“Every person is a new door to a different world.” – from the play/movie “Six Degrees of Separation” I am blessed to know many people and have many people, both online and off, who I consider to be good friends. Some of these friends I have known seemingly forever – since public school. Others I’ve known for the past 20 years or so that I’ve been a “grownup”. Still others I’ve met only in the past couple of years. Some people I consider friends are people I’ve never even met face to face. As I’ve gotten older, my definition of what makes for a real friendship has changed. When I was a little kid, my best friend was the one who I could play Barbies with for hours on end without getting bored. When I was a teenager, my friends were the girls I could talk with on the phone for hours about the cutest boy or the coolest music. As a young adult, my closest friends were the ones I would stay out with, whooping it up till all hours of the night and morning. Now, in my mid late thirties, my friends are the people who I rely on most, to share good times and bad. They are the people who enrich my life with their wisdom, kindness, generosity and love. I’ve come to the realization that the reason I’ve been so blessed to have so many amazing friends is at least partially due to the fact that I try to be a good friend to them too. You see, REAL friendship – I’m talking the non-ego, unconditional, no strings attached, giving, loving type of friendship – is a two way street. With events like the Shorty Awards, which aims to praise those people who are doing well at social media, I figured I’d share some of the reasons why I think being a good friend makes you good at social media. It Feels Good to Help In any friendship, there are times when your friends need help. As a good friend, you step up to the plate, and do whatever you can to assist. You do it without thinking about what’s in it for you. And when it’s over, you feel good that you were able to do your part. Sometimes, you are the one that needs the help. If you’ve been a good and helpful friend, you’ll find that, without question, your friends are now ready to step up and lend a hand to you. That’s what real friendship is about. In your social networks, what kind of friend are you? Are you helping out when it’s needed, without expecting anything in return? Are you asking for help when you need it, without being too demanding? Find that balance of helping when you can, and asking for help when you need it. You’ll feel great, and your online experience will be richer for it. For Good Times, and Bad Times Ah, the 80’s. A time of bad hairstyles, worse clothes, and Dionne Warwick and Friends. OK, so the song was a bit over the top and cheesy (hey, it WAS the 80’s), but its message was clear. Real friends are friends no matter what – when times are good, it’s great. When times get tough, friends stick together. As we head on into 2009, I am so optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead. I’m excited to be involved in collaborations with amazing, talented people like Danny Brown and Kathryn Jennex. I’ve got some business opportunities that are going to change things in a big way. I’ll be teaching college students about new media and social media, and loving every minute of it. At the same time, the economic climate is far from perfect, and this is going to present some unique challenges for all of us. But I am a firm believer that there is strength in numbers. Together, we can celebrate all the good that has come to us through social media, and we can be there for each other as we go through our various struggles. It’s a comfort to know that I have so many people that are part of my online life, who are there for me, just as I am for them, no matter what the future holds. Social media has changed the way we view friendship. It’s amazing how close I feel to some people; people I’ve never even met face to face! Those that don’t spend a lot of time in social networks may find this a hard concept to grasp. I guess what it comes down to is that this online space is inherently a place of open communication and sharing. The fact that we are able to nurture these aspects of human relationships here naturally lends itself to the creation of valuable and lasting friendships. And that’s a pretty powerful thing. In what ways are you a good friend?
Danny Brown's Great Idea
Once in a while, someone comes along with an absolutely outstanding idea. Today, that someone was Danny Brown. For those of you who don’t know him, Danny is the owner of Press Release PR, a PR consultancy specializing in social media. I’ve gotten to know Danny pretty well over the past several months (although we’ve never met in person!), and we were even co-conspirators on this blog post for David Henderson a couple of months back. His idea is called “The 12 for 12,000 Challenge in 2009”. The basic idea of Danny’s genius concept is this; if he can find 1200 people to give just $10 a month to one charity a month for 12 months, then $144,000 can be raised. It’s so simple, but I think it could just work – and then some. The plan is to use the power of social media to spread the word to as many people as possible, and get them all to jump on board and commit to giving their $10 a month for the year. And, as he says on his blog: The beauty of this challenge is that the decision is entirely down to you and how you participate. If you feel that a particular charity doesn’t fit you, simple – don’t donate that month. (If you wish to donate double to a preferred featured charity, that’s entirely up to you again). So really, it’s a win win situation. You get to give in the way that best suits you, and 12 terrific charities benefit. It’s the strength in numbers concept at work here that is really the brilliant part. Imagine if each person in your Twitter network signed up. Then each person in THEIR Twitter network signed up, and so on. The results could be astronomical! For the full rundown, go to Danny’s blog post “The 12 for 12,000 Challenge in 2009” and learn how you can get involved. I’ll keep you posted on the latest here too.
