Campaign For Real Beauty

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is the first marketing campaign that I was aware of to use YouTube and viral marketing to get their message out. When their Evolution video landed in my inbox, I was compelled to send it to all the girls on my contact list.

 Evolution was followed up by a video called True Colors featuring young girls who all feel self conscious about their bodies. This video highlighted the awful truth that the portrayal of beauty in popular culture has a further reach then some might like to admit.

 Dove's use of YouTube to get their message out, was ingenious as it allowed two way feedback between company and consumer, as well as created a viral element to the message. Not to mention, the customers did the majority of the legwork, making the advertising appear to be subtle and uncalculated, a public relations dream.

*This post was written for MDIA 1045. Sorry for any confusion, or annoyance this may cause! 

What do Social Media and Teen Sex have in Common?

"Social Media is like teen sex. Everybody wants to do it, but nobody knows how." 

- Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist, Google

As mentioned in my previous blog,  I'm currently taking a class on Social Media Marketing at BCIT. I've already completed the Marketing Management- Public Relations Diploma, but felt that it was mainly paper based, and that I would do well to upgrade my education with a few multimedia courses. Looking at the current job market in Vancouver, solidified this decision. Most of the available jobs are currently for Online Marketing Specialists, fluent in all social media networks, with HTML, SEO and Adobe Indesign knowledge. 

The class started off by having us sign up for a variety of social media tools, some were a bit overwhelming at first, but most of them were quite straightforward. As with most things in life, social media follows the rule that you only really get what you put it. Up until now, I have had a Twitter account but never really used it, however, within the last few weeks, I've increased my Twitter usage and found the more I tweet, the more people tweet back at me or re-tweet something about my blog! The Law of Attraction at its best. 

Another tool I've found extremely useful (as well as ultra nerdy) is Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows me to see all my social media accounts on one deck, as well as update them all at once, and track how many people click the links I tweet. Not to mention Hootsuite does all my job searching for me. I add streams on Twitter such as "Marketing Jobs Vancouver" and I can see all the tweets about this subject! Before this class, I never knew services like this even existed, now Im hooked. Google Analytics is also amazing, and while I've been using it for a couple years already, I still feel like their is a ton to learn.

Through this class I've also been introduced to several interesting websites such as Digg and Technorati. Digg highlights the days most interesting news stories, while Technorati lists all the most popular blog posts. I particularly like Technorati Women. 

Some other tools we've been introduced to that I find less valuable are Flickr, LinkedIn (but just because I'm just starting to collect contacts) and Mail Chimp, as I'm not currently working for a business that needs email marketing, and am already quite familiar with how to use it.  

Apologies in advance for two school based posts in a row, Im trying to make this blog as popular as possible, so I'm currently using it as a guinea pig for all my school projects. Stay tuned for my next post on the harrowing tale of my move back to Vancouver...

Nerd-ing Curve

I feel a bit like this girl right now. A blonde girl with her head cut off. Im currently in the process of finishing up work in Whistler, packing up my life, packing up my boyfriends life ;), organizing a move in Vancouver, and also going to school at BCIT.

However, the good news is, that after this week, I'll have a shwanky new pad in Van City, and be almost half way through my Intro to Social Media Marketing class. Which believe me, will benefit anyone who reads this blog! I'm on a steep learning curve, finding out all about Twitter, TweetDeck, Hootsuite, Mashable, Bit.ly, and many many more super nerdy, yet ultimately fascinating technologies. Grow or Die as they say.

Can't wait to make this blog bigger and better then ever. Please feel free to use some of the new tools I've added: Retweet my posts on Twitter, Like a post on FB, Like the Small Town Girl Page on FB. This can all be done at the bottom of each blog post or via Facebook and Twitter.

I also just want to give a quick shout out to all the people who already read my blog and share it with others! Thanks especially to Amy Huddle, for sharing my work with Feet Banks and thus helping me to get an article published. This blog has gone from five hits a day to into the hundreds, with most of the growth happening these last couple months! Sharing is Caring.

