Lealea's Blogblog http://www.lealea.net/ en Copyright 2009 2009-03-24T16:17:30+00:00 lealeahttp://feedburner.google.comSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesThis is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. Women in Tech: Asking the Wrong Questions Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/rYzKQURA_g4/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/women-in-tech-asking-the-wrong-questions/#When:16:17:30Z So today is Ada Lovelace Day a day that brings women in technology to the forefront. For a while, this post has been brewing at the back of my head but considering this is a day celebrating women in tech, my celebrating it is understood, but I want to bring up some core issues with women in tech in the first place.

SXSWi is a great place to meet people and it was interesting that I had two distinct conversations about the same topic with Samantha Warren and Ariel Newland — where are the women in design. Now, we’ve been asking that question for years. In fact, SXSW has several panels about women in tech, on the web, recruiting women, understanding women, every single year and I find, every single year we’re not really much closer to any answers. At best, solutions include mentoring and starting at an early age; at worst, conversations devolve into men-bashing and stereotypes.

Very recently, Ryan Carson drew some ire at FOWA because of the lack of female speakers or attendees; like almost every event organizer who gets flack for this, he sends out a well meaning tweet for suggestions of female speakers and to have them tag it with #fowaspeak Some people took that at face value and simply recommended a few interesting people, others took offense thinking that he was simply asking for speakers for the sake of their gender. To fill a quota. At a recent local TED.com-like event, IDEAfest here in Edmonton, people were asked to volunteer to speak. First come, first served. This call-to-action occurred several weeks before the event. After the event occurred, some attendees were annoyed/flabbergasted at the lack of women or ethnic people presenting, with a thinly veiled accusation towards the organizers. At a volunteer event.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

A few things:

  • Prejudice and sexism (both ways) exist
  • The above will never be eradicated
  • Education is key, but is not enough

In many ways I think we’re running around chasing our own tail, and maybe that’s because we’ve been asking the wrong questions, and are too busy playing the blame game. Let’s stop asking Where are the women in tech? or “Where are the women in this conference?”

Instead, let’s ask:

WHY do SOME women find it “easier” and necessary to get out there and be active in the community?

Just like with creating a user experience, personas are a powerful way to figure out what’s out there. There are a lot of talented web women out there, but there are some people whose names just jump out at you. Whitney Hess, Stephanie Sullivan, and Jina Bolton are often called upon to speak at various conferences and have a ton of followers on social media. Perhaps instead of asking where are the women, we should ask the women who are visible their personal and professional opinions on how they get active and visible. Take personality profiles of these women, their histories, their backgrounds. What’s common? What’s different? Whitney speaks about how shy she normally is: how does she break free? Why are some women afraid of being “out there”?

Or is it simply that Women just don’t pimp their shit?

Why are SOME women more comfortable or even blasee around men? (a reality in the tech industry)

Some girls just play well with boys. But we’re not all tomboys nor want to be. This is a reality of the world. There is a majority of men in the tech industry; some are not as friendly to women as they should be. How can we make interactions between men and women in the workplace, in a web workplace, more congenial? Men are not the enemy: they have mothers, daughters, and sisters. Most decent men want the best for the women in their lives. How do we work together with those men to more naturally include women?

How can we encourage women to STAY in technology?

I have the fortunate pleasure of being friends with some brilliant women out there. In fact, many of these women have gone through, since birth, many exposures to science and technology. A set of friends of mine has a scientist for a father; one of them has an undergrad degree in computing science, the other in electrical engineering. Both very sharp, ambitious women… they went through the WISEST (Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology) program, the typical encouraging and mentoring program that’s meant to entice women to technology. And yet, one completely abandoned computer science for international law, and the other sets up some technological infrastructure in Ghana — and mostly because she wanted to work in the non-profit sector, not necessarily related to her degree. Is it all because of personal preference? How do we keep brilliant and ambitious female minds in the technology sector?

Any answers?

Some women, like Alison Lewis, (who is an electrical engineer) are trying to lure women to technology through fashion and craft. This actually hits on another issue of mine: some women feel the need to de-feminize themselves in order to “fit in.” I like how Alison’s charge is to completely subvert that — be beautiful and fashionable! — while integrating technology into it. Nothing being shameful about being feminine in a male-dominated industry.

I don’t have all the answers. All I know is that we need to ask different questions. Let’s stop treating the symptoms — randomly trying to find women to speak in conferences, etc — and address real problems.

]]> So today is Ada Lovelace Day a day that brings women in technology to the forefront. For a while, this post has been brewing at the back of my head but considering this is a day celebrating women in tech, my celebrating it is understood, but I want to bring up some core issues with women in tech in the first place.

SXSWi is a great place to meet people and it was interesting that I had two distinct conversations about the same topic with Samantha Warren and Ariel Newland — where are the women in design. Now, we’ve been asking that question for years. In fact, SXSW has several panels about women in tech, on the web, recruiting women, understanding women, every single year and I find, every single year we’re not really much closer to any answers. At best, solutions include mentoring and starting at an early age; at worst, conversations devolve into men-bashing and stereotypes.

