About michelle.mack

Christian. Songwriter. Wife. Runner. Snowboarder. Mom. Musician. Black Belt. Novice domestic engineer. Living to love by God's grace.

What’s so great about bloggers?

Posted on September 16, 2008 by michelle.mack

The more time I spend in the social media world, or ‘space’ as the techset like to call it, the more I am starting to wonder how far the boom will be heard.

The boom I’m talking about is the notion of giving bloggers their due and, ultimately, the same perks as mainstream journalists. For as long as newspapers have existed, companies have been pitching journalists on new story ideas in hopes that one of them will pluck their story out of the pack and write something that will generate real interest. They’ve held media-only events, given special access for the best interview spots, arranged for interviews with top executives and given away tons of swag at industry events. They tirelessly write their press releases, amass the largest list of contact information possible and painstakingly invite each worthy individual to put pen to paper on their behalf. And still, the fear always exists that even after choosing their story, the writer may still sway that carefully crafted story another way and paint that company in a dim light. Today’s PR world has shifted.

I’ve just been reading Miss604 on my feeds and think what The Vancouver Canucks have done to highlight bloggers is quite brilliant. And as my mind begins to wander as I ponder ideas I could implement to garner the same kind of attention from bloggers for Grouse Mountain, I’m reminded that the canucks are not the only ones doing it:

Molson just held an exclusive event for bloggers;Vancouver blogger Duane Story tells all about ‘Brew 2.0′ Vancouver.

Kate Trgovak – a.k.a. MyNameIsKate – regularly receives an assortment of laptop bags hoping to make the list of Funky, Chic and Cool Laptop Bags she keeps.
Even the Christian music industry is on board. The Worship Community recently tweeted a message enticing bloggers to seek out a free CD with the following message:

“Darrell Evans (the writer of “Trading My Sorrows”, “Fields of Grace”, etc.) is getting ready to independently release his brand new worship CD next month. It’s called Nothing Less Than Everything.

I am looking to give away a free pre-release of the album to bloggers who will commit to getting the word out through a CD review on their blog, etc. I am looking for 10 people. If you have a large readership, that would of course be a plus.

If you would like to be considered, please email the following to…”

These are just a few examples I’ve noticed in the last week.

If companies are not getting involved in Blogger Relations as a new function of their PR department, they’re going to miss out. Check out Lee Odden’s Blogger Relations 101 if you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about (at the bottom of the entry he also gives you another giant list of reading to consider). Bloggers are not only writing far more content than many of the mainstream columnists in your local paper, many of them have large crowds of followers… and not just oh-yeah-I-saw-that-article-on-my-way-to-the-sports-section followers, but measurable followers who specifically subscribe to their material.

The challenge for people like me (marketing types) and our cohorts (PR people) is to figure out where the line is drawn between giving people free stuff just because they write a blog and putting out meaningful pitches to influential bloggers in our area of business. Chris Brogan and his many readers share some insight on his post How Does The Web Define Authority? but the answer is still elusive. The truth is, not every blog gets read, but those that do are worth a little attention. Kudos to the Molson and the Vancouver Canucks for getting on board.

Where do you think that line should be drawn? Subscribers? Alexa rankings? Google page rank? Technorati? Which bloggers make the list of desirables? Tell me…

Photo: sskennel

BlogWorld & New Media Expo Mayhem

Posted on September 14, 2008 by michelle.mack

Next weekend is going to be busy. Very busy.

On Thursday I leave for Las Vegas to attend the BlogWorld & New Media Expo. It is so full of excellent speakers and exhibiters I won’t actually be able to attend every session I’d like to. In fact, in a couple of instances I’m going to leave the decision until I’m actually there, see who I meet, and see if anyone has any opinions on what I should attend.

Friday, September 19th is the Entrepreneur and Executive conference day. It’s sort of an extra day for us non-blogger types who are really trying to figure out how to use blogging and social media for business purposes. Here’s my agenda for the day:

8:45am – 9:45am | Opening keynote speaker Dave Taylor
10:00am – 11:15am | Corporate blogging myths and reality
11:30am – 12:45pm | Micromedia: The next big, small thing
12:45pm – 1:45pm | Keynote luncheon (a girl’s gotta eat, right?)
2:00pm – 3:15pm | Finding your new media voice
3:30pm – 4:45pm | Implementing blogs and social media for business
5:00pm – 6:00pm | Closing keynote speaker Gary Vaynerchuck
6:00pm – 7:00pm | Get myself ready for a night on the town
7:00pm – 8:00pm | BWE Tweetup at the Hilton
8:00pm – 11:00pm | TechSet party at Bare at The Mirage

Um, yeah… that’s a full day and will likely require the use of some Full Throttle – 2 or 3 cans ought to do it. I am super excited and fully intend to seek out a few specific people that I’d love to meet, whether at the conference itself or at the TechSet party.