XX

Laugh

Cleaning, Cooking, and Gardening

My beautiful friend Kelly. Check out her Blog.

I'm currently doing a 30 day yoga challenge. One of my own design however. My schedule with the impending move, and long distance boyfriend is a bit too hectic to commit to one studio. I currently do the majority of my classes at Loka in Whistler. If you haven't checked out this studio I suggest you do. It's in a super convenient location, right across from Brandy's and Earls, and the classes they offer are full of variety, and at times of the day, that make going to yoga effortless.

Loka classes are mainly Jivamukti in style, which for some reason really resonates with me. I feel like I spent years battling myself in hot or power classes. I remember several conversations with my best friends and expert yogis K & B wondering why it was such a challenge for me to make myself go to yoga, when I really believed in it and loved the benefits. I've finally come to the conclusion, that what makes me not only want to go to yoga, but crave it, is a combination of several factors:

1. Location, It needs to be close to where I work - If I go home and sit on the couch before an intended yoga class, I can guarantee you I ain't going.
2. A variety of class lengths - Sometimes I just can't handle 90 minutes of breathing and being in myself. Horrible, but true none the less.
3. A teacher that resonates with you. For anyone that has met Tina, it becomes fascinatingly obvious as to why she has such a loyal following of students. I literally want to talk to her forever or just be in her presence for as long as I can every time I go to yoga.

For me Loka has all of the above. However, YYoga hits the spot quite often too. Im currently obsessed with an Anusara Inspired class at North Shore Elements, taught by a good friend of my boyfriends. Her name is Alex Mazerolle and she teaches what I consider to be the perfect yoga class. Challenging, relaxing, inspiring, and insightful. I'm thinking of taking up Pilates as well, as she teaches the classes back to back. YYoga in Whistler (Neoalpine) is also fabulous. However, my favorite teacher Kristen, has just recently had a baby girl, so she has taken some time off.

Anyways, I digress. I intended to share with you a concept brought up to us in Jivamukti the other night. This concept is the focus for the month, and as simple-minded as it sounds, is actually quite inspiring. The focus is cleaning, cooking, and gardening. But in the most holistic sense.  Here is my take on the words.

Cleaning: You can't clear clutter from your mind, if you have clutter in your life. Every unnecessary mess, or object takes up space. In each yoga class your goal is to create space. So consider this yoga of the house. (I just did closet yoga, for my boyfriend and myself. I was ruthless, and it felt great. We gave away 6 garbage bags full of clothing.) I've also been practicing this idea, through my Happiness Project.

Cooking: Bring awareness to what you put into your body. This hits home for me, as I spent the first half of my life fueling my body to be a professional athlete, and the next portion starving myself in hopes those muscles would disappear. Where I'm at now varies from day to day, but I usually feel comfortable and confident in the food choices that I make. This concept has challenged me however, to take this knowledge of food to the next level. I'm going to learn to cook. Bye, bye takeout sushi, hello home made tabouleh. Poor boyfriend.

Gardening: This is the concept I struggle with the most. While the urban garden is an admirable goal, I just can't find any passion in it. Maybe because I've never even owned a real plant before. So step 1 in my our new place will be a small, yet effective window-sill herb garden. Wish me luck.
Side Note: This word could also be taken in a less literal sense of the word. Ala gardening of the mind. Weeding out the negative thoughts and replacing them with the positive. Planting the seeds of your dreams. Watching them grow.

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Temple Grandin

I just watched the movie Temple Grandin and felt compelled to share it with you. The movie stars Claire Danes, and follows the life of renowned animal welfare and autism activist Temple Grandin. Temple was born autistic and didn't speak until the age of four, however through the perseverance of her mother and several forward thinking teachers, she not only graduated from high school but went on to complete a Masters in Science, and a PhD. in Animal Science.

