Our small group in the session chatted about best ways to get their cause, story and site out to the masses. Time being precious in the quick BarCamp sessions, there were some excellent ideas introduced, all of which I have passed onto the charity’s organizers and all of which I will help them with implementing, but to start things off, the brilliant Christian Nally quickly set up this "chipin" and we’ve set a goal to reach by the end of this week! To all of you in the group, in the session, at BarCamp, and beyond, please help make a small difference in this small way - because we can.

Take a few moments to CHIP IN! Click the link above or go directly to this ChipIn web page. If you’re geeky, click on the ‘<>copy’ link in the widget above and paste in your own spaces. We’ve got to this Friday to raise a small goal amount of $350 to directly support Hands Up For Africa.

Thanks JB for initiating this session - this type of immediate action was a fine way to hold a BarCamp session. Cheers.

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I have recently discovered this new service called ’staging’. At first, I thought it was some sort of means to ‘act out a pretend house’ - it has something to do with theatre, right? Looking further into exactly what staging a home really means, I thought, “I don’t need that - my taste is just fine. I can sell this house as-is with my own keen eye.” Then I saw a home that had undergone the magical transformation of staging. Wow, what a difference a service like this can make to selling (or purchasing) a home.

Andrea Foxman, CEO of “Home Ingredients” has been staging homes for over a year. Design and Interior Decorating are her passion and this naturally successful entrepreneur (she started, ran, and grew a highly successful talent agency business for 10 years prior to this endeavor) has the knack for good business, and more importantly, she knows how to make a home aesthetically brilliant.

A little known housing market fact: Homes that are staged sell up to 5-7% more. As Andrea sees it,

“It’s like detailing your car when you want to sell it…. a little curb appeal, rearranging your furniture and the flow of the house could make a big difference in your sale.”

Most home sellers don’t want to take the time and money to spiff up their homes. 5-7% more seals the deal for me. If you’re selling a home, “Home Ingredients” enables the seller a very large leg up when selling a home and provides the buyer the vision and incentive to purchase that perfect home. And they do it all: scope the project, bring in the goods, the set up, the strike down - et voila, a sold home!

Andrea has some unbelievable pieces in her jam-packed warehouse on the west side in Vancouver. Her unique and creative style is not the only aspect that gives her an advantage on her competitors - “Home Ingredients” rents furniture as well. So if you are a professional stager, you’d go to Andrea for her fine selection of rentals. Calling all Realtors and developers: you need this woman’s expert assistance!

My artistic ego has taken a hit: there’s plenty of good proof and reason to leave this role to the professionals and have Andrea continue to do what she delivers so brilliantly.

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And check out Buzz Bishop’s story in today’s 24 Hours Vancouver.

Here is a long list of happenings (happening right now!) right across this country. Direct your content - tweets, photos, news, stories - on how you participated in the day to the new site.

• CHARLOTTETOWN: Industry Networking Event, Atlantic Technology Centre
• MONTREAL: Industry Networking Event and The Kiss!
• TORONTO: Kensington Market block party, featuring demos of a 3D digital graffiti tagging system and a Skype megaphone, as well as a writing for digital media event at 1028 Queen Street West
• WINNIPEG: Keynote by Robert L. Peters, former president of the International Council of Graphic Design Associations, and networking event at the Pastry Castle Café
  SASKATOON: BarCamp Saskatoon, at The Cellar, Senator Hotel
• EDMONTON: DemoCamp Edmonton
• CALGARY: DemoCamp Calgary
• VANCOUVER: Digital Media Party, New Media BC annual general meeting and New Forms ‘Politube’ screening event and The Kiss!

Also check out our Ning Community and Facebook Group and become a member.

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New Forms Festival is introducing a new event this year, Open Mobile. This day is jam-packed with experts and leaders in the field of mobile technologies and platforms presenting case-studies, the actual “this is how this was done” - the goods. This is not your average tech event - far from it. How many times to you attend something “techy” related and walk away full of great ideas and inspiration, but are left scratching your head with “how did they DO that? Where do I even begin?” The speakers and some of their session descriptions are found on the Open Mobile event page - and it’s FREE, with coffee and lunch provided for you!

Sponsored in part by Mobile MUSE and presented as a part of the New Forms Festival, the event will delve into areas and projects on mobile platforms and technology, management, marketing, mobile video, a presentation on an internet-based audio public space project and, even cooler: a LIVE PRESENTATION from Chile from an artist and technologist who is exploring the mobile space in Chile and will be sharing his work and findings.

The day will be recorded on video by local videographer Bill Mullan and recorded for broadcast by CJSF.

