The president of Air Canada buried the lede in this letter to Aeroplan members on 29 July 2022. If you make it to para 5, near the end, here’s the plan: less service will somehow improve service. Good luck with that.
How Doing Less is somehow better
Katy Hutchison podcast
Raincoast Books of Vancouver has always been an innovative company. I was thrilled when (then) digital marketing manager Monique Trottier asked me to help create a series of author podcasts for the company.
Many of the titles we worked on are now with other publishers, but the podcasts still hold up. Enjoy.
Katy Hutchison – Walking After Midnight
Katy’s powerful story inspired Lifetime Network’s 2010 movie “Bond of Silence”. Her 2013 TEDx talk has been viewed over 100,000 times and she was proud to be included in the Simon Fraser University Alumni Appreciation Project in 2015.
She makes her home in Victoria, BC with her husband Michael Hutchison. In addition to the financial management of Michael’s law firm, Katy is an in-school mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and has previously sat on the Boards of Glenlyon Norfolk School, The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Children’s International Summer Villages and Restorative Practices International.
This podcast with Katy was recorded in November 2006 when the book was first published by Raincoast Books.
Runs 22:56
Chef Nathan Hyam
This podcast was part of a series produced for Capers Community Markets in Vancouver in 2006 and 2007. They were commissioned by then marketing manager Aron Bjornson (now at Saltspring Coffee).
Capers Community Market’s own Chef Nathan Hyam kicked off a series of podcasts with Vancovuer chefs.
In this edition, he shows us how to prepare:
- Ginger Baked Rice
- Thai Coconut Curry
(Unfortunately the recipe is no longer available online)
click to play
Arts Office Workshop
Notes from the Arts Office sponsored workshop on social networking at the Lynn Valley Library on Wed. June 8 and Sat. June 11.
There’s a PDF of my slides you can download here.
Please feel free to add your comments in the comments section, and if I’ve missed anything let me know and I’ll update.
Key Concepts
Social media
- is a conversation – engage instead of broadcast.
- loves a good story.
- requires a content strategy – mine your organization for content – text, images, video.
- extends your circles – the circles grow over time, not overnight.
- is personal.
- includes e-mail.
June 8th Workshop links:
Case study:
Kneehigh Theatre UK
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr
Publish to various networks:
HootSuite for managing updates to multiple social media accounts. A real time saver, and you can create a variety of tabs to customize it to your taste. A free version and a premium version.
E-Newsletter software via the web:
ConstantContact
MailChimp
ExactTarget
Donate, fund raising:
Paypal.com
Registered charities can use CanadaHelps.org
Website Content Management Systems:
WordPress is free. Amazingly extensible and feature rich. You’ll need web serving and a database. The WordPress.org site outlines exactly what you need and even recommends some service providers.
On Wed. Rob mentioned SquareSpace.
Barb from the Arts Office mentioned Small Box, a Victoria based company that has their own proprietary website content management system.
On Wed. we talked about a tiny HD video camera – GoPro HeroHD. Check North Vancouver mountain bike shops, they stock them.
Things we didn’t get to but you might want to use:
URL shortening:
we didn’t talk about this but handy when you want to add a link to a Twitter post. Takes a long URL and makes it short.
Bit.ly . Register for free to get metrics.
Event ticketing/invites:
EventBright
Oh, and the Chocolate Blog: ChocolateApprentice.com
There’s also an iPhone and Android app to help you find chocolate wherever you are. And it’s free . Details here.
ChocoMap Goes Mobile
Some work hardly seems like work at all.
I’ve been working with Chocomap.com for a few years now and last fall we started developing a mobile strategy.
Chocomap.com helps people find fine chocolate shops around the world, and displays them on a Google map. There are almost 2,000 shops in its database (and growing all the time) and putting that information on a smart-phone makes perfect sense.
We launched the iPhone version, Find Chocolate!, at the app store just before Christmas. Shortly afterwards, we started work on an Android version, which was released mid-March on the Android Market.
Find Chocolate! on Android or iPhone both use the phone’s location awareness to hone in on chocolate shops near where you are. Within seconds of launching the app, you get a list of shops nearest you, in order of closest to furthest. You can also get the same ‘list’ on a map. Tap a listing and you get store details and directions.
The apps share the Chocomap.com database, so shop listings are synced on all platforms. And both apps allow you to add a shop right from your phone, as well as upload pictures and rate shops you’ve visited.
For the iPhone app, we worked with Vancouver’s Mod7 Communications. Android development was by Vancouver’s Ikamobile who specialize in apps for Android devices.
Like the web, apps really are global in reach. To date, the Find Chocolate! app has been downloaded in 27 countries.