The other day Deb Pickman sent me a message on Twitter to inform me of Twestival, a one-day event taking place in cities across the globe, connecting people through Twitter and supporting a great cause. I instantly signed up as the organizer of Vancouver’s contribution and yesterday Vancouver’s dedicated Twestival site went live.
Now it’s time for the folks of Vancouver to come together, thanks to Twitter once again, for a global cause – joining dozens of cities around the world for a single day of festivities, fundraising, and good times.
“Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact.
By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.
charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.” [Twestival]
Vancouver’s Twestival will take place February 12, 2009 and I’ll be seeking out a small volunteer committee to help me with some planning, from sponsorships to fundraising with a raffle and silent auction. Contact @Miss604 or @YVRTwestival if you’d like to help out.
Let’s make our city’s contribution to this exciting world-wide event a good one!
We’ll be booking a venue, looking for a few key sponsors, silent auction items, raffle prizes, and registration will begin next week (sponsorship packages will be available in two tiers). The Twestival team is working hard to get all cities around the world signed up, hooked up with a site, and setup with their registration system so I’ll be able to share more info in a week or so.
I was first introduced to Panty by Post by Rebecca Coleman after the Making a Scene Conference in November and soon after they signed on as sponsors for the Best of 604 Awards. The company came through and not only provided a prize for one of the category winners, but also a raffle prize, and supplied me with a sample product.
Since that time, Panty by Post has launched their website (which is soon to be updated, including a blog) and I’ve had them sign on Keira-Anne as an ambassador as well. I must admit, it’s pretty fun to see our names listed on their media page right under Kim Cattrall.
In an effort to learn more about the company and inform my readers, I sat down for a chat the founders of this local company, Lori Sholzberg and Natalie Grunberg.
“She wrote to me from France to tell me about this ‘panty of the month’ club, and I thought it was just a fabulous idea,” noted Lori who met Natalie in University and stayed in touch over the years. Natalie was living in France when she got the idea for Panty by Post, inspired by the well-dressed and charming appearance of the locals, no matter their demographic.
Both women started to brainstorm ideas in the summer of 2008 and since then they’ve launched a full e-commerce site, which neither expected to be doing however given their entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic, it isn’t surprising that they’re already showing signs of success.
How it works: Select a subscription for yourself or as a gift for someone else on the website (choose styles and frequency, once, 6 months or a year), then you may enter a personalized message, make your payment, and your panty is in the mail.
The panties are from Blush, a Canadian company from Montreal, which was a perfect fit for the duo. “We hope to design our own eventually, but for now they’re working quite well for us. They have the cute, lacey, fun, French, and affordable styles.” Both emphasized that this is a service that is meant to be affordable as the true value is in the novelty of receiving something pretty in your mailbox, just for you.
I personally love getting actual mail, and to have that contain a special present for me every few weeks is a fun idea. In Keira-Anne’s post there was a comment about the price of the panties, which doesn’t concern me much since I could go pick flowers from the garden for free but receiving a bouquet of flowers that sent to me by someone with a special message, is pretty priceless…
Lori also spoke to their level of customization, “You can pick the package that you prefer but you can also suggest colours and specific styles which we can add.” A key element is the surprise but they also welcome feedback and requests, and hope to soon expand their line.
“Originally we had an idea what our market would be like but the more and more we started bouncing ideas off to old and younger ladies it became evident that everyone was interested,” noted Natalie, “we came up with the concept that it’s not your mother’s underwear but we would want your mother to wear this underwear,” speaking to the universal nature of the fancy product.
“So far the people that have bought the packages have been men buying them as gifts for their ladies, women buying them for themselves, and those buying them as gifts. We now have one client who is getting married and wants to give subscriptions to the those at her shower.” The bridal concept is currently in the works for Panty by Post, as well as an expansion of their brand for various other markets. “We’re born entrepreneurs, it’s just something that you’ve got.”
They’re also interested in giving back, helping women feel great about themselves and also donating their time to help out causes such as the upcoming Evening with Diana Krall.