Very recently, Ryan Carson drew some ire at FOWA because of the lack of female speakers or attendees; like almost every event organizer who gets flack for this, he sends out a well meaning tweet for suggestions of female speakers and to have them tag it with #fowaspeak Some people took that at face value and simply recommended a few interesting people, others took offense thinking that he was simply asking for speakers for the sake of their gender. To fill a quota. At a recent local TED.com-like event, IDEAfest here in Edmonton, people were asked to volunteer to speak. First come, first served. This call-to-action occurred several weeks before the event. After the event occurred, some attendees were annoyed/flabbergasted at the lack of women or ethnic people presenting, with a thinly veiled accusation towards the organizers. At a volunteer event.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

A few things:

  • Prejudice and sexism (both ways) exist
  • The above will never be eradicated
  • Education is key, but is not enough

In many ways I think we’re running around chasing our own tail, and maybe that’s because we’ve been asking the wrong questions, and are too busy playing the blame game. Let’s stop asking Where are the women in tech? or “Where are the women in this conference?”

Instead, let’s ask:

WHY do SOME women find it “easier” and necessary to get out there and be active in the community?

Just like with creating a user experience, personas are a powerful way to figure out what’s out there. There are a lot of talented web women out there, but there are some people whose names just jump out at you. Whitney Hess, Stephanie Sullivan, and Jina Bolton are often called upon to speak at various conferences and have a ton of followers on social media. Perhaps instead of asking where are the women, we should ask the women who are visible their personal and professional opinions on how they get active and visible. Take personality profiles of these women, their histories, their backgrounds. What’s common? What’s different? Whitney speaks about how shy she normally is: how does she break free? Why are some women afraid of being “out there”?

Or is it simply that Women just don’t pimp their shit?

Why are SOME women more comfortable or even blasee around men? (a reality in the tech industry)

Some girls just play well with boys. But we’re not all tomboys nor want to be. This is a reality of the world. There is a majority of men in the tech industry; some are not as friendly to women as they should be. How can we make interactions between men and women in the workplace, in a web workplace, more congenial? Men are not the enemy: they have mothers, daughters, and sisters. Most decent men want the best for the women in their lives. How do we work together with those men to more naturally include women?

How can we encourage women to STAY in technology?

I have the fortunate pleasure of being friends with some brilliant women out there. In fact, many of these women have gone through, since birth, many exposures to science and technology. A set of friends of mine has a scientist for a father; one of them has an undergrad degree in computing science, the other in electrical engineering. Both very sharp, ambitious women… they went through the WISEST (Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology) program, the typical encouraging and mentoring program that’s meant to entice women to technology. And yet, one completely abandoned computer science for international law, and the other sets up some technological infrastructure in Ghana — and mostly because she wanted to work in the non-profit sector, not necessarily related to her degree. Is it all because of personal preference? How do we keep brilliant and ambitious female minds in the technology sector?

Any answers?

Some women, like Alison Lewis, (who is an electrical engineer) are trying to lure women to technology through fashion and craft. This actually hits on another issue of mine: some women feel the need to de-feminize themselves in order to “fit in.” I like how Alison’s charge is to completely subvert that — be beautiful and fashionable! — while integrating technology into it. Nothing being shameful about being feminine in a male-dominated industry.

I don’t have all the answers. All I know is that we need to ask different questions. Let’s stop treating the symptoms — randomly trying to find women to speak in conferences, etc — and address real problems.

]]> Business, Etc 2009-03-24T16:17:30+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/women-in-tech-asking-the-wrong-questions/#When:16:17:30Z Spelling Your Brand Name Properly Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/74fUFqGkafY/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/spelling-your-brand-name-properly/#When:19:20:07Z Can you spell every recognizable brand properly? Does it matter? Spelling properly can improve literacy, and groups like the Spelling Society (yes, it exists) and the rising profile of spelling bees means people are starting to take more notice about how words are spelled, hence the etymology (history) of the word bringing greater understanding of language.

They call me, “Mr. Tibbs.”

I started pondering the importance of spelling with brand recognition because of my own company name: Lealea Design. That is the proper way it is spelled. However, I’ve seen it in many other incarnations: LeaLea Design, Lea Lea Design, Lealea Designs, etc. I understand the confusion because the name is based off my real first name, despite the fact that “lealea” is an actual word with a double-meaning (happiness or pleasure in Hawaiian — and no, to clarify, I am not Hawaiian). Also, my logo has the words in uppercase, which means whoever types the name gets confused as to how it would look in a mixed case situation.

Meanwhile, my CMS of choice, ExpressionEngine is often incorrectly written as two separate words: Expression Engine. In fact, they even had a small forum post addressing the proper spelling and clarification, rightly advocating consistency in brand executions. People were confused, defended their right to misspell based on SEO, and wondered if EE was being a little too uptight. However, there’s a reason why brand manager or evangelists exist: even when it’s clearly written out what rules the brand must follow, many many people find a way to fudge it up.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Is that a bad thing? For the brand owners, it does hurt us in a way. Web wise, it lessens the our SEO web juice when people inconsistently try to search for different terms. It divides the search results. In another, it will convey the wrong idea to a new audience. Visually, it is also inconsistent. And lastly, it’s just a weeee bit annoying. :) But, as someone who has spent correcting pronunciations of her name (it sounds like that princess, not the other way) her entire life, and trying to convince people my last name is not Alcatraz, the little errors just start to roll off your shoulder and you just take it as something you just have to get used to correcting.

