I have no excuse for my absence other then work has been busy, which it has. My group has significantly increased in numbers and with new employees which means more clients and more work. I figure if I sit in front of my computer all day, I don’t even want to look at it when I’m at home. The result = no blogging. 

I did decide that I would take a few minutes out of my day to plug an event taking place at Centennial College called Talk is Cheap. The social media unconference is in its second year and promises to be better than ever. Seeing that I was on the organizing committee last year and am not this year I find this information hard to be true. But really, the event is for anyone interested in social media and from the few sessions I actually attended last year it was well worth it. The best part is that IT’S FREE!!! That’s right, just go to the wiki (if you don’t know what that is you MUST go to this event) sign up, and attend.

So, here are the details:

WHAT: Social media unconference, Talk is Cheap
WHEN: Wednesday November 12 from 6-9 p.m.
WHERE: Centennial College, 951 Carlaw Avenue, Toronto (Pape subway)
WHY: Because everyone loves social media and public relations
HOW: Register @ http://talkischeap.pbwiki.com/

See you there!

Kudos to Canada for having three Canadian cities make the cut. And now, (drumroll please), the new board:

I found it quite odd (but nice) that Montreal is the new Boardwalk. And Jerusalem beat Toronto? Geez people! The site doesn’t give much info on how the cities were selected to be in the position they are but I assume it was by the number of votes…???

I think the coolest (yes, I said coolest) thing about the board is how they are incorporating relevent cultural scenarios and events from around the world. Community Chest and Chance cards will invite people to celebrate at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro or host a St. Patty’s Day party in Dublin, and the tokens, houses and hotels will be reflective of the styles from all seven continents.  

Unforunatly they released the results of the new board on 08/08/08. Had they choosen a less popular day they may have had some interest. I don’t know – maybe it’s just me thinking that a new Monopoly board has less news value then the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Just an idea.

What are your thoughts on the new board? Will you buy it? Are you surprised by the results?

Bronze Level

1. What do the five rings of the Olympics mean?
 

a. Five cities

b. Five countries

c. Five continents

d. No meaning

2. What are the five colours of the Olympic rings?

red, black, green, blue, and yellow

3. What does the Olympic Motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” mean?

a. Harder, Stronger, Faster

b. Swifter, Higher, Stronger

c. Better, Bigger Bolder

d. Win, lose, draw

4. According to the Olympic Creed, the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but…

a. To beat your competitors
b. To play fair
c. To win big
d. To Take part

5. Where was the Olympic torch first lit?

a. Athens
b. Olympia
c. Rome
d. USA

6. Name five cities where the Olympics were hosted

The last five cities were Turino, Athens, Salt Lake City, Sydney, Nagano. For a full list of host cities click here

7. How often are Olympic Games held?

a. 4 years

b.10 years

c. 2 years

d. Every year

8. Women were first allowed to compete in the Olympics in what year?

9. Where were the most recent Olympics held?

a. Torino

b. Vancouver
c. Salt Lake City

d. Beijing

10. Which country is first in line during the Opening Ceremony’s Parade of Nations?

a. The host city

b. The country with the most metal from the last Olympics

c. The countries line up in alphabetical order

d. Greece

Silver Level

11. In what year were the first ancient Olympic Games held?

a. 554 B.C

b. 776 B.C.

c. 1000 B.C

d. 399 A.D

12. What is an Olympiad?

an interval of four years between Olympic Games

13. What do the colours of the Olympic rings represent?

The colors red, black, green, blue, and yellow were chosen because at least one of the colors is found in the flag of every nation.

