Alphablogs

I hope my friend Raul won’t be disappointed with this, him being Mr. Vancouver restaurant reviewer.

But I need to grab Buzz Bishop’s challenge and tell you that yes, I have eaten at the Brave Bull.

It’s been quite a while so maybe Raul can give an update. Although for a place like the Brave Bull, I’m not sure that six, seven years make a difference.

Actually, the other day I was meeting with one of my old friends from the Downtown Eastside, we weren’t quite sure where to eat – but when I proposed the Brave Bull I could just see a big black question mark form over her heavily furrowed brow.

I only have pleasant memories of the Brave Bull.

For example the time I went there with someone who was later going to become one of my closest friends. The Brace Bull is (was?) a cosy, tucked-away place if you like peace and quiet and that old-fashioned diner feel. It’s one of those 60s mixtures of “Chinese and Canadian Cuisine”, both in décor and food. Which means, of course, watery, pale iceberg lettuce – but you don’t go there for the veggies, do you? That’s what Greens & Gourmet is for.

So anyways, Haedy and I hung out there for two hours or so, I forgot what we ate, the old Chinese lady who’s always been there ever since I first darkened the doors of that establishment would pad over to us once in a while in motherly fashion and refill our coffee. It remains in my memory as one of the pivotal moments in our friendship. Haedy also told me that once in a while she’d take her husband there for a good dose of trucker’s steak.

My husband used to work in that area, just a bit up on Clark in one of the industrial areas, so once in a while I’d truck down to the Brave Bull and we’d have lunch together. Invariably, I’d have their oyster sandwich. I love oysters! Four plump deep-fried oysters with a bit of tartar sauce on a piece of white “bread” – again, don’t go there for your health food. Don’t matter; you know what, I still find myself wanting to go there once in a while, just for those oysters. I even took my educated-palate son there once and he liked it. Oh, and I remember my husband having beef dip there and liking it.

Other times were when I took one of my daughters to volunteer at the SPCA, and I’d make a point of hanging out at the Brave Bull (or the Old Foundry, with their fabulous sign that says EAT) waiting for her, reading a book, slurping coffee, eating – you guessed it – an oyster sandwich.

Now if you’re not into the romance of old greasy spoons where they still don’t use point-of-sale computers, where they haven’t changed the curtains since 1979, and where a salad still means a slice of tomato and three leaves of lettuce – well then maybe the Brave Bull is not for you. But if you like that kind of nostalgia, go and try it out!

(What do you think, Raul, maybe we should go there together?)

(And next time I guess we should go back to regular programming and do a blog review)

(Image by Buzz Bishop)

Sunshine in Vancouver brings out the best in us all, and no one wants to stay indoors unless forced. So yesterday I played up on the roofdeck with the Photo Booth application that comes with the mac.

I love the automatic way it forces out an iconic image. Plus there’s video too. It’s dead easy to work and there is some serendipitous stuff that just happens with this software.

And don’t forget the Warhol homage:

It’s been a busy month, with all the activity of spring - new projects brewing and more to do than time to do it!

I recently interviewed Social Media Evangelist/Consultant and woman-about-town Monica Hamburg about one of her areas of expertise: Crowdsourcing. Check it out here in the YouTube version:

One thing this video doesn’t convey is Monica’s terrific sense of humour. You can find out more about that side of her through her blogsite(s). Contact Monica here.

It’s April 8 and it’s time for Canada 9-5, the showcase for Canadian Business Blogs and generally, Canadian blogs that talk about work. We’re happy to report, by the way, that when googling for “Canadian Business Blogs”, Canada 9-5 shows up on first place!

Blogging is still new for most business owners. The ones you see here are pioneers. And here they are:

Life and Business Coaching For Women
Self-Care Enchantments
Zoey Ryan is a “Coach . Catalyst. Shakti Sage” right here in Vancouver. She helps women become POW – Positively Outrageous Women. Her series of “Inrageous/Outrageous Self-Care Enchantments” include

1. “Let go; let yourself be absorbed by life itself”. Practice living in the moment and for this week, suspend planning, goal setting and striving and simply float on your inner tube down the “river of life”
And/or
2. “Un-do, break down, mix it up”. Do something totally uncharacteristic this week!
3. “Expect breakthroughs to look like breakdowns”!

