No one is quite sure how Bob’s Lake got its name. It seems not many Bobs passed through Frontenac region in Eastern Ontario in the mid Nineteenth Century. According to the book The Dammed Lakes, An Environmental History of Crow and Bobs Lakes the lake was named after the member of a native band–either Algonquin or Mississauga–who passed through the region. Here are a list of possible Bob candidates:

• There were two Mississauga named Robert – Blacker and Mitchell. But neither was called “Bob” and neither has a known connection to the lake
• There was a Mississauga named “Bob” but he left the region in 1827–too early in time for his name to be passed along
• There were European settlers named Robert, but again no known Bobs

It may take some time before the mystery of Bob’s lake is resolved. But until then….baby steps

The Only Constant is Change- Heraclitus

Every day it becomes more evident that the socio-economic model we’ve been dependent on is cracking beneath our feet.

This animation by Cultivate demonstrates the importance of resilience in building new models by comparing it to surfing. It looks at the themes of  personal and community resilience and facing global transition to reflect on how to best manage significant social shifts.

Just like surfers, agents of change have to act with courage, learn through experience and adapt quickly so they can make the most of the resources they have while going with the flow–especially in times of crisis.

Check it out!

I’ve always been enamoured with all things on the web. I’ve been designing and developing websites for around five years now, and am always keen to learn the new and emerging technologies that come with it. During my days here at Hypenotic, I’m usually kept busy with a variety of work such as tweaking WordPress themes, developing responsive solutions for web pages, and trying to get the office puppy Blue, to like me. During evenings and weekends, I like to hack away at a plethora of different projects using fun tech like PHP, MySQL, Node.js, Socket.io, Objective-C, etc. I also love to play volleyball, and enjoy composing music of all sorts.

I look forward to continuing to work with this great team, here at Hypenotic. I’m sure I’ll learn a ton while I’m here, and hopefully have the opportunity to share some of my own skills with others.

I love it. But I still sweat it. Every time.

I think it’s because I believe there’s an unwritten contract between the speaker and the audience. In exchange for some considered attention, people have a right be floored. Moved. At the very least, they ned to be engaged.

I just watched a TedTalk Nancy Duarte gave a couple of years ago that’s going to make me sweat even more.

By her standards, your presentation is no less than a vehicle to help you change the world. Key ideas include:

• Presenter isn’t the hero, the audience is–presenter is the mentor, shepherding the audience from one place to another
• There’s a rhythm to this journey, and the greatest presenters, from Dr. King to Steve Jobs have availed themselves of it

According to Nancy, you can change the world on whatever scale you need to for your idea to exist, just don’t keep your idea bottled up.

For tips on presentations that actually inspire people to do something, enjoy the video.

It’s not everyday UFO sightings happen in and around Ontario Lakes. Unless you happen to be talking about Minden’s Boshkung Lake in the early 70′s.

Minden residents, Mr and Mrs. Ashley Lunham,  were visited by a wide range of alien objects in 1973 and 74. The visits were so frequent, in fact, that they referred to the frozen lake outside their home as a “virtual parking lot.”  Some of the objects were shaped like cigars, other like polliwogs. They had sometimes red, blue and white lights. They always displayed nine antennae and their takeoff resembled a rubber ball. Curt Sutherly’s book UFO Mysteries  has an entire chapter dedicated to The Invasion of Boshkung Lake. In it he features all of the folks who also witnessed the strange flying objects.

Sutherly’s book features a local journalist who decided to take on the case.  After several fruitless visits to the frozen lake the journalist, equipped with a camera, finally saw an object with a red light high over lake Boshkung.  It was then that ten snowmobilers  from Minden arrived on the ice and began shooting at the object, attempting to ambush the interlopers. A “distinct clunk” could be heard as bullets careened off the flying objects.

A local housewife, Mrs. Barnes, who was among 50 witnesses to the bizarre object that night commented “We can’t all be crazy.”

So far, Hypenotic is proving to be worthy of the early morning alarm and commute that I’ve been getting used to. I work in a downtown studio space complete with eleven large windows, my own desk (displayed below, along with things I enjoy), a smiling and talented staff, and of course, Blue, a cute Australian Sheppard that won’t let me touch him. I’ve got no complaints. Like I said, the staff are a great group of people and their mission to create meaningful marketing for good things reflects in their personalities. So, for the next couple of months, while I’m not trying to win the friendship of Blue, I am going to be building connections with my colleagues so that I can learn some new skills from them, maybe even vice versa. I hope you have a lovely Friday, and you’ll be hearing from me again soon.

We’re often able to convince them to turn bits of their learning into by-products that can do triple duty as marketing and a way to keep people informed about what they’re up to.

This poster does a great job of breaking down a task that might be daunting to address as a whole into chewable parts. Usability and productivity experts will agree that breaking down tasks into their most easily actionable components gives them a much better shot of getting done.

The illustration style and written language are warm and inviting, further disarming apprehension about a new task.

