She was a video editor, and volunteered on Soundtrack, the music show I produced. We were fast friends…mostly because we clicked, but partly because you can’t help but become close to anyone with whom you spend 15 hours a day in an edit suite.

One of the things I love about my friend is she lives, breathes and eats passion. She dives in head first to anything she believes in, and just makes things happen. While the rest of us are sitting around contemplating next moves, she’s making phone calls, sending emails and getting people engaged and excited.

Last Spring, we were sitting at the bar at Chez Lucien, a great little burger joint in downtown Ottawa. We’d just polished off delightful plates of carnivorous goodness, it was about 9:30pm, and Cheryl asked me, “So who’s playing tonight?” It was a common question for us – if there’s one thing me and Cheryl LOVE to do it’s see live bands.

We grabbed our respective mobile devices – she on a web-enabled cell phone, me on a iPhone – and proceeded to look up the local music listings for our town. 20 minutes later, we were shaking our heads, glaring at our devices, both of which had yielded no common source to find out what bands were playing. We eventually gave up and just went back to her place for a glass of wine. It was over that glass of wine that Cheryl said thoughtfully, “If there is no online source for Ottawa Arts and Entertainment, then why don’t we start one?”

In that moment, Ottawa Tonite was born.

Sometimes, ideas like that happen, but then they quickly get overridden by normal life stuff – jobs, kids, and other commitments and suddenly you’re thinking, “It’s too bad we never got that site off the ground..” But this is Cheryl we’re dealing with here – so of course that wasn’t going to be the case!

A few days later, Cheryl called me to inform me she’d purchased the domain name ottawatonite.com, that she’d been talking to some of her musician and theatre friends, and they’d be interested in contributing to the site. Wow – in three days, we had a home for the site, and we had people who wanted to sign up to help out? Well alrighty then.

Within a few weeks, Cheryl had contacted just about everyone she knew in the Ottawa arts and entertainment scene, and had nothing short of 15 people ready to provide written, video and audio content. In fact, some of them were already out there gathering stuff, and were willing to post it on the site, for free!

We had content, but sadly, we had no actual site yet! If there’s anything that social media has done for myself and Cheryl it’s put in front of us dozens of talented graphic designers and developers. We were able to use our networks to find the right people for the job, and in spite of a few (normal) hiccups along the way, a few short months later, we had a functioning web page and content to make it work! Yesterday, we launched ottawatonite.com, Ottawa’s online source for arts and entertainment!

Community Building 101. Many people think that in order to build a community web site you have to get the actual site up and running first, then worry about filling it with content. Ottawa Tonite is a VERY ambitious project – we aspire to be the pre-eminent source for what’s happening in the theatre, music, literary, film, comedy, and food and drink scenes in our city. That means we have to be totally tapped in to all of these areas – and we definitely can’t do that alone. After all, this is a volunteer effort – we do have full time jobs and families and things and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day for us to be running around to every event in town.

Step #1 in building an online community is always, always, always people. Months before we even had one piece of design or code on the page, Cheryl was running around town talking to everyone she could about the site, and getting artists and behind-the-scenes people on board to be contributors. And she didn’t just stop with a “sure, I’ll contribute!”. She got them to start gathering stuff. People were capturing video, writing blog posts, and creating audio recordings months ago. Cheryl set the expectation with them – the site was a few months out – but it didn’t matter – people were fired up and ready to hit the ground running.

80% of the work on this project was done months before any code was placed on the site. Thanks to those efforts early on, we now have a wonderful community, and the site is up and running and jam-packed with great content. The community is vibrant, and most importantly, it’s sustainable. No one person has too much on their plate. Everyone is working with their own talents. Cheryl has provided the vehicle – the artists are providing the voice.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – it’s not about the tools. It’s not about the tools. It’s about people. Cheryl saw a need in her community in an area she was passionate about. She went out and got other people to be passionate about her idea. And it worked.