Or… should I get used to it? In my personal life, my sisters actually pronounce my name “Lee-yah.” Mostly, because everyone around me during childhood and growing up called my name improperly and I was too lazy/annoyed/tired of correcting. I finally took a harder stance during high school (new leaf and all that), and from then on, anyone who knew me PHS (Post High School) pronounced it “Lay-ah.”

However, I live a life where important people still call me by two names. And I’m okay with it. My sisters call me “Lee-yah” while my husband calls me “Lay-ah.” Is this the way we need to also address the reality of brand spelling and recognition? That, as long as people still identify you and still understand who you are, that it doesn’t matter as much if Coca-Cola needs that hyphen in between, or if it helps SEO, fine, let’s spell EE as “Expression Engine?”

At the end of the day, as long as you’re still recognized, and you yourself are consistent (EllisLab has always properly spelled their own product name), then even if others mistake it, as long as they know you exist in some form, is it okay? In my opinion, yes. However, I think it is always right to correct others when you do have the chance, and not stress if others still don’t follow suit.

Brand Nazi or Brand Savant?

What is your stance on naming? Are you more strict or are you more lenient? If strict, how do you enforce your naming? If loose, where do you let it go?

]]> Can you spell every recognizable brand properly? Does it matter? Spelling properly can improve literacy, and groups like the Spelling Society (yes, it exists) and the rising profile of spelling bees means people are starting to take more notice about how words are spelled, hence the etymology (history) of the word bringing greater understanding of language.

They call me, “Mr. Tibbs.”

I started pondering the importance of spelling with brand recognition because of my own company name: Lealea Design. That is the proper way it is spelled. However, I’ve seen it in many other incarnations: LeaLea Design, Lea Lea Design, Lealea Designs, etc. I understand the confusion because the name is based off my real first name, despite the fact that “lealea” is an actual word with a double-meaning (happiness or pleasure in Hawaiian — and no, to clarify, I am not Hawaiian). Also, my logo has the words in uppercase, which means whoever types the name gets confused as to how it would look in a mixed case situation.

Meanwhile, my CMS of choice, ExpressionEngine is often incorrectly written as two separate words: Expression Engine. In fact, they even had a small forum post addressing the proper spelling and clarification, rightly advocating consistency in brand executions. People were confused, defended their right to misspell based on SEO, and wondered if EE was being a little too uptight. However, there’s a reason why brand manager or evangelists exist: even when it’s clearly written out what rules the brand must follow, many many people find a way to fudge it up.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Is that a bad thing? For the brand owners, it does hurt us in a way. Web wise, it lessens the our SEO web juice when people inconsistently try to search for different terms. It divides the search results. In another, it will convey the wrong idea to a new audience. Visually, it is also inconsistent. And lastly, it’s just a weeee bit annoying. :) But, as someone who has spent correcting pronunciations of her name (it sounds like that princess, not the other way) her entire life, and trying to convince people my last name is not Alcatraz, the little errors just start to roll off your shoulder and you just take it as something you just have to get used to correcting.

Or… should I get used to it? In my personal life, my sisters actually pronounce my name “Lee-yah.” Mostly, because everyone around me during childhood and growing up called my name improperly and I was too lazy/annoyed/tired of correcting. I finally took a harder stance during high school (new leaf and all that), and from then on, anyone who knew me PHS (Post High School) pronounced it “Lay-ah.”

However, I live a life where important people still call me by two names. And I’m okay with it. My sisters call me “Lee-yah” while my husband calls me “Lay-ah.” Is this the way we need to also address the reality of brand spelling and recognition? That, as long as people still identify you and still understand who you are, that it doesn’t matter as much if Coca-Cola needs that hyphen in between, or if it helps SEO, fine, let’s spell EE as “Expression Engine?”

At the end of the day, as long as you’re still recognized, and you yourself are consistent (EllisLab has always properly spelled their own product name), then even if others mistake it, as long as they know you exist in some form, is it okay? In my opinion, yes. However, I think it is always right to correct others when you do have the chance, and not stress if others still don’t follow suit.

Brand Nazi or Brand Savant?

What is your stance on naming? Are you more strict or are you more lenient? If strict, how do you enforce your naming? If loose, where do you let it go?

]]> Branding, Business 2009-02-09T19:20:07+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/spelling-your-brand-name-properly/#When:19:20:07Z Organizing Your Project Files Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/h03493qhRrM/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/organizing-your-project-files/#When:17:54:20Z I’m curious as to how people organize their project and client files. My structure is pretty simple; I don’t — currently — use a software system that organizes everything. Right now, I just have folders.

This is how I have it separated:

Projects

  • Client/Project Specific folder
    • agreements
    • files
    • invoices
    • comps
  • 2005,2006,2007,2008 (a folder a year)
  • Completed (current year’s completed project files get moved here — at the end of the year, the Completed gets turned into a 2009 folder)

Resources

  • huge dump of files that are general use like stock photography and icons; each have their own folder. I also have an EE folder where I place all the general plugins and modules that I’ll probably use with multiple sites

File Naming

I also number my projects and folders with this type of system: 2K9-01 Client Name. The first set of numbers represent the year the project was created, and the second set represents that it’s the first project of 2009. The next part is simply the client name. I also number all files and comps using this system. So, if I was going to send an invoice to this client, it would look like: 2K9-01_client-name_invoice.pdf. A comp would be 2K9-01_homepage_v1.jpg. That is the versioning system I use.