The site that put it together uses these shareable and shareworthy pieces of content as marketing. If you can get your head around the idea, the keys are:

• Solve a problem for people so that searchers find it and people that create resources want to share it with their audiences
• Do a professional job of it (solid facts, smart copy and beautiful aesthetics) so people want to look at it and share it
• Reach out to people and places that might want to share it with you
• Include a link to the actual image that brings traffic back to your site
• Have a page on your site ready to receive them
• Cite your sources

Source: http://FrugalDad.com

Any other ideas around the nuts and bolts of an infographic driven content strategy?

Any thoughts on the poster specifically?

Let us know!

In fact, I was on a 15 year track in which I evolved from a designer creating a job for himself to a entrepreneur with a mission and a team.

As you might imagine, I read EVERY book available on the subject of running a design business. Read isn’t the right word. Consumed is more like it. I was ravenous/desperate for insight into what I was doing right, what I was doing wrong, what other people did and what other people didn’t do.

I read Tad Crawford’s books and bought his CDs. I read the ReCourses stuff. I downloaded forms, tested briefs, was humbled by methodologies and always felt several steps behind a rapidly changing practice. I didn’t have the fundamentals from business school, didn’t apprentice at a great shop and steal their methodology, and only realized I was an ‘entreprenuer’ a few years in.

Last week I started reading a book that trumps everything I’ve read put together.

DESIGN IS A JOB by Mike Monteiro validates all of my beliefs and vindicates tough choices I’ve made as recently as two weeks ago. It’s staring at my disapprovingly through my ipad regarding a few things I know better about but have been putting off. It has reminded me of things I knew were important but forgot. And it’s even taught me a few new tricks.

The best part is I still have 100 pages left.

Stolen off the A Book Apart site. Hope it's cool since I'm endorsing it

But I’m not suggesting you read this if you’re a designer. Go ahead, but unless you’re already inclined to work in sync with your values, a lot of what you implement from the book will still feel like you’re faking it. You know who you are.

No, this one is for clients. This book will give you more insight into the motivations, care and value of a service provider than anything I’ve ever seen. And I think you’ll be safe applying what you learn to just about any professional creative services provider.

I feel like I’m cheating a bit by sharing this with you. It’s a peak behind the curtain at the heart, nervous system and engine of a designer. On the other hand, the spirit of the book is about a partnership approach, so the more you can empathize with our needs–what it takes to hit it out of the park for you, the more dynamic our opportunities are.

Want just one of the 50 pearls of wisdom I’ve underlined?

Beware of clients who have waited to call you until they have a perfect diagram of what they need and want you to color it in. If they’re not coming to you for strategy and problem-solving, they’re not coming to you for design, they’re coming to you for production. And if you take on production work, you don’t get to call yourself a designer.

Want another?

You can roll your eyes at how much they don’t understand about design or you can roll up your sleeves and begin practicing your craft by helping them clarify what they need.

Don’t wait, but don’t be surprised if I buy you a copy for the next holiday.

During the winter of 2004-2005, the famous Blue Heron Lake snapping turtle, with a huge shell measuring over 5 feet passed away due to natural causes. He was one of the lucky ones.

According to a recent report, hunting, highway roadkill and habitat loss are threatening the snapping turtle species. A coalition has been formed calling for an end to snapping turtle hunting  for their turtle meat which is (apparently) sold on the black market. One of the organizations behind the report says

“While we must find long-term solutions to deal with these threats, the province has the power to give snappers a fighting chance today by ending the hunt.”

What do doughnuts, Canadian youth and potable water have in common? They are related to three of the high profile petitions currently circulating because of online platform Change.org.

Using Change.org Canadians have spearheaded campaigns to;

• Encourage Tim Hortons to stop using pork and eggs from farms with inhumane practices
• Make sure the Canadian Government ensures that there’s safe, potable water in First Nations communities
• Influence the Minister of Canadian Heritage to reconsider shutting down youth organization, Katimavik

Change.org already has 450,000 Canadians signed up as members and they’re in their early days.

Now the platform has on-the-ground Canadian presence in the form of Campaigns Director Jordy Gold and his associate Campaigner Lauryn Drainie.  Jordy and I are on the Not for From the Tree Steering Committee together and since entering his new role I’ve enjoyed listening to him literally overflow with enthusiasm for the impact Change.org is having all around the world. Results like getting the MPAA to overturn its ‘R’ rating of the ‘Bully’ movie and stopping the spread of Pink Slime in meat products in schools across the US make me undertand what he’s so jazzed about.

So what does on the ground Canadian presence for Change.org mean? I asked Jordy the same question. His response? Change.org in Canada means:

• A stronger push than ever to get more Canadians engaged in the issues featured on Change.org
• Exponential impact for the petitions that resonate with Canadians. When a campaign catches on, Change.org takes notice and steps in to provide campaign support and spread the word. More Canadians will get this kind of support.
• More “Canadian-Content” that truly speaks to the people of the true north strong and free

There’s never been a better time to start a petition on Change.org. Mine the site for tips and tricks to build a killer campaign and spread the word. In the meantime,  watch out for Canadian campaigns getting more profile than ever.