An active online brand works around the clock and remotely…

One of our Carleton University students, Desirae Odjick, is a 3rd year Commerce student that was keen on landing a summer job that would compliment her career direction.  She took an active roll in the WhyHire.me program last fall (2009) and built out a tremendous looking profile as part of her New Tools and Approaches class at Sprott . Desirae also keeps her profile current through the use of Twitter and Social Bookmarks. By doing this, she clearly demonstrates she stays connected to issues tied to her future career goals and professional interests. This is one of the keys to taking an active roll in conveying your brand!

WhyHire.me puts an emphasis on coaching, online marketing and social media tools through the applications of the 4 D’s of Online Personal Branding in a classroom or online learning setting. Thanks to professor Leighann Neilson, the material was conveyed through active and applied discussions, assignments and tasks pulled from the WhyHire.me learning materials. Now that Desirae is an online pro, guess what? Her profile was discovered by an Ottawa based services firm who hired her over email while she was in Sidney Australia for a school term.

How cool is that?

Student Initiative at Algonquin – ICAFRICA

ICafrica Fundraiser Kick Off

This month the Algonquin Public Relations class of 2011 launched their annual fundraiser.  This class has chosen to support International Charity for Africa, ICafrica.  This organization focuses on decreasing poverty in Africa by providing micro loans and support to entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Ghana.

I ran into this enthusiastic bunch of students during their flash mob event on March 10th.  I believe that student experiences like this help all that are involved.  The organization, ICafrica, receives the enthusiasm and support of young knowledgeable students, the students receive experience working with a non-profit which connects them to industry but also opens their eyes to new experiences and job prospects, and those of us that are pulled in including students, staff and the community, become a part of a worthwhile cause which is fun and worthwhile for all.

It’s events like this that solidify the college experience and provide the ‘applied’ that our students and future employers are looking for.  It also reveals initiative on the part of the students and the program.  These students are more apt to become the linchpins Seth Godin refers to in his most recent book Linchpins.  It’s these actions, involvement and depth of experience that will set them apart.  Good luck with the fundraiser!

Experience Counts…but its location?

This week, I had the opportunity to help internationally educated professionals land their first jobs in Canada. These well seasoned engineers, software developers and project leaders have extensive credentials and experiences gained at companies all over the world.

I asked them their biggest challenges they face finding jobs in Canada – many times over, it was accessing the right people and having local experience to reference in Canada. Happily, their first challenge is being addresses through outreach programs such as iWES from The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). During our session, we focused on personal branding and select techniques people can use to raise their profile on the Internet. It was a pleasure working with them. They were very attentive and they had great questions.

The second point baffles me. IT issues, project management fundamentals and project risk management are pretty much global in nature. A major telecom integration project in Africa, or network administration job in Brazil or a large scale ERP deployment in Indonesia all have the same properties as those in Canada or the United States. From my perspective, information technology talent can be from around the corner, or from around the world. The web can let me check global references, I can Google their bosses, Skype their references, anywhere in the world. It really makes no matter where someone is from and where they acquired their experiences. A qualified, hard working candidate from Asia or anywhere in the world deserves equal consideration.

The business of IT is by definition global in nature…as is change management and project management. Looking to source the right candidate for a position? Consider a hard-working and experienced internationally trained profesionsal. They are out there!

Social Video – a new platform for education?

Engaging users with video is clearly paying off for those that invest in producing, licensing and staging it on their web sites. According to Comscore, U.S. Internet users watched 32 billion videos in January 2010. My suspicion is, our multi-tasking world has conditioned many of us to click on videos, before we start reading scores of text. This has game changing implications for anyone that teaches, informs or sells.

In the education world, I am noting many teachers are building and sharing digital assets that can get incorporated into curriculum. Teachertube, Ning Sites for Educators and Sitesforteachers.com to name a few.  Educators are plugging into the fact that today’s students are very comfortable with digital media and have come to expect it – check out how Kaplan has wrapped the web into its brand.

So, what are the implications for today’s authors, subject matter experts and publishers looking to bring their material into virtual and real classrooms? How does one leverage rich, digital media and create compelling content that keeps students engaged and contributing?  One possible method? Social Video.

When one looks at how engaging video is, consider it a lesson platform. Video no longer needs to be linear and TIVO centric (start, stop, pause, forward, reverse). It has the potential to become an evolving, expanding platform that could include click-able links to other resources and facts, live data collected from the web, polls, discussion treads, …pretty much any new subject matter an educator would like to incorporate into the medium. Students could also contribute content, their own video commentary and links right into the video lesson.

Is this new and revolutionary? Not particularly. Consider overlay advertising on YouTube. One can very quickly overlay simple text and click-able links to other online resources. This first generation overlay technology will evolve and need to integrate with other e-learning components.