All details and registration found here.

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VinoCamp has commenced… the day started with a pick-up at 8:15 of fellow comrade committee guy, Boris, where the joke of setting your alarm clock to get up and have a day full of wine first got its legs (thank-you to the man/driver on this morning, who never fails to supply me with all my material).

We are in the beautiful Botanical Gardens at UBC, thankfully in a shady, breezy room on what is supposed to be a hot 33 degrees summer Saturday. Everyone has arrived in one shape or another, they have collected a fancy Riedel wine glass for keeps, a lovely bag of truffles each, a beautiful program and lunch menu (well done Lori) and we are deep into the Okanagan Valley region as Kathy Malone (from our major sponsor the Artisan Wine Co.) takes us from the Island, over the Pacific and through to the Interior of BC so we’re all better equipped with the knowledge of the BC wine Regions.

This is already a great day and we’re only into tasting one. Let it be known: I really don’t mind drinking wine before breakfast.

Our sponsors are fantastic - Cheers to you all for making the inaugural day happen:
Artisan Wine Co. / Puddifoot.com / Riedel / Taylor Hill / Kitsilano.ca / Techvibes / Miss 604 / Joeys / Farmstead / The Player’s Chophouse / Blue Water Cafe / The Cascade Room / Unwined / Trattoria / Habit.

(more links later people - I gotta drink some vino!) Mostly done.

flickr pics here!

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What exactly is Vinocamp?

This is definitely not the wine festival. In a more unstructured form than a standard conference, VinoCampVancouver brings wine, people and technology together in one place, making wine accessible, educational and fun.

VinoCamp was inspired by techy-turned-wine-o expert Lori Pike. There is a small crew of us helping to piece this together, but we could definitely use some help, outreach, link love, spread the love… This event is fast approaching and tickets are selling - register now to reserve your place as there is not a ton of room on this bill.

When: Saturday, August 16th — 10am To until the last bottle is drip-dry.

The speaker list is building and includes the likes of Brad Cooper, Wine Maker at Township 7 and Wine Maker Kathy Malone from one of the major sponsors, the Artisan Wine Co.

If you want to help, we’re still on the hunt for more sponsors, speaker suggestions and people to help on the day as well.

Also:
Facebook Group
Facebook Event Page

This is going to be an amazing day of fine wines, delectable foods and promised sunshine - don’t miss out. Dare I say it? - Summer is closing in and it’ll be gone before we know it! More vino please.

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Chris Heuer, Kristie Wells and Howard Greenstein have been long-time advocates of social media and building and supporting community, which led to their organization they Co-Founded several years back, the Social Media Club (SMC). They have recently reached out to their community and formed an Interim Board of Directors.

I am happy to jump in with the other 40-odd very notable members at this time and I am totally humbled to be in such company. (You should see the tracks of email convos popping back and forth between this fine group of social media-ites: phew. All great stuff.)

This online over-the-internet-waves-and-on-the-ground Board will be in existence for the coming months - perhaps 6 or so - until an actual *proper* board of 12 is officially elected in some sort of democratic way down the road.

Until then, please read the official announcement, the release, the news and support this social media mecca endeavor wherever and however you can. Oh, and what the hell is SMC anyways? Well, for starters: community, sharing, conversation, changing the world! - Go forth and find out!

Cheers to CH and KW for kicking this all into high gear, looking forward to great things to come…

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Being a long distance runner for years, a blogger slash social media person and living in Vancouver all made for a good fit for the purpose of this Nike event.

Over the next 2 months, there will be a few runners/bloggers in Vancouver writing for the Nike blog about a wide range of topics to get everyone prepped, psyched and ready to run. My focus will be on training tips, injury prevention, my hot music picks and all the latest gear. If you’re running or training for the race, let me know and we can record a few video blogs to tell your tale and share more knowledge with other runners.

I also get to work with the fine folks at Organic in Toronto to get this part of the project up and “running” (couldn’t resist) - they are great people and I am happy to have the opportunity to work with them.

Follow along with all the tips, tricks, training, stories and music and get set to run with the world - read all the local Nike Vancouver articles or follow my Nike running content and let me know if there are any specific running issues or topics you’d like to know about.

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“2 questions, 60 seconds, ok, go!”
That’s all the few of us had to throw Kim Cattrall at the Banff TV Festival in Banff, 2008. She was hotter than hell, quite a stunner for OVER 50 and is a fun, lovely woman, all 60 seconds I had with her! This is the *very* short clip that came out of that mini session!

“The oxygen level is like getting stoned.”

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