Shanta R. Nathwani, B.Com., MCP

Category: Follow Friday

  • #FF WordCamp Buffalo

    WordCamp Buffalo 2013
    WordCamp Buffalo 2013

    I have the privilege of presenting at WordCamp Buffalo this weekend on the topic of Data Architecture in WordPress. This is their second year and it’s sold out! I present this topic at Sheridan College in the CCT360 course, part of the ICCIT joint program with University of Toronto at Mississauga.  In this Intermediate Web Design, we use WordPress as their tool and it is amazing what comes out of their final projects. 

    Some of the presenters I know personally, such as Al Davis, Brian Hogg and Jordan Quintal and others I’ve just tweeted or emailed. One tweet I got from Jared Novak said he was upset that he wasn’t going to be able to see my talk because we were presenting at the same time. Hence the hashtag, #WordCampProblems. However, it turns out that we will both be at WordCamp Toronto in a few weeks, so he’ll get a chance to see it there.

    If you are planning on attending my session, may I highly recommend that you bring Post-it notes. I will have a few on hand, but you might have more fun with your own. It will be my first time presenting this topic and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

    WordCamp Buffalo, in its second year looks like it’s going to be a fun time. I’ve never presented out of country before (and yeah, I know it’s not far), but they are taking a real chance on me and for that I am thankful for. I highly recommend that you follow WordCamp Buffalo on Twitter @WordCampBuffalo and follow along with the hashtag #WCBuf tomorrow for the camp. Hope to see you there!

  • #FF Lyndon Johnson

    Lyndon and I run into each other all over the place. We’ve met up at a couple of Citizenbridge meetings, a forum at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University on Entrepreneurship and most recently at ProductCamp Toronto which I did a #FF post on a couple of weeks ago. I’m happy to say that this is happening more frequently.

    I always joked that he looks like Mark Holmes, lead singer of the 80’s band, “Platinum Blonde”. He even has the accent to back it up. I swore to friends of mine at the Retro Road Show that I was going to bring “Mark Holmes”. When I finally got him out to one this past Saturday, my friends had to do a double take. He had such a great time, he wonders why he hasn’t gone to one before now. I know I’ve hooked a regular!

    He and I have had some really great conversations about public relations, marketing, politics and even retro music. A couple of days ago, we had an awesome exchange on Twitter about @Indie88Toronto and @RickAstley. Being the retro fan that I knew he was, I had to share my discovery with him. Loved his response!:

    We’d also met up in Waterloo a couple of times and I’ve read quite a few of his posts regarding BlackBerry’s marketing failures. However, his post on “The Problems with Social Media Narcissism” definitely hits home with me and is something I have been saying for months since LinkedIn introduced endorsements. I haven’t kept up with his blog lately (he blogs a lot!), but I’m going to make it part of my everyday reading from now on. I should have added it a long time ago.

    At ProductCamp Toronto last weekend, we attended each other’s sessions (we both gave talks, but he won the best talk in his category). He never stepped on people’s toes, rather supported a point that was made or gave great examples.

    He has some really interesting things to say and is also a great listener. Follow his tweets @lyndonJJ personally and his company Think Different[ly] @THINK_Lyndon. I know you’ll all enjoy.

    Lyndon Johnson
    Have always enjoyed this profile pic of Lyndon

  • #FF James Burchill

    James Burchill's Twitter Photo
    James Burchill’s Twitter Photo

    James Burchill is a great source of knowledge. The other night at Social Fusion Networking Oakville (#sfnOAKV), we had a great discussion about email marketing and some of the new rules around your email marketing lists. He has built an amazing community around free networking; great venue, great incentives, great networking and great people.

    I attended James’s first “Business in Burlington” in January, 2012 on the suggestion of David Hills. I had just moved to Hamilton and was still finding my way around. At this first meetup, he had close to 100 people, and it didn’t stop there. A short time later, he launched the Oakville branch and then the Niagara one, all of which are extremely successful, pulling in over 100 people at each meeting. These latter two chapters have had some challenges with venues, but that hasn’t stopped them. James keeps everyone informed and asks for assistance through numerous channels including Twitter, LinkedIn and Meetup, which he uses for getting discussions going and informing people of the events.

    Since attending the first one, I’ve tried to make every Social Fusion event (the new branding name from Business in…) that I can get my hands on. I always meet great people and make great connections. In January, one of the members, Mason, knowing I enjoy doing Origami gave me some wonderful washi paper and never asked for anything in return. I made him a crane in appreciation that he carefully put in his car after I gave it to him in Oakville this week. Just good atmosphere and great friendships.

    Follow James Burchill on Twitter and join us at one of the Social Fusion events!

  • #FF ProductCamp Toronto

    I’m sure that you’ve all heard me talk about my friend Alex Blom. He and I met at Product Camp a few years ago. I attended my first one shortly after I graduated Ryerson University.

    I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and I’d done Project Management before, so I figured: “What’s the difference?” Boy was I wrong. One thing I figured out is that there is no real clear definition. I’m probably not the best to explain it.

    So what to do? Attend ProductCamp like I did. Last year, I even got a chance to present! Here’s the deck I prepared on the fly:

    [slideshare id=13790033&doc=socialmediachannelsproductcamp-toronto-2012-120728212608-phpapp02]

    When you arrive in the morning, register and grab a free coffee and snack (did I mention the whole day is free???). In true un-conference style, some of the topics are suggested ahead of time, and some can be suggested on the morning of the event. They are then voted on and presented as the day goes on. My suggestion to revive my earlier talk can be voted on HERE.

    I highly recommend this un-conference to anyone for great networking and knowledge. You can follow them on Twitter at @PCToronto and register for Product Camp on July 20th HERE. Hope to see you all there!

  • #FF City of Hamilton

    I attended an information session/workshop hosted by the City of Hamilton and McMaster University last night to talk about the communication channels, more specifically, the social media ones, with City Hall.

    Alex Sevigny getting the show started
    Alex Sevigny getting the show started

    My mother originally found the information in The Hamilton Spectator and handed it to me because she knew that I was interested in the City of Hamilton’s website plans. She thought this would be related. So did I.

    The evening seemed to go smoothly enough. I always enjoy hearing Dr. Alex Sevigny speak, so hearing him talk about social media and communications seemed like a good way to start the conversation and engagement.

    However, it seemed like we were being lectured to, not being asked what we, the citizens, wanted to see and how we thought best to go about doing it. Still, we pushed on to see what was going to come out of it.

    Though I enjoyed the exercise, not everyone did. The real discussion emerged after the formal program was over. What I found was that the websites that they mention in the presentation isn’t really dealt with in the discussion parts. The event was very pigeon-holed and directed. It shouldn’t have been. The discussion seemed to separate the website from the social media and communications. Hopefully, they will take not only my comments, but those of all that attended to heart.

    Since last night, the City of Hamilton twitter account has increased from about 839 to over 1200 at the time of writing. That’s a 25% increase overnight. Most people are doing #FF to the City of Hamilton today, so their timing was right. But just remember, once you’ve opened those gates, you’d better be prepared for what comes next: the conversation. I’ve already seen two tweets since last night with photos of things the City needs to fix. I have to say that I’m impressed that the City has responded to the tweet and handed it over. Well played…

    You can also read Joey Coleman’s take before the meeting and will probably post a report afterwards.

    Joey Coleman at work
    Joey Coleman at work

    I am optimistic which is why I recommend that you follow @CityOfHamilton on this great Follow Friday. I realize they will have a learning curve, which, if they play their cards right, we are willing to help them improve. Jump in #HamOnt!