian, about the Raptors probably not making the playoffs. Chris Bosh is out for the remainder of the regular season with a broken face, and Hedo Turkoglu is out for at least the next game, if not more because he fractured something in his face, too. 

During our chat, Ian and I both wrote the Raptors off. After our chat, it dawned on me that I hadn't even checked the schedule to see who the Raptors are playing in their final few games. So I took a peek, and amazingly, the Raptors have a really solid chance. Here's the breakdown of what's left for both teams:

• Toronto are currently 38-40,  while Chicago are 37-40. That means Toronto have 4 games remaining, and Chicago have 5.

• Chicago play Cleveland tonight, then New Jersey, are in Toronto on Sunday, host Boston on Tuesday, and wrap the season in Charlotte.

• Toronto play the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, host the Bulls on Sunday, play in Detroit on Monday, and finish the season at home against New York.

 

Here's why Toronto should make the playoffs: comparing the remaining opponents, Toronto has a better chance. A much, much better chance.

First things first, Toronto holds the tiebreaker against Chicago, so if they finished the season with the same record, Toronto would finish ahead of Chicago and be in the playoffs. Essentially, a tie wins for Toronto, so the only way Chicago gets into the playoffs is if they finish with a better record, and I don't see that happening.

The Raptors will likely lose to Atlanta, and may lose to Chicago, but they shouldn't lose to Detroit (even on the road) nor should they lose to the Knicks at home to finish the season. That puts them at 40-42.

Chicago? They have one surefire win left against New Jersey, and otherwise will be in tough for the other four games. They won't beat Cleveland tonight. They will beat the Nets. Assuming they beat the Raptors, they'll still likely fall to Boston. Making the assumption that they win against Charlotte, that puts them at 40-42 - not good enough because Toronto owns the tiebreaker.

Toronto should make the playoffs, but without their two highest-paid players, it's not a lock that they get in. They could conceivably "lose out" and finish with 38 wins. If that happens, Chicago would only have to win one of their other 4 games (since they'll beat Toronto on Sunday) to get in, and like I said, they play New Jersey...

 

 

Northern Voice 2010

When I was in college studying public relations and independently learning about social media (back in 2005-2006), I heard about two conferences that I badly wanted to attend: one was the mesh conference, which I was lucky to be able to attend for the first 3 years of it's existence; the other was Northern Voice, and I've never even come close to attending in the 5 previous years.

This year, it happens to fall on the same weekend as Podcamp London (in nearby London, Ontario), which is a bit of a shame. However, after giving it some thought, I think I'll attend Northern Voice on the condition that I'm granted one of their travel bursaries, which were quite generously offered on the conference blog.

Unfortunately, I may not be the ideal candidate for one of their bursaries. Here's the criteria:

• The contributions you can make to the conference: I think on some level everyone contributes to the conference just by participating, so I do have that to offer! My level

• Your level of need: It depends. Do I need to attend the conference? No, but I'd really like to, and without this bursary I won't be attending. So...high?

• The quality of your submission: This is the submission. How would you rate it, dear reader?

• The diversity you might bring to Northern Voice: I'm a 20-something white male who works in public relations. I sincerely doubt that I qualify as "diverse".

So I don't think I've really set myself apart in terms of their criteria. That said, I'd like to make a special appeal to the fine folks organizing Northern Voice 2010:

• There isn't a conference I've wanted to attend this much since the first mesh conference back in 2006
• I'm sure to be live Twittering and blogging about the conference
• You won't find a person more interested in visiting Vancouver for the first time
• I'm keen to meet some of the left coasters I've followed online for the past few years
• I still have a lot to learn about social media, and I probably missed a lot in my year off from blogging

Northern Voice 2010: see you there?

Telephone - or, How I'm Almost Ready to Buy a Google Nexus One on Wind Mobile

I'm trying to figure out if I'm ready to get a real, adult cell phone and I can't decide for certain.

What pushed me in this direction was the past month. I've talk and texted my way through over $30 in pay-as-you-go in less than a month. I have a super-durable but extremely outdated Nokia flip phone that I'm embarassed to take out in public (especially events where owning anything less than an iPhone is blasphemy). I rarely make calls, but I text often enough, so I figure that while I may not need a $50 monthly talk and text plan on an iPhone with gigs of data, it wouldn't hurt to at least be equipped with something a little bit more this century.

Even though the cost is high at about $650 Canadian after shipping, taxes, import fees, and duty, I'm considering the Google Nexus One and signing up for a plan with the fine folks at WIND Mobile. By all accounts, it's an amazing phone and I wouldn't have to sign a contract with WIND, and right now they have a promotion where I can port my number over and receive $150 in account credit. For someone who doesn't talk much and will only text a bit beyond their monthly limit, their $15/month plan seems like a good idea. However, buying the Google phone seems like way more phone than I need - it's a powerful, sleek computer in your hand. I'd need to sign up for a data plan. Guess what data costs on WIND? Another $35/month, bringing my total plan before taxes to $50 without any add-ons, pretty steep for someone who doesn't make phone calls.

