11 awesome things that happened (on my blog & in my life) in 2011.

Turns out it was an awesome year!

People searching for me finally supplanted “Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend” and “Facebook is the Antichrist” as the main traffic drivers to my site! Other shining moments:

1. Most commented article ever (on this blog, at least!):
Ethical question: Is newsjacking black hat?

2. Biggest burn:
Lululemon’s ‘Who is John Galt?’ Ayn Rand bags: a not-so-hidden capitalist manifesto?

3. On the way Klout reduces the human soul:
Open letter to Google+ team: please don’t integrate Klout.

4. Fame pinnacle:
Me in the Winnipeg Free Press, talking QR codes.
How does it feel to run a livechat, anyway?

5. My illustrations on CNN:
Illustration for CNN.com: ’4 Trends Shaping the Emerging “Superfluid” Economy’
Future of Facebook project, of which I am a teeny part, featured on CNN.

6. The salient difference between humans and robots (hint: we’ve got the moves like Jagger):
Digital lifeforms vs. analogue humans: who’s a better dancer?

7. We make a Japan-saving QR code & outfit the mayor:
Scan for Japan: @AceBurpeeShow’s Red Cross QR Code t-shirt on sale now!
The Mayor of Tipping Points! Sam Katz in our Japan/Red Cross QR code t-shirt.
HOT103 Pray for Japan QR code billboard: YES! It scans from the street!

8. Eyeball-melting art:
GenX Canadiana courtesy of the NFB.
#animatedgif art: Picture elements.
“There’s nothing wrong with this town”: Ralph Bakshi on Winnipeg.
New York ❤s @FriendsWithYou.

9. Forays into new media journalism as a CBC social media producer, and after:
Livetweeting: mobile journalism, mortifying mistakes & a bright orange vest.
Do you expect to interact with news organizations on Twitter?
Hypothesis: the mainstream #media feeds social media. What do you think? [Infographic]

10. QR codes ad nasuem. The slideshare’s had 18,616 views & the “how-to design with” is the most-searched article on my site.
Voir QR: The History, Use & Abuse of QR Codes [slideshow]
How to design with QR codes.
Anatomy of QR Code
How can you use QR codes if you can’t afford a mobile site?
NFC (near field communication) vs. mobile tagging (or, are QR codes totally dead?)
QR codes in New York.

11. The freebie that gets downloaded the most:
Free design download: vector Facebook like/recommend/share icons

I didn’t realize a blog could be kind of like..a log on the web that reminds you of all the amazing stuff that happened. Hugs to everyone who was a part of it. Now I’m getting all sentimental ❤

How to livetweet a short event that doesn’t REALLY need to be tweeted live.

Between the Hollywood stars & the Premier of the province, I’ve been doing a lot of on-location celeb-related brand journalism this month.

I am the Perez Hilton of Winnipeg.

Ooh, just shook the Premier’s hand! Then I showed him my little video of him on myiPhone

— Erica Glasier ♥(@EricaGlasier) December8, 2011

.@Natchuk It was like meeting Santa!

— Erica Glasier ♥(@EricaGlasier) December8, 2011

 

But my star-studded life aside, what I want to tell you is the trick I discovered for better brand journalism where speed isn’t the be all.

Just-slightly-after-live-livetweeting

What I was showing the Premier was the video I’d shot of him at the press conference. It was a short event—he spoke for 1:59ish, according to my iPhone—so the usual live journalism tactics of posting live photos, quotes, etc would take too long (think uploads & phone-typing). I’d miss the soundbites.

Instead, I got in the way of the press pool & shot a low-fi vid of the speeches, ran back to my desk, slapped on my headphones & transcribed the key comments on Twitter.

Accompanied by a few establishing photos & liberal retweeting of the mainstream media (MSM) coverage after, I was able to convey all the key messages, the calls to action & the personality of the speakers, and give fans a few soundbites of my own for retweeting.

[I'm usually torn whether to shoot video or photos if I don't have ancillary shooter staff. In this case there were videojournalists shooting, no professional photogs, not much action visually, and little chance of being scooped by the MSM.]

Overall, this method achieves better, more thorough brand journalism if your event isn’t being livestreamed & gives the reporter time for accuracy with details like the spelling of names. Having all that video to draw on is awesome. Try it.

How to post to a Posterous blog by email.

