Drupal is a free software package that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. [Drupal]
Until Saturday evening the city will be overrun with Drupalists from across this great nation to learn, discuss, code and partake in some of the following:
Not surprisingly, the workshop registrations soared and they have now sold out the first event. However, you still have a chance to win your way in if you head over to the Techvibes Blog and drop a comment on this post over the next two weeks.
Their first 20-spot session on May 13th is sold-out but they’ve added a 2nd workshop on May 28th and set aside a free seat (and video camera) for a Techvibes reader. [Techvibes]
The workshops are 3 hours long (2pm to 5pm), the registration fee of $200 includes the fancy new camera, and will take place at Ceili’s Irish Pub. I had a chance to use Colleen’s Flip last night and I have to say, it’s a pretty slick compact video-making device.
If you haven’t got your head around the concept of blogging, your mind might be blown with the latest term: microblogging. To those on Facebook, think “status updates”. Sites like Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce (just to name a few and not including all the video ones out there) allow folks to update their contacts or followers using brief 140 character max. messages. To better explain it, here’s another great video from CommonCraft.
The “power of Twitter” is pretty vast. Last night we were out having dinner and John put a call out on Twitter for people to join us, a short time later we were graced with Tanya‘s presence, which was super fun.
When I was recording my bit for the Lab with Leo I Twittered that I was “backstage” and within 45 seconds Leo came out from the studio to meet me and shake my hand.
Most recently, Nadia from Meme Labs Twittered this news story… about Twitter.
Buck, a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested April 10.
On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the micro-blogging site Twitter.
The message only had one word. “Arrested.”
Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt — the same ones who had taught him the tool only a week earlier — were alerted that he was being held. [CNN]
People have various reasons for using Twitter, whether they want to meet up with other folks in the area, share a news story, use it to syndicate their blog posts, do a poll, have pointless battles, ask questions, or share what they ate for lunch that afternoon. Though sometimes I get a bit of a “chat room” feel when I see people sending endless messages back and forth, I certainly value having this tool at my disposal.
Two things of note: You can get intuitive clients that will bring in your Twitter feed so you don’t have to update from the website ie. Twhirl (for PC) or Twitterific (for Mac). Also, if your updates aren’t locked or “private” they are fully available in a Google search, meaning anything you say in Twitter, doesn’t stay in Twitter.
Just as soon as my social media dance card cleared up, I’ve been busy booking new events, getting involved in more media sponsorships and being sought out for speaking opportunities. My next speaking engagement will be on a panel at the end of the month during the Convergence conference.
Cossette West invites you to attend Convergence 2008, a Digital Marketing and Communications Forum. Join other savvy marketing and communications professionals from across North America to learn how to stay competitive in the ever-shifting digital landscape. [Convergence2008]
I’ve been on a few panels before (and moderated one) and I have to say the talented people I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with just make it that much more exciting, informative, and entertaining.
This time is no different and I’m almost about to go into Wayne and Garth “I’m not worthy” mode seeing as how I’ll have Kate Trgovac on one side of my, and Darren Barefoot on the other.
I haven’t had much time to interact personally with Kate but she was with me on the victorious Team Blogger for CBC’s Test the Nation, she presented at the Northern Voice dinner, and most recently I saw her on a panel at Bridging Media.
Influencers have grown beyond just traditional media outlets to include bloggers, who reign in the online space and who can drastically affect perceptions about your brand, your campaigns and/or any other aspect of your company operations. Are you listening? If so, are you talking back? In the very least, you should be working to tell your side of the story; at best, maximizing your message impact among these powerful individuals.
Given my recent tussle with Matchstick and other experiences over the years, I think all of us will be able to bring something from a blogger’s perspective and also from the professional landscape.
Convergence 2008 is taking place on Granville Island at the Arts Club Theatre on May 22nd from 9:30am until 5:00pm. More info is available on the website and you can check out the Techvibes as well for a preview.
Continuing the Vancouver Blogger Profile series, that never really stops, I contacted Sarah as I had read her blog and heard such great things about her from Raul. She’s filled out the staple questions below and be sure to check out her blog for more of her writing.
Who are you? Sarah Marchildon, lover of the absurd.
Are you originally from Vancouver? I was born and raised in Toronto but Vancouver has been my home for the past seven years. I’ve lived in Ottawa, Saint John, Fredericton and Japan but always knew I would end up here. My grandfather used to live in North Van and I visited him when I was a little kid. The trees, the ocean, the mountains, the fresh air. It all made a very strong impression on me.
Why do you blog? When I first moved to Vancouver, I had no friends and no social life. So I would spend my Friday nights holed up in an Internet cafe on Davie Street writing email dispatches back home to family and friends. I called it the “Hollywood North Report†and I would fill it with random observations about the oddities of Vancouver life and all of the weird and wonderful people who live here. I also had a weekly “friend count.†Sadly, it remained at zero for a very long time. That all changed when I joined the English Bay Swim Club and was elected “social coordinator†of more than 100 gay men. Real friendships started to bloom and I was no longer spending lonely Friday nights filing the Hollywood North Report. Then I got mixed up with a bad crowd who made me try backcountry camping, triathlons and open-water swimming.
One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had signed up for an Ironman. I quit the triathlon scene in 2004 and found myself with a whole lot of extra time. I decided to resurrect the Hollywood North Report in blog form to make it easier for friends and family to read. I guess I’ve always liked writing and story-telling. Blogging is a natural extension of that.
What’s your favourite thing to write about? I love writing about things that strike me as odd or absurd. For example, the public transit system in Vancouver is a comedy goldmine.
What is the best part of blogging? Hands down, the response I get to my posts. It can be as simple as a thoughtful comment or as elaborate as complete strangers sending me free stuff. I once wrote about how jealous I was that Ontario had juice-box sized wine and jokingly begged someone to send me some. One of my Toronto readers actually sent me a case of the stuff.
Another time, I wrote about how I couldn’t find Grape-Nuts anywhere in Vancouver. The next day, one of my readers delivered 10 boxes to my office.
But the craziest response was when I wrote about how I had a non-sexual crush on Claire Martin (the CBC meteorologist) and she put my blog post on her weather forecast where the map of Canada should have been. It was awesome. I have the best blog readers in the world!
Do you write for yourself, your readers, for Google, for a living? I wish I wrote for a living! I could really use an editor. Sadly, I just write for my readers and myself. For free. In my very limited spare time.
Do you ever censor yourself? A little bit. My entire family reads my blog. That’s not to say my blog is middle-of-the-road pabulum. I’m pretty open with my parents but I’m not that open. Most of my coworkers read my blog so I’m not exactly going to blog about a bad day at the office. A lot of bloggers hide under the cloak of anonymity and that gives them a lot more freedom to write about very personal things. I made a conscious decision to use my full name and, as a result, I’m a little bit more restrained. Besides, I have no desire to barf my personal life all over the Internet. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. A lot of my favourite blogs are personal blogs!
PC, Mac or Speak n’ Spell? What the heck is Speak n’ Spell? I’ve been a Mac girl since 2006. Macs are pretty.
Blogs you read or would recommend? Yours, of course! Actually, I’d hate to single out one blog over another. I read loads of blogs, most of them written by friends. I’m not sure they have broad mass appeal.
Thanks to the effort of many hardworking folks, DrupalCamp Vancouver officially launched this evening at Flux Bistro in Gastown.