Library Blog
A Librarian Talks About Twitter
On Twitter, Connie Crosby uses what she calls “guerilla librarianship” – she nudges people towards library services who might not otherwise think of them. She sometimes answers questions as if they were reference questions, and also promotes critical thinking about web sources–all the while pointing out in the public forum of Twitter how librarians can help.

Real Estate in BC
Healthy Cities
Vancouver realtor Matthew Collinge talks about an award that says Vancouver is Canada’s healthiest city:

To come up with their findings they looked at 16 different areas of health and “went beyond the typical mortality stats to measure the comprehensiveness of smoking bans, the availability of OB/GYNs and mammography, and other issues uniquely important to Canadian women.” We even did well for number of available doctors.

Vancouver News
Car Insurance Fraud
EZ Vancouver is the blog by Vancouver web developer Frederic Desjardines. He frolicks all over the place, with themes that include Vancouver news, technology, futurism, oddities, gadgets, privacy, Disney and politics. Talk about eclectic! Among Vancouver / BC news, he dishes up the story of our car insurance company scandal: Fraud: ICBC Managers keep good cars while selling you the crappy ones.

Canadian Beauty
MTV and Body Shop Pair Up For Aids
Canadian Beauty talks about beauty trends as they move from the runway to the street and vice versa.

MTV and The Body Shop have paired up yet again to create a product that’s original and the proceeds of which will benefit AIDS prevention. Remember last year? They made that perfume in a pink bottle; this year it’s a lip butter.

Marketing
Apple’s Design Principles
Canuckflack is a blog about marketing and public relations, but really doesn’t follow a lot of “inside baseball” themes. Instead, you’ll find thoughts, snippets and blurbs on PR, marketing, corporate communications, retail, promotion, crisis communications and media relations. Colin McKay works in communications for the Government of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Here, Colin praises Apple’s design principles:

Take a look Apple provides for developers working on the iPhone, like Principles and Guidelines for Creating Great iPhone Content:
As you design the flow of your content and its user interface, follow these guidelines to build in simplicity and ease of use:
· Make it obvious how to use your content.
· Avoid clutter, unused blank space, and busy backgrounds.
· Minimize required user input.
· Express essential information succinctly.
· Provide a fingertip-sized target area for all links and controls.
· Avoid unnecessary interactivity.

Sports
Using a blog to raise money
An interesting experiment: In Speedendurance.com Mission Statement, we find that a Vancouver, BC, based track team uses a blog to raise money for travel expenses towards Beijing 2008 and Vancouver-Whistler 2010.

The mission statement of Speedendurance.com is to provide athletes of all levels the information required to better themselves, legally and drug free. Ordinary folks trying to get in shape or lose a few pounds can also benefit from this site. Like a true Buddhist, we never turn anyone away from a lack of funds … All the information on this site is free of charge. In return, ads are in place to raise money.

Snow Angel Maker
Network Marketing
Yup, Rob Moshe bills himself, among others, as a snow angel maker. If you want to know what else he does, you’ll have to go here. In 8 Steps To Success In Network Marketing, he shares his thoughts on how to be successful in MLM despite all the many pitfalls – for example:

Ask a successful Direct Marketer how much of their down-line are family and closest friends, and you will find that none of the successful marketers have more than a handful if any. You will have to find prospects (read ‘people you don’t know’) or you wont build your business. I strongly recommend against annoying friends and family to get into any business, I am also against becoming a walking infomercial whenever someone comes within your two square feet. Think of the last five social gatherings you were at, other than network marketers, how many people tried to get you into their business? Unless you are a multimillionaire, I am going to guess none. Yes, you should have an Elevator Pitch, you should have the tools at hand to get a prospect interested in your business, but you should use it ONLY when you have a qualified prospect.