On Teaching
Yesterday was the last class of the semester prior to the Christmas break. For the past 15 weeks, I’ve been teaching video production to 84 first-year future web developers and designers. It’s designed to be an introductory course, covering all the technical basics of lighting, shooting and editing but also emphasizing video as a visual storytelling medium and use of video on the Web. Overall it was an extraordinary first semester. My students were enthusiastic, showed up ready to learn, and really got their hands dirty and worked hard on their projects. I challenged them a lot – they had to produce a short video that told a story without using any dialogue (video is a “show me” medium, not a “tell me” medium!), and also create a mini-documentary. What the groups were able to pull off in the limited amount of time they had was really impressive. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tough having such a large class (it was actually two classes of 42, but still a large group). I found it challenging to be able to connect on an individual basis with everyone, particularly the more quiet students. But in the end, I think I managed to get a good handle on the strengths and weaknesses of each person, and set them up as much as possible for success. Setting people up for success. That is what teaching is all about. It’s not about standing at the front of a class spewing facts and figures to a room full of half-asleep students. It’s about figuring out how to create an environment in which everyone, no matter what, can learn. The secret to doing this well is to GET PEOPLE INVOLVED. I did very few lectures this semester – and for the ones I did do, I involved people – whether it was having volunteers demonstrate things or asking them questions and getting them involved in a discussion. Most of the work this semester was done by the students, not by me. My job was to arm them with the tools and the basic knowledge, but the real work (and the real learning) came when they grabbed a camera and went out to create their projects. Sure, they made mistakes. Some had to re-shoot things. Some realized their original concept wasn’t going to work and had to go back to the drawing board. Some got frustrated. Some even wanted to pack it in. But with the right kind of gentle encouragement, they persevered. Last week and yesterday, when we screened their final mini-documentary projects, and they were all so excited to show what they’d accomplished to the class, I knew I’d done my job. Teaching isn’t about talking and carrying on until you’re blue in the face. Teaching is about imparting a foundation of knowledge, then stepping back and allowing your students to take that knowledge, work with it, make a bunch of mistakes, and then turn that knowledge in into something they can take ownership and pride in. Happy holidays to my wonderful classes. Thank you so much for your time and attention. I’ll see you again in fourth semester!
