Word of Warning: Did You Know?

Received from a friend by email.

Somone looked up the statute: http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2003/04/03/c7335.html?lmatch=&lang=_e.html

What you read below applies to police cars and all other emergency vehicles with flashing lights "on" and pulled over on the right side of the highway.

The story goes ...

"I just had an experience which I hope you will not share.I was driving on the 417 West near Ottawa at broad daylight at 2 p.m.,when I came upon two police cruisers who had pulled over a third vehicle. I slowed down to be cautious, and was surprised when the second cruiser pulled out and pulled me over.Approaching on the passenger side, the officer asked if I knew why I had been pulled over. I honestly expressed that I had no idea.He informed me that Ontario law now states that when approaching anyemergency vehicle, on the roadside, with lights flashing, you must enter the left lane.

He then proceeded to ticket me, taking three demerits and issuing a fine of , wait for it, . . .$490! (Yes, I'm choking as I type that.)

I realize I did not change lanes, but I do believe I was cautious. My message is, be careful. He said that they are cracking down hard on this because of three injured officers in the last ten days. I did not realize this was the law. Neither did any of the 47 drivers (I counted them)who broke the same law as I sat waiting to receive my ticket."

If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Social Media - PR's Great Opportunity

This is my first blog. I've been avoiding this posting for several weeks and my reasons are good. What if I don't have anything meaningful to say? Or what if I violate "the rules"? This whole world of social media is scary stuff when you've hit your fourth decade and you feel sandwiched between what feels comfortable, and what you need to know.

To help remedy my deficiency, I decided to participate in an after-work presentation called Social Media - PR's Great Opportunity, sponsored by my local chapter of IABC. The speaker was Joe Thornley, a guy from a PR company in Ottawa called Thornley Fallis. After defining social media, he introduced us to his Social Media Presence on his blog, Twitter, Del.icio.us, Dopplr, Flickr, youTube, Tumblr and of course, Facebook. The introduction to these sites was interesting at best, but how much of my time were they really worth?

As Thornley began to demonstrate how people have applied these tools to inform, convey or persuade, an internal "urgency alarm" sounded inside. Here are some examples:

• Michael Geist, a columnist from Ottawa mobilized a Facebook Group of 40,000 people and thwarted the introduction of a copyright bill that could have been a sell-out to US and lobbyist demands.
• Eager to find the latest stats on the number of active blogs and posts on the web each day, Thornley posted a question on Twitter and within minutes received the information he was looking for.
• One-third of all Canadians now have a Facebook account. Using their advertising feature, I can instantly target people within my demographic to promote my company's training programs.
• del.icio.us is my favorite tool, and the one I use most. (My handle is seedgirl). When I need information I use the search feature and "connect" with people who have similar interests. I seem to find a lot of research quickly, and I get information that I don't find with google. It also allows me to sort bookmarks so I can access information quickly. Thornley - the PR Guy - made a credible connection with a Globe & Mail writer using this tool.
  

We had the vision for what Social Media could do, but how do you get started, and what are the risks? The first thing to remember - this is a medium about trust, transparency, authenticity and generosity. If you fake it, you'll be found out.

And the risks? By putting your thoughts out there, you are inviting input and you need to be open to public criticism - not everyone is going to agree with you. (Gulp.) You will make mistakes and people will know what you do, and where to find you.

I encourage you to see Joe Thornley speak if the opportunity presents itself. The value I gained in less than an hour was not so much the information, but the courage to act, and write a posting for this blog. Now it's your turn. Respond and then consider becoming a contributing author.

Social Media Resources:

Books - Cluetrain Manifesto, Naked Conversations and The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

Hear Joe Thornley's colleagues speak at the Social Media Summit Canada.

For a powerpoint copy of Thornley's presentation, feel free to email me at crenner (at) juiceinc (dot) com.

Crista Renner was at Mount Saint Vincent from 1986-1988. Currently she resides in Guelph, Ontario where she is a founding partner of Juice Inc., a consulting company that works with organizations to energize employees through more effective conversations.

If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

I thought you would find this article interesting ...

You get interesting email that you forward to your friends and read great articles that you share with people all the time right?

 

How about something that makes you think of your days at the Mount?  Halifax?  Or hints on how to enjoy life, develop career??

 

I just read that the Halifax Daily News newspaper closed down.  Here is a link to the article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080212.RDAILYNEWS12/TPStory/Business

 

I am sharing the link with you by simply sending an email to mgcayley.msvu (at) blogger.com.

 

Whatever you email - photos (hint, who took photos at our last meeting!) with comments, news about your promotion or a fellow alum, links to great stories - will be posted directly to the blog and an email alert will go out to everyone who has signed up for the blog by email.

 

Come on now … this is really, really, really easy to do and it makes a difference!  If I don’t see someone make a post, I am going to start coming over to your house to give you a technology primer!

 

P.S. in the email address above replace “at” with the symbol @ to put together the correct email address.  Generally speaking, avoid publishing email addresses.  I have scrambled it to keep the address from being pick up by anyone scanning the internet to find email addresses.

 

Give it a try!

 

 

Coming to Dinner??? Andre Mazerolle

This is the third in a series of informal mini-introductions coming up over the next couple of weeks to keep the upcoming Dinner with 12 Strangers top of mind with you.

I encourage you to head to Andre Mazerolle's company website to read his biography. It is located at: http://www.mintzca.com/index.php?section=/Bios/amazerolle_bio.

Andre is a great reason why we could all benefit from activating our alumnae network in the GTA. The consulting firm that he is with is one of the best in the city. He has great personal marketing experience including running his own firm called Red Beard (Andre - my firm could have been called Red Head, but now regrettablly, former red head :) He is also active in a number of associations, so is probably very knowledgeable about how to get things done in this town.

He is interested in this event to network -- both social and business. "That shared experience ... time at MSVU and Nova Scotia, will make networking more enjoyable," says Andre.

The goal of these intros is start the process of building our network in Toronto (use it or lose!).

Who are the folks that you are still in touch with from the Mount?? Have an email for them? Contact them now, even if they are not in Toronto, maybe they know another Mount Alum who does live in Toronto? Don't have an email address? Google them or look them up on Facebook or http://www.linkedin.com/ . Have them go grab the RSS feed or subscribe to the email list at the blog: http://msvutorontoalumnae.blogspot.com/ or send me an email at mgcayley (at) hotmail (dot) com.

If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!