culturactive - Latest Comments

Re: Is Our Local Media Media Savvy?

Eric J. Olsen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:19:39 -0000

Great insight! I follow most of the folks mentioned above. I'd be curious to see the local automotive industry taken to the test. This would certainly show me where I can improve in developing our stores on-line presence.

Re: Is Our Local Media Media Savvy?

Scott Davis — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:59:48 -0000

Great to have this information investigated Richard. Thank you for sharing. Makes me consider which Radio Station I will use for my clients. Or perhaps which Radio Stations need some Social Media Schooling ;)

Re: Vote for Kelowna

Scott Davis — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:14:58 -0000

Thank you for being a Fan of Vote for Kelowna.
But it seems like we are going backwards not up, at this rate we Kelowna may not even show up on the dice let alone the Monopoly board.

We need you to be the start of the advocate team!!
Promoting that you are a Fan, updating your status and letting your network of friends know that you voted today and ask if they did?

Here is a list of things you may be able to help to do also if you can, or know someone who can.

Seven things Kelowna could/should do if it wants to win.

1/ Find all the big employers in town and ask them to ask their employees to vote each day
eg City of Kelowna, Hospitals, Schools

2/ Encourage pupils at schools, colleges and the university to vote

3/ Tourism Kelowna should be communicating with all their cultural/tourist assents and connections to vote. (Same should apply to Kelowna Chamber, Downtown Kelowna and Ostec/Oric

4/ Other big groups like Realtors who benefit from exposure to Kelowna could act as a group and vote daily.

5/ Key sites like Kelowna.com and Castanet.net need to keep a banner front and centre and report on progress day by day

6/ Radio Stations need to help and keep reporting on it and asking people to vote daily.

7/ Publicize it at Rocket games and other social gatherings

None of these things are hard. It just takes a few people to get off the fence and commit and then repeat daily.

Lets make Kelowna #1

Re: Are you training for Business?

Scott Davis — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:32:23 -0000

Play not to lose, but play to win http://www.youtube.com/watc...
Thank you for sharing this great video on these principles of working and understanding the rules . A great match up with the blog.

Re: Are you training for Business?

David Harper — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:15:15 -0000

Scott, watched a cool video and webinar lately from Franklin Covey...

See at bottom of my Blog Post http://davidwharper.wordpre...

Re: Love is all around #bizluv

Richard Taylor — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:32:09 -0000

Nice article... and I know what you're looking for so in the word's of another film I'll say it... "I Love You Man" ;-)

Seriously though - I certainly agree with the #FollowFriday principal - and am on board with the campaign to keep it meaningful (see yesterday's blog post and dialogue with the developer of the Follow Friday Generator iPhone App) at www.rtstrategy.ca - I'd love your comments).

Oddly enough on my blog post today I give props to some of my favourite local food and winesuppliers - Codfathers Fresh Fish, Quality Greens Farm Markets, Carmelis Goat Cheese, The Bread Company, Summerhill Winery. Anyone who takes pride in cooking knows the importance of quality fresh ingredients and those guys work hard to provide them (and no - none of them are clients of mine!)

Finally, I'll send some love to Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers, Everton and Wolves for their excellent results back home in the Premiership today!

Cheers,

Rich.

Re: Going Metric – Metrically Obsessed

Scott Davis — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:54:39 -0000

Nick,
Thanks for posting your findings on all the numbers in your life. I have found over and over again that a lot of businesses have everything in place, but fail to look at the metrics or even understand how they can help them better. Would advice all business to approach the company or person that is helping them with there website to show them how to better understand what those figures are telling them.

Re: There’s a human behind this tweet

Scott Davis — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:32:24 -0000

David,
I think it is great how many people have been able to apply what they have learnt from their personal social media experience to their work environment. But we also do have to know the boundaries and limits. As always use common sense and communicate what we feel best. Some of the feedback and comments on this site have been about interaction online and how business and personal are so often intertwined. We have to be aware of that fine line, or have our work or business paint that line for us.

Re: There’s a human behind this tweet

davidharper — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:16:23 -0000

Scott,

Lots to ponder here. If you go to FormaShape.com you will find the twitter connection. I have been experimenting with my personal twitter since the summer and happy with it's use in a small test environment. What I mean is I use Facebook and Twitter to build a small bit of awareness of my personal blog. I am now the point of applying my learnings to the FormaShape site and the use of twitter on N American basis. Thanks for posting these great links, never a shortage of reading on Twitter... and of course always easy to take action !!!!

Re: Being social is hard work!

Scott Davis — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:27:44 -0000

Phil,
Thank you again for the comments and feedback. I listened to Kevin talk on Jessica Samuels talk show on AM1150 and he also admitted that he was disappointed with the turn out. Contributed it to the amount of voting that Kelowna has seen this year ( not the best reason for Kelowna not to show up), I think lethargic may cover it.

I have read the Tipping Point and every time I read that 10,000 hr stat I feel like if I keep writing, perhaps one day I can spell, but I am sure I have surpassed that figure and no such luck :)

Interesting that you should bring up press coverage, and public opinion. Working in Marketing for many years I understand the power of PR, but sometimes think the effort to get good PR is sometimes harder than knocking on doors. I will stick to adding some more time sharing thoughts here and perhaps I may yet still learn how to type and spell.

