blogging community

A Little Winter Reading and Some Blog Love

~ Teresa ~ 7 Comments

Branches against the sky.

We’ve got snow on the ground in Vancouver and it doesn’t seem to be melting. There’s not very much of it by the standards of the rest of Canada and the northern U.S., but it almost qualifies as an emergency here. My partner and I have been using it as an excuse to hibernate a little. I am hoping to make it out to some of the hot chocolate festival and I’m trying to think of the snow as added incentive. In the meantime, I’m catching up on my reading, with The Emperor of All Maladies, Ragnarok, and a re-read of Paris 1919 on the stand right now.

I’m also trying to catch up on my rather neglected list of blog reading. I’ve been missing my fellow Doristas, especially. I now have some extra incentive in that regard, too. Cher of The not so exciting adventures of a dabbler… very kindly passed on the Liebster blog award to me. Her blog is one of my favourites, so it was an extra-nice surprise. Getting ready to pass it along has meant browsing the latest posts from some of my other favourites, another pleasure.

Here’s how it works:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them.
2. List your top five picks (who have less than 200 followers) and link to them, telling a bit about each one.
3. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know you’ve nominated them.

I’ve picked five blogs that I always look forward to reading, but there are plenty of others, some of which you can find here.

When I need inspiration, I just have to look at Patty’s Food. Her photography, styling, and recipes are always beautiful. Her twists on our French Fridays assignments are always inspiring, too.

Elaine at California Living writes about her inspirations in food, art, and gardens. There’s always something to learn from her blog and her love of family, community, and beauty shine through in her posts.

I love making time to cook and bake with my mother, so I admire Tricia and Nana‘s approach to French Fridays. I also love the stories they share about their family traditions and adventures.

I’ve recommended Leslie Robinson’s blog, ¡Me Gusta!, before, but she’s also writing about history and genealogy at 104 Bridge Street. The family stories she’s shared so far are fascinating and tragic.

Tricia McDonald Ward’s photography site isn’t strictly a blog, but it has one. Her photos are gorgeous and often provide a window into the same East Van neighbourhood I like to write about.

The First Year

~ Teresa ~ 9 Comments

It’s been a year since I started this blog. My intention was to write mostly about community, in all its forms (well, the ones that occurred to me, anyway). Around the time I was setting up the blog, I learned that French Fridays With Dorie was beginning that October and I joined. I have a mild food blog obsession and had run across some Tuesdays With Dorie posts. I liked the idea of cooking through a whole cookbook and the comments sections of TWD posts were very lively. French Fridays sounded like it would be fun and challenging, so I couldn’t resist.

I worried that having two separate post streams might be annoying or confusing for people who were interested in one subject or the other. What I found, though, is that my French Fridays posts have become community-building in action. Participants read each other’s French Fridays posts, but often read and comment on the rest of one another’s blogs, too. We’ve even gotten to know each other a little. Somehow, what I thought would be an entirely different stream has come to be an exemplar of what I’ve been trying to explore here.

I knew this anniversary was coming up and I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about. Then, Elaine of California Living tagged me in the Seven Links Game. It sounded like a perfect structure for a little retrospective.

So, here goes:

Social Media from the Roots – Northern Voice 2011

~ Teresa ~ 4 Comments

I’m good at figuring things out and learning things on my own, but I like taking classes and learning in a group environment. It not only exposes you to the knowledge of instructors and other students, but I also find my own thoughts and ideas quickening when I’m sharing them with others. So, when I started this blog, I knew at some point I’d want to do some learning away from my computer screen.

This weekend, I did just that. Northern Voice is a social media conference based in Vancouver and is in its seventh year. The conference is organized by volunteers and has a grassroots ethos to it. You won’t find corporate swag bags, but you will find media professionals, artists, amateurs and enthusiasts gathering to learn from each other. The participants are drawn mostly from around BC, as well as the Pacific Northwest in the US.

I knew that I was going to like this conference as soon as Day One’s keynote speaker began her presentation. April Smith of AHA Media spoke about using social media to democratize media and to provide coverage of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside as a member of the community. Beginning a conference with such a dynamic, grassroots perspective is so different from what professional/corporate events provide. It’s a much needed perspective.

Day Two’s keynote speaker was Chris Wilson of Google. His presentation was well-tailored to the audience, too, bringing a technological perspective to the idea that the social media and blogging worlds cater to the long tail of interests – there’s room for a lot of diversity in these spheres.

Highlights from Day One:

The Courting Controversy session:
Don’t be controversial for its own sake, because you’ll be called on to back up your claims.

Photocamp:
– Leah Gregg’s photos
– Roland Tanglao’s exhortation to shoot daily
– Jeremy Lim’s advice to shoot less so you can notice more

Communities that Rock:
There was more information in this session than a newish blogger like me could even get down on paper, but what stuck with me most was that you need to work at making your blog visually appealing, giving your readers opportunities to interact beyond comments and keeping your blog posts fresh by varying form and content.