Check out Ottawa Tonite when you get a chance – we’d love to hear what you think. And if you have thoughts, suggestions, or are interested in being a contributor or an advertiser, give us a shout at info [at] ottawatonite.com.

As we get older, those instincts that we’re born with start to get overshadowed by outside influences. Our parents tell us when to eat “I don’t care if you’re not hungry, finish your plate”, “Don’t eat those pretzels now, you won’t be hungry for supper”. We are told when to sleep, “Bedtime is 7pm.” and then to wake up “Get out of bed, you’ll be late for school.”

Structure isn’t a bad thing – if we all slept as much as we want and ate as much as we want we’d be in a sorry state indeed. But the downside of structure is that instincts get supressed. We’re told all the time to go against our basic instincts and eventually we stop listening to our instincts entirely. Our guts tell us one thing, but our heads are conditioned to be sensible and logical. By the time we’re grownups, we’ve pretty much lost touch with our instincts, and that can be very detrimental to our success.

We all have goals, and we all spend a lot of time and energy learning how to achieve those goals. But sometimes, we spend far too much time interpreting what our outside circumstances are telling us, and not enough time on what our guts are saying. And the truth is, trusting your gut is 90% of the battle. You heard that right. 90%. So, how do we reclaim that part of us that we were born with? How do we find our instincts again?

Trust me, baby. We hear a lot out here on the Internetz about trust. Heck, Julien and Chris wrote a whole book about how to earn the trust of others. But what if we take all we know about getting others to trust us and turn it inwards? All the trust agent techniques in the world are not going to make people trust you if you don’t trust yourself first. Trusting yourself means trusting your own instincts. It means understanding the situation around you but not reacting to it. It means finding that part of yourself that just knows what to do. You have this ability, every second of the day – don’t believe me? Read on.

Let it go. Reclaiming your instincts requires you to do something that goes totally against what your “common sense” tells you. It requires you to let go, completely. In order to find that instinctual part of yourself, you need to surrender completely all of your fears, hopes, and doubts. You need to stop listening to outside influences who are trying to steer you one direction or another. You need to go silent. Then listen closely. Hear that? That’s your gut. It’s not telling you what to do like everyone else is, because it just knows. It knows what your next move is, even if your brain hasn’t got the signal yet. Letting go is the single most important thing you can do to start living instinctually.

Watch, then do. So now you are paying attention to your instincts again, great! With all those pesky doubts and hopes and fears out of the way, your path is clear. Then, a remarkable thing will happen. You’ll see a message pop up into your radar, or you’ll get a phone call or email. You’ll check with your gut. You’ll make a decision. You’ll take some action, and things will start to happen. You know those people to whom it always seems good things are just “happening”? Well those things are only happening because those people are acting from instinct. They aren’t waiting for someone to knock on the door, they are building the damn door, then walking through it! They aren’t worried about what the detractors and naysayers are shouting at them, because they are not coming from a place of doubt. They are feeling their way to success. They are acting on their finely honed instincts to say the right thing, make the right offer take the right chances, and do what it takes to move closer to their goals. People who act from instinct watch carefully what’s going on. Then they go to that place in their gut that has all the answers. Then they listen and act. Then, and only then, do they succeed.

Your instincts are an amazing thing. They are what some would call a gift from God, the Universe, Buddha, or Mother Nature. We all have them. Imagine what the world would be like if we all tapped into our instincts a little more often.

I realized all too suddenly a little while ago that I’d set some very specific goals for myself this year, and that although I was on track to achieve some things, others were getting left in the dust.

We’ve all heard the expression “Opportunity knocks”. Lots of us answer the door when we hear that knock, but we just say a friendly “hello”, have a quick conversation, and mull over some new ideas. Often, that’s where we stop.

Let’s face it, we all sit around and talk about stuff…a LOT. Some people just talk and talk (especially about social media, it seems). But how many of us are really out there, turning talk into action? How many of us are not just answering the door, but are walking through it? From what I’ve seen, those that walk through the door are ultimately way better off. So, I’ve decided to walk through the door a little more often.