Self Improvement and Motivation
Frederic Premji offers Tips For Home Based Business Owners, for example this one that I know works really well:

No pajamas at this office! Even if you are working from home, dress the part of a business owner. Staying in your pajamas or dressing too casual will affect your behavior, trust me. It’s much more motivating to be dressed up well and feeling good. This is your business, your creation, so treat it with as much respect as possible. If you are dressed like success, your mind will follow soon enough.

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Okay folks, that’s it for this edition! Please submit your Canadian business blog here for the next edition on May 18. If you have or know of any interesting Canadian blogs that talk about work or business, send them in – you can use this form.

I’ve been meaning to set out more on Bridging Media but have been too busy until today. Thinking about it, I’ve been trying to analyze just what made this event on March 29th such a success? Not only the hard work of the organizing team and the vision of the two founders, Erica Hargreave and Megan Cole, but also the willingness of the panelists to open up to the group and the easy interaction between the panelists and the audience. The setup in the round helped a lot, so it was more like sharing a conversation between panelists rather than having a linear group each taking a turn to show and tell.

Also, from start to finish this was a rapid and effective free community event. The concept came into reality very quickly - and this includes panelists, equipment, sponsors, barbeque from the folks at Vera’s Burgers, remarkable real-time liveblogging documentation by Miss604 and Robert Ouimet’s full podcast of the proceedings that was made available the next morning.  With around 150 people registered from both the video production and interactive media communities, this was a terrific example of the kinds of open events that are making a difference now in all fields.

Looks like this will be one of those “mark your calendar” events in Vancouver.

Bridging Media: Addressing the Challenges - this Saturday, March 29, 2008, 9:45 am - 3pm

Aimed to provide a bridge between the two communities of film/television and interactive/social media, I think this event comes just at the right time. The expertise we have here in Vancouver is remarkable, and the panelists assembled for this event have a lot to share in the short time they have available, so it looks like the whole day will be power-packed.

The tools are here and easier to use than ever, and the panelists are articulate and experienced in the slippery ever-shifting world of web/mobile/social media. Its free, its informative and it can change what you think you might know about social media, and more. Plus there is a door prize: a free pass to nextMEDIA, just before the Banff Television Festival.

Want to know who’ll be there? Go to the registration site and take a peek.

And did I mention that lunch is sponsored? Yes it is a free lunch!

Brainchild of Megan Cole and Erica Hargreave, the event now has a terrific team putting this together, with good will and sharp skills:  Cinci Csere, Monique Trottier and Monica Hamburg. I’m really glad to help out with this event and be in their company!

As you can see, our Alphablog media dog is learning fast! He’s been reading some Barrington Nevitt, an old colleague of Marshall McLuhan’s. (Yes, he can read. Why not?)

Heeeeere it comes!

The February edition of Canada 9-5. Canada 9-5 presents the crème de la crème of Canadian business bloggers, people who use the power of blogging to showcase their professional and business expertise and to better get to know their customers and clients. We’re concentrating on non-IT bloggers; for IT people, blogging is second nature - it’s people whose business isn’t in IT already who, we think, need some help seeing the magic of blogging.

Today we have a virtual assistant, an expressive arts facilitator, a blog that helps with bankruptcy issues, a foodie blog, a small business blogger, and a personal coach right here from Vancouver.

Take it away!

Virtual Assistant Looks At Iceberg
I like the 30 Days of Resources project by Business Services Etc., a company of virtual assistants. In this project, BSETC features 30 products that will make the life of any business person easier. This one is about Icebrrg

Have you ever been wanting to add custom forms to your website or blog but weren’t sure where to find one or how to program them just so? Fear no more. I have found you a service that resonates well with me because (a) it’s easy and (b) it’s name reminds me of the snowy part of the planet I currently live on.

