Friday, March 25, 2011

CarrotMob descending on Fernwood Inn: March 28 #YYJ #business #sustainability via Village 900 Radio

Carrotmob Victoria is BACK! Based on popular demand, great success and an unbelievable turnout during last year’s breakthrough Wanna Waffle Carrotmob, the Commerce Students’ Society is putting a bit of a spin on the traditional Carrotmob framework. In the works are not one but two Carrotmob events. The first, Monday, March 28th, is a promotional event being held at The Fernwood Inn. This event is to get the public excited and informed about Carrotmob, and introduces our possible prospects for the BIG CARROTMOB in May.

What does this mean? For one day, hundreds of consumers will be heading down to The Fernwood Inn to buy, buy, buy! In return, the owners have pledged a base of 75% of that WHOLE DAY’s revenue, which will be increased in relation to how much we beat their average Monday sales, to be put towards making environmentally friendly improvements to their establishment. There will be entertainment, great food, drinks, prizes and contests. THE MOB IS BACK, AND WITH YOUR HELP, IT WILL BE BIGGER THAN EVER!

WHAT: Carrotmob kickoff event.

WHERE: The Fernwood Inn: 1302 Gladstone Avenue Victoria, BC

WHEN: Monday, March 28th 2010 6:00PM-10:00PM

WHY: To demonstrate to the business community that there is a market for socially and ecologically responsible business.

Posted via email from My Brain is Open

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Why Do Most Memes Suck So Hard? #SAY

Hey all,
                It's been a couple of weeks, how have you been? Yesterday was my first day as a teacher's assistant for the Digital Communications course for the BA Professional Communications at Royal Roads University.

Yesterday in class, we were talking about viral videos -  and why most memes suck so hard. We spent the majority of the day discussing aggregation, curation, and how to find the signal in the noise of all the data on the Internet. However, what happens when you follow the recommendations of evaluating all the posts that Postrank over 5 in your Google Reader - you lose touch with the grassroots of what people are actually talking about, or actually listening to. 

The example we were following was of Rebecca Black. I thought this was the woman who was complaining about people talking in the library, but it turns out Black is attributed to a terrible song everyone is in love with - with over 35 million views on youtube.

Let me explain the "meme to 'relevant' rating level" with two examples:

Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) Official Video

I can't stand this song, and I hope you find it offensive on more than just an intellectual level. Regardless, this video has over 171.5 million views on youtube.

Here is a video with six thousand views:

"Flutes" by Serengeti. Video by A.M. OVERTONE

I'm not complaining, not a bit; however, what we learn about these two examples is that you can reach a far more general audience with appeals to sex, food, and fear, but if you want to share an intimate - intellectual or emotional - moment with your audience, above the common denominator: be prepared to be confused with your content and receive far less attention.    

Keeping it real can go very wrong; but, soul-less songs, from sun-glassed stars, are simply forgettable. Emotions are everything -regardless of who recommends your music.

Thanks for reading, and if you comment - we can talk!

Jordan Keats

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Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Traveling between Kamloops and Vancouver #BC

Having spent the last two weeks in Kamloops, working a desk job, and not updating this blog, here are the highlights of my trip:

1. Working in a kick-ass environment

There is nowhere as interesting as a counselling office. Amazing and lonely clients come in everyday and leave far better than they arrived. Your co-workers are people who dedicate their lives to helping others live theirs'. These guys are doing the right thing.

2. Experiencing winter

I never realized how much I missed the skin-crackingly dry cold of the Interior.  When I arrived it was warm (3 degrees Celsius), with little snow and lots of muddy brown.

Three days later, it was minus thirty-five degrees celsius with wind chill. The lakes were frozen through and it hurt to breath because it was so cold. Hooray for Inside Culture!     

3. Destroying a desk

 Anyone who drives a desk twenty hours week knows what I'm talking about. The next best thin

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g to trashing a bug-ridden photocopier is unceremoniously destroying a reception desk.

4. Kicking it with family

Celebrated my Step-Niece's 8th birthday at Red Robin. I had a gore-met burger; she and her sister had pogos (corndogs). She got a couple Playmobiles and creepy plastic animal toys with big eyes. I sang her a helium "Happy Birthday".

5. Kicking it with family

The best thing about living a twenty minute drive from town is you are obliged to have a conversation and connection with your passenger. You have a captive audience for the entire ride, and if you're my father - it's your time to shine. In short, if you visit your parents, in the any rural part of your country, make sure you arrange your own transportation. 

6. Leaving

Some say the best thing coming out of Kamloops is the highway, but my hometown is far better than when I left. They have all the same services as Victoria, but they are still barely in the Web 1.0 world. Forget ordering food from a smartphone, it's a nightmare. You can't find a menu for a business that has no website, but there's lots of Yelp & Urbanspoon spam reviews to frustrate you while browsing. 

I caught an awesome drive to Vancouver from one of the smartest businessmen I have ever met, and four hours later I was in Richmond Centre Mall - one of the busiest places I have ever seen. No kidding, the entire population of Kamloops was in the Food Court of RCM. 

Vancouver was slowed down by eight inches of snow - people on the street were way friendlier than they are here in Victoria most days. My two best friends and I took a snow-skateboard out around the alleys and side streets near Jervis and Davies:

Panorama of 12th Floor Westend Vancouver on CleVR.com

 

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Life is great when you're moving. Getting out of my pod was a great refresher, the future is looking good. 

 

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