Chris Brogan – social media guru from CrossTech Media
I subscribe to his blog and like to read just about every word he writes. It fits right in with my morning news. Love it! He’s also leading the Bloggers & PR session I want to attend.

Geoff Livingston – CEO of Livingston Communications and writer of the Buzz Bin
Another interesting social media expert I follow on Twitter. He’s also all about his ducati just recently. Seems like an all ’round nice guy too.

Lee Odden – CEO of Top Rank Online Marketing
He’ll be leading a session on SEO, SEM and Social Marketing for the Executive track. His blog is ranked one of the top online marketing blogs by Advertising Age

Darren Rowse – aka Problogger
Darren is all about blogging for a living and teaching others to do the same. That’s all there is to say. He often has profound and interesting things to say on both his blog and on twitter. He also takes a mean photograph. I’m hoping to get to his session on How Not to Use Social Media.

Deborah Micek – aka coachDeb
Deborah just came to my attention recently. She is a new media consultant, author and entrepreneur – co-creator of blogi360.com – living in Hawaii. Rough life.

Rebecca Bollwitt – aka Miss604: Vancouver Blogger
Miss604 is, from what I can tell, the most influential Vancouver lifestyle blogger. She is also very involved in the Vancouver tech scene.

Shannon Yelland – Online Marketing Manager for Sitemasher
Sitemasher is a Vancouver based company offering a CMS on a SAAS basis. I’m interested in their product, even though it seems to be a little difficult for my non-programming mind to grasp.

Brian Solis – Principal of FutureWorks PR and social media agency
I subscribe to Brian’s PR2.0 blog and plan to attend his Bloggers and PR session.

Arieanna Schweber – Entertainment Editor, b5media
Another Vancouver powerhouse, Arieanna is a full time blogger I follow on twitter.

Rohit Bhargava – Blogger, Author and Digital Media expert
He’s just super interesting and has a lot of great things to say. He’s actually the keynote speaker for Sunday morning, so I hope I’ll get out to hear him.

Lisa Bettany – Blogger, MostlyLisa
Another Vancouver blogger who has interesting things to say. I follow her on twitter too.

Mark Davidson – Social Media Manager/Internet Strategist
There is too much to say here. Mark is just an all-round interesting guy I follow on twitter. You have to check him out to see what I’m talking about. He’s like the cool kid in school.

Jason Billinglsley – Co-founder of Vancouver-based Elastic Path Software
Elastic Path is the e-commerce provider for VANOC and the publisher of the #1 E-Commerce Blog: GetElastic. I won’t be attending his session on monetization, but I’d like to meet him just to say Hi. I regularly attend Elastic Path’s webinars.

Linda Bustos – Emerging Media Analyst for Elastic Path Software
Linda, aka @roxyyo, is a brilliant mind and writer for Elastic Path’s blog GetElastic. I love reading her blog. Everything she writes just makes sense in a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that kind of way. I also happen to know her IRL and look forward to getting to know her a little better if time permits.

There are also plenty of other folks I’m excited to meet. Especially those I “know” from twitter. It’s cool to put a real life face to a screen name.

Then Saturday, the actual BlogWorld & New Media Expo begins will look like this:

8:45am – 10:00am | Opening Keynote on exhibit floor
10:00am – 11:00am | Check out the exhibits
11:00am – 12:00pm | Twitter: Connections that drive traffic
12:15pm – 1:15pm | Bloggers & PR
1:15pm – 2:45pm | More exhibits and lunch somewhere
2:45pm – 3:45pm | Search engines and findability
3:45pm – 5:00pm | More exhibits
5:00pm – 6:00pm | Creating customer loyalty with social media, OR
5:00pm – 6:00pm | SEO, SEM and New Media (totally torn as to what to see)
6:00pm – 7:30pm | Eat something and get myself ready for another big night
7:30pm – 9:30pm | BlogWorld Conference opening night party
9:30pm – 11:00pm | Check out a little more of Vegas and lose some money

Yeah, I have to do a little gambling while I’m there. I’m super stoked to have just received a surprise cheque in the mail from my health insurance company. Oh yeah… there’s my mad money. I’ve also been told I have to check out the fountains at the Belagio.