I have noted one company offering an overlay technology for e-commerce. Overlay.TV provides a platform and tool set for e-commerce sites to use video as a selling tool – users can click on click-able areas of the video and get more information such as current pricing, availability, testimonials.  The net impact? Users are engaged longer, hence they have a higher likelihood of buying – one of their clients noted a 30% increase in sales from visitors (conversion).

Authors and publishers take note. Today’s students prefer to be online, video consumption is insatiable and video is proving to keep the user engaged on web pages. In my opinion,  long term success as a publisher of material will be tied to sorting out how to leverage video as a platform.

What are your thoughts about social video and video as a platform for learning? How do you see video evolving in the classroom? How should publishers leverage it?

Students Showing Amazing Initiative

TEDx Youth Ottawa - February 2010 (Ashbury College)

Two weeks ago I attended TEDx Ottawa Youth along with my 14 year old daughter and two of her friends.  The event was run by youth for youth and I was one of the few over the age of 25 in the crowd. All of the presenters were under 25, many of which are in college and university. The conference was ”A summit for young opinion leaders, artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs to foster learning and inspiration, while provoking conversations that matter and creating a forum for “Ideas Worth Spreading”.

This was one of the first ever TEDx Youth conferences in the world.  The original TED conferences are now hosted by the organizers in locations around the world and TEDx is an extension whereby local visionaries can host conferences following the TED guidelines in their own communities.  I’m proud to say that Ottawa has hosted both a Youth conference and a TEDx in December of 2009.

The organizers of the TEDx Youth,Yusuf Malik, Adam Moscoe and David Millen (ok he’s a little over 25), did an amazing job.  The speakers where strong, poignant, professional and entertaining.  They touched on a huge variety of topics and a selection of entertainers dotted the agenda to keep the event engaging for the audience. Presentations ran from 8:30 to 1:00pm.

What impressed me most was the INITIATIVE that was exuding from this experience.  These students all volunteered their time to conceive of, organize and participate in this event.  This type of initiative not only is impressive as a whole but also serves as an amazing experience for the individuals that were involved.  These youth are different. They are putting together big ideas, inspiring others and making things happen that they care about.  By attending the event the over 200 students are also revealing their interest in learning and being involved in something beyond ordinary. The audience was respectful, attentive and very ’switched on’.

I’m sharing this here on our blog because I believe an event like this is an amazing experience For these these students. They are in fact developing their personal brands. Their participation in this event on all levels makes them stand out and shows to others that they have interests and initiative that others don’t.  I applaud their initiative and know that many of them were affected by the experience. Thanks to Yusuf, Adam, and David and the dozens of volunteer participates that helped pull this event together!  Looking forward to the next!

A WhyHire.me Profile Starts with a Pitch

Graduating Algonquin PR Students Using WhyHire.me

The first three classes of the WhyHire.me program focus on developing a positioning pitch which will set the tone and theme for a student’s WhyHire.me profile.  A few pitches from the Algonquin Public Relations class follow.

Ashlie Cormack: A willingness to embrace change and commitment to her values are what set Ashlie apart. She strives to be passionate not only for her work, but for the people she works with. Her skill comes from leadership roles in academic and athletic environments. Her ideal job isn’t restricted to the “9-5” but is integrated into every aspect of her life.

Mae McCrae: Mae McCrae is a compelling speaker with a passion for positively influencing lives. A former youth leader, she now manages a young marrieds group, drama, and music department for her church. Mae has a flare for giving a project a unique and recognizable stamp. Her way with words and great listening skills will be valuable to any organization.

Jessa Millar: Jessa is very passionate about the success of causes she works on. She has a lifelong history of involvement in her community. Delivering a constant out-pour of creative ideas, she makes connections and mobilizes action. Jessa’s problem-solving skills, personable nature and contagious enthusiasm make her a valued part of initiatives she engages in.

Once these students have created their pitches, they then work to develop their profiles using text, photos, blog posts, Twitter feeds to support and prove their pitch.  They will look at their school, volunteer, work placement projects, extra curricular, and part-time work to present rich experiences that are valuable to prospective employers.  I’m impressed with this bunch, they have a lot to offer their industry.

Right now their profiles are private but when they are ready, we’ll let you know.

Jessa’s very passionate about the success of causes she works on. She has a lifelong history of involvement in her community. Delivering a constant out-pour of creative ideas, she makes connections and mobilizes action. Jessa’s problem-solving skills, personable nature and contagious enthusiasm make her a valued part of initiatives she engages in.It’A

Algonquin Career Week – Innovation & Connections

Algonquin’s Career Week is underway.  I was fortunate enough to be a speaker yesterday along with many others.  My 45 min. presentation focused on Developing Your Online Personal Brand.  You can find the presentation on Slideshare and I will be presenting it again on Thursday at 2:30pm.  I digress…

I had hoped to attend the session The Future of Careers in Science, Technology & Engineering by Louis Lamontagne but I was called into a meeting and could not make it. While I was checking Twitter after my meeting, I found a link from the Algonquin Students Association of a video version of the presentation.  I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and was thrilled to see Algonquin being innovative in the use of new tools to share information and promote learning.