14. Name one of the three sports that made their debut at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games?

taekwondo, trampoline, and triathlon

­­­­­­­ 

15. How much gold is in a gold metal?

a. 2 grams

b. 4 grams

c. 6 grams

d. 8 grams

16. Why were the Olympic games of 1916, 1940, 1944 cancelled?

WWI, WWII 

17. How is the Olympic torch rekindled?

a. With the flame from an ancient candle
b. With a regular match
c. From the sun’s rays
d. Using oils that light naturally when mixed

18. The word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek root “gymnos”, which means…?   (nude; the literal meaning of “gymnasium” is “school for naked exercise.” Athletes in the ancient Olympic Games would participate in the nude.)

a. Gymnasium
b. Exercise
c. Compete
d. Nude

19. Who was the “inventor” of the modern Olympic Games?

a. Joseph Brookes
b. Baron Pierre de Coubertin
c.  Henri Zapeas
d. Alexander the Great

20. When were the first Olympic Games televised? (Hint: The games took place in Rome)

a. 1940
b. 1952
c. 1960
d. 1964

Gold Level

21. How many times did the Summer Olympics feature the sport of Live Pigeon Shooting?

a. Once
b. Twice
c. Five times
d. Never

22. What contest of team strength was an official Olympic event from 1900 to 1920?

a. Weightlifting
b. Red Rover
c. Tug of War
d. Three on three boxing

23. What did members of the Canadian swim team swear to give up during the 1996 Olympics?

a. Fast food
b. Sex
c. Washing their swim suits
d. Drugs

24.What Olympic event includes such positions as the Flamingo, crane and fishtail?

a. Gymnastics
b. Synchronized swimming
c. Karate
d. Taekwondo

25. How many continents must a sport be played on before the IOC will consider making it an Olympic event for men?

a. Four
b. Two
c. 10
d  12

26. What are the five events including in the modern Olympic pentathlon?

fencing, cross-country running, riding, shooting and swimming

27. What are the four throwing events in the Olympics?

javelin, shotput, discus and hammer throw and hammer

28. What Olympic event involves executing a plant, hang, push-pull, handstand and release?

Pole vault

29. What Olympic sport is played with stones and brooms?

Curling

30. What women’s team sport was played on sand for the first time at the 1996 summer Olympics?

Beach Volleyball

Unfortunately all my hard work went to waste because people were too busy chatting to be bothered with my little quiz. So, I am now challenging my readers to see what they know about the Olympics. Below you will find the questions. Try to answer what you can and feel free to comment on questions that you think are interesting or difficult. In a week or so I will post the answers and you can see how much you really do (or don’t) know. NO CHEATING

Enjoy!

Canadian and Olympic Sports Trivia

Bronze Level

1. What do the five rings of the Olympic Games mean?
 

a. Five cities
b. Five countries
c. Five continents
d. No meaning

2. What are the five colours of the Olympic rings?
______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

______________________

3. What does the Olympic Motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” mean?

a. Harder, Stronger, Faster
b. Swifter, Higher, Stronger
c. Better, Bigger Bolder
d. Win, Lose, Draw

4. According to the Olympic Creed, the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but…

a. To beat your competitors
b. To play fair
c. To win big
d. To take part

5. Name five cities where the Olympic Games have previously been hosted.
_____________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________

6. Where was the Olympic torch first lit?

a. Athens
b. Olympia
c. Rome
d. USA

7. How often are Olympic Games held?

a. 4 years
b.10 years
c. 2 years
d. Every year

8. Women were first allowed to compete in the Olympic Games in what year?

a. 1800
b. 1850
c. 1900
d. 1950

9. Where were the most recent Olympic Games held?

a. Torino
b. Vancouver
c. Salt Lake City
d. Beijing

 10. Which country is first in line during the Opening Ceremony’s Parade of Nations?

a. The host city
b. The country with the most metals won at the last Olympic Games
c. The countries line up in alphabetical order
d. Greece

Silver Level

11. In what year were the first ancient Olympic Games held?

 a. 554 B.C

b. 776 B.C.

c. 1000 B.C

d. 399 A.D

12. What is an Olympiad?

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________________________

 14. Name one of the three sports that made their debut at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games?
­­­­­­­­­­­­

__________________

 15. How much gold is in an Olympic Games gold metal?

a. 2 grams
b. 4 grams
c. 6 grams
d. 8 grams

16. Why were the Olympic Games of 1916, 1940, 1944 cancelled?

­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________________________

17. How is the Olympic torch rekindled?

a. With the flame from an ancient candle
b. With a regular match
c. From the sun’s rays
d. Using oils that light naturally when mixed

Why did it work? Other then the obvious that everyone and their Grandmother has played Monopoly and would love to have their city featured on the new board, check out this post which the explains why the campaign was so successful.