Grab on and enjoy the ride. I’ve taken on some exciting new things recently, like TEDxOttawa. There are some big new projects in the pipeline for Jester as well. (I’m talking world changing stuff.) I’m also about to embark on a really exciting new online project, which I’ll tell you more about soon, once it’s official. All of these things are happening in my life because somewhere along the way, an opportunity presented itself, and instead of just sitting there looking at it, I grabbed on. I have to admit that some days I feel like I have just jumped out of an airplane and I’m not quite sure if my parachute’s been packed properly. But I’ve decided that no matter what, I’m going to enjoy the ride.

The doorbell that won’t stop ringing. Have you ever noticed that the busier you get, the busier you get? I’m about to get a lot busier. I’m walking through the door, and beyond that door there are just going to be other doors. I have made a commitment to myself to walk through them too.  I’m well aware that this is what I’ve signed up for. I’ve been watching some of my super busy friends lately, seeing how they do things, what they are changing as they go. I’ve been watching them walk through door after door and I feel more prepared than ever to handle whatever is coming my way. If you don’t want to deal with lots of ringing doorbells, then don’t walk through the door. But I suspect if you are still reading this, you’re exactly the kind of person that can’t wait to see what’s behind door #2. Or door #102, for that matter.

If you’re happy and you know it, stop for a minute. As my life ramps up to whirlwind pace over the next several weeks, I’m going to be taking time out at intervals to reflect. The last thing I want to do is let all these great things happen around me and then look back 5 years from now and not remember any of it. I’m also going to be very conscious of my family and friends, for no matter how frenzied the pace is, they are really the most important thing. Cherish every moment in your journey. Seek balance whenever you can. And never let your family and friends take a back seat to anything. No matter how much success you have, remember that true happiness doesn’t lie with bags of money or 15 minutes of fame. It lies with the people in your life that matter.

So…you’ve got lots of doors opening around you, right? And if you don’t, you’ll be heading off to find them, I’m sure. The thing is, when you do – you’ve got to make the decision fast. Are you going to merely answer the door or are you going to walk through it?

Stay tuned – at the end of this post I have a great giveaway!!!

I am extremely fortunate to be involved in many amazing projects right now. In addition to my day jobs, which allow me to work with amazing people like Mark Saunders at Saunders Farm, film director Andrew Lavigne, and the awesome staff and students at Algonquin College, I also am privileged have numerous side projects on the go with fabulous folks at United Way/Centraide Ottawa, TEDx Ottawa, OttawaTonite.com, and SAW Video Co-op.

All of the projects are distinctly different, but they all require me to be able to do one thing well – ask for stuff. It might be someone’s time, it might be goods and services, or a favour – any way you slice it, it requires the ability to ask of others and do it well.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to ask – and it can really mean the difference between getting what you want and getting doors slammed in your face. Over time, I’ve learned that asking is an art. Here are a couple of the things I’ve learned.

Visibility is key. Everyone hates cold calling. I despise it. And, I don’t find it to be very effective, either. If the person I’m asking has no clue who I am, why would they even consider what I’m asking for, when they probably have 100 other people that they actually know asking for stuff? Unless it’s the deal of a lifetime, I probably don’t have a shot.

What does it take to get on someone’s radar? Well, it takes time, for starters. And, it also takes a good balance of not trying too hard with putting yourself out there as a real person.

Social media tools are a great way to sneak onto someone’s radar. The occasional retweet, promotion of that person’s stuff on your personal blog, or a few good recommendations of that person’s work can go a long way to start to build some visibility. Here’s the key though – it has to be 100% GENUINE. I’m never, ever going to promote someone’s book just to get noticed. I am doing it because I actually believe in the author’s message. There’s a big difference between a light tap on someone’s office door and barging in. Knock lightly. Ask politely. You may have to do it a few times. But in the end, it will get you noticed in positive way, rather than a negative one.