What Works for What's Work
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about how work has changed over the past several years. When I was growing up in the 1980’s, society was still in the mindset that “setting yourself up for success” meant graduating from high school, going to university to get a degree, then finding a good, stable, secure full time job with regular hours and good benefits. Worse, women were still (yes, even in the 80’s) expected to finish school, work for a while, find a husband, put their career on hold, have a bunch of kids, then try to “reintegrate” to the workforce after 10 or 12 years. If that was the secret to success, then I suppose I’ve failed miserably. OK, I did graduate high school. But I decided on community college instead of university, since they couldn’t teach me how to make TV shows at university. I got a job after college, but the pay was crappy, the benefits were just okay, and the hours were anything but regular. During those early days of my career, the elusive husband I was supposed to nab was nowhere to be found. In fact, I would wait till I was 34 years old to finally tie the knot (Does that make me an old maid?). As for having a bunch of babies, well, I look around me and nope – don’t see any babies. Therefore, no reason to put said career on hold, I guess. The one area where I suppose I did succeed (in the 80’s definition of success) is that after my first job, I came to my senses. I proceeded to have a string of jobs that were 9-5, Monday to Friday, corporate grind type jobs, with good pay and good benefits. Naturally, the rebel in me wanted nothing more than to bust out of that grind and do my own thing. As time went on, I came to a very profound realization. I really do believe that the way people look at work is changing. The lines between what is considered “work” and what is considered “outside interests” are blurring. ***THIS JUST IN*** As I was writing this, I came across this morning’s video post by Chris Brogan on work vs. play. I just want to be clear – what I’m referring to here is not really work vs. play. I think work vs. play is different than work vs. outside interests. First, go watch his video, because Chris is a smarty pants and he makes a really great point. Then come back and I’ll explain myself. You’re back. Good! 🙂 When I was doing the corporate grind thing, I worked hard and cared about the work I was doing (most of the time), even enjoyed it (some of the time), but there was a definite line between my “job” and my “outside interests”. In fact, I worked really hard to keep my personal interests personal and my work stuff at work. I thought that work/life balance was all about that separation. I’ve realized that this was a serious error in my thinking. Perhaps things are different now because I work for myself. I’m no longer held to a particular schedule, I get to choose the projects I work on, and I have had the freedom to choose and to be able to nurture relationships with people that are based on both friendship and professional ties. But what I’ve noticed, over the past several months, is that my To Do list contains a lot of crossover between what one would consider “personal interest” and what is “work”. For all the hours and hours of work I do on paying gigs, I’m finding that I’m doing more and more work on things that don’t pay. Just in the past few weeks, I’ve helped shoot a music video, helped to edit some protest/awareness videos, and agreed to help produce a new technology podcast. I’ve talked with friends about playing music more, perhaps at open stages, maybe even a gig someday. I’ve also written a pile of blog posts. All of these things are work to me. Sure, they don’t have a monetary payoff, but who says that work has to bring in money all the time? Isn’t it possible that some work can be done for the pure experience and enjoyment? I also lump networking into this mix. Back when I was working for other companies, I used to get paid to go to networking events, conferences and meetings. Now that I’m self-employed, I don’t really get paid to go out to meetups, meet people for coffee, or attend Social Media Breakfasts. But I do it anyway. It’s right there, on my To Do list. It’s part of work – a very important part. The truth is, what constitutes “work” for me really has changed. I’m no longer bound by “I must do THIS so I can get paid THIS.” I guess that is what makes what I do for a living so much fun. At times, I think my work IS play. And vice versa, I suppose! Sure, in the old-time definition of having a successful career, I guess I really have not “made it”. But what I have done is carved my own path to success. It’s been hard work; I’d even say harder work than the old fashioned way of doing things. But I definitely wouldn’t have it any other way. How has work changed for you?
FTN: For The New!
One of my Mom’s favourite expressions is “A change is as good as a rest”. It’s a great rule to live by (have I mentioned my Mom is the wisest woman I know?). Moving outside of your typical day to day experiences can be a challenge sometimes, but a fresh approach is almost always a good idea. The other night I helped a friend of mine move into her new apartment. This new place is a positive change for her and her kids. It’s a beautiful place with a great vibe and a homey feel. As I left her place that night, I could sense that she felt really at peace in her new space. All of the stresses of her day to day life seemed to have just melted away. Change, as scary as it can be sometimes, is often all that is needed to put a new perspective on things. The Web world is changing at such a fast pace that it sometimes seems overwhelming. That’s why it’s ironic that, when it comes to social networks, it’s easy to get stuck in the same old patterns. We have an almost unlimited number of connections we can make online, yet we do have a tendency to migrate towards those people who are familiar to us. Then we proceed to have the same conversations with those people. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having close connections and close friends online – quite the contrary. Building a strong relationship based on trust, camaraderie and mutual respect are critically important to the strength of the whole community. However, it can become unhealthy to stay within the same bubble all the time. After all, isn’t the whole point of social media to connect with many people? Are you stuck in your ways online? A little too comfy in your social networking circles? Like in offline life, it’s really easy to get stuck in the same crowd, having the same conversations. Once in a while, we all need to branch outside of our comfortable circle of friends and connections sometimes, and have some new experiences. How does one bust out of their cozy Internet existence? It’s pretty easy, actually. Here are a few tips: Follow some new people. Seek out some new blogs. There’s lots of ways to do this – you can search topics of interest in your Google Reader, make a visit to Alltop, or ask some people you trust to recommend some good blogs to you. But don’t just read. Leave some comments. Get involved in the community. You’ll be amazed with the new people you can meet by taking this one simple step. If you’re on Twitter, find some interesting new people to follow. Here’s a few giveaways for you: @jeffparks, @Stacerella, @PressReleasePR, and @MackCollier. Go to a meetup. Just about every major city in North America seems to have meetups now. Sometimes they are called Tweetups (if they are organized through Twitter). It’s a fantastic way to meet new people, and hey, there’s something to be said for doing the live and in person thing. You can seek out meetups in your town by going to http://www.meetup.com/. Don’t have any meetups in your town? Organize one! Also, if you are visiting a new city, check out the meetups that are happening in that city, and get your butt down there! It’s always a blast to meet new folks, but sometimes it’s even more fun to meet people who, until now, you’ve only known online. Use Twitter Search. I have a friend who is really into soccer. He was asking me yesterday what Twitter is all about, and I told him to go to Twitter Search and poke in “World Cup Soccer” and he’ll see a whole list of people who are talking about his passion. The point is, there are entire communities of people out there who are talking about the things you are interested in. In to aviation? Do a Google Blog Search. Dig on blues music? Search it out on or Twitter Search. Find the communities you want to be a part of. Then get involved. It’s that simple! So that’s it! Though it’s wonderful to exist in an online world where you know you’re among friends, building comfortable connections and discovering things together, maybe it’s time to break free a little more and see what else is going on around you that might enrich your experience. What about you? What’s the best new connection you’ve made in the past little while?
The Art of Saying No
One of the hardest things for me to do is to say “no” to people. It gets me in all sorts of trouble, too. I get over-committed, over-booked, over-stressed in an effort to please everyone all the time. It’s a common problem – I know lots of people for whom saying “no” is the worst thing they could possibly do. However, there are times when saying “no” is exactly what I need to do. The crazy thing is, 99.9% of the times I have ever said “no” to someone, it’s totally okay. There’s none of the backlash, hurt feelings, and disappointment that I often make up in my own head. As I get more busy in my business, my personal life and as I continue to grow my online network, I find I am having to say “no” more often. Don’t get me wrong…I have absolutely no issue with helping people when they ask me for it. In fact, I enjoy helping people. That’s why I do it. But there comes a point, where, if it’s too much for me to balance with my job, my family etc., that I have to say that nasty “no”. I’ve learned that there are techniques for saying “no” gracefully. And the number one way to say “no” to someone nicely is to communicate with them. Seems kind of backwards, since you’re trying to NOT have to do something, but communication is the vital key. Don’t Ignore. Ignoring and avoidance is the worst thing you can do. The problem with ignoring someone when you should be saying “no” to them is that they think you don’t care. If someone sends you a request or asks you a favour and you just can’t accommodate, better to send a polite response saying why you are unable to fulfill their request than not to respond at all. What if Volume is an Issue? Feeling overwhelmed by all the people wanting a piece of you? We’ve all been there. I have weeks where my inbox is chock full of people wanting something from me. My voice mail is also full. It’s pretty overwhelming, and my first instinct is to run away and hide. How to deal with volume requests? Well, I hooked up AwayFind on my email, that at least helps me to determine what requires my urgent attention and what doesn’t. But the man who has this one cased is the inimitable Gary Vaynerchuk. You see, if you send Gary an email, he sends you an automated reply. Now, before you go getting all bent out of shape about automated replies..check out what he sends: Hey, here’s a link that will explain everything! http://tv.winelibrary.com/garyvs-inbox Thank you Gary Vaynerchuk Click on the link. You get Gary, on a video, explaining how he deals with email, and asking for people’s help in helping him manage his correspondence. He provides contacts for all his online outposts, and contacts for his “people” too. He is saying “no”, and doing it in a personable, polite way. Delegate delegate delegate. Trying to keep up with responding to everything all the time is impossible if you’re super busy. So find ways to filter information to people who can more easily and quickly help. In essence, what you are doing here is saying “No, I can’t help you, but I’m referring you to this person who I trust to help you.” Of course, you want to make sure that the person you are delegating to is available and willing to say “yes”. Delegation is hard to do – but it’s worth it, always. Just make sure that you have people you absolutely trust on board…because every time you delegate, it’s still your reputation that’s on the line. So there you have it – these are a few interesting ways that I’ve learned about how to politely decline. We all have times that we have to say “no” to people, and it’s never easy. Please share some techniques that you use when you need to say “no” in the comments. Oh, and by the way – if you say “no” to someone politely and they get mad at you, start flaming you, or have an otherwise negative reaction, before you feel bad about it…consider whether they were worth helping in the first place.