How do you organize your files and systems? Do you use a piece of software? Or are you old-school like me? :)

]]> I’m curious as to how people organize their project and client files. My structure is pretty simple; I don’t — currently — use a software system that organizes everything. Right now, I just have folders.

This is how I have it separated:

Projects

  • Client/Project Specific folder
    • agreements
    • files
    • invoices
    • comps
  • 2005,2006,2007,2008 (a folder a year)
  • Completed (current year’s completed project files get moved here — at the end of the year, the Completed gets turned into a 2009 folder)

Resources

  • huge dump of files that are general use like stock photography and icons; each have their own folder. I also have an EE folder where I place all the general plugins and modules that I’ll probably use with multiple sites

File Naming

I also number my projects and folders with this type of system: 2K9-01 Client Name. The first set of numbers represent the year the project was created, and the second set represents that it’s the first project of 2009. The next part is simply the client name. I also number all files and comps using this system. So, if I was going to send an invoice to this client, it would look like: 2K9-01_client-name_invoice.pdf. A comp would be 2K9-01_homepage_v1.jpg. That is the versioning system I use.

How do you organize your files and systems? Do you use a piece of software? Or are you old-school like me? :)

]]> Business, Etc 2009-01-28T17:54:20+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/organizing-your-project-files/#When:17:54:20Z My Favourite Lealea Blogblog Posts Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/lCkuWwLvtcM/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/my-favourite-lealea-blogblog-posts/#When:03:00:42Z A lot of you have been loyal visitors to this site over the years, but many are also new. It’s been three years of off-and-on blogging but it still amassed a pretty sizeable archive. I don’t want my new visitors to be intimidated to get to know me, this site, and the blog a bit better. And maybe some of you old subscribers may find something new, too. So, without further ado, I want to outline My Top Five Favourite Lealea Blogblog Posts (omg, yes, it’s a list, not a thoughtful essay):

  1. The Art of Self-Branding
    Possibly the most famous article I’ve written since starting this blog. It outlines my own personal branding journey and how you can apply it to your own brand!
  2. Can you justify design decisions?
    Well, can you? Designers often struggle with this with clients and I provide examples and questions on how to move through it.
  3. Handling Rejection
    I share an anecdote while reiterating why it’s important to handle rejection.
  4. Lack of a Shared Vocabulary
    I try to define a problem with our industry.
  5. Don’t limit your visual knowledge
    I give examples of where you can find design inspiration.

Do you have a favourite from the archives? If so, let me know!

]]> A lot of you have been loyal visitors to this site over the years, but many are also new. It’s been three years of off-and-on blogging but it still amassed a pretty sizeable archive. I don’t want my new visitors to be intimidated to get to know me, this site, and the blog a bit better. And maybe some of you old subscribers may find something new, too. So, without further ado, I want to outline My Top Five Favourite Lealea Blogblog Posts (omg, yes, it’s a list, not a thoughtful essay):

  1. The Art of Self-Branding
    Possibly the most famous article I’ve written since starting this blog. It outlines my own personal branding journey and how you can apply it to your own brand!
  2. Can you justify design decisions?
    Well, can you? Designers often struggle with this with clients and I provide examples and questions on how to move through it.
  3. Handling Rejection
    I share an anecdote while reiterating why it’s important to handle rejection.
  4. Lack of a Shared Vocabulary
    I try to define a problem with our industry.
  5. Don’t limit your visual knowledge
    I give examples of where you can find design inspiration.

Do you have a favourite from the archives? If so, let me know!

]]> Lealea 2009-01-08T03:00:42+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/my-favourite-lealea-blogblog-posts/#When:03:00:42Z Welcome to Lealea.net v2.0 Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/qQkdNeYvWfY/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/welcome-to-lealeanet-v2/#When:16:54:55Z 2008 was a crazy busy year and I hope 2009 provides more of the same. Lealea 2.0 has been a labour of love off and on for almost an entire year. Little do most people know I had originally planned a new version of Lealea.net to coincide with my talk at SXSW08 back in March, but work and life craziness got in the way. Finally, after several months and several iterations, I thought I was ready to launch in early October — largely motivated by Matt Brett’s own major redesign. We both had launched our respective sites/careers at around the same time so I thought it’d be fitting if I was also part of that bandwagon.

I even enlisted the help of the always awesome Shaun Andrews to slice up a couple pages for me to save time while I worked on client projects, and I would finish all the other pages after he gave them to me. That was the plan, anyway. For a few days, it seemed do-able.

But life and other work happened, and thus, it’s been postponed. To give you an idea of why it had always been perpetually postponed…

In 2008:

  • I traveled and spoke at four separate events, including the biggest stage at SXSW 2008. You can see the other three listed on my about page
  • My husband and I decided to build a house — a long, grueling, time-consuming process. Our possession date, thankfully, is at the end of this month
  • Had a record number of projects, some of which are featured in my portfolio

I will be posting separate entries outlining the design process, justification for the design, possibly show some past iterations, the EE implementation, and so much more. I will have eventual give-aways (yep!) and some other promos in store for 2009. I’m excited. :)

Of course, this isn’t the 110% finished work, as I have more plans to update the site to be better than now, but I think this will suffice until then. Some entries will have some weird formatting and I’ll have to comb through them to fix. Please let me know if there is anything glaring.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me and Lealea Design throughout the years. If it wasn’t for my amazing clients, site visitors, web folks, and last but not least, family and friends, I would not be where I am today. This redesign’s been a long time coming, so here it is.