Early on in life, working on her aunts ranch, Temple took an interest to cattle. She felt that being a visual thinker (she sees things in pictures and connects them) and being able to relate to feeling anxious about her surroundings, fearful and stressed, gave her an unparalleled view into the minds of these animals. Which in turn motivated her to create humane livestock handling and slaughtering processes.

What's most interesting about this movie is that Temple never states that it is wrong or inhumane to slaughter cattle. In fact, she believes that nature is much worse to animals then we are, or should I say, then we have to be. Temple believes that if followed, her plans lead cattle, calmly to slaughter where they feel no stress, no anxiety, and no pain. This in turn saves us money, and prevents extra hormones like cortisol from entering the meat we eat.

For me, this movie was exhilarating in its proof that being a meat eater and an animal lover can be synonymous. "Animals are not Things," and even though we use them to fulfill  human purpose, we can treat them with the respect they deserve.  Furthermore, Temple acts as a constant reminder to us all, that "To be different, is not to be less."

Today, Temple is a professor at Colorado State University.



Click HERE to read a previous post of mine "The Omnivores Dilemma"
Click HERE for a Mega Video link to the movie Temple Grandin

Shallow Steez

Here's my super shallow style commentary on tonight's Golden Globes looks. Look, Love, Judge.

Angelina in color, without a thigh high slit? Unheard of! 

Natalie Portman. Pregnant, and still thinner than most. Bitch. P.s I hate baby pink silk on her, but I do feel bad for saying "hate" and "baby" in the same sentence.

Blah. Is that brocade? My mom wore that to prom in the 60's. American Idol made you a celebrity, perhaps What Not to Wear can show you how to dress like a one.

Has she ever looked better? Im obsessed with this outfit.

Nicole Richie called, she wants her outfit back. Oh, and it's time to break the piggy bank for a bang trim.

Is it just me or does Emma Stone look like she belongs on "The Girls Next Door?" She's so much fancier as a redhead.

Cute & original. Lose the DUCKFACE.

Angelina would never wear pink Megan. Everyone knows this. Oh...and Eat Something!

This look should now be called the Princess Kate. Monochromatic, sheath dresses, perfectly designed for those with enviously slender bodies and not even a whisper of hips.

BBQ Grilled Cheese

I'm not sure why I didn't post this sooner, but here is an article that I wrote for Mountain Life this past summer. I actually had to figure out how to BBQ grilled cheese, and look pretty in front of a professional photographer (Paige Harley) while doing it. I got the job through this blog, and am very happy with how the article, and the grilled cheese turned out.

Open publication - Free publishing - More hiking

Secrets Of Adulthood

This is a concept I borrowed from my new found bible (The Happiness Project) but I found it such a fun exercise that I thought I'd share it with you. Everyone's secrets are probably different, but it was good to see that mine actually matched up with Gretchen's quite a bit. Although, hers were worded much more eloquently. It was helpful to hear what an older accomplished adult wished she had known all along. I'd love to hear your secrets! 

(Me as baby)

1. People don't notice your mistakes as much as you do

2. It's better to be good at a one thing, then mediocre at 5 things

3. Cross that bridge when you come to it

4. Bring a sweater

5. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good

6. People aren't absolute versions of their actions. Someone who said something rude once, may not be a rude person.

7. You don't have to be friends with everyone, but you do need to be nice to everyone

8. Never talk when your mad. Wait at least an hour until you calm down

9. Let it go

10. What's fun for others, may not be fun for you

 (Me all grown up - The difference is uncanny right?)

Footnote: As mentioned above some, not all, of these Secrets came from the book The Happiness Project, you can read Gretchen's complete list here: http://www.happiness-project.com/

Side note: Oh look! A footnote! Also known as crediting people correctly when you borrow their work. What a unique concept. 

It's Britney. Bitch. Or is it?

What do you think of Britney's new single Hold It Against Me? It's a little too electro-dance for me. If she wanted to work that angle, she should have made it grimier, more dub-step esq. Or just stayed true to her dirty blonde roots, and given us another synthesized pop ballad. In my opinion, she does better when she is naked, sweaty, and grimy in her videos, then when she tries to make her voice sound that way. Can't wait for the video!