Social Media is NOT an Innovation
Way back in 1999, the man who invented the World Wide Web, Al Gore Tim Berners-Lee, wrote a book about how he created the Web, called “Weaving the Web: The Ulitmate Destiny of the World Wide Web by its Inventor“. I have the original, hard cover edition of this book. I’m not sure if it’s been updated in the newer editions or not. Here’s the most striking quote from the whole thing: The Web is more a social creation than a technical one. I designed it for a social effect – to help people work together – and not as a technical toy. The ultimate goal of the Web is to support and improve our weblike existence in the world. We clump into families, associations, and companies. We develop trust across the miles and distrust around the corner. What we believe, endorse, agree with, and depend on is representable and, increasingly represented on the Web. We all have to ensure that the society we build with the Web is of the sort we intend. — Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web Wow. Berners-Lee wrote this in ’99, and if you read the book, it turns out he’s been thinking about this concept of a worldwide social web since sometime in the 1970’s. 1999. It was the infancy of Google. It was pre-Wordpress blogs. Definitely pre-Twitter, podcasting, Digg, Delicious, and StumbleUpon, and any of the other many tools that we use in this space we call “social media”. Back in a time when a web page was not much more than plain text on a screen and even before that, Berners-Lee had incredible foresight. It’s a common misconception that Berners-Lee invented the Web for computer programmers and scientists. In fact, he invented it for everyone. He actually had to jump through a lot of hoops at CERN where he worked. He snuck around, trying out his project on people, all while making it “look” like he was building something that only physicists could make use of. All the while, he was building a tool that would allow for sharing, communication and collaboration by everyone, anywhere in the world. Skip forward to 2008 and we now have what many consider a real innovation called “social media”. Well, I’ve got news for you. Social media is not an innovation. It’s the raison d’etre for the Web. Social media is merely the buzzword we’ve decided to attach to what was the original point of Berners-Lee’s invention. It’s the evolution of what he described as the ultimate goal, “to support and improve our weblike existence in the world”. Case in point: Imagine if suddenly, Twitter was gone. Vanished. A permanent Fail Whale sort of gone. Imagine if suddenly, your blog disappeared, or the blog of your favourite blogger ceased to exist. Imagine a world with no Stumbleupon, or Digg, or YouTube, or Delicious. Whatever would we do? I know what we’d do. We’d find another way to connect. Someone would build another tool, and we’d all head over there. Or maybe we’d actually meet in person where feasible, and connect that way. What I do know is, resourceful as we are, we’d find a way to still carry on the conversation that we’ve started here. We’d still have our weblike existence, because that’s how the Web is set up. In the end, whether something is labeled as “social media” or not might be a moot point. This has become more and more apparent to me in recent weeks. There’s a shift happening. Maybe you’ve felt it too, depending on how involved you are in your networks and what you’ve been reading. The focus is starting to move away from the latest new tools, gadgets and technical creations, and more towards what Berners-Lee envisioned as a “social creation”. More and more of the conversations I’m reading and having are about the social marvel that is the Web itself …not the marvel that is “social media”. This is a really, really good thing. It means that we are starting to move beyond the latest craze/gadget/guru phase. The environment is maturing. Communication, collaboration and communities are starting to become the mainstream ways in which people are using the Web. The social Web is no longer just for the “social media crowd”. I suspect, over the next 6 months, that this is going to become even more prevalent. I also suspect, that over the next little while, our label of “social media” is going to, if not go away, at least change. 10 years ago, people saw the Web was a place to get information. Today, more and more people are seeing it as a place to connect. Therein lies the difference. The shift to this thinking in the mainstream is going to be the next big revolution on the Web. It’s going to be the realization of Berners-Lees’ incredible vision. As he says, the “Web society” is forming before our eyes. We are ultimately all responsible for how this new society takes shape. How do you think things will shape up?
