Four Tips for Dealing with Awkward Holiday Conversations
Holidays bring families from all over the country and world together. This can sometimes be recipes for awkwardness when your gun-toting, freedom loving, conservative uncle breaks bread with your gay, socialist brother. The inevitable train wreck of a conversation…
Why the 9-5 Work Day Must Change
It snowed in Vancouver last week, which means two things: first, my wellbeing suffers a little because I can’t commute on my bike; second, everything is an emergency and we’re all going to die! Because of the snowy weather I…
Three Tips for Throwing a Kick Ass Holiday Party
It’s the holiday season and this means “party time” for many organizations. Over the years I’ve attended dozens of holiday and have even been involved in planning a few myself (check out the Vancouver Street Soccer League’s Holiday Haul )….
Solve Problems by Crossing the Streams
We work in silos. The boundaries might be fuzzy like a Turner landscape, but community, collaboration, and innovation can suffer as a result. We can improve our ability to work together to surface and solve problems by learning from how we socialize with the help of technology.
Vancouver Startup Gives Back to Community Through Crowdfunding
Weeve users are asked to “give smarter” by allowing their dollars to go directly into community projects in need of funding. Beta-launch partners include Seva Canada, YouthCo, SharkTruth, and BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. Through Weeve, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation’s “Campaign for BC Children” is aiming to raise $5000 to help build a new hospital.
Main Street’s Coffee Block
In Vancouver it isn’t uncommon to see a coffee shop juxtaposed to a coffee shop juxtaposed to a coffee shop across the street from a coffee shop, especially in my neighbourhood, Mount Pleasant.
And yesterday things in my community just got a bit darker, frothier and sweeter, as Forty Ninth Parallel Coffee Roasters opened their newest location at the corner of 13th – wait… Thirteenth – and Main.
The Tiffin Project
One of my favourite food-related tools is my tiffin, which I purchased a few years ago with some tasty Indian food at Granville Island. The tiffin reflects both my and Michelle’s passion for using – ahem – reusable containers when we get takeout from restaurants. Speaking of which, styrofoam is one of my least favourite things.
Be Interesting (this may require ridiculousness)
One becomes memorable – if not a legend – by collecting stories so compelling that others do the marketing spread the word on your behalf. Which is what I will do right now for another FOB, Zac Whyte, whose Road to Sparta campaign represents a story worth telling about an unsual character bent on ridiculousness (re: causes/missions) who has clearly gotten over himself. Zac, like so many members of our Get to Know Your Community, um, community, have stories worth spreading.
Size Matters – Making the Big Small
Last week I spoke at a Bishop’s University recruitment event – I was one of three alumni who were tasked with answering questions from prospective students and their parents about the Bishop’s Experience. Most of my conversations wound up with…
School at Work – Learning that Grows Business
Developing talent through innovative learning is cool. And a lot of companies are doing it. Transforming their recruitment, retention, development, and even business processes by emphasizing education and online approaches. Such a focus that empowers people with resources and tools tends to authentically marry – or, simply put, “combine” – learning with technology. Instructional Designers refer to this sort of evolution in the classroom as an ecosystem (“interconnected not linear” or “discussion-centric not broadcast-driven” learning), where the instructor behaves more like a master of facilitation-judo who builds awesome activities instead of a sagely projector of information to an audience.