As I listened to his insights and words of advice there were many comments that struck a cord with me.  At several points in his presentation he noted the importance of ‘distinguishing’ yourself as a candidate for a position.  His words of advice included adapt and be flexible, be enthusiastic, ask questions, show interest, and get involved.  One of our key messages to our students is about showing initiative.

At the end of his presentation, he stressed the importance of revealing to employers that as a candidate you should be well-rounded. He then suggested getting involved in sports, pick up hobbies and doing volunteer work and overall all to ‘milk this place (the college)’ while you are there. Like Lamontage, we strongly believe that students should be extracting and seeking out experiences during their time at school.  In the end, your goal as a candidate is to distinguishing yourself from the crowd and it takes actions and commitment to do that.  I definitely connected with Lamontage’s view and hope to meet him in person one day soon.

Proud of My Community…

I have been in awe of this great community of ours. For the past several weeks, I have seen people drop what they are doing, lend a helping hand, offer up their profits, pass on their treasures, pass on a message, post a word of encouragement and help a complete stranger. Today’s Ottawa 67’s Family Fun Day for Rene Faucher was a real tribute to community – countless people came up to our table and offered up a signature and a donation to the Faucher Douglas trust fund.

Several were friends or former colleagues of Rene, but many were strangers. It felt great …I was completely touched by people’s generosity and outpouring of support. Patti and I wish to thanks the following organizations and people that contributed to its success:

• The Ottawa 67’s – Patrick Whalen, Sherly Hunt and Johanna Elgie and many others from the organization for making the event happen
• The media who help raise awareness and helped put buns in seats (Team 1200, CTV, CBC)
• Mark and Jill Emery at the Paper Sign Man for event signage
• The game volunteers: April Murphy, Tracey Everitt, Dimitri Pantazopoulos and his two daughters, Laurie Murphy-Pytura and Mike Pytura and their kids and finally, Patti Church and our kids. These people were instrumental to having additional funds being contributed to the Faucher Douglas trust fund.

Rene Faucher Family Fun Day Fundraiser – SUNDAY Feb 7th @ 2PM

Click HERE to buy a ticket for Sunday’s Ottawa 67s vs. Guelph Storm at 2PM. Andy and I hope you and many others will come out and support Rene and his family.

Half of the proceeds from online tickets sales will be donated to the Faucher Douglas trust fund that was recently established by the community. This event is being put on to help René and his wife Dianne Douglas with their financial responsibilities as well as pull the community together to support them. All those that want to participate must mention Rene’s name at the box office or jump to this special link to purchase tickets –>  https://www.ottawa67s.com/ssl/store/fundraiser.asp

We will be sharing pictures and messages with René and all his supporters during the game via Twitter. Please look for our tabletop in the concourse to get your photo taken and sign a get-well 67’s flag. Well wishers that cannot make the game are welcome to donate to the fund online or at Scotiabank.  For more information on how to donate to the family, please visit http://www.faucherdouglastrustfund.com/

All are welcome to Tweet Rene before, during and after the game by simply including #getwellrene in your Twitter message.

Kaplan Message – It’s your time…to simply remotely listen?

Faculty and students – what is your perspective on the Kaplan message?

The message states educators have failed you and that a new model of learning is in order. The actor and visuals suggest the solution is largely about remote distance learning – on a train, at home and in your jammies. I get that.

From our perspective, this message leaves 2/3 of the required changes off the table.

What changes?

• How about more open learning? Why not let students and faculty learn and share across classes, programs or heaven forbid different schools?
• How about offering students a voice such they can learn new ways to share and collaborate in a semi-private setting across their virtual class?
• Why note give students the means to link industry and external stakeholders to a classroom? This would facilitate alumni mentoring, project exchanges and downstream recruiting for those that reveal their potential in an open, more transparent way.

Many talented teachers are experimenting with all forms of new tools, methods and teaching practices aimed at stimulating creativity, innovation and new forms of learning. Early adopters of WhyHire.me were brave enough to move forward with our learning materials and supporting technology – we are all learning in an open and transparent way. Dave Donaldson, Jim Kyte and Wendy Threader from Algonquin College. Leighann Neilson from Carleton University. David Johnson and Michael Vourakes from Centennial College. Lyle Wetsch from Memorial University. Francis Gunn and David Martin from the Ted Rogers School of Business. All of these people stared down the traditional barriers to changing how students can learn and explore new forms of collaboration and communication using social media. Kudos to you all!

I went back to the Kaplan web site looking for a means to offer feedback on the video. I was fully expecting to read comments and learn other perspectives about learning 2.0. A basic search for the term blog rendered no results. I found all kinds of great looking material and the means to chat online with a recruiter…but no means to share, learn or discuss.

Since there is no venue for such a dialogue, let’s continue it here.

What do you think is missing in education?

How should it change?

What are the barriers to transforming how we learn?