Both are very passionate about what they are doing and I’m convinced that they would not be doing this if they didn’t truly believe they could run a successful business that offers a service which not only delivers goods, but is fun, makes people feel special, and offers them a real treat.
Disclosure: I was not paid to write this post or do the interview, however I did receive my own Panty by Post
Given that the microbloggging service, Twitter, grew 752% during 2008 it’s no longer a social networking tool that can be ignored [see my Twitter posts]. It helps people communicate by the minute, organize, schedule, share, discuss, and connect from across the globe and thanks to the Shorty Awards, it also recognizes individuals that do all of this best, such as Vancouver’s Kris Krug.
“The Shorty Awards honors the year’s best content producers on Twitter.” [About – Shorty Awards]
Twitter users could nominate their favourites in many categories (from entertainment to news) by sending out specific messages or by voting on the Shorty Awards site. The finalists have been announced and local photographer, Raincity giant, and one of this sites’s supporters over the years, Kris Krug has made the cut in the photography category.
Cast your vote for Kris or any of your other preferred tweeps, the winners will be given a trip to the awards in New York City.
Voting for the finalists is open from January 12 until the 23rd and they will have an awards evening, February 11th (the day before Twestival, which I’ll be announcing in a forthcoming post).
A few months ago super green business directory, happyfrog.ca, merged with 3rdWhale, “a digital media company focused on providing tools, resources and innovative projects that help individuals the world over live a greener and healthier lifestyle.”
3rdWhale has been busy working on mobile tools such as their shiny new iPhone application and they’ll be celebrating its launch next week.
January is an exciting month for everyone at 3rdWhale! Not only are we excited about the inauguration of Obama, but we’re also launching our iPhone application in Vancouver!
… Our iPhone application is a location based service (LBS) that helps you make environmentally sustainable purchasing decisions while on the go by providing a directory of all the green businesses and services near you. As Obama brings hope to the policy and government pieces of a sustainable future, consumer choices play a role in creating change in business; the 3rdWhale Mobile application makes it easier for people to choose ‘green’. [3rdWhale]
They’ll have the top floor of Ceilis Irish Pub on Granville street on January 20th along with drinks, and the chance to win an iPod Touch. Since the inauguration is at 9:00am PT, they will record it and play it back to the party crowd that evening. You can RSVP here using Twitvite.
Update: On a related note, our friend Nadia of memelabs will be heading to Washington, DC for this momentous occasion and passed along some information about a contest they’re running.
Yesterday Vancouver, Canada-based memelabs launched Obama: Where were you?, an open participation video contest asking contributors to answer one simple question: Where were you during US President-Elect Obama’s inauguration?
Nadia Nascimento, head of memelabs, came up with the idea when she and her boyfriend, both Canadians, decided to fly to Washington DC for Obama’s inauguration. “I realized that we were part of a story. We all remember where we were at certain watershed moments in history—the end of Apartheid, the day the Berlin Wall came down—and these moments make powerful shared stories,” Nascimento explains. “This contest creates a medium for people to share their stories with people from all over the world.”
The plan is to have someone from memelabs join us for the 3rd Whale party to capture reactions and comments from attendees in a good old fashioned social media mashup event.
Last year we attended and covered several key events in Surrey that involved thousands of participants, activities, events, and concerts. This year they’re bringing back Winterfest, the biggest hit of the snowy season, for a full day of outdoor and indoor activities along with some pretty rockin’ performances.
DATE:
Saturday, February 7th, 2009
12:00pm – 10:00pm
Opening Ceremonies at 5:30pm on the Main Stage
One thing that John and I both determined in 2008 was that this city sure knows how to put on an event and treat everyone like rock stars – while charging NO admission fees at all. There’s fun and games for the kids, and plenty of food and musical entertainment for the big kids. I’ve partnered with the City of Surrey yet again blog the event so we’ll have Winterfest coverage on the day, as well as photos, recaps and interviews.
January is an exciting month for everyone at 3rdWhale! Not only are we excited about the inauguration of Obama, but we’re also launching our iPhone application in Vancouver!