Introducing Icebrrg… The instant (and easy) form creator. It’s a wonderful little web-based program that you sign up for (they have a free account) and once registered, you just follow the prompts to create your web form. It also generates the HTML code for you to place on your blog or site.

I like it! I think I’ll try it out. This blog is a great example of showcasing expertise and paying it forward by providing the reader with valuable information.

Bankruptcy In Canada – What’s A Consumer Proposal?

Are you:
· Having trouble paying all your bills, even though you have a good job?
· Thinking about filing bankruptcy, but not really wanting to?
· Simply looking for more information about ways to deal with your debt?

That’s where a consumer proposal might be a good solution. What’s a consumer proposal? Bankruptcy Canada explains it in this three-part discussion. Part 1 is entitled How a consumer proposal might be right for you. There’s also a video you can watch.

A Foodie Blog – Buying Local
As an avid CBC radio listener, I’m quite familiar with Don Genova, a journalist and broadcaster who used to regale West Coast listeners with yummy tidbits of BC food stories. I remember once he listed all the goat cheeses to be had from Saltspring Island. So this here is his blog. (The things you can learn from a blog: Apparently, until the end of last year he was in Parma – yes, the home of Parmesan cheese – where he studied for a Masters of Food Culture at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. What an intriguing field of studies!)

The entry we’re sampling here is about buying local food

a visit to a Culinary Tourism Conference yielded some interesting info on companies and individuals trying to make it easier for consumers, chefs and other food service operators to get access to local produce and value-added products. … Most of these programs match you up with a farmer who will deliver a box of goods from their gardens throughout their growing season. … Don’t forget farmers markets. Some run year round, others will start in the spring.
You can listen to the 6 minute documentary by going to Don’s blog.

Dancing, Drumming and Children
Barbara Karmazyn’s site is a repository of information and images about the expressive arts. Dancing, drumming, storytelling, singing, crafts – all these are things Barbara brings to children, teachers, parents, seniors as she draws them together in magical circles of joy and creativity.

Barbara Karmazyn uses blogging mostly as a content management system; it looks more like a “normal” web site than a blog. Most of her material is on static pages, like this one about personal development playshops.

Small Business – Email and Customer Service
Selling to Small Business is a blog by Torontonian Evan Carmichael. This post here reminds us that we ignore email at our own peril. Love the title: Killing Your Brand Softly.

Personal Development – What Happens When we Get Sick?
One Man Can is the blog of a personal coach here in Vancouver. I like his open, honest voice; he’s not one of those coaches who continually tell people what to do. Example:

periods of stress that affect the physical body often lead to short bursts of illness. So, watching the signals from the body sooner can allow corrective action sooner. Myself, I like to think I’m invulnerable sometimes and let things get the better of me. Just took a temperature of 102…. oops.

Back to bed.

That’s from his post, Illness of the Body.

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And that’s it for this edition of Canada 9-5. If you have or know of any interesting Canadian blogs that talk about work or business, send them in – you can use this form.

The next edition will come out April 8, 2008.

Good night and good luck!

One of the themes at Northern Voice this last weekend that stood out for me was wikis.

OK, what’s a wiki?

A wiki is a website where users can add, remove, and edit every page using a web browser. It is astonishingly easy for people to jump in and revise pages – it’s even easier than blogging. The advantages of wikis are

• Good for writing down quick ideas or longer ones, giving you more time for formal writing and editing.
• Instantly collaborative without emailing documents, keeping the group in sync
• Accessible from anywhere with a web connection (if you don’t mind writing in web-browser text forms).
• Your archive, because every page revision is kept.
• Exciting, immediate, and empowering–everyone has a say. (Thanks, O’Reilly)

One of the most successful wikis I’ve used was for planning an event with people who usually only use email. Most of them were people who were not very tech savvy at all and yet the wiki worked perfectly, making this volunteer-run event run smoothly and collaboratively. I’ve also used wikis as online document repositories when using email was not useful (e.g. because multiple versions of a document needed to be accessible to a number of people). Wikis are wicked!