Don’t worry, I have Lealea v1 archived

]]> 2008 was a crazy busy year and I hope 2009 provides more of the same. Lealea 2.0 has been a labour of love off and on for almost an entire year. Little do most people know I had originally planned a new version of Lealea.net to coincide with my talk at SXSW08 back in March, but work and life craziness got in the way. Finally, after several months and several iterations, I thought I was ready to launch in early October — largely motivated by Matt Brett’s own major redesign. We both had launched our respective sites/careers at around the same time so I thought it’d be fitting if I was also part of that bandwagon.

I even enlisted the help of the always awesome Shaun Andrews to slice up a couple pages for me to save time while I worked on client projects, and I would finish all the other pages after he gave them to me. That was the plan, anyway. For a few days, it seemed do-able.

But life and other work happened, and thus, it’s been postponed. To give you an idea of why it had always been perpetually postponed…

In 2008:

  • I traveled and spoke at four separate events, including the biggest stage at SXSW 2008. You can see the other three listed on my about page
  • My husband and I decided to build a house — a long, grueling, time-consuming process. Our possession date, thankfully, is at the end of this month
  • Had a record number of projects, some of which are featured in my portfolio

I will be posting separate entries outlining the design process, justification for the design, possibly show some past iterations, the EE implementation, and so much more. I will have eventual give-aways (yep!) and some other promos in store for 2009. I’m excited. :)

Of course, this isn’t the 110% finished work, as I have more plans to update the site to be better than now, but I think this will suffice until then. Some entries will have some weird formatting and I’ll have to comb through them to fix. Please let me know if there is anything glaring.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me and Lealea Design throughout the years. If it wasn’t for my amazing clients, site visitors, web folks, and last but not least, family and friends, I would not be where I am today. This redesign’s been a long time coming, so here it is.

Don’t worry, I have Lealea v1 archived

]]> Business, Lealea 2009-01-06T16:54:55+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/welcome-to-lealeanet-v2/#When:16:54:55Z Networking, Exclusivity, and Friendship Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/-cIIgKHFI6M/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/networking-exclusivity-and-friendship/#When:22:57:43Z I haven’t been an active blogger and never have been. However, once in a while, reading a few posts from other people’s blogs can spur (read: incense) me enough to respond. I want to talk about How to Make Friends on the Web. Everyone knows how important networking is to the core of their business, and everyone has a different way of going about it. There are really only two sure-fire ways to make a genuine connection:

  1. meet them in person
  2. be awesome

Some of us don’t always have the luxury of one (though that’s part of the reason why I encourage people to go to conferences), and Number 2 is obvious but means different things to different people. And it’s #2 that I will have to take a little issue with.

Now, I love Merlin Mann and Brian Clark both of whom I had the pleasure of “meeting” (in quotes, because I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to sit down and talk to them) them both at the awesome IZEAfest event I spoke at last September. Both men deserve their reputation and business because they have worked very hard to be awesome in their respective fields and websites. Of course, that makes both of them so busy that a few times during the conference, they both said, “Please don’t email me” expecting a flood of inane questions, and just asked people to be awesome (I am paraphrasing, I know) and they will find you. Create a nice website, blog, etc. and the rewards will come eventually. And yes, that is true. But, it’s also too simplified.

And it bothers me a bit because I feel like it essentially alienates some from potentially reaching out genuinely. Is an inane question really that horrible? I guess if you get 100 of them a day, it does, and I understand, I truly do, in trying to discourage that. Of course, I disagree with commenters or respondents that demand you reply to every message. But, I think if we err on the side of Gary V who tries to engage with almost everyone that says “hello” to him, is that so bad?

Now, without trying to sound like a douchey name-dropper, I’m going to list a few of the “inane” ways I’ve connected genuinely with some very prominent people on the web:

  • Years ago, I contacted this British programmer about a font he designed that wasn’t working in Flash. On IM. This was before I even started Lealea Design. I didn’t expect him to reply, but he did. Our conversations eventually moved beyond typefaces, and soon we were chatting about other things we had in common. I was a relative “nobody” at the time. I was not “awesome.”
  • When I had my personal blog, this Florida-native designer wrote me an e-mail after I wrote an angsty post about my break-up with my ex (gasp! human, after all!) I had no idea he was one of the 26 people (based on Feedburner) subscribed to my personal blog. He sympathized with my situation, wrote me a sweet e-mail, and forwarded me an MP3 of his singing group to cheer me up.
  • Another dance loving designer I know I connected with based initially at first because of our heritage, but also our love of anime.

Now, a lot of the other “cool” (man, it’s hard to not sound douchey) people I got connected with because they genuinely enjoyed my website design, or the articles I’ve written resonated with them. And the next obvious one was because they met me at a conference and liked me. So the two sure-fire ways are working on my favour, too. However, I wouldn’t want to discourage someone saying “hello” or asking a question, even if it might be a little lame. How do I know you’re not the next upcoming web star? Or a future client? Or someone who can give me a future client? Or future genuine friend, not web acquiantance?

I guess all I have to say is that we all started lame at one time, and someone out there gave us a break, a smile, an encouraging word. Sometimes that’s enough. Err on the side of Gary V, I say. Err on the side of Gary V.