Sunday, the final day of the expo, will be just as jam packed with super speakers, but I’ll probably be ready to drop dead by then. I’m going to do my best to get through these sessions, though I may just not get started until the 11:00am session… that would mean I’ll just miss one keynote.

9:00am – 10:00am | Opening keynote on exhibit floor
10:00am – 11:00am | Exhibits and networking
11:00am – 12:00pm | High performance business blogging, OR
11:00am – 12:00pm | Marketing on Facebook, OR
11:00am – 12:00pm | Social Media in the Newsroom (no idea which)
12:15pm – 1:15pm | Maximize ROI on corporate blogs
1:15pm – 3:00pm | Networking reception on exhibit floor
3:00pm – 4:00pm | Avoiding disaster: How not to use social media
4:00pm – 7:30pm | Late check-out, wait at airport
7:30pm – 10:20pm | Flight home

Monday I plan to sleep. A lot.

Photo: wili_hybrid on Flickr

Work Life Balance and other Impossibilities

Posted on September 12, 2008 by michelle.mack

This week has really put me to the test. Every time I’m faced with sick-kid scenario, I find myself questioning everything about my life, the validity of my job, my value as an employee, and most of all, my worth as a mother.

I got a call from the daycare on Tuesday noon-ish that mini-man had woken up with a fever of nearly 107 degrees. I immediately packed up in the middle of lunch with a friend, threw my laptop in my bag and ran out of the office. I took mini-man to the emergency room only to be told it’s probably a viral infection and to just give Tylenol until it goes away. Other than the fever, he seemed perfectly normal… not even a runny nose. Anyway, by Wednesday morning the fever had broken and he seemed almost back to normal. I tried working from home that day as best I could, but eventually had to get out in the afternoon if only for a walk to the pharmacy and a stop by the little playground near our home.

Working from home with a 2 year old is next to impossible. I think all those people out there who do this regularly either have a nanny in the house or they’re not getting a lot done. Every two minutes it’s “Look! Mommy look!” Or, “I need help!” And, yes, everything is an exclamation. All I can really get done is look through my email, send a few files here and there as people request, and delegate a good deal. Microsoft Outlook Web Access is awful and times out every 10 minutes or so it seems; it doesn’t allow me to open an attachment without saving it first to my local machine and then opening it from there, which adds time to everything I do. Furthermore, half my working files are actually sitting on my network at work, so I can’t access all the things I usually can.

I really have a hard time with this. I really take pride in being very good at my job, so when I can’t do it to the best of my abilities, I get really down. To make matters worse, I have some kind of deep seeded issue which makes me want approval from everyone around me, so God forbid I let anyone down. You might as well tie bricks to my feet and throw me off a bridge. Incidentally that’s the same reason I do all sports alone… I hate the possibility that I might slow anyone down, so I just do what I do by myself. So being out of the office is hard. I know it puts extra pressure on the other members of my team – both above and below me. Being a perfectionist doesn’t help either. In many ways it’s what makes me good at my job, but it also will likely send me to an early grave.

When my head starts spinning about how ineffective I am in my job while taking care of the most important blessing in my life, I start questioning my worth as a mother. Why do I worry so much about work… shouldn’t my head be on this little man I’m tasked with raising – teaching to be a human being? What am I teaching him? Am I teaching him that work is more important than family? Am I teaching him that a person is supposed to spend all day in front of the computer or the TV? Am I teaching him that he’s not important enough?

When push comes to shove, my family is more important than my job. There, I said it. If you were considering asking me to work for you but you changed your mind when you read that, fine by me. I really do strive to find a balance in my life… balance between solo time, family time and work time. I need time where my family gets my undivided attention. I need time to hang with friends and time to exercise and play music. I need time to live my life and time to share it with others. As it is this week I ended up skipping my measly two workouts I usually fit in so that I could spend additional time working when big-man came home to occupy mini-man, but I can’t and won’t dedicate my life to a cubicle.

Now mini-man isn’t cleared to return to daycare until Monday, so we’re making the most of it…

Yeah, he looks real sick to me.

I’d love to hear how other people are achieving this somewhat elusive work-life balance I keep hearing about… especially working moms. How do you do it?

On the topic of Personal Branding

Posted on September 10, 2008 by michelle.mack

Yesterday I downloaded a Free eBook on Personal Branding from Chris Brogan. Firstly, I have to say, I highly recommend reading just about every blog post he writes. No, seriously… subscribe. It’ll be good for you if you want anything to do with social media. I get his blog right next to my local news from News 1130 each morning as I sit and drink my coffee.