Highlights from Day Two:

Grassroots Campaigns
It was fascinating to hear the evolution of the presenters’ various social media and offline campaigns.
– Keeping your message simple, then translating the interest and support into offline actions is key
– Complexity can come later
– Simplicity doesn’t have to cancel out diversity

Looking Through the Lens
Alan Levine led us through a presentation of gorgeous photos and discussed the impact of aperture, shutter speed and ISO on photo quality. He also encouraged us to shoot daily, through communities like The Daily Shoot, which provide feedback as well as incentive.

DS106
The DS106 Radio crew took a university course and turned it into a Wild West of internet radio experimentation. Great storytelling.

Awesome-izing Your Podcast
v, an experienced broadcaster, gave us a wealth of information on best podcasting practices. What it boiled down to, though, was creating a sense of intimacy in your recordings.

I encourage you to click through to the Northern Voice conference schedule link at the top of the post – there were many more sessions and the schedule has lots of links to the fantastic presenters’ sites.

And lest you think it was all session and no play, I’ll leave you with a photo from the wine tasting room.

Update – Awards

~ Teresa ~ 4 Comments


                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
Ker-Yng at Life is Full stopped by yesterday and awarded me both the One Lovely Blog and the Stylish Blogger awards. Thanks so much! I recently wrote about awards here and I encourage you to check out all the bloggers I listed. I love the community we’re building through French Fridays with Dorie.

Thanks again Ker-Yng. And many thanks to Elaine and Betsy, for also nominating me for the Stylish Blogger award, and to Kathy for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award. I enjoy reading your blogs very much and I’m happy that you feel the same way about mine.

Stylish Blogger Award

~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

Elaine at California Living was sweet enough to send me a Stylish Blogger Award. Betsy at A Plateful of Happiness was kind enough to give me one, too.

Sometimes the hardest thing about blogging isn’t finding subjects for posts or getting a really good photograph. The hardest part can be connecting with others to turn your monologue into a conversation. Kim at The Yummy Mummy Cooks Gourmet wrote a great piece called Thoughts on How to Stop Writing a Billboard in the Desert, which really puts a lot of this in perspective. She suggests you build your own tribe, rather than relying on people to discover you.

The Stylish Blogger Award is one way of doing this. Curate a list of bloggers you enjoy, let them know that you appreciate what they’re doing and then have them come up with a list of their own. Make sure you explore these lists and you’re bound to find people that you connect with. Leave comments for some of these new discoveries, start some conversations and pretty soon the blogosphere might seem a little less lonely.

Here’s how it works:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award:

Thanks so much to Elaine at California Living for choosing my blog as one of her fifteen. I’ve enjoyed her blog so much and it’s wonderful to know that she’s enjoyed mine, too.

Thanks to Betsy at A Plateful of Happiness for choosing my blog as part of her list, too. She writes with us on French Fridays and I enjoy her posts about cooking, life and reading.

2. Share 7 things about yourself:

1. I do drink beverages other than tea. Really.
2. Some say chocolate and some say lemon. I say both.
3. Though my dog does have a jacket, I am not one of “those” people.
4. I knit and crochet, but not as often as I’d like.
5. I still have cassette tapes and the means with which to play them.
6. The only sport I’ve ever been good at is curling.
7. I think Michael Quinion of World Wide Words is always right.

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers:

Play With String Crochet, knitting and cleverness
¡Me Gusta! Clever insights on architecture, music, urban issues and more
The not so exciting adventures of a dabbler… The highs and lows of kitchen adventures, with a dollop of humour
Vegan Thyme Amazing feats of recipe adaptation
Maroc Mama Food, travel and family
Miss Kris Kitchen Beautifully presented food with lovely stories
Everything But the Cake Food and knitting, PDX-style
Tammy Circeo Food and photography
Prof Who Cooks One of our newest FFwD members
The Kitchenarian Beautifully designed, full of food
The Barefoot Kitchen Witch Cooking, Gardening, Crafting and those Cakes!
The CSA Files Cooking with the bounty from an agricultural share
Lemon Tart A Vancouver Foodie
rainy day kitchen Beautiful, clean design and photography from another FFwD participant
napangel Fantastic photography

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

Happy to and I hope that you take the time to visit Elaine and the others I’ve listed. I think you’ll enjoy their blogs, too.

Update – February 8, 2011:

Kathy of Bakeaway With Me gave me this award today. Thanks so much, Kathy! I always enjoy reading your blog. I encourage everyone to go and take a look!

Please check out everyone on my blogroll and do browse through all the participants’ blogs for French Fridays with Dorie. It’s by sharing our favourites that we can build community.