I started my day in Thunder Bay this morning facilitating a 3-hour workshop on why it is important to build a professional online identity, especially if you are a small business owner or involved with a non-profit organization. I focused primarily on the importance of developing a strategy, understanding why you would use Facebook over Twitter (or perhaps both) for example, to communicate your message and interact with your customers/stakeholders. Many thanks to Stacia Kean over at PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise for hosting, definitely had a lot of fun doing the workshop. I figured that I would at least make this road trip somewhat productive :)
I'll have my slides and workshop recap posted on my blog soon (again, once I get all settled in BC starting next week). Ive been meaning to put together a 'social media-type' workshop for the longest time anyway, glad to have finally had the opportunity to do so. Made me realize that facilitating conversations and teaching people how to make the most of the resources available online (getting more into the nitty gritty of developing strategy for your business/NPO as opposed to simply using Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. with no real purpose in mind); I certainly have some room now to explore this further, we'll see where this goes.
On that note, here are some additional thoughts of my road trip so far. They are largely raw and unedited, and will probably take some time to process a bit more even after the road trip.
- I miss Monika, I really do. There, I said it. - Everything that is of any importance to me, in sentimental as well as monetary terms, is all neatly packed into my little four door Honda Civic. I can literally go anywhere (within driving distance, i.e. North America) and be all set to go in whatever city I land in.- Ontario is a HUGE province. Ive been driving for three days now and Im still here (Day 1 - Sault Ste Marie; Day 2 - Thunder Bay; Day 3 - currently in Kenora)- The fact that Im now in a different time zone (Central Time Zone, one hour behind Waterloo/Toronto), yet still in Ontario, is throwing me off. It is, really.- I friggin' love how beautiful Canada is. I've taken over 300 photos so far, mainly of the landscape, but Ive got a couple of photos here and there with a goofy grin on my face standing in front of something spectacular (like the Kakabeka Falls that I came across today just outside of Thunder Bay). See first photo below, higher quality photos taken with my D5000 coming soon.
- It's always great to meet up with old friends and catch up on the years gone by.
- It breaks my heart when as Im driving by small towns along the Trans Canada Highway, all I see are boarded up buildings where restaurants, motels and a booming highway travellers town once stood. Reminds me of the animated movie Cars by Pixar.- Im on the lookout for moose, bears and deer as Im driving, but on the side of the highway. I hope to God that I don't come across any of these animals on the highway as I continue to make my way to BC- And to end on a much lighter note, the CBC Radio Laugh Out Loud Podcast is HILARIOUS. It's all Ive been listening to, in between the random collection of cd's in my car as well as local radio stations, when I want to take a break from laughing so hard as Im driving
Onwards to Winnipeg tomorrow, should be a fun time