Anyways, months later and here we are, just weeks away from the results! According to the Hasbro website the new World Edition game will be launched August 27. If this were not exciting enough, Hasbro is attempting to break a world record by having the largest simultaneous game of Monopoly ever! Fans can play via the board game, online, mobile phone or video game console. The site says to come back in July for further details and seeing that it is August 11 they kinda missed the boat on that one.

Regardless, very cool concept that was very successful. Will I buy the new game, no. I love the original and there is no reason to change a classic. I will follow up to see if Toronto made the cut as a proud Torontonian and Monopoly lover.  For those interested, check out this timeline which shows Monopoly through the years. Its actually pretty cool.  

Well, I am happy to say that I am not one of those people. I felt extremely privileged to intern with Hill & Knowlton knowing that it would be great experience and a fantastic name to have on my resume. My experiences up until this day have far exceeded my expectations.

So what makes H&K so special you might ask? Well, it’s a number of things. Here is my list of things which have enhanced my experience and made my internship so fulfilling. This list also offers some helpful hints as to how employers can make the little people happy.

1. Be supportive

One of my favourite things about working at H&K is that I am encouraged to ask questions. The more I ask the better because they want me to learn and they want to help. I can ask anyone from an assistant consultant to an account director and everyone will take the time to make sure I understand. I never feel stupid and this stops me from making silly mistakes. I ask a LOT of questions.
Helpful hint: Management or senior staff, make yourself available to junior staff members and if they are not asking you the questions, you should be asking them the questions.

2. Treat everyone as equals

In my fours months here I have never felt like an intern. Since day one I as treated as an equal member of the team and was given the same privileges and expectations as everyone else. This made me feel like I was a contributing member, not someone just there to watch and learn.
Helpful hint: Don’t centre out or ignore your intern. If you are going for a staff meeting or maybe out of after work drinks, invite everyone. Client meetings are great learning experiences too so it helps to being the junior people as well.

3. Give constructive criticism – every time

When I am asked to work on something new I’ll work really hard on it and make it perfect before sending it off to be reviewed by someone else. 90 per cent of the time that work is returned to me with the proper corrections and suggestions as to what I could do in the future to make it better. It is a great way to learn and improve my skills.
Helpful hint: Give feedback every time and give explanations as to why changes were made or where the mistakes were.

4. Make work fun

At H&K we work hard and play hard. I frequently laugh throughout my day and it just makes things more enjoyable. A happy worker is a productive worker.
Helpful hint: Offer incentive programs or take your staff to lunch once in a while. A small token of appreciation really goes a long way

5. Acknowledge good work

When I get acknowledgement that I have done something well it actually makes my day and makes me want to work harder. It boosts my self-esteem and inspires me to do better on all my assignments.
Helpful hint: Appreciate your staff and the work they do.

It’s hard being a junior member of a team because it is easy to feel neglected and unappreciated. People often forget that junior people are the ones who become senior people, and by investing your time in them can be truly beneficial.

That being said, my internship has offically come to an end I am thrilled to have landed a full time job here at Hill and & Knowlton. I turly thank my co-workers for their support and encouragment and am honoured to be a memeber of the team.

I really want the iPhone. Its got music, Internet and a nice touch screen; it’s trendy and right now its the biggest thing to have. And it’s not even that expensive. Apple is selling them for $199 (with plan – obviously) and if you ask me that is quite a steal. It does everything a blackberry does (which usually sell for hundreds more) but has music as well. What else could you want out of a phone?

Unfortunately, big corporate Rogers is taking everything it can out of consumers and is charging ridiculous amounts for cell phone plans. Apparently Pricing information was leaked and people went crazy with anti-Rogers campaigns. Now there are debates that this information is false! How can I keep up?

Not to mention the outrage that was caused by this disastrous announcement. A petition is circulating online at a site called fuckyourogers.com encouraging people to boycott the iPhone and cancel your Rogers plans. They have even created videos on YouTube!