Short, sweet, and what’s in it for me. As this blog has become more popular, I’ve started to get more and more requests for my time. I get several emails per week now asking for me to review something, or write something, or meet someone in person. I appreciate all of the people reaching out to me. How do I determine what I’m going to pursue and what goes in the trash can? It’s all in the approach.

If someone sends an email that is short, succinct, gets to the point (i.e. the “ask”) right away then I will read on. But there’s something that’s key to a good “ask”. Tell me what is in it for me, right off the bat. If I can see how what you want jives with what I want, then I’m definitely going to take notice. If what you’re asking is all about you, then there’s no value for me. We’re not a fit.

When I ask someone for something, the FIRST thing I do is figure out how to make what I want about them. It sounds counter intuitive, but if you put some thought into it, it will work. Don’t suck up. Flattery, when it’s over the top, just makes people uncomfortable. State why you’re contacting the person, in two sentences or less. Then ask. Then tell them why this is a great opportunity for THEM. I guarantee you’ll at least get a reply if you stick to that formula.

The best way to get people to listen to your ask is to be real. Be gracious. And above all, be human. Connecting with people is not about kissing up, and it’s never contrived. Never have an ulterior motive. Connect with people first because you want to. Then figure out if there’s a way your goals can jive with theirs. Then, and only then, ask.

What about you? How do you ask?

—-

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In keeping with the theme of this post – I have two tickets (thanks to Stacey Diffin-Lafleu) to give away to the United Way’s Shmoozefest 2009 on October 21st. It’s a great event with all kinds of opportunities to connect with amazing people in the Ottawa business community. If you want to be entered to win, simply reply in the comments with “I wanna go to Shmoozefest, Suze!” and I’ll enter you in the draw. I’ll draw the winner on October 15th. Good luck!

…a browser plugin.

Hot off the presses, the DoGooder plugin was released to the world this morning, and in my opinion, it IS going to change the way we think about online advertising.

The concept is deceptively simple. You install the FREE plugin, which takes about 10 seconds, (compatible with Safari, Internet Exploder AND Firefox) and suddenly, all of the ads in web pages you visit change. For the better (way better!).

You see, the ads don’t just change to anything. They change to everything that’s good – as their web site says,

“…thoughtful green initiatives, philanthropic calls for action, and health and wellness ideas to help make the world a better place.”

The ads are simple, clear and interesting. Things like “An urban garden is a pretty GOOD idea.” “Hugging a tree? Not so good. Planting one? A GOOD idea.”. The long term plan here is to also incorporate “green” advertising and ads for charities. For now, the wonderful messages just make me feel GOOD. And that’s a GOOD thing. And, you can keep track of the GOOD ideas you are seeing as you browse – a small icon in the lower corner of the browser window diligently keeps count of the GOOD you’re doing.

The best and most brilliant part of the DoGooder plugin is that 50% of all of the profits from DoGood go directly to charitable organizations. Yep. The guys at DoGood are not only promoting doing good – they are DoGooders themselves.

Now before you start jumping up and down and saying “but wait – they are REMOVING ads from my page? Can they get away with that?” – this plugin is totally adaptable to your browsing needs. At any time you can right click on a page and see the actual ads on the page, or exempt a web page from DoGood. You can also email them directly and suggest a new cause to support.

So how does this potentially change advertising? Well, until the Web, advertising was a forced thing. As a consumer of media, I have no say in who advertises on the TV shows I watch or radio programs I listen to. Even on the web, I don’t typically get to decide which ads I see. With tools like DoGood, the choice is put in the hands of the consumer, which is great for the consumer, but also a tremendous opportunity for advertisers. They can target messages directly to the people who are interested in seeing them. If I’ve installed the DoGood plugin, it automatically means I’m interested in seeing messages with an environmental or philanthropic twist. Now, the advertiser KNOWS they have a captive audience.

I wish the guys at DoGood all the success in the world with this project – they are the very definition of changing the game.

