So its been exactly a year to the date of my post 2009 Strategy. To me I think its important that I revisit it as its been quite a year since I wrote that (1 year blogaversary yay! ) and it should be something I keep in mind moving forward when I set my goals and plans for 2010 … or ‘010 as I like to call it.
So here we go…..
1. Becoming More Passionate: So I think I wrote this with a bit of an expectation that I would suddenly be hit on the head and determine that I would be completely passionate and happy go lucky about a certain job or aspect of my life. Well, it didn’t happen.If you do a quick search on the net you can find a lot of articles and postings on “Finding your Passion” but from what I’m realizing is that it isn’t a fast and immediate process. I made some progress but I would say that I’m still not close enough to choosing a passion and committing myself 100% to it.
Developing passion takes a bit of work- At Social Media Mastermind
That isn’t to say that I failed at my goal, I think as time went by I re purposed it and made it more realistic. Over the year I feel I discovered I really enjoy learning and exploring topics and that I couldn’t be passionate about something that stayed constantly the same. I also think that as a whole it has to be people related but in a more analytical sense. Reflecting back on school my favorite topics often related to how people interacted (be it Consumer Behavior, Psychology, Communications or Market Research ). Right now in my current work I’m exploring net communications and social media which may or may not be the same in the next few years. Overall I think I’ve laid out a bit more of a path for myself but there is still more work to do going forward.
2. Spending time on the right people: I think this has been the area of biggest improvement for myself , but an area that I still need to consistently work on. I made in my opinion 2 huge achievements: Setting my own boundaries and Getting out and meeting with/interacting with new people.
On Setting Boundaries: Looking backwards on 2008, a big downfall for me was not setting my own boundaries. So this meant going along with the group and not looking out for my goals and priorities. In 2009 while this was definitely a bumpy ride ( as some of my friends can attest to) I learned to protect my own interests and refocused on friendships that were really important to me. Overall it was a pretty significant personal endeavor.
Interacting with New People: I think this is what I’m most proud and surprised by. Over the past year I’ve met a ton of new people and really pushed myself to be more outgoing. I’ve met a lot of great people ( many of them are on this list here) and really got to learn* and explore a side of business that I sort of knew about for a while but didn’t completely understand till this year. I’ve met a few great people who’ve really pushed me to be better in getting out there and improving myself. You know who you are, I really appreciate it.
One of the rainier Patio Fridays with Katie Boland and Philip Moreria (C/O Lee Dale)
The Challenge: In the latter half of 2009 I lost momentum in this area ( job search/moving up north were to blame) I definitely don’t want to see the relationships I started with people wither .There are many people I respect and admire and having lost contact with many people in the past I don’t wish for that to happen again. So moving forward with w/e path I end up taking , being more deliberate with meeting people and perhaps just booking more 1 on 1 time is going to be important.
3. Taking Care of my Health: We can’t always get things 100% right? Alright so this was a fail on my part. While in some regards I was active in that if I was able to I would walk rather than take transit or drive overall the idea of moving towards less of a 1 pack didn’t exactly pan out. Well no excuses in ‘010, at minimum mornings will be work out time and when I’m able to I’m also looking to snag a gym membership to be even more serious. To put it out there my goal is to bring myself up to 160 in lean mass (I’m right now at around 150). As a secondary benefit I think it would help me gain a much better mental focus.
All in all I think for what the year was, I ended it pretty strong. The external environment could have been better but then who’s to say everything I’ve experienced would have occurred if it had been different. I plan on making a 2010 strategy coming up (its in the works). It will probably be posted closer to New Years.
*I’ve discussed some great events on this blog but for anyone looking for future reference 2 great places to learn if you’re a business person learning about the web and entrepreneurship are at SproutUps and Refresh Events( a calendar of events can be found here also) .
So umm, first post on this new blog . Out of finally bending to the pressure of guys like Malcolm Bastien and Dan Hocking I’ve started up this blog. I’m going to be looking to bring everything from my old blog onto this site ( just for continuity) and then deliver some great and probably better content. Things are going to be gradually changing with this blog so don’t expect anything to stay exactly the same. I’m probably going to make a more definite choice on the theme and grab a few widgets to make things even better.
Overall stay tuned! This blog has a lot of life ahead of it!