Re: Being social is hard work!

Phil Ashman — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:26:07 -0000

Reflecting on your comments about the election results, although I haven't seen the stats on the voting demographic, I expect the low voter turnout played a critical role in Kevin's success. I would assume his demographic counted for a much higher percentage of the vote than they might have in a full election. Although saying that, I did find it interesting that many of the questions were aimed at him specifically during the candidates' pitch at the Senior's Centre. He certainly has worked hard for this and was rewarded for his effort this time. I think it's an amazing feat for a 19 year old, but equally incredible is how little I hear about this in general conversation. Sadly I would guess there are still a large number of people in Kelowna who have no idea Kevin got a seat.

Here's my 2c on your questions.

If you take a page out of Malcolm Gladwell's book Tipping Point on their being 10,000 hours of practice at a skill to be successful, then the answer to your first question is yes. However, in order to dedicate that much time to a skill it is likely you have a passion and maybe an innate ability. To quote the rhetoric of financial advisors, it's not a guarantee but a good indicator.

As far as hard work compensating for any preconceived bias, I would hesitate to give a percentage because there are so many variables, but it definitely can sway opinion if the right press and coverage makes it known. Obviously a lot of behind the scenes effort can work wonders with a campaign, but the perceived public opinion needs to hear and see you are a tireless worker for it to sway those mulling their decision. Hence the power of social networking and door to door. However there are always those people who are so set in their ways nothing on earth can change their mind.

Re: It’s Great… But (part II)

Scott Davis — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:43:11 -0000

Phil,
Communication is key, no matter in what shape or form. I believe I mentioned it in the previous post, people are now expecting more interaction from us all, because the likes of blogs and facebook have taken down some of those barriers. Perhaps we should have country leaders that are at war and conflict with each other play FarmVille on Facebook. Perhaps it would start some common ground and open some communication :)

Have fun being social and communicating with the family!

Re: It’s Great… But (part II)

Phil Ashman — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:33:41 -0000

Great post! It's incredible just how many issues can be, or in most cases could have been, resolved with improved communication skills. I always get a chuckle over some people's division between business and pleasure, because for me they are one and the same. I often find I don't really know a person until I meet with them on a social level. How someone behaves with their personal relationships is a great indicator of their true personality, and for me a good measure of how strong a professional relationship I can build with them. I don't view someone as 'successful' if they only fulfill one side of the equation, no matter how far they rise up the corporate ladder or gain financially.

Thanks for the refreshing read! Now time to unpack the dishwasher and focus on the kids...;)

Re: It’s Great… But (part II)

Terri Nakamura — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:21:48 -0000

Scott, I am a huge fan of HappySoul and I enjoyed reading this blog post. Thank you for sharing it. The perceptions about positive and negative messages was on the mark. I think it's difficult for people to retrain themselves, but when you consider how far society has evolved strictly as a result of "political correctness," perhaps there is hope in people becoming more kind in their expressions to one another. As far as online and offline personas go, I believe mostly in "WYSIWYG." At least as far as I've seen, one gets to "know" people virtually & we gain understanding of personalities through continued dialog & interaction. Pretty hard to fake, I think.

Re: City Council Candidates Not So Social

Scott Davis — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:35:01 -0000

Hey Rocky,
Was great to see the PR for you and the other candidates in the Kelowna Cap News http://www12.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/searc...

bracing the subject of this post. From what I have seen those making the effort in social media platforms are most definitely having an effect.

If you missed Rocky Mix's video you can take a view here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=596b1WP_VYI

Re: City Council Candidates Not So Social

Rocky Mix — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:51:01 -0000

Thank you for this.

By the end of the election, expect those you tube numbers to skyrocket...

That's about it.

Thank you,

Rocky Mix

Re: Twilight, Twible or Twinsight

Brent Luehr — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:48:38 -0000

I read this just a few hours earlier -- http://theoatmeal.com/story/twilight -- but personally have not read the books or seen any of the films. The first second I saw the trailer for the original movie I cringed. I also had a friend on twitter point out how the "vampires" in the film don't actually do anything traditional vampires do, and shouldn't even be called that.

Re: City Council Candidates Not So Social

Scott Davis — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:15:17 -0000

Kevin,
Thank you for taking the time to reply on this post.

I think everyone would agree with you that the world is providing an ever changing landscape. What is interesting is that in many ways it is making the art of communication more difficult rather than easier. The internet may be allowing us to communicate further and quicker than we may ever had imagined, but is it providing too many options.

Running for election used to be a strero typical knock on door to door campaign and strategy. Now like Marketing or promoting for anything we have to find the extra time, money and resources to divide up into traditional efforts such as paper, radio and TV as well as e-mail, phone calls and social media.

There is no one answer, and we have to be a player in all and perhaps a master of non.

Exploring social media for better engagement will be a great way to approach residents, and the online vehicles and applications to do that are on the increases. I just hope that too many don't appear to make it more confusing, and we can actually spend valuable time and effort on engage rather than repeating ourselves in 20 different platforms.