Will they succeed? Doubtful. I’m sure millions will still buy the iPhone and subdue to Rogers schemes. Will I? Considering my previous phone plan is still under contract probably not, but that doesn’t make me want it any less.

So, Friday, July 11 keep your eyes open for the iPhone, and the supposed protests that are to take place outside of Rogers stores. It should be an exciting day.

Update: Due to overwhelming consumer response Rogers is revamping thier 3G phone plans. Check out this article from the Globe and Mail which outlines the details of the new plan.

New, informative and interesting posts to follow soon.

My boyfriend and I have been debating getting one for a while and then this past weekend we just decided to do it. We wanted a French bulldog x beagle or x pug but we got the number of breeder from a friend of a friend and decided to go check out some of her puppies. We drove to a small town called Queensville (north of Newmarket) and after almost driving away due to the fact that she had an evil Doberman who we thought was going to eat us. After standing beside the car for a while we notice there was an electrical fence and then proceeded towards the puppies.

We told the breeder that we were interested in bulldog mix breeds and she showed us a puppy that we feel in love with instantly. She was part Olde English Bulldog and part pug and she was the only one left from her litter. My boyfriend picked her up and shit instantly clung to his body and didn’t want to let go. We knew we had to get her.

So, here she is, the newest addition to our family, Zoey.

UPDATE: Zoey is now 10 weeks old and she is a MONSTER! Damn, puppies are more work then babies. She bites everything (including us) and always wants to play. She can’t hold her bladder for more then a couple of hours (and cannot wear diapers – like babies) and she wakes up in the middle of the night! I love her, but geez!

I truly believe that you learn something everyday, especially in this industry. I do struggle however when decided what is confidential and what is public information. In pretty much any business there are confidentiality agreements and therefore I don’t know what key learning’s I am able to share outside of my co-workers. So as someone who focuses on sharing her personal experiences with others through her blog, it has come to the point where I really don’t know what I can share. Do other bloggers feel they face similar challenges? How do you get around not giving away too much when sharing your experiences with others?

One experience I feel confident in sharing occurred just the other day as I gave my first speaking presentation at a monthly staff meeting. I was nervous about the topic I was presenting on as I really did not contribute greatly to the project, but I figured I was more or less asked to see where my presentation skills really were rather then for my expertise. I am not an incredibly nervous speaker and I actually like the attention. Before any speaking publically in most situations I’d say I’m pretty calm, and then the second I open my month the nerves take over and I talk a as fast as I can (which normally is pretty fast – so I’m talking super-speed here). I know I am doing it but cannot slow myself down. So during my first speaking opportunity in front of my colleagues I was fairly confident that I was going to spit out the words of my nicely prepared presentation as fast as I could.

Now I’m not going to say I rocked it, but I think I did a pretty good job. I maintained decent eye contact and said every key point I had prepared. I think my pace was decent compared to previous experiences and I only stumbled over a few words. People told me afterwards that I did a good job (they were probably just being nice), but overall I’d say for a first time it was pretty damn good.

I should probably clear up for the record that I was only speaking for approximately 1-2 minutes.

So, why do I think I did better then other public presentations? Well firstly I think I was well prepared. Being as nervous as I was I spent a fair amount of time writing and re-writing my notes. Practice really does make perfect. Secondly, I rehearsed. I rehearsed out loud many times and made it flow as best I could. I made edits each time and really focused on making it right. Finally, my own personal touch, I highlighted key works. I’m sure I am not the first to think of this phenomenon, but I think it really works. Like most people I write my notes out in point form, and then I highlight one or two words in the point that are really the focus of what I am trying to say. For example, one of my bullet points read:

“We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to engage consumers and build brand awareness of the *** program.”

It is not an incredibly challenging point to remember, but I simply highlighted the words ‘engage’ and ‘brand awareness’ so if I happen to glance down at my page my eyes are drawn to the focus of the point. Even if I get the other words wrong I managed to get the key words out. Or if I forget the point altogether my eyes will recognize those words therefore remembering the rest.

Again, I’m no genesis or revolutionary in using this technique, but for anything who struggles with public speaking or having to remember lines – give it a try.