-Kevin
@kevrichard
So I’ve been reading Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott ( amazing book!) and have just finished the chapter on “The Net Generation as Consumers” where in one section he spoke about companies becoming essentially friends with their target consumers. Reflecting back to companies I’ve dealt with the news aggregator site Reddit comes to mind. I’m a big fan of this site and have often either forwarded links from this site or shared it with my friends and I do this not only because I enjoy the content on the site but because the site creators have essentially become my friend and have befriended the rest of the website members. Here are some of the simple yet significant ways that they manage to do this:
Interacting with members outside of the site: The creators of this site not only interact with members through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter ( ex: @ kn0thing) they have offline meetups! I’ve met with them personally last year during their Drankkit World Tour where they went to major centers and sat down and had drinks with members ( a few pics of me at that event included) but they even do it randomly including having dinner with a Reddit member who just asked if anyone were interested in going out for dinner.
They personalize: The Reddit alien is a big part of the personality of the website, almost every day a new drawing of it is posted up depending on current events or project of the site. From time to time as a result of already mentioned meet ups or requests of members the Reddit Alien is redrawn or the Reddit logo even contains relevant pictures. As well the website is in a constant state of change( much like Gmail its in constant Beta) if there are enough user requests certain aspects of the site are changed.
Not only are they creators, but they are also users: They don’t passively watch the site or attempt to moderate it , they are fully involved members. They aren’t afraid to get in there and post a comment or link and create discussions with other users. They also start side projects that encourage further member collaboration. Sometimes it can be silly such as Mr.Splashypants but even in more serious matters such as Reddits Feed A Need campaign where users are encouraged to lend their skills and time in helping out a not for profit organization.
Overall I have a major heart on for this site and its creators. As a consumer I have a choice between Digg and Reddit as they are essentially the same site and many times have the same links but as Reddit has worked harder to befriend me my loyalty is pretty cemented in place . I’ve included a few pictures from Drankkit Toronto 07 , some with me included. Enjoy!
The 2 Reddit Creators , Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian with Jenna Landry from Wired Magazine
My attempt at a "C" for Canada.... it ended up pretty lame!
Have any Questions/Comments? Contact me at kevin.richard@ryerson.ca or send me a twitter message.
Ok, so I saw this and thought it would be something hilarious to do :
Andy Nulman, I WANT YOUR BOOK Pow Right Between the Eyes ! 
(Kevin Richard Unit 3 350 Huron St. , Toronto Ontario M5S 2G3)
I feel really bad for doing this after listening and reading about how there can be a loss of credibility when taking materials from outside corporations/interests on Six Pixels of Separation but I’m also an avid reader and as marketing is my area of interest its kind of hard to pass this up.
So Blog post for a book….not a bad deal. If its any good I’ll write a follow up post, if not it this will never be mentioned again. I guess I’ll rebuild my legitimacy through puting up a good blog post very soon!
So I’m still working out my schedule and regular routine having jumped into 2009 so I’ve been a bit slow on blogging (I’m getting there!) . On Monday I attended for the first time a League of Kick Ass Business People event! While there werent any super hero’s present like in the League of Justice or anything else you would picture in a comic book it was still pretty ‘Kick Ass!’. 
Along with hearing some of the insights from members of this elite ( or L33T) group, the theme of the night was ‘The Kickass Green Event’ talking about green business, and the Canadian environment. All in all really good speakers:
-Leslie Domenico from Green Enterprise Toronto spoke about sustainable and green business within Toronto ( big focus on local sourcing and equitable business)
-Linda Mortsch from Environment Canada gave an intense wake up call about the state of global warming and how its going to affect our planet.
-Andy Thomson blew me away twice, first with his amazing presentation skills ( when you can tear 50+ business people from conversation to pay attention to you, thats what I call having presence!) and after with his presentation on green homes with the interesting idea of a green trailer park which was less trailer trash and more loft living in a forest.
I unfortunately had to dash to another meeting I had, but afterwards there was a presentation from Bikes without Borders which probably rocked as well, they sound like an inovative not for profit organization which I look forward to reading more about, perhaps getting involved sometime in the future(Linkage).
Overall, it was a good night even despite having to cut it short. I’m really exited to become more involved in the LOKBP ( for more about what they are check out here! ) this is definitely a group that while making me feel insignificant because I’m not fully kick ass (yet!) it also makes me want to learn and expand myself and bring myself to that level.
If you perhaps are a kick as business person who just happened to stumble upon my blog twitter @SeanMoffitt as not only is he the ‘big kahuna’ of the group , I’m sure he’d be happy to have you aboard. The next LOKBP event Kick ass Design, will be happening March 4th ( so far away!) and Sean is also begining to get together a group of Under 30 years KBP group as well! Pretty exciting stuff.
Thats it for me, back to my chill friday night! Got any Questions/Comments? Contact me at kevin.richard@ryerson.ca or send me a twitter message.
Created by Philip Norton
