For some reason this theme doesn't show apostrophes in the header font. I'll figure it out at some point but for now please don't assume I'm dumb. Cheers.
Photo credit at bottom of post
I swear, this isn’t going to become a politics blog. But feel free to consider this a follow up to my second-last post. As was the hot rumour on December 30, the Prime Minister asked the Governor General to prorogue Parliament and the Queen’s representative said okilly doke (or something to that effect). Bam. Proroguation sweeps the nation.
This clearly struck a chord with Canadians who feel as though their elected representatives should, you know, represent them. Columnists and editorialists were almost unanimously against the move and, as is the hip thing to do in this day and age, a Facebook Group was started to protest prorogation. read more…
Photo credit at bottom of post
Perusing the ol’ Google Reader makes it abundantly clear that ’tis the season for top 10 lists. Top 10 social media something-or-others of the past year; top 10 predictions for social media in 2010… the ever present love of top 10 lists plus the irresistible allure of year-end retrospectives has proven too much to ignore.
I’m not being critical; hell, one of my best-read posts of the last while was my Top 5 Social Media Trends that Should Die from last year around this time. But this year, I just can’t bring myself to write one. Sure, I’ve had a few ideas and scribbled a few notes on the back of the proverbial napkin (*cough* my iPhone *cough*). But this hasn’t been a regular holiday season for me. My mind has sorta been elsewhere. read more…
Photo credit at bottom of post
While most Canadians are eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team, those with political leanings are abuzz with the news that Parliament may be prorogued until after those very same Olympics.
A quick Twitter search will show that there are strong feelings one way or another but this post isn’t going to tackle that question. Instead, what bothers me is the widespread belief that it’s the Prime Minister himself who is planning to prorogue Parliament. Only the Governor General (and I suppose the Queen, if she was here) can prorogue Parliament. She does so at the request of the Prime Minister, mind you, but it’s her act, not the PM’s.
Semantics? Yup. But important ones. read more…
Note: There’s a video at the end of this post.It’s pretty disturbing. I’ve placed it at the end so you can decide whether or not you want to watch it once you’ve read the post. It’s not graphic or anything but watching it upset me a fair bit so I want to give you the opportunity to opt out of it. For what it’s worth, early reports are that Vokoun has some lacerations around the ear but he’s alert in hospital.
Yea, I know, this is primarily a blog about communications. And now that I’m a social media consultant, I should probably find a way to link everything to social media somehow – that’s what the gurus do. But hey, it’s my name in the address bar up there. So I get to call the shots (pun at least partially intended).
As many of you know, one of the best experiences of my life has been volunteering to coach kids’ hockey. I’m taking this year off since my wife and I are expecting our first child in a few weeks but for five of the past six years I’ve spent most of my winter weekends in various frozen rinks around the city. read more…
One interesting by-product of the proliferation of social tools has been the boon in one-click activism. One need only look at the staggering number of Facebook groups dedicated to every thinkable cause to start to see how widely this has spread. Want to save the people of Darfur? How about ending breast cancer? If you can dream of doing it, there’s probably a Facebook Group.
This isn’t to say Facebook Groups can’t do good things. I’m sure there are examples up the wazoo of a Facebook Group or online petition leading to concrete action. But asking people to click on a “Join Group” button is a lot easier, and thus a lot more appealing, than asking people to get off of their couch and actually do something. read more…