]]> I haven’t been an active blogger and never have been. However, once in a while, reading a few posts from other people’s blogs can spur (read: incense) me enough to respond. I want to talk about How to Make Friends on the Web. Everyone knows how important networking is to the core of their business, and everyone has a different way of going about it. There are really only two sure-fire ways to make a genuine connection:

  1. meet them in person
  2. be awesome

Some of us don’t always have the luxury of one (though that’s part of the reason why I encourage people to go to conferences), and Number 2 is obvious but means different things to different people. And it’s #2 that I will have to take a little issue with.

Now, I love Merlin Mann and Brian Clark both of whom I had the pleasure of “meeting” (in quotes, because I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to sit down and talk to them) them both at the awesome IZEAfest event I spoke at last September. Both men deserve their reputation and business because they have worked very hard to be awesome in their respective fields and websites. Of course, that makes both of them so busy that a few times during the conference, they both said, “Please don’t email me” expecting a flood of inane questions, and just asked people to be awesome (I am paraphrasing, I know) and they will find you. Create a nice website, blog, etc. and the rewards will come eventually. And yes, that is true. But, it’s also too simplified.

And it bothers me a bit because I feel like it essentially alienates some from potentially reaching out genuinely. Is an inane question really that horrible? I guess if you get 100 of them a day, it does, and I understand, I truly do, in trying to discourage that. Of course, I disagree with commenters or respondents that demand you reply to every message. But, I think if we err on the side of Gary V who tries to engage with almost everyone that says “hello” to him, is that so bad?

Now, without trying to sound like a douchey name-dropper, I’m going to list a few of the “inane” ways I’ve connected genuinely with some very prominent people on the web:

  • Years ago, I contacted this British programmer about a font he designed that wasn’t working in Flash. On IM. This was before I even started Lealea Design. I didn’t expect him to reply, but he did. Our conversations eventually moved beyond typefaces, and soon we were chatting about other things we had in common. I was a relative “nobody” at the time. I was not “awesome.”
  • When I had my personal blog, this Florida-native designer wrote me an e-mail after I wrote an angsty post about my break-up with my ex (gasp! human, after all!) I had no idea he was one of the 26 people (based on Feedburner) subscribed to my personal blog. He sympathized with my situation, wrote me a sweet e-mail, and forwarded me an MP3 of his singing group to cheer me up.
  • Another dance loving designer I know I connected with based initially at first because of our heritage, but also our love of anime.

Now, a lot of the other “cool” (man, it’s hard to not sound douchey) people I got connected with because they genuinely enjoyed my website design, or the articles I’ve written resonated with them. And the next obvious one was because they met me at a conference and liked me. So the two sure-fire ways are working on my favour, too. However, I wouldn’t want to discourage someone saying “hello” or asking a question, even if it might be a little lame. How do I know you’re not the next upcoming web star? Or a future client? Or someone who can give me a future client? Or future genuine friend, not web acquiantance?

I guess all I have to say is that we all started lame at one time, and someone out there gave us a break, a smile, an encouraging word. Sometimes that’s enough. Err on the side of Gary V, I say. Err on the side of Gary V.

]]> Web, Etc 2008-12-12T22:57:43+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/networking-exclusivity-and-friendship/#When:22:57:43Z You are Not A Unique Snowflake Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/p8lSvT4GwNQ/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/you-are-not-a-unique-snowflake/#When:19:00:52Z After reading Steve’s post, Great Lives Are Sitcoms it prompted me to think a lot about why many are resistant to the idea of branding, or specifically, self-branding.

I think the biggest problem people have with this concept is that we really, truly want to be the unique snowflake. We don’t want to summarize ourselves in five words, a sentence, or hell, even a paragraph. It’s always got to be the memoir-length novel to disguise insecurity that we can’t possibly be compartmentalized, categorized, etc. No! We are all different, because nothing’s worse than being all the same, right?

No one wants to be the “archetype” but archetypes are the ones that people notice. Most importantly, they’re the ones that people understand immediately.

However, what people don’t understand is that we are all generally the same (great thing about being human), with similar trials/tribulations: the difference is all in the execution. It’s the same with all television shows and sitcoms: the “plot” is the same (man vs. man; man vs. machine; man vs. society; man vs. environment) but the STORY is different.

I think more people need to understand that the front cover of a book, and the brief synopsis at the back cover, is what makes people want to read the entire novel. People should never be afraid of 5 word summaries, because if it’s pretty good, people will want more.

]]> After reading Steve’s post, Great Lives Are Sitcoms it prompted me to think a lot about why many are resistant to the idea of branding, or specifically, self-branding.

I think the biggest problem people have with this concept is that we really, truly want to be the unique snowflake. We don’t want to summarize ourselves in five words, a sentence, or hell, even a paragraph. It’s always got to be the memoir-length novel to disguise insecurity that we can’t possibly be compartmentalized, categorized, etc. No! We are all different, because nothing’s worse than being all the same, right?

No one wants to be the “archetype” but archetypes are the ones that people notice. Most importantly, they’re the ones that people understand immediately.

However, what people don’t understand is that we are all generally the same (great thing about being human), with similar trials/tribulations: the difference is all in the execution. It’s the same with all television shows and sitcoms: the “plot” is the same (man vs. man; man vs. machine; man vs. society; man vs. environment) but the STORY is different.