Matt Mullenweg, the “inventor” of WordPress, the blogging software we’re using here, had lots of inspiring things to say in his keynote speech on Saturday (go here for the full audio version, or here for a quick text taste of it). What stood out most for me, however, was when he said that collaborative open source efforts like wikis should be our vision for the future – not just for our technological future but for so much more.

What if, he said, every new bill of law that is passed goes through a wiki process, where citizens collaborate on law and order? Wikis offer a possibility for true demoracy.

That got me to wonder. Are there governments using wikis for true citizen collaboration?

Quite a few people write about it (e.g. “Government 2.0 comes to Ottawa”). Not many of them link to examples. And most of the examples are dead links. However, there was one that I found, in New Zealand, thanks to Open Innovators. A Police Act review was done with the help of a Wiki. This is part of the ParticipatioNZ project. On Monday, I emailed the project asking them for access to the wiki to see what’s going on inside but haven’t heard back from them. So far it looks very interesting though. I’ll keep you posted!

(Image by kbaird) 

We’re here at Northern Voice, the blogging conference I’ve been looking forward to for weeks. I haven’t done a lot of live blogging so I figured to get myself into the groove, I’ll start with asking participants to sign this online guest book:

Simon Koldyk - ScribbleWiki - WOOT! NORTHERNVOICE

Richard Eriksson - Just a Gwai Lo - Northern Voice 4 Life!

Alex Waterhouse-Hayward It’s a weblog

Pete Quily Thanks for running the Vancouver blogger meetup Isabella!

Jan Karlsbjerg Roedgroed med floede

Erica Hargreave - Always good to see you and get a hug Isabella!

Megan Cole - not the stripper from Louisiana… the *other* Megan Cole.

Arieanna Schweber - Swearing at the **** servers.

Ianiv Schweber - Taking pictures of Arieanna swearing at her blogs.

Tim Bray - happy to serve as the human foghorn at the live-sculpture session.

Carol Browne - and blogger for the Vancouver Metroblog - first time attender at this event. So far, so good!

Gene Smith - T minus 3 hours until I present

Luke Closs - Hells yes!

Ingy dot Net - I couldn’t get the umlaut.

Greg Andrews

Tim McAlpine (my blog)

Mary Brennan

Tzaddi Gordon

Beth Snow

See guys… I told you the sun shines sometimes in Vancouver! Thx for comin’ to Northern Voice. - kk+

Ahoy from UBC - Moosein’ along and stoked for the learning - DaveO

at nv - enjoying the moment and clicking through - superNova K

nv is why the web is beautiful - markmayo

Loosing the Moose for 4 years — James

More moose! Travis Smith

I am enjoying being at the conference. Being a blogging network was my favourite so far. mmccrae@yahoo.com

The Moose is definitely loose! - Mike Kelly

Northern Voice is a living community indicator and lives in the culture of love. Where else can you find the intersection of geekdom and love? Go NORTH! - Nancy White

Looks like a great spread for lunch. I hope they have a plan for the leftovers including Foodrunners or composting. Al Pasternak

Lunch at Northern Voice was nothing short of phenomenal! Jim Benson

Such an interesting crowd here, all twittering live! Megan Moser, megan@thinksalmon.com.

So inspiring… so many interesting ideas and people… MJ Ankenman

So glad to be back with the Moose! Inspiring and lots of great new ideas! Carol Sill

Glad to be Smarter than the average blog and blogging from Northern Voice Dumont Walker

I love events like this, and signing this guest book is a wonderful example of fresh thinking. Thanks Lloyd Budd.

Tak for alt! Tinfoiling

Yule Heibel — great to be at this conference, I get to meet Roland, yeah!

Werner Bahlke — es ist wunderbar wieder in Vancouver zu sein!

Rahel Bailie - enjoying my first Northern Voice conference. It’s a new conference model for me, one which I find refreshing.

Tanya (aka NetChick) - Loving seeing everyone! Great to see you, too, Isabella. Go blogs!