Download the plugin here – and start doing some GOOD.

I think he would have gotten a real kick out of this Internet stuff. Mozart was a sociable guy, and had a great sense of humour. He was also wildly intelligent – my bet is, he would have picked up on the technology part pretty quickly – and I’m sure he’d have sprung to Internet Rockstar status in no time flat.

When it comes to the great artists and composers, I often wonder what they would think if they knew that over the years their art and music had seen such longevity. What would Mozart’s reaction be if he knew that hundreds of years later his work is loved and honoured around the world?

I was thinking this the other night as I sat in Blogger’s Row watching Mozart’s Final Piano Concerto: Beyond the Score, at the National Arts Centre. This unique perspective was brought to life with the talents of the NAC Orchestra, pianist Katherine Chi, soprano Donna Brown, actor Pierre Brault, and narrator Bill Richardson. I was fortunate to be among several local bloggers invited to attend the performance.

The show was a performance of Mozart’s final Concerto – composed not long before his death at the age of 35 – interwoven between fascinating stories that captured the essence of living in Mozart’s day. A large projection screen showed many paintings and lithographs and really helped to create a striking mood.

The result was spectacular, engaging, educational and thought provoking.

The 2nd half of the show was a performance of the entire Concerto from beginning to end. Having heard the breakdown of each part in the first act, it gave me a whole new appreciation for what Mozart was trying to convey through his music.

After the show, the bloggers were invited backstage to take a look around, and have a little visit with Pierre Brault, who highlighted his appreciation for new media’s approach to promoting the arts.

My brother Mike (@aliendaddy), my good friend and creator of the soon-to-be-launched OttawaTonite.com Cheryl (@fendergurl) and I put together this video that captures the essence of the evening. (Well, Mike did most of the shooting and editing work.)

Many, many thanks to Jen Covert (@jcovert) and everyone from the NAC for making us geeks feel special!

Enjoy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L45qyjZi7c

In the 11th grade, I had to take after school English tutoring because my grammar was so atrocious. It was my only hope of passing the class. I worked my butt off with my “its and it’s”, and my “there, their and they’re”.  My teacher told me that in the end, I’d probably pass the class, but I’d never really be much of a writer. I just didn’t have an “aptitude” for it. I got the C+ I needed and moved on.

I didn’t write for years after that – unless it was absolutely necessary. I dreaded anytime I had to sit down to write a letter, or put together a script for a college class. I certainly never wrote for fun. Every sentence was a struggle. Mostly they’d come out in very boring, flat phrases, with simple words. They certainly didn’t paint a picture of anything interesting or striking.

Oh sure, I was good at other things. I had an “aptitude” for music. I could teach. I was very organized, and extremely creative. I ran with the things I was good at, and had some good success early in my career. But all along, I wished I was a better writer. I wanted to enjoy it. I had all these ideas swimming in my head and I wanted to know how to write them down so they made sense. But the voice of my teacher still rang in my head “You’ll never be much of a writer.” It’s amazing how one negative experience can hinder so much.

Today, when people ask me what I do, I usually say “I tell stories”. I now identify myself on this blog, and on my other online presences as “a writer”.  I’ve found my voice. It wasn’t easy, but for anyone with a desire to express themselves (and in my experience, that’s just about everyone), it is totally doable. Here are some ways you can start to find your voice. And this doesn’t just apply to the written word, either. Gary Vaynerchuk talks about DNA in his upcoming book, Crush It!. Some people are programmed to be writers. Some are programmed to be in front of the camera. Some are visual artists. Others are musicians. Finding your voice is finding that way that you uniquely express yourself.

Practice practice practice. Nothing comes easy. Even people who seemingly ooze natural talent still have to put in hours and hours and hours of work. My friend Greg Wyard is one of the most talented musicians I know. He can play anything on an acoustic guitar. I mean ANYTHING. Like Bohemian Rhapsody. You have to hear it to believe it. Greg is a totally natural talent. He was truly born with a gift. But does he come by it easily? Not at all. He’s been playing for more than 30 years, and to this day, he STILL practices up to 8 hours a day.