I could explore options from other carriers, but I don't want to sign a contract, and if I did I wouldn't get one of the main perks of signing a contract: subsidized cell phone prices, because I want the Nexus One and it's not offered subsidized by any carriers at the moment.

The $150 promotion with WIND ends April 30th, so I have time to decide. I also have to burn through over $40 in pay-as-I-go credit.

Any feedback or suggestions? Am I just being stubborn and cheap? Is it time I grow up and buy an overpriced phone and pay through the nose in wireless like everyone else? You tell me.

Talk is Cheap Unconference

Hi again! Glad to see that I still have some readers left. I have a little bit of a Student PR-type blog post for you - consider it a throwback to 2006.

I wanted to mention that I'll be hosting a panel this week at Talk is Cheap, an unconference organized entirely by Centennial College's Corporate Communications and Public Relations Program. You can find out all about it at the CCPR program's website, which is a pretty neat idea if you ask me.

This is the third year I host this panel, which remains untitled but has been dubbed the "young PR pros" panel, and I've enjoyed it more each year. Joining me will be my good friend Larysa Woloszanskyj, the PR Manager for Clickfree aka @LarysaW on Twitter; a good friend of Larysa's, Michelle Pennell, the Senior Communications Specialist, Enersource Corporation, better known as @michellepennell on Twitter; and a friend of my friend Amanda Laird's, Virginia Middleton, Communications Officer for Kids Help Phone, aka @vmiddleton on Twitter.

Those three young PR superstars will tell me and the attendees all about how they got into PR, how they became so darn successful, and what they have learned in their years working in PR. It promises to be a lot of fun, assuming I let them talk (I'm the moderator, after all - I may spend the half hour talking about how I found my way into this business, but surely nobody needs to hear that story for the 3rd year in a row!).

Everything gets underway at around 5 o'clock on Thursday, March 18 at the Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial, which is near Pape and Danforth in Toronto.

You should also join Parker and I after Talk is Cheap for the unofficial afterparty so exclusive and so awesome that no other afterparty was planned, called Talk is Thirsty. It's for everyone this time, not just the young PR folks as it often is, so come out, enjoy a post Talk is Cheap beverage, and tell Parker and I what you really thought of our presentations (Parker will be telling us how everything he learned about social media, he learned from listening to music. Or something like that. It's probably best to attend his session to find out for sure).

A test to see if I have any readers left

Hey. Nice to see you. It's been a while. In fact, it's been over a year. Miss me?

If you're reading this and remember who I am online, that being the guy who did Student PR, then this Clarkeblog blog, and now this different Clarkeblog blog, please leave me a comment. Just raise your hand as if it was role call in the morning at school and say "I" or "present", either works.

I promise there will be more content this year than last (and if you're reading this then I've officially delivered on my promise).

TTC Worker Gets Verbally Assaulted

I can't believe what I just witnessed. I was standing at the Toronto Transit Commission token booth at Yonge and St. Clair station at about 10:40 AM this morning, waiting to buy my monthly Metropass. The woman behind the counter was counting out some money so I waited patiently for her to finish. From behind me stepped two women, one in her 30s or so, and the other old enough to be her mother (which I suspect she was). They walked through the gate unchecked, and after the elder woman passed through the gate, it made a sound I had never heard before. Upon hearing the sound, the TTC employee behind the counter stopped counting her money, stepped outside the booth, and hollered (I wouldn't say that she "shouted" or "yelled" because she was simply raising her voice to get their attention) in their direction "Excuse me, do you have a pass?" to which the younger woman replied "Yes, I do" and produced it. The TTC worker said something to the effect of "You have to show it to me to pass," or "I didn't see it," or something to that effect. The TTC worker inspected the pass, and politely said "Thank you." And back to work she went. She hadn't touched her chair before she heard the woman yell back in her direction "Bitch!" which got the TTC worker moving again. Out her booth she went, and said "Excuse me?" in the direction of the assumed mother-daughter pair, who were strolling down the stairs at this point walking towards the subway. The younger woman, unbelievable as it may sound, yelled back obscenities I've never heard uttered publicly by a woman. "You fucking bitch!" replied the younger of the two. The TTC worker replied by saying "I hope you're not calling your mother those things!" as if to diffuse the situation, or perhaps giving the woman a second chance to keep from having to report a case of verbal abuse. I can't recall the exact sequence of the words, but suffice to say that this woman in her 30s (in front of a woman I assume to be her mother) would not let it go, and screamed several times the words "fucking whore" back in the direction of the TTC worker, while also giving her the middle finger. At this point, the TTC worker decides to retaliate by saying something rude and unfair herself. Again, I can't recall the exact wording, but "Go back to your country where you can say those things" wouldn't be far from the exact wording. Then the TTC worker stepped back inside her booth, picked up the phone, and reported the woman's direction and whereabouts, "heading south from St. Clair station", and sat back down, obviously shaken. I stood there, slack-jawed, not believing what I had just witnessed. I couldn't think of a thing to say to this woman. She looked at me and just went on with her job, and asked me what I needed. I tried to say something innocuous, but I don't think it hit the mark. "Makes for an interesting Saturday," I said. She replied with something I suspected but hoped against. "Well it would make for an interesting Saturday if it didn't happen every single other day of the week."