Having said that, I felt either the title of this eBook was off, or something was just missing for me. Maybe I am the one who’s just not getting it despite being a relatively savvy person when it comes to marketing, branding and social media, but this piece seemed to lack a reference to the ‘personal’ aspect of personal branding.

The eBook is filled with references to relatively unknown people. Sure, they are all superstars in their respective lines of business, but the concept of personal branding extends well beyond the tech world. This eBook should be called “Personal Branding in the Digital Space” or “Personal Branding for Bloggers”. The truth of the matter is that personal branding existed well before the internet.

The biggest thing I battle with is that I can put out this ‘brand’ that is me… you can read my thoughts on twitter, you can read my blog, you can check out my profile on LinkedIn, you can google me and find out how long it took me to run the Sun Run or see that I once won 1st place in a kickboxing tournament, but none of that matters if what I project in person doesn’t match what I’m putting out in the digital world.

I suggest that personal branding also has a lot to do with your real life person… how you dress, what you look like, what type of glasses frames you choose, whether you wear nice shoes, what kind of car you drive or if you drive a vespa. If you are into sports or if you are into remote control cars, that’s going to make a difference to how people see you. I get a very different impression in my head from someone who wears designer clothes (my boss) than I do from someone who wears yoga pants, hoodies and flip flops (me). A person’s commitment to personal integrity and decency also play a huge role in my mind. I’m shocked to see CEOs/CMOs/CTOs using the phrase “WTF” on twitter, for instance. Not only is it unnecessary, but I can’t picture these people using the same language in person; that is still considered poor form in the boardroom as far as I know. Certain personalities, sure… but then I guess that just really does come down to personal branding.

So it’s not that I want to knock what Chris Brogan is saying, because everything he’s said is right on the money. I just think people really need to consider more than just the footprint they’re leaving on the internet.

photo: jeromeinsf on Flickr

The Beauty of Twitter

Posted on September 7, 2008 by michelle.mack

I have to say, I’m in LOVE with Twitter. I just discovered it a few months ago and already I’ve gained more knowledge from the people and events I follow there than I have from any other single source ever.

I think it gives me the opportunity to feel like I’m on the leading edge. It puts me among the first to hear about some of the coolest, funniest, most shocking or most interesting news and events in the world and on the web and I’ve NEVER been that person before. I was always the awkward kid trying to get in on the conversation but walking in the road to hear what was going on on the sidewalk.

I logged in last night (well, opened the window – who am I kidding? I never log off) to find out that an earthquake had just taken place in San Francisco… 4 minutes ago! I also followed Twitter Search last weekend for #Gustav and saw minute-by-minute accounts of those people who were actually there on the ground in parts of Louisiana. How cool was that?! I realized then and there that by the time the newspapers are printed, what they’re telling is no longer news.

Twitter is where I heard about the BlogWorld & New Media Expo that I’ll be attending in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Twitter is where I’ve heard about BarCamp Vancouver, which I’m waitlisted to attend at the moment. Twitter is where I hear from and even interact with some of the greatest minds in Social Media today such as @chrisbrogan, @mitchjoel, @briansolis and my local favourite @roxyyo, blogger for the #1 e-commerce blog in the world, GetElastic.

I only hope one day I can contribute as much to those who follow me as I’m getting from those I follow. In the meantime, here’s a little vid to get you laughing:

Thanks everyone!

New Squidoo Lens: Blog World & New Media Expo

Posted on August 30, 2008 by michelle.mack

This morning I created a new squidoo lens for the BlogWorld & New Media Expo, taking place this year on September 20-21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I’ll be attending this event, along with the E&E Conference on the 19th. I love squidoo because I can see all the relevant information about the event on one page… google news, blog mentions, twitter stream, flickr photos, youtube videos and other random comments about the event without having to search various locations.

Here it is, enjoy!

Almost a Vegetarian

Posted on August 30, 2008 by michelle.mack

Yeah, so I’ve been following this Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak along with the rest of the country. If I wasn’t borderline vegetarian before this, I most certainly am now. I’ve never been a huge fan of meat. I really only eat meat that looks entirely pristine – if it’s processed it doesn’t have any chunks in it; if it’s fresh it is all meat with very little marbled animal-looking stuff. I just get turned off when I think hard about what I’m chewing.

So, as the story was breaking a week and a half ago I was actually off from work with some kind of infection causing severe cramping and stomach upset, so honestly at that point I was avoiding the news. I didn’t need to hear about it between trips to the can. I tend toward being a hypochondriac anyway, that I figure if I don’t think about it, it’s not a possibility.