Malcom Gladwell says you have to do something for 10,000 hours before you can be considered an expert at it. So if you really, really want to find your voice – you have to practice your craft, a lot. Don’t believe me? Go read Jon Swanson then. He’ll tell you everything you need to know about deliberate practice.

Fear is for wusses. It’s really scary to put yourself out there. To write something that you know other people will read. To put yourself on video or create a work of art that other people will see. Your biggest fear is that people will think you suck. If you don’t try at all, you can’t fail. That’s a nice, safe place to be, right? Too bad it’s boring as hell.

I was told to my face that I would never be much of a writer. Imagine my fear of putting fingers to keyboard and starting to write this blog two years ago. I thought all my ideas were dumb. I thought my bad grammar would make me seem like an idiot. But I did it anyway. I decided not to care what people thought. I did it, and still do it, first and foremost for myself. Because I wanted to practice. Because I had something to say (even if it was to myself). Imagine my surprise when people actually started to respond positively to what I was doing. Suddenly, my fear had been replaced with pride.

Don’t be a wuss. Sit down, and just start. You’ll be amazed where you end up.

Don’t strive for perfection. Imagine if we were all perfect? If every idea we had was 100% solid, and nobody ever made an error? Imagine how dreadfully awful that would be?

One of the things I love about writing this blog is when people disagree with me. It gets me fired up to have someone tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. It makes me downright giddy when someone gives me new ideas or a new way of looking at things.

Expression of ideas, whether it’s the written word, video, audio, music, or visual art, is about bringing something out that is inside.  Five people could write a blog post on “Finding Your Voice” and they’d all be completely different. Your voice is unique, and that means that people might not always see things the same way. A piece of art that I like may look horrible to someone else. That’s the beauty of living in an imperfect world. We all perceive things in our own way. Don’t try to be perfect at any of this. Just try.

Finding your voice is about digging deep, sometimes to a place that will make you a bit uncomfortable. But once you’re there, you’ll find richness beyond your wildest imagination. Take the first step. Sit down, and do it. You won’t be sorry.

On Wednesday night I’m very excited to be attending Mozart’s Final Piano Concerto – Beyond the Score at the National Arts Centre here in Ottawa.

In the past, the NAC has had a bit of a reputation for being a rather stuffy venue, where the mucky mucks hang out sipping Perrier and lime before donning their opera glasses for the 2nd act. Well, I’m here to tell you that has ALL changed, my friends!

Over the past several years, The National Arts Centre has become one of the most dynamic, interesting, engaging arts venues in our city, if not the country. They continue to surprise me with their line up of remarkable theatre, music and dance. Just have a look at their list of upcoming performances and I’m sure you’ll find something that interests you.

I’m particularly excited about this Wednesday’s performance because it starts none other than Ottawa thespian extraordinaire, Pierre Brault. Pierre and I have a bit of a history together, in that we worked on the Cable 22 show “Way Cool” for many years. He was a bright spot in my Sunday mornings back then, and I’m overjoyed at the success he’s having.

Now, for the fun part. Myself, my brother Mike, and my good friend Cheryl have been invited to cover the event on Wednesday night. We’ll be bringing a video camera and will have some great behind the scenes footage to show you as well as some scenes from the show. So stay tuned to this blog for all that great fun!

In the meantime – if you are in Ottawa on Wednesday night and would like a chance to attend the performance of Mozart’s Final Piano Concerto – Beyond the Score yourself, then I have a pair of tickets to give away! So just leave a comment saying “I wanna go to the NAC, Suze!” and you’ll be entered into the draw. I’ll draw for the tickets tomorrow (Tuesday September 29 evening at 8pm). Be sure to leave your email address so I can get back to you!

Thanks and hope to see you on Wednesday!