A Lil' More on Lil' Wayne

I felt compelled to post something to my blog, so I figured it had to be something good after such a long absence. What better to talk about than the best rapper alive? I know that I wrote about Tha Carter III last summer, so this is a lil' more on Lil' Wayne. There's tons of Weezy news of late. The most mainstream news has to do with his 8 Grammy nominations, which leads the field this year. I particularly liked the way the Canadian Press described Wayne in their piece on the Grammy nominations. I'd say it's as good an explanation/summary you'll find if you've never heard of the guy, from how a 10-plus year artist can blow up almost overnight to why people call him Weezy (which I might have another explanation for after this piece):

Lil Wayne stunned the music industry this past summer by selling one million copies of his sixth solo album, "Tha Carter III," in a week. The record went on to top U.S. sales charts last year, moving nearly 2.9 million units. Though he signed his first recording contract at age 11, went platinum as a member of Hot Boys in his teens and released several successful solo records in the last decade, the rapper still had done little that would hint at such a titanic opening for his new record. But Lil Wayne - nicknamed Weezy for his scratchy drawl - built his fanbase by being tirelessly prolific. In between his official releases, he dropped a steady stream of official and unofficial mixtapes - collections of him rapping over other artists' hit tracks - that were mostly available for free, and fans busily bootlegged every other spare verse that slipped through the cracks. Meanwhile, Lil Wayne - who was born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. - lent his name to nearly anyone who asked, piling up hundreds of collaborations. The end result? Lil Wayne's unmistakable voice became one of the most ubiquitous in hip hop and he quickly claimed his place among the genre's heavyweights. "I was not surprised by how much ('Tha Carter III') sold," says Pemberton, who once wrote for Chicago-based music website Pitchfork Media. "Mainly because he was on every single other person's record. Every album that anybody bought during a one-year period had a Lil Wayne song on it." Indeed, Lil Wayne has become infamous for the way he liberally doles out his guest appearances. When the heavily tattooed rapper dropped a verse on Wale's superb "Mixtape About Nothing" last year, the track was called "The Cliche Lil Wayne Feature." "It was like a media blitz - he's on every record you buy," Pemberton says. "And then he ends up outshining every person he's on a track with. You buy a T.I. album and it's like, this guy killed T.I. on his own song. "Of course I'm going to buy his album."

Go here to read the full story, although this is pretty much all the good stuff on Lil' Wayne. On the matter of "Weezy", the CP reporter explains that it's because of his raspy, "scratchy drawl". Possibly true, but I'd suggest it might have something to do with rappers just adding "y" to their names, like Puff Daddy becoming Diddy. One could be the product of the other, though. Another great piece of Wayne news I heard recently came from GQ Magazine and their GQ Podcast, which is really quite good overall. Devin Friedman had the chance to catch up with Wayne a few times and got him on tape talking about a whole lot of nonsense, and the interview is frequently interrupted (in a good way) by the GQ Podcast team and the magazine's music experts. Certainly worth a listen. Here's the link to the GQ Podcast page, where it currently sits at the top. Lots of great stuff in there, so I won't go into too much detail...but he explains why he's calls himself a martian, tells us that he loves a Dakota Fanning movie, find out that he's extremely knowledgeable on the subject of sports, and we learn about his smoking rituals. Speaking of his sports knowledge, he is all over ESPN. He keeps a blog for ESPN The Magazine, and it's probably a lot better than you would imagine. Here's a video of Wayne interviewing athletes before an ESPN Superbowl party - he proves himself to be incredibly engaging and far more than just a rapper. Sadly there is no RSS feed for the blog, so you'll just have to check back to his blog page on ESPN every so often (or you can probably create your own RSS feed, I guess). And finally, the music! Wayne is going to try and pull a "Kanye 808" and drop something different on April 7: a rock album. He's had some fun with the guitar before, but this time is all-out rock, which could potentially be great. The first single is "Prom Queen" and I honestly don't enjoy it all that much, but the second single is going to be Hot Revolver, and I think it's one of those songs that will be pretty big. It's just a great song with the classic hook from Green Day's song, "Basket Case". Check them out below. Look out for more songs from this album online soon, if not the album in it's entirety. Prom Queen - Lil' Wayne Hot Revolver - Lil' Wayne