Well Lookie Here…I'm on Alltop
So I thought I might as well try to get listed somewhere on Alltop.com. I sent off my request and wouldn’t you know it – they’ve listed me in the social media section! Not really sure what it all means, but I have noticed I’m getting a lot more hits all of a sudden. Guess I’d better make sure I keep crankin’ out some decent content around here, eh? Thanks Alltop! You rock!
Twitter Takeaways
First of all, many thanks to Mack Collier for being my inspiration for this post. We had a great conversation on Twitter last night, which started when he asked the Twitterverse: I replied to Mack that I think that I actually blog more because of Twitter, that what I read on Twitter inspires me. Then I realized something. Twitter is my input. Blogging is my output. Let me explain. Depending on what I’m working on and whether I need really focused time or not, I usually have Tweetdeck running in the background on my screen. I keep one eyeball on it, and if something catches my eye I’ll take a look. It’s kind of akin to the days when I used to work in the cube farm at the giant corporation. I would be working away, and I’d hear snippets of conversations all around me as I worked. Sometimes I’d listen more closely, if the subject was related to me or something I was interested in. Sometimes I’d stand up over the edge of my cubicle and contribute if I thought it would be helpful. Good thing about Twitter is, it’s far more colourful than those grey cubicle walls I suffered behind for all those years. My point is, Twitter is one of my primary inputs of information. The conversations on there lead me to all sorts of things. It’s my newspaper, my radio, my TV, and my water cooler all in one. I spend a good majority of my days writing. If I’m ever at a loss for inspiration, a particular word, or a way to phrase something, I take a few minutes and peruse Twitter. Sometimes I contribute, other times I just watch. Often I will find what I need just by watching. When it comes to my blog, I probably get more ideas from Twitter than from anywhere else. Sure, it may be indirect (someone provides a link from their Twitter feed to a blog post or news story) but Twitter is still the source. My blog is the primary output of all this stuff that comes in and then proceeds to fly around in my head. People often ask me how I get my blog ideas. I don’t really have a formula, which is probably why I don’t post every day. Things just come to me and then I need to write about them. I don’t have a massive list of posts I need to write. I have a few scribbles in the “Notes” application on my iPhone. I blog about what I see and experience around me, and that immediacy is what I like about it. I don’t heavily edit things either. I write stream of consciousness for the most part, then tweak. As Mack said last night, after I mentioned I’d be posting about our conversation in the morning: Mack and I have never met, and we live in different countries. Yet, we were able to make a connection, have a conversation, and be inspired to think about things a little more deeply. And, he brought me the input that was required in order for me to have this output here. Doesn’t that just blow your mind? It blows mine all the time. One More Twitter Takeaway Here’s a tip, something I just thought of this morning. I was visiting my brother and sister in law yesterday and we got to talking about Twitter. They both have accounts that they don’t really use, and I got the usual “I don’t really get it” response from them. I tried to give the typical explanations, and my sis-in-law did seem a bit more intrigued by those. But today, I have discovered the thing that is going to get her to see the value. You see, she’s into wine in a big way, and has some pretty interesting opinions about the wine industry, particularly as it relates to the business side of things. So this morning I did a few searches on Twitter Search around wine and business, and I think that the results I got will be very exciting to her. I do believe that now, she will immediately see how she can benefit, when she sees how many other people are talking about the same things she is passionate about. If you are trying to show someone the value of Twitter, show them a couple of Twitter Searches on topics of interest to them. I think they may start to see things differently.