Incidentally – since my blog cross-posts over on Facebook, I’m also accepting entries in the comments over there.

When I first got inspired to create my blog (after my trip to Podcamp Toronto in 2007), I raced home to Ottawa, hopped on Wordpress, and the first thing it asked me for was a name. I was stumped. I thought, “Well I guess I should make it something sensible”. I tried Sue Murphy, Susan Murphy, smurphy, to no avail, of course, because my name is pretty common. So I thought for a minute, then just typed “SuzeMuse”. Suze, because of the nickname, and “muse” because I figured, well, my blog is going to be (mostly) written, so guess I’d better find my muse, and quick! I then realized that if I was going to be known on my blog as “SuzeMuse”, then I’d better be consistent. I went to a bunch of social network sites and got the username, and also bought the domain. Thus, and quite unintentionally, I might add, the “brand” of SuzeMuse was born.

There are a lot of people out here making social media, personal branding and online marketing much more complicated than it needs to be; to the point where it can be quite intimidating. Making social media work for you isn’t some mysterious secret. It doesn’t require you to be a technical wizard, a brilliant designer, or even a great writer. In fact, the only requirement to be successful in social media is to be…are you ready for it?

A human being.

Stop trying so darn hard. As my friend Kneale Mann says, “This ain’t rocket surgery!”…and I totally agree with him. That’s not to discount all the really smart people that are out here talking in easy to understand ways about social media and how it’s changing the game and making businesses think differently. Social media has fundamentally changed the way we connect with one another. But that doesn’t mean it’s complicated. I think it’s sometimes made out to be way more complicated than it needs to be. Ultimately, there’s really only one way to make all this social media stuff work for you. It doesn’t matter if you are a giant corporation or an individual doing your own thing. All you need to do to succeed in this space is to be yourself. It’s really that simple.

Make time to make it happen. People often ask me how I have the time to run a business, have a healthy marriage, spend time with my family and friends offline, AND work this whole social media thing into the mix. Well the truth is, I don’t actually consider it “working it in”. It’s part of what I do. It’s integrated into my day. I have basically two ways that I work it. I have chunks of time that are totally focused – like hanging out with my nephews or having dinner with my husband. I also have to be entirely focused for tasks like writing a big proposal or strategy. Those times, I am most definitely off-line. But other times, I take an integrated approach, like when I’m checking email or doing a tedious task like rendering video. At these times I tend to flip back and forth – chatting on Skype, popping into Twitter, or commenting on Facebook. I work both things together, and somehow, everything gets done. Does it make me less productive? Actually, I think it has the opposite effect. If I’m sharing what I’m up to, maybe I’m able to help someone else. If I’m checking in on what others are doing, maybe I can pick up something new. It’s all part of how I am just being myself out here.

Make no apologies. Ok, can we do something for once and for all? Can we STOP making such a big deal about making money? How many times a week do I have to listen to people defend themselves online for wanting to actually make a living? I remember Chris Brogan said once “I can’t eat a hug”. (I’m not actually sure where he said that, because dude’s everywhere).

Look – I love social media. I think it’s just great. It’s literally changed my life. Some of the best friends I’ve had in my life I know because I got involved in this stuff. But I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t doing at least some of this because of the opportunities it provides me to make a living. And I make NO apologies for that. Making money should never be your raison d’être for being here – people will find out pretty quick if you are are trying to gain their trust just so you can make a buck off them. But…there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be always looking for opportunities.

Connect with people because you see something in them that appeals to you. Some people will become good friends. Others may lead you to your next big opportunity. Some people may be both friends and opportunities. And that’s okay. If your intentions are good and you do that one simple thing (be a real person), then you’ll be richer in both your relationships and your pocketbook.