I think more people need to understand that the front cover of a book, and the brief synopsis at the back cover, is what makes people want to read the entire novel. People should never be afraid of 5 word summaries, because if it’s pretty good, people will want more.

]]> Design, Web, Etc 2008-09-16T19:00:52+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/you-are-not-a-unique-snowflake/#When:19:00:52Z Countdown to Lealea 2.0 Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/lgtmFA4KCqc/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/countdown-to-lealea-20/#When:18:58:11Z I just wanted to send a note to my loyal readers that Lealea 2.0 is finally coming. I have set up a development domain (you can’t see it because it’s set for SuperAdmins to view) using ExpressionEngine’s Multiple Site Manager. so that I can use the same install and also plug in my current lealea.net content into there just to see how it looks. If you really really want a preview, just send me an e-mail and I might actually show you a screenshot. :)

However, this is not without its pitfalls: this new site will be playing aroundnd with the current EE install and that may mean mistakes like plugins not working or pages getting shuffled, etc. In fact, in my zeal, I’ve already accidentally deleted my latest post about “My First Website” along with its comments it’s been restored! yay!…

I’ve already implemented the homepage and my about page. Designed, coded, and working in EE. :-) It’s also using sIFR 3 for the typeface and I have to say, wow, what a difference! I plan to be optimizing my blog section, and then finally, working on my projects pages. When that is complete, I’ll launch 2.0. And yes, I’ll write a blog post outlining what has improved from Ver 1 to Ver 2, including some ExpressionEngine details.

The big question is: when? The best answer I can give is early October edit: I suck. Honestly think it will be before the end of the year. With the momentum I have, I think that can actually be a safe bet. I’m really excited about this next iteration and I just want to take the time to thank all my loyal visitors, clients, and friends who have graced my website and helped my business get to where it is now.

]]> I just wanted to send a note to my loyal readers that Lealea 2.0 is finally coming. I have set up a development domain (you can’t see it because it’s set for SuperAdmins to view) using ExpressionEngine’s Multiple Site Manager. so that I can use the same install and also plug in my current lealea.net content into there just to see how it looks. If you really really want a preview, just send me an e-mail and I might actually show you a screenshot. :)

However, this is not without its pitfalls: this new site will be playing aroundnd with the current EE install and that may mean mistakes like plugins not working or pages getting shuffled, etc. In fact, in my zeal, I’ve already accidentally deleted my latest post about “My First Website” along with its comments it’s been restored! yay!…

I’ve already implemented the homepage and my about page. Designed, coded, and working in EE. :-) It’s also using sIFR 3 for the typeface and I have to say, wow, what a difference! I plan to be optimizing my blog section, and then finally, working on my projects pages. When that is complete, I’ll launch 2.0. And yes, I’ll write a blog post outlining what has improved from Ver 1 to Ver 2, including some ExpressionEngine details.

The big question is: when? The best answer I can give is early October edit: I suck. Honestly think it will be before the end of the year. With the momentum I have, I think that can actually be a safe bet. I’m really excited about this next iteration and I just want to take the time to thank all my loyal visitors, clients, and friends who have graced my website and helped my business get to where it is now.

]]> Lealea 2008-09-14T18:58:11+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/countdown-to-lealea-20/#When:18:58:11Z My First Website Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/qIcTtfPqRT8/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/my-first-website/#When:15:47:38Z Does anyone remember their first website? I mean, really remember?

I think I remember my first website more than I remember other “firsts” in my life. What better way to encompass the 90s than in a website loading on Netscape 1.0. As a thirteen year old brimming with optimism and geeky passtimes, I always tried to find ways to marry several interests in one. The web, even back then, was a way to do all that.

My first website was a Sailor Moon fan site. Coded together on Microsoft Notepad on a Pentium I computer on Windows 95, using screenshots and images downloaded on a 14.4 baud modem. The search engine of choice was Web Crawler I remember clicking to download a 200KB image and leaving to have lunch. This first website was a dark color schemed one — basically, also showing my bias with light on dark designs early on.

It was also hosted on Geocities back when they only offered 2MB of space. I believe the site was nestled in a community called “Tokyo Ginza” page 5437. I, unfortunately, do not have any screenshots to show you of this beauteous creation. It has been lost to the abyss of the web and old junky computer parts.

What was your first website?

]]> Does anyone remember their first website? I mean, really remember?

I think I remember my first website more than I remember other “firsts” in my life. What better way to encompass the 90s than in a website loading on Netscape 1.0. As a thirteen year old brimming with optimism and geeky passtimes, I always tried to find ways to marry several interests in one. The web, even back then, was a way to do all that.

My first website was a Sailor Moon fan site. Coded together on Microsoft Notepad on a Pentium I computer on Windows 95, using screenshots and images downloaded on a 14.4 baud modem. The search engine of choice was Web Crawler I remember clicking to download a 200KB image and leaving to have lunch. This first website was a dark color schemed one — basically, also showing my bias with light on dark designs early on.

It was also hosted on Geocities back when they only offered 2MB of space. I believe the site was nestled in a community called “Tokyo Ginza” page 5437. I, unfortunately, do not have any screenshots to show you of this beauteous creation. It has been lost to the abyss of the web and old junky computer parts.

What was your first website?