The Nightclub at the Edge of the Universe Gets It
On Thursday night after my lovely birthday celebration with friends, Greg and I decided to make a stop before we headed home to one of my favourite places. Zaphod Beeblebrox, the nightclub at the edge of the universe, is an institution in Ottawa’s club scene. Not only is it the venue of choice of some of the best live music in the city, let alone the country, it’s just a really fun place to hang out. I’ve known the club’s owner, Eugene Haslam, since about 1992 when he moved Zaphod’s to its current location downtown in the Byward Market. He’s one of the smartest businesspeople I have ever met. I mean, this is a guy that totally gets it. He packs the place every night of the week. That’s unusual for Ottawa, since we tend to roll up the sidewalks at around 8pm most weeknights. I’ve been thinking about what makes Zaphod’s work. Here’s what I’m feeling about it… It’s Accessible. Zaphod’s has live music 6 nights a week. And not just any old live music, either. Eugene only books in bands that are edgy, fresh, and fantastic. Any night you can show up and know that you WILL be entertained. But the best part is, the bands go on at around 8pm and finish up at 11pm, at which time the most talented DJ’s in town start spinning tunes for those who want to dance their faces off. The thing about the early shows is, you can still go out, see a great band, and be back home in bed early enough that your 8am meeting won’t be painful. This makes the live music scene accessible to the average working person all the time. As a result, Eugene’s got lineups at the door nearly every night. It’s Got a Theme. Sure, there are lots of bars that have a theme. Some have an Irish theme. Some have a maritime theme or a Mexican theme. But Zaphod’s has the coolest theme of all, and it’s the way that it’s implemented that makes it work so well. I’ll admit – I’m a huge fan of The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’ve read the book about 427 times and I even liked the movie version. Zaphod’s has a great theme. But it’s subtle, and that’s why it works. Sure, the place has a definite futuristic, other-galaxy feel to it. The drinks have catchy names like Slartibartfast and Bambleweenie. But you don’t go there because of the theme. You go because of the great atmosphere and terrific music. This means that even those who are not necessarily Douglas Adams fans will still have a good time. And even if you don’t know how bad Vogon poetry really is, you can still belly up to the bar and get yourself a Pangalactic Gargleblaster and fit right in. There’s a Human Being Behind It. There would be no Zaphod’s without Eugene. This man is completely and intensely passionate about music. It’s like he invites hundreds of people into his house every night for a show. More nights than not, Eugene is at his club, and he’s just as in to the music as everyone else. When you’re around Eugene, it’s impossible to be in a bad mood. He also loves his city and is very involved in the community, raising money and doing lots of good things. Anyone who is thinking of starting a business needs to know that the single most important thing is to BE YOUR BUSINESS. We are all human beings, and we need to stop hiding behind labels and brands and start being the human face behind everything we do. When people think of Zaphod Beeblebrox they don’t think of it without thinking about the man behind it. It Knows Its Audience. When we went in to the bar on Thursday night, it was jammed. The band had already finished and it was “Full Flavour Thursday”. Two DJs were spinning tracks, a meld of hip hop and funk. Zaphod’s has probably one of the most diverse clientele I have ever seen in a bar. You get the after-work business crowd, the twenty something college students, and the spiky-haired and heavily pierced all in one place. This diversity works because Eugene knows how to cater to his audience. By melding the theme, the great live music, and the wicked dance party every night, he’s able to create an environment where everyone feels at home. I can’t say it enough – knowing your audience is absolutely key to success. For anyone who owns a business, or is thinking about starting one, these are 4 essential points you need to put some serious thought into. Maybe you should consider doing this from a nice comfy booth at Zaphod’s with a Pangalactic Gargleblaster in your hand. If you are in Ottawa, and haven’t been to Zaphod’s, you are missing out. If you are coming to Ottawa, give me a call and I’ll take you there myself.