If you aren’t reading, you’re not learning. One final tip. If there’s one thing you can do right now to get ahead in social media, it’s to read. I am a voracious reader. I read almost continuously. Sometimes it’s 140 characters at a time, sometimes it’s 500 words in a blog post, sometimes it’s a whole book. But I have learned so much from so many smart people by reading. If I don’t understand something, I’ll first try to figure it out for myself. I’ll draw my own conclusions. Often, I’ll write about it on this blog – that always helps me to sort out my thoughts. I am infinitely curious about new media. I love to think about this stuff. And if I’m still lost? I have conversations. That almost always sorts it out. Read a LOT. Don’t just read what everyone else is reading. Read the stuff that you like to read. Read what you can relate to. That’s how you get ahead.

But most of all, don’t forget, it’s no more complicated than this….

The secret to success in social media is – be human.

Podcamp is about connecting, sharing, community, and network building. It’s also about technology, and the Web. So it stands to reason that lots of people will be bringing their technology with them to Podcamp, and using it profusely throughout the weekend. There will be abundant laptops clicking away, video recorders running, photos being snapped, and mobile devices being mobile. Which is totally fine. Far be it from me to deny a geek access to their technology!

I choose to do things a bit differently when I attend conferences. I take a mostly low-tech approach to my environment here. I don’t lug a laptop. I carry my iPhone (I’m not crazy!) but I use it sparingly.

Ow ow ow! Hand cramp! I am definitely a note taker. I write stuff down all the time. I have to. It’s part of my composition – it’s how I retain information and learn new things. I type a lot faster than I write, so if I’m typing notes during a session, I tend to want to try to write everything down. And if I’m doing that, I’m not really listening to the presentation. So I come armed with no more than a notebook and pen. That way, if I am writing, it’s only key info. And, pen to paper is a lot less distracting for the person sitting next to me as well.

One other side benefit of not bringing a laptop? Well, I typically don’t like to walk up to someone and strike up a conversation if they look “busy” on their computer. How available do I look if in between sessions, I’m head down trying to figure out how to upload the video I just shot, or checking my email? If I’m not clacking away, I stand a much better chance of making eye contact with someone, and starting up a new conversation.

Are you here for you or for them? I might get in trouble for this one, but again, this the way I do things – I’m not judging others here. If you find value in live tweeting events, then go to town with it. Really. However…consider what value live tweeting is really adding. Again, if I’m head down in my laptop or on my phone, posting to Twitter every darn thing the speaker is saying, am I really absorbing the information? Am I actively participating or passively documenting? And to what end? Are your followers deriving value from your stream or are they tuning you out till the conference is over? Are real conversations happening and if so, are you paying more attention to the online stream or what’s going on in front of you?

Other than maybe taking a photo or two or documenting something funny or compelling that happens in a session, I tend to keep my in-session tweeting to a minimum. Not everyone cares about ROI on social media, so I don’t feel that filling my stream with strange, out of context quotes adds value. If I really want to talk about what I’m learning, I’ll blog about it that night. But live tweeting? Not for me, thanks.

Reach out and touch someone. I don’t go to a ton of conferences, but the ones I do go to tend to be the unconferency, grass rootsy type of affairs. I like the format and the flexibility and the fact that I can wear jeans and a sweater and a ponytail. I like The Law of Two Feet. I like that it’s totally inclusive. I like that I can just sit on the floor in the hallway with a group of people and experience and learn and get excited about things as easily as I can inside of a formal session.

Gathering at events like conferences is about BEING 100% THERE. It’s not about bragging to all your followers how you’re hanging out with the popular kids. It’s not about waltzing around telling everyone what an expert you are. It’s about coming together with other like minded, talented, passionate, and genuine people and building friendships and business relationships and yah, you know what? Sometimes, it’s a little bit of sitting in a circle singing Kumbaya too. And I’m totally down with that. Because it’s about being together, live, in person – connecting. And at the end of this weekend I intend to have some fresh ideas, some new friends, and a renewed sense of passion for this work I do. That’s why I go. That’s why you should too.

Podcamp Montreal 2009
September 19th and 20th
UQAM Design Centre
1440 rue Sanguinet
Montreal, QC

See you there