We wish you and everyone running all the best with the upcoming week. And look forward to debating topics with City Councils all over the world on issues, because we all know there is a lot to discuss.

Re: City Council Candidates Not So Social

Kevin Craig — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:42:29 -0000

Good article, Scott.

I can't speak for any of the other candidates, but I know I'm still wrapping my head around the best way to incorporate social media into a campaign and a communications strategy.

I think the constantly changing landscape is a big factor: Last November, for example, I was one of the few candidates to use Facebook on a significant level, but I only had a vague idea of what Twitter was. Fast forward one year and more people are taking advantage of Facebook (albeit still on a fairly limited level) but Twitter remains fairly under-utilized, with no other candidates posting to the #Kelowna feed.

I'd say that some candidates have certainly made an effort to use social media to support their campaigns, but it has played more of a supporting role than sitting at the centre of a campaign strategy. I'm reasonably happy with my efforts on Facebook and Twitter, but I know that I've done a pretty mediocre job at posting media articles mentioning my campaign to Facebook, and directing followers on Twitter to new blog posts on my website. It's a work in progress for just about all the candidates but I firmly believe social media will continue to play an ever-increasing role in elections and governance.

Something that I'm interested to explore is how Council can use social media to better engage residents and create opportunities for two-way dialogue between the public and their elected officials.

Re: Volunteering what’s been your experience?

Scott Davis — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:27:28 -0000

I wanted to bring attention to a recent article that was posted in one of our local newspapers from @VernonBizDay and @ValTrevis: Business Volunteers are such an important part of our community!! Check it out..our Unsung Heroes http://bit.ly/7PoTAZ

Re: Volunteering what’s been your experience?

Mx — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:53:24 -0000

Since childhood, I've been involved in some form of volunteering work, whether by choice or through obligations from affiliations of family and working environment.

Volunteering work consisted of involvements in event organising, stage preparations and stage presence for special charity performances, political and social mobilisations, samaritan and shelters to running the London marathon for various charities. My fave has always rotated around any volunteering work for children. There are the most vulnerable and yet are the footprints of our future generations to come.

However, the most rewarding volunteering work for me is one where you have helped by the tiniest of random kindness to a stranger whereby that gesture has had deep impact in the way they think or live, and most importantly, of which you have absolutely no expectations, be it to be applauded for your act of kindness or to have the favour returned by the stranger.

In essence, some above comments touched upon on how I see and feel about volunteering work, it's about unsung heroes doing good deeds, however big or small. IMHO, altruism acts of any form are in itself a selfish deed (consciously or subconsciously). The more altruistic gestures you do in life, the more self-happiness and self-worth you are rewarded by it, inconsequential of the time, effort and financial sacrifices you had to forebear to provide it.,

A quote I live by and believe in daily sums up how I feel about volunteering work: "“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” ~ Albert Pine

Re: Am I in your Tribe?

Mx — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:02:19 -0000

As promised, my 1st comment on one of your great posts on Cultureactive site.

Re: Fan Clubs. I'm unsure if I'm best to comment on Fan Clubs. Never believed in being a fan of people but more the causes and principles they stand for. Therefore if I do choose to belong to any type of fan club, it is solely because they represent and are aligned to my deep beliefs and have my utmost respect and support. Answering to your other question, hence, I do stand proud behind any culture tribe I show allegiance too, simply because I am very choosy of whom I become member of. :)

Re: Friends. Depends really on what your or other people's definition of friends, online & offline. My definition relates to an indefinite timeline in the investment of building mutual and genuine trust, respect, support, affection, appreciation of each other's quirks/ imperfections, and being there when everything falls apart in your life and everyone walks away from you. All of these character traits are what I find in a true friend. One can only really realise this mutual friendship by consistency of actions rather than words.

Rightly or wrongly, friendship online for me is mostly based by exchange of words. Only time will tell if they become true friendships in how we relate to each other in the consistency of our words and supporting actions with the latter being the most important trait for me. Words can be genuine and meant from the heart but are empty if not followed by supporting actions in the long run.

And I always check profiles before following them back but I only consider very very few out of my daily online interactions to be someone close to the definition of what I call a true friend.

Re: City Council Candidates Not So Social

Scott Davis — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:29:28 -0000

I will take that as a fine compliment. Hopefully we can grow as a community, based on good old fashioned conversation, mixed with a little technology here and there.

Re: City Council Candidates Not So Social

Clay Kessler — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:59:36 -0000

Right on Scott! Kelowna needs more entrepreneurial thinking like yours!

Re: City Council Candidates Not So Social

Scott Davis — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:09:58 -0000

Good evening Clay,
Have to say it was great to come back to the office and read this comment on the post. And glad that a nudge (as you put it) as prompted you to send out some sweets and change the status of your Facebook account. I also notice that you have some interaction with some of the Kelowna online world since you have done so. I did go and visit your website and can now appreciate the soft sell approach and the idea of providing a public service and links to other candidates. I did take note if you Google rank positioning.

I wish you all the best for the upcoming election, and look forward to more social interaction not only from yourself but hopefully all the members of City Council.