It couldn’t be easier!

The more you put in to social media, the more you have to put in to social media.

You know you’ve levelled up when you suddenly grasp an adage.

“Social media doesn’t scale,” they say.

That means “the more attention you pay to social media, the more social media demands your attention.” Growing an audience means there’s an audience there to serve.

I'm running so many social media accounts, when my phone buzzes my Pavlovian response is to projectile vomit :/

November 30, 2011 6:16 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@EricaGlasier

Erica Glasier ♥

Thought it was just me. RT @EricaGlasier running so many social media accounts, when phone buzzes Pavlovian response is to projectile vomit

November 30, 2011 6:38 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@bettervideo

Michael Graef

@bettervideo I feel "better" knowing at least 1 other person is barfing on their phones ;) Tks for the cheerup.

November 30, 2011 6:49 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@EricaGlasier

Erica Glasier ♥

@EricaGlasier It's what I do. ;)

November 30, 2011 6:50 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@bettervideo

Michael Graef

Get it? It’s what he does. Michael‘s Pavlovian response to someone suffering* on Twitter is to give them good “customer service”.

We’re like shoe salesmen that assure you the leather will stretch in the width (though not in the length. But you know that).

*Don’t call Kids Help Phone. It’s just been a long (but awesome) week or two. I’m in the middle of a book, which is a pretty epic project as I’m sure you know/can guess.

Just wanted to show you what an interesting speaker I am.

Did I just spot @EricaGlasier on @RRC campus?!

November 24, 2011 10:43 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@alysonshane

Alyson Shane

Here’s a shot by Winnipeg creative chickie k*sara, embellished to detail how incredibly fascinating it is to see me give a talk. I look like I’m contributing something riveting, no?

And that hand gesture. What is going on?

Thanks Kenton Larsen, super cool teacher I never had, and great Peg bloggers James Hope Howard, Liz Hover, Alyson Shane & Shelley Cook for the coffee & the laughs. And the students for showing up.

Beginner Blogging: What are potential employers/collaborators looking for in a “professional” blog-as-resume?

When you get chatty bloggers (like Alyson, Liz and James) together to talk blogging with students (like Kenton Larsen‘s Creative Communications class at Red River), they’re bound to skip some of the important stuff.

Like a clear understanding of the benefits of big undertakings like “be your own PR machine through blogging.” So here ya go, future communications professionals

Passion
Everyone can tell when you’re stoked about something (so write about stuff about which you are stoked. It’ll be a better read). Employers ❤ passion.

Insight

“Thought leadership” is the more grandiose buzzword for strong analysis. Tear something apart. Put it back together. Show me you saw beneath the surface, figured out a motivation, or connected some previously unconnected dots with your keen, keen mind.

Ambition
The fact that you bother to construct this whole persona, do research to impress me with your investigative skills, and make images to ease my understanding & please my eye says “hey, this person really wants it”.

Personality
An employer who wants to get to know the you behind the resume will know PDQ if your charming, quirky self is the right fit for their organizational culture. This can help you find a good corporate fit, so be yourself within the realm of good taste.

Skills
Posting struggles, successes, media you’ve produced, and plain ole’ writing shows me what kind of communicator you are. Visual skills translate especially well in the blog medium—cartooning, animation, slideshares, infographics. If you make it and it doesn’t suck, post it. If it does suck, ask for critique so you can improve.

Frequency
Besides showing your knowledge of subject matter, social media & communication, frequent blogging on topical stuff shows me you know what’s going on in your industry & you’ve got the commitment to prove it.

Connections
Comments show people are reading. Retweets show your stuff is worth sharing. Clips of speaking engagements or presentations demonstrate your ability to work a room.

Capability
On a meta level, outside the subject matter you blog about, you’re making it clear you know how to think like a publisher. Brand journalism and content marketing are a growing underpinning of social media marketing. The future employer is relieved to see you’ve worked out all your blogging disasters on your own dime

How do you make a YouTube video start at a certain point?

It’s super easy to embed a YouTube video & make it start right where the cool part is. No more boring your friends by making them scrub through the nonawesome.

So you go to click share.

When you get your little link, click show options to the right.

Check it out! There’s a little check box where you can pick the exact second the movie will start.

Put whatever timecode you like in there. Note you can just edit the URL of any YouTube video by adding =10s (enter whatever number you like).