Alphablogs

Here we are again, friends, with Canada 9-5, the showcase for Canadian – well, what kind of Canadian blogs? Business blogs, corporate blogs, blogs by non-profit organizations, blogs about the life of the citizenry. Or, if you’d like a reverse definition: non-cat blogs (which doesn’t mean they’re dog blogs), blogs that aren’t about celebrities or personal experiences, about baby pictures or games or iPhones.

As of this writing, it appears that Canada 9-5 is still the only place where these blogs are showcased on a regular basis. That probably means that we are well on our way to fame …

Let’s see what we one the menu today.

Life balance for lawyers
Laurie Mapp, who runs Halo Secretarial Services somewhere in central Alberta, talks about work-life balance

I think balance is an elusive but achievable goal - it just takes having an open mind to doing things a different way. This is the part law firms struggle with I think - there is often a tendency to do things as they have always been done, since it has worked for so long. But there is a long list of ways to give your employees some flexibility while still achieving the firm’s goals and providing results for the client.

Corporate recruiters: Paying attention to details
Kate Baggott is a recruiter. Her article For the Price of a Cup of Coffee points out that even small details about how recruiters do business can turn an impressive candidate on or off. Read about how one company lost a potential hire over the price of a cup of coffee.

Vancouver online newspaper: Women in jail
The Vancouver Observer is a newspaper done in blog style. It has the feel of a community newspaper (reminds me a bit of the South Vancouver Revue, for which I used to write an environmental column way back when) and thus talks about every topic under the sun. I liked this little interview with Betty Krawzyck, a B.C. senior who had become famous for going to jail for her environmental activism. Here’s an excerpt where Betty talks about her new book:

I also try to illuminate the lives of women in jail. Most women are there because of conditions and abuse that we really cannot imagine – most of us that is. Poverty is the underlying condition that sends a woman into the penal system and of course, when one discusses poverty, one has to speak about the disproportionate number of First Nations women there are in prisons – on average at least 60% - and you have to discern why this occurs.

Green interior design
Next is an interior designer who writes about greening your home. It’s interesting that environmental consciousness has taken such a leap in the last few years; it all happened after Al Gore’s video. From what I hear, his home isn’t very green; I’m willing to bet Betty Krawcyck’s is, though! At any rate, here are some ideas from a list of 10. I think I’m going to go out and get myself an aloe plant, and am going to check into what exactly an organic bed is.

3. Change the light bulbs in your house to compact fluorescents, but as they require replacing, begin to use LED bulbs, which consume very little energy and do not contain mercury, so disposal is less of a concern.

7. Unplug all unnecessary electrical devices when not in use or not needed, including televisions, computers, microwaves, clocks, stereos and lighting. Electrical devices which are instant on use power all the time, even when turned off. For easy on/off operation plug as much as you can into a power bar and turn it off when not in use.

8. Use green plants to clean the indoor air. Aloe Vera, English ivy, corn plant, golden pothos, peace lily and weeping fig are all excellent choices to remove formaldehyde and benzene.

9. Buy an organic bed. A good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed that emits absolutely no toxins is paramount to green living. After all, it is where we spend most of our time at home.

Books on money
Let’s take a sharp right here and go to Canadian Capitalist, one of the top Canadian finance blogs according to The Globe and Mail. Here’s a list of the Capitalist’s top ten money books. These two look interesting to me:

Your Money & Your Brain by Jason Zweig. What happens inside our brains when we think about money? (Full Review)
Unconventional Success by David Swensen. A guide to constructing a portfolio for individual investors.

Communication – or, in this case: miscommunication
Heath Slawner has a blog about persuasion. I’d like to find out a bit more about Heath; it seems to me that someone who clearly uses his blog as a part of his business would do well to tell a bit about himself on his blog. I presume he’s a salesperson – maybe he’ll see this article and will enlighten us. Heath offers a post on the cost of misunderstanding

Have you ever wondered how much a misunderstanding costs? According to a recent report by UK-based consulting firm Cognisco , misunderstandings and miscommunication among workers are costing companies US$37-billion a year.

Masterminds
We’ve had Evan Carmichael from Toronto here before, in our February edition. He has a section on his blog that exclusively discusses Mastermind Groups. What are mastermind groups?

A mastermind group offers a combination of masterminding, peer brainstorming and support in a group setting. The beauty of mastermind groups is that participants raise the bar by challenging each other to create and implement goals, brainstorm ideas, and support each other with total honesty, respect and compassion. Mastermind group members act as catalysts for growth, devil’s advocates and supportive colleagues. This is the essence and value of mastermind groups.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Hueina Su, one of my blogging friends from Change Therapy, is writing a series of articles here. Having been part of similar success groups myself, this one really spoke to me, about the necessity for commitment in such groups

Some of the members started to miss quite a few meetings, due to other activities and commitments. Others started to question whether they are committed to our mastermind group and see it as a priority. Overall, we were unhappy that some members kept missing our meetings, and it’s a sign of lack of commitment and respect.

Scrape!
Let’s round this off with something amusing. Rob Cottingham from Social Signal, a blog for a Vancouver company that “builds online community with real life impact” (they started the credit union VanCity’s Change Everything site) just wrote a series of articles on blog scrapers. He set a funny little trap for them – well, you have to see for yourself.

That’s it for this time around. The next edition of Canada 9-5 will come out on August 8. If you have or know of a Canadian business or non-profit blog, submit it here so that we can include it!