]]> Design, Web 2008-09-03T15:47:38+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/my-first-website/#When:15:47:38Z Blogging about Blogging Lea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lealea/~3/2nOaSypbGgw/ http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/blogging-about-blogging/#When:18:16:00Z I’ve been invited to speak at two different conferences about blogging. The Canadian Association of Journalists invited me to speak about blogging as “the new normal” and I’ll be heading to Orlando, FL for IZEAfest to discuss how to increase traffic to your blog. But as my kind and generous readers know, I’m not your typical prolific blogger — I don’t post every single day, or every week, or even every month. However, according to Feedburner I still have around 500 subscribers, almost 3000 unique visits a month, and I get inquiries from businesses wondering if I could put ads on my blog or write-up something about their company. I also have almost 340 followers on Twitter.

Now what does this say about blogging — or in the case of Twitter, micro-blogging — have anything to do with anything if I’m not as frequent as I could (should?) be? I am no pro-blogger and some will scoff at the “low” numbers I’m citing, but the bottom line is this: people that I want to know, know who I am and still, for whatever reason, care about what I have to say. Blogging has given me a place to express my opinions, which in turn, resulted in various opportunities for my personal life (friends) and my career (clients and conferences).

I believe the reason why, despite the fact that I haven’t written 500 posts and don’t blog every day, I still get steady visitors — old and new — as well as great opportunities, are two things:

  1. a genuine, approachable voice — I don’t preen/pretend or write too formally
  2. quality content — when I do post something, people actually reply or link to it or discuss it

Now, when you think about that signal to noise ratio, it’s a lot like when you pitch a design project to a client. In your own time, you experimented with different layouts and styles, but you end up only showing them one or two. That way, you make sure you only show the one you feel is most appropriate for them; the one you put the most thought into. I have a running text file with possible blog posts I may write in the future, but beyond the obvious time constraints for work and life, I also think about when is it most appropriate to write. Sometimes I decide to post something because everyone else is making a comment about that particular point like I did with Lack of a Shared Vocabulary. This way you can “share” the traffic because you are riding a wave of what’s “current.” However, it is also good to bring up a new point I haven’t found others speaking about at all or for a long time, like I did with Handling Rejection to begin the conversation, and if original, will get you a lot of links. Speaking of which, each post, while not always consciously targeted, can be maximized if you do narrow your focus for your blog. Current and past clients read my blog, and they often cite certain things I wrote as part of the reason why they chose me/still work with me because it was a quick and easy way for them to realize what my professional values were.

Until then, I’m always trying to balance where I can best spend my time. Having a blog can be a full time job and because it isn’t my choice career stream, I would rather ensure I post something I feel people would benefit from rather than filling the space for the sake of filling space.

That’s my two cents. Thoughts? Agree/Disagree? :)

]]> I’ve been invited to speak at two different conferences about blogging. The Canadian Association of Journalists invited me to speak about blogging as “the new normal” and I’ll be heading to Orlando, FL for IZEAfest to discuss how to increase traffic to your blog. But as my kind and generous readers know, I’m not your typical prolific blogger — I don’t post every single day, or every week, or even every month. However, according to Feedburner I still have around 500 subscribers, almost 3000 unique visits a month, and I get inquiries from businesses wondering if I could put ads on my blog or write-up something about their company. I also have almost 340 followers on Twitter.

Now what does this say about blogging — or in the case of Twitter, micro-blogging — have anything to do with anything if I’m not as frequent as I could (should?) be? I am no pro-blogger and some will scoff at the “low” numbers I’m citing, but the bottom line is this: people that I want to know, know who I am and still, for whatever reason, care about what I have to say. Blogging has given me a place to express my opinions, which in turn, resulted in various opportunities for my personal life (friends) and my career (clients and conferences).

I believe the reason why, despite the fact that I haven’t written 500 posts and don’t blog every day, I still get steady visitors — old and new — as well as great opportunities, are two things:

  1. a genuine, approachable voice — I don’t preen/pretend or write too formally
  2. quality content — when I do post something, people actually reply or link to it or discuss it

Now, when you think about that signal to noise ratio, it’s a lot like when you pitch a design project to a client. In your own time, you experimented with different layouts and styles, but you end up only showing them one or two. That way, you make sure you only show the one you feel is most appropriate for them; the one you put the most thought into. I have a running text file with possible blog posts I may write in the future, but beyond the obvious time constraints for work and life, I also think about when is it most appropriate to write. Sometimes I decide to post something because everyone else is making a comment about that particular point like I did with Lack of a Shared Vocabulary. This way you can “share” the traffic because you are riding a wave of what’s “current.” However, it is also good to bring up a new point I haven’t found others speaking about at all or for a long time, like I did with Handling Rejection to begin the conversation, and if original, will get you a lot of links. Speaking of which, each post, while not always consciously targeted, can be maximized if you do narrow your focus for your blog. Current and past clients read my blog, and they often cite certain things I wrote as part of the reason why they chose me/still work with me because it was a quick and easy way for them to realize what my professional values were.

Until then, I’m always trying to balance where I can best spend my time. Having a blog can be a full time job and because it isn’t my choice career stream, I would rather ensure I post something I feel people would benefit from rather than filling the space for the sake of filling space.

That’s my two cents. Thoughts? Agree/Disagree? :)

]]> Business, Web, Etc 2008-05-16T18:16:00+00:00 http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/blogging-about-blogging/#When:18:16:00Z