Living Social

Am I the last to know about this? livingsocial.com is my new favorite thing! They send me daily deals in Vancouver, ranging from food, trips, spa deals, and fitness. So far I have bought a two night trip to Tofino for $115 and a $20 personal training one month pass, valued at $159! Not to mention, if you send the deal of the day to all your friends, and three of them purchase it, your deal is free! Im hooked.

The Best Kind of Babies (Are Other Peoples)

The best way to spread cheer is singing loud for all to hear. Or by posting ridiculously cute baby videos on your blog :)
Don't worry, while that sentence was sappy, these videos are not. Laughing at people is always fun isn't it? Especially when said people, are innocent little children whose parents put them on youtube. This is taking embarrassing your children to a whole new level. Enjoy!

1. Baby loves Florence and the Machine

2. Kick His ASK

3. Baby Eating Chilli to Dubstep

4. I LOVE MY LIFE!!

5. The Newest Members of The Magnetic Zeroes

The Happiness Project

Im a total nerd. First a post about my Grandma, and now yet ANOTHER post about a book. What can I say, I have no recent slutty Garfs pics of me and my friends pouring booze on each other. Maybe next week. ;)

I just finished a new book that I am obsessed with. Part, Eat Pray Love, part The Saint, The Surfer, and The CEO, The Happiness Project, is a memoir of Gretchen Rubins quest to make herself happier. Or, as she puts it "Sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle, and generally have more fun.

What's particularly interesting, is that Gretchen has a great life. She's not depressed, divorced, unhealthy, or recovering from a tragedy. She is a successful author, happily married, and lives in New York with her two young daughters. She even admits that she actually isn't unhappy at all. However, she takes on this project to create gratitude for her everyday life, and to show that simple steps like "Going to bed early" can increase ones happiness exponentially. 

Gretchen begins her project by identifying how one achieves happiness and by laying out her 12 Commandments, which she then turns into actions through her Resolutions chart. Each month represents a new resolution, combined with the actions necessary to make the resolution happen. For example, January's is "Boost Energy" which she decided to do through: clearing her closets, tackling nagging tasks, keeping a food diary, identifying the problem, and observing the one minute rule - which by the way states that "If it can be done in one minute or less, do it now. i.e hanging up your coat. Pure Genius.

Im not going to go into too much more detail about how she goes about achieving more happiness, but I will say, that this book is an inspiring and insightful read. It's motivated me to start fresh this year, and shed some of the habits I have created that truly don't add to my well being. My Happiness Project starts today. Bye bye oversleeping, not making my bed, throwing my clothes on the floor, and procrastinating until I am in a panic. I'll keep you updated from time to time on how I am doing with my resolutions, and I really do hope that some of you read this book and take from it as much as I did. Keep in mind that everyone's Happiness Project is different, you may not need to go to bed earlier. However, I sure do. 

For more information on The Happiness Project visit: http://www.happiness-project.com/

Little Gran

My Grandma past away a month ago, and I wrote this poem to read at her funeral. I thought posting it here would be a nice way to remember her and jolt myself back into the blog world ( One of my NYE Resolutions.)

Dads Oatmeal cookies and a sweet cup of tea

A warm lap to sit in, a free cuddle for me

A playmate, a teammate, a partner in crime

Someone who always had enough time

To sit and play dolls, or dress up and dance,

To tell magical stories about castles in France

She also loved singing and humming a tune,

If you asked she would always play the piano with you.

Give her a sweater and some cozy warm socks,

And Grandma would love to sit out on the dock

And listen to the loon or watch the bats dive,

And hope that the beaver would make his way by.

A friend to the underdog or the odd one out,

Being kind to others is what Grandma was all about.

She really was everything a Grandma should be,

Loving and caring and sweet as can be.

 I think she looks so classic in this photo, if only some of those clothes still existed.

Love you always little Gran xx