That said, I’ve now opened my eyes to the reality and keep watching the list of recalled meat closely for any indication that I or my family have consumed the listed products. I think so far we’re mostly in the clear – we tend to get most of our deli products from Real Canadian Superstore, which uses Ziggy’s brand meats I believe. At the same time, we do occasionally get meats from Safeway (big-man gets Capicollo there; RCSS doesn’t carry it).

Here is a message from the CEO of Maple Leaf Foods:

Now, I heard on the news last night that even cheeses are affected… Yikes! What are we supposed to eat? This is just one more piece of evidence that cereal is a perfectly acceptable dinner food, as I have always suspected.

Sweet Serenity

Posted on August 30, 2008 by michelle.mack

Big-man has taken mini-man on his first guys weekend. They’ve gone with a friend of ours and his two boys camping at Cultus Lake. Big-man is much braver than I; the thought of taking a not-quite-two-an-a-half year old camping for 3 nights scares the you-know-what out of me. It sounds like WAY more work than I’m interested in taking on, but then I’ve always been a little on the selfish side.

While they’re off galavanting around the lake, the woods and the water slides, I get a weekend to relax and recharge my mommy batteries.

Today is Friday evening and I have enjoyed sitting to watch the evening news while eating take-out sushi (the sushi isn’t unusual, but the news is – big-man can’t stand watching anything to do with what’s going on outside our apartment… I have yet to figure out why that is). I have also completely cleaned up and re-arranged mini-man’s room, gotten rid of a garbage bag full of my old clothes, cleaned and moved a few large toys that I’ll take to a friend this weekend, and listened to Hillsong United with Brooke Fraser singing Hosanna over and over again:

Tomorrow I plan to sleep in until at least 6am and then do whatever I want for the rest of the weekend

Unconditional Love, yes. But unconditional respect?

Posted on August 28, 2008 by michelle.mack

A book review and a concept to ponder…

Okay, the truth is this is not really a book review per se, but definitely a concept to ponder from the book I’m currently reading. I know, I know I said I have the attention span of a flea… truth is it is VERY rare for me to read entire books. I’m more of a blog, newspaper, magazine-if-I’m-bored, rss feed kind of reader. But every so often it’s nice to curl up in bed and read something of the printed and bound variety.

I’m currently reading Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs, by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. It’s based on the theory that what men and women actually need out of a marriage differs. Now, you might think, “Well, duh!” But the truth is, as humans, we generally try and offer people what it is we want from them, rather than offering them what they need. The result is that each can be left without the fulfillment they’re seeking and, thus, the painfully high divorce rate.

The foundation of Dr. Eggerichs’ theory comes from scripture:

Ephesians 5:33 states: “Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”

When I got married, I thought what we were doing was committing to living together because we loved each other. What I didn’t realise at the time, is that God’s plan for marriage involves more than that. Firstly, the commitment is not to exist in the same space with one another, but to act. The commitment is to act with love towards one another, whatever form that really needs to take and so I’ve recently decided to dive in to figuring out exactly what that means.

The Ephesians passage above is interesting. Notice it doesn’t say the wife is to love her husband. Huh. Men are commanded to love their wives as he loves himself! Wow. That’s quite a tall order. But women are commanded to respect their husbands.

The truth is, we women and society as a whole, really expect unconditional love from our husbands. We believe its our right… whether we get ugly or fat or don’t keep the house well enough, don’t earn enough money, don’t dress nicely or use enough wrinkle cream… we expect our husbands will love us no matter what. Unconditional, right?

Well what about the concept of unconditional respect?

Often we consider respect to be something a person earns by making right decisions, doing the right things, saying the right things. That’s how a person earns respect, right? It can’t just be given no matter what, right? Well, it would seem that’s exactly what this scripture is saying. In the same way that women are still worthy of love from their husbands no matter what they do or how they behave, our husbands are worthy of our respect for who they are as individuals whether we agree with all their decisions, actions or convictions or not.

It’s a great book and I would highly recommend it to anyone trying to figure out why their marriage isn’t exactly what they signed up for. It’s funny how more and more I find the words written in the bible just make sense when put into practice. Ironic?

Just a thought to ponder…

im.seeking.balance

The Life of Michelle Mackintosh | Faith, Family & Fulfillment

Author Archives: michelle.mack

About michelle.mack

What’s so great about bloggers?

BlogWorld & New Media Expo Mayhem

Work Life Balance and other Impossibilities

On the topic of Personal Branding

The Beauty of Twitter

New Squidoo Lens: Blog World & New Media Expo

Almost a Vegetarian

Sweet Serenity

Unconditional Love, yes. But unconditional respect?