Future-Proof your Education

Future-Proof Your Education on Prezi

One of the key themes of our TEDxUBC event was around the challenge of teaching for a Fast Forward World.  This presentation by Maria Anderson gets it right!  Great video content - love the IOS video by Xerox.

Reflections from TEDxUBC, FastForwardEd

Can we afford to wait for the next generation of educators to “be the change”? Tomorrow’s teachers are in our classrooms today! @terryainge #TEDxUBC

Much more to come from the event, er, movement. One of the most amazing experiences of my life as the TEDx licensee.  What an incredible mash-up of teenagers, university students and adults passionate about helping youth succeed.

TEDxUBC trended at #2 in Vancouver on Twitter (ahead of the Canucks!) during the event yesterday and was one of the Top 10 Vancouver trends of the week according to Trendsmap.com. Over 100 people watching the livestream, others mind-mapping online, prizes for best tweet, entertainment and mostly The Power of Youth.  Here's a screen capture from our Wall of Tweets.

Thank you next generation for letting this generation serve you.

The Directors of TEDxUBC: Faye Chen, Randy Sangha, David McMichael, Judy Eng and myself are amazed and humbled by the talent and enthusiasm of our student volunteers and contestants. Our generation is truly in good hands when your turn comes.

Oh right, it's already your turn.

Here's how you can get involved in rethinking, remixing, hacking and creating a 21st century solution for our education system.  Get involved, starting with the links below:

• Build on the speaker’s, attendees and viewer’s ideas with TED Talk mind-mapping courtesy of Mindmeister.
• Join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tedxubc
• Join the Wall of Tweets by posting with the hashtag #tedxubc on Twitter.
• View the TEDxUBC photo stream on Flickr.

TEDxUBC speakers and directors: Bill Jensen, Matt Giammarino, Chris Kennedy, Carla Rieger, Sunddip Panesar Nahal, Dan Pontefract, Paul Cubbon, Yellow Banana,  Josh Klein, Bret Conkin, Alex Jurgensen, Jeff Piontek, Faye Chen, David McMichael (missing: Basil Peters, Barry MacDonald, Elysa Hogg,  Judy Eng, Randy Sangha) 

Join the conversation. The first step to a learning revolution.  

The action step is then up to you!  

Take a cue from best tweet prize winner Terry Ainge an innovative teacher in Delta.  Fittingly, we presented Terry with a copy of TEDTalk speakers  Josh Klein and Bill Jensen's Hacking Work.

@terryainge Can we afford to wait for the next generation of educators to “be the change”? Tomorrow’s teachers are in our classrooms today!

Social Media 101 Small Business Panel -Squamish Oct. 27th

Is Social Media a Fad? - Social Networking Workshop Part II

In part II of my Social Networking Workshop, I cover the key question that small and medium businesses have on social networking (see my previous post).  They include: Is social media a fad?  Will it take too much time?  Does it matter?  These slides address some of those questions and I speak to those points and walk the attendees through exercises to apply the fit check for their business.Snsb section july 30 section ii

Please note that, unfortunately the SlideShare widget, strips out some of the embedded media and links.  There are two key videos that I share that you should spend the time to watch to better understand this matter.  The first is  Is Social Media a Fad?

The second video is by Seth Godin answering the question about Is Social Media right for Small Business. Seth really explains the difference between "friends" and "real relationships" and how the latter is what can drive your business.

Parts III - V will be posted in coming days.  If you would like to book Bret to present a workshop on social media and networking or provide consulting to your business, contact him here.

So, what do you think about Social Media? What's been your experience?  Please add a comment.

View more presentations from Bret Conkin.

Where do I start with Social Networking?

This is the common question seasoned and new entrepreneurs are asking as they consider jumping on the Social media Bandwagon.  Barraged with news reports and friends talking about Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, small businesses feel like they should be active in social media.

The big barrier is their concern about the time investment to both learn about and execute social media and, most importantly, what to do.  As I consult to and present workshops on the subject here is some of the advice I share with them.  Hope this may be helpful to you too.

The number one mistake made is to jump right into the tactics.  To decide that all of a sudden you are going to blog, tweet or make someone the mayor on Foursquare.  This is folly unless you frame your action by considering your marketing strategy first!

• Who is your primary audience?
• Are they likely to be found on social media?
• What content can you share that would create connection and engage them?
• Who are the key influencers in the social media channels for your niche?
• Do you understand the fundamentals of social media so you can be efficient?   Like tools that publish your content across multiple channels,  or the right frequency to optimize SEO?
• What are the advantages of social networking and social media vs. traditional interruption marketing?     

These are some of the key questions that must be asked to make your time investment worthwhile.  Remember, even if you decide not to jump on the bandwagon, that doesn't mean that your prospects and customers are not talking about you or the problems you can solve!  

Look for my presentation slides from the workshops I have been doing in Squamish for Howe Sound entrepreneurs in a future post.  In the meantime, start to listen and learn by checking out your competitor's social media activity (start with a search on Twitter or Facebook) and by following some key voices that matter in your area of business online.  There are a wealth of resources that just might make your business more successful and sociable!   

Comedy puts technology in perspective - LouisCk on Conan

Went to a series of great events this week that all featured humour to make their point. Great stuff including this video of comedian LouisCK on Conan O'Bryan on the frenetic pace of technological change. If you were born before 1970 this should really hit home.

Really enjoyed the keynote by West Van Deputy Superintendent Chris Kennedy. Some great apps including Visible Tweets. He also shared this video and I have to agree that everything's amazing and nobody's happy. Hopefully, this will make you happier...

High def is changing the Event Industry too

Much has been written on the growth of digital high definition coverage on television, blue ray and other innovations that make watching movies, sports and other content crisper, more vivid and a more enjoyable experience overall.

Video sharing sites like YouTube are upgrading to high def and the promise of higher resolution Web TV is an exciting one. Why can't we access content of interest, including events, anytime anywhere?

Through our riiPlay.tv service, we are very pleased to help push HD, and other innovations like pay per view into the arena of conferences, workshops and business events. There are still some challenges related to need for viewer high connectivity, resolution settings and so on but the message is clear - High def is the way of the future for Events.

Check out this recent event HD magic we did for a workshop featuring Angel Investment Fund manager, Basil Peters that was featured on the top technology blog Techvibes. Not only is Basil presented in life-like high def but the presentation material are conveniently displayed in the interface.

Almost as good as being there. Let us know what you think. Would convenient access to your events online be of interest to your members, audience or customers? Stay tuned as we share best practices on online event delivery in future posts.

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We are fans of Common Craft's video series "In Plain English." Here is Social Media in Plain English - worth a look.


If you are new to Social Media and Social Networking, then you may still be subscribing to newsletters on topics of interest to you via email. Check out our blogroll in the left bar for other recommended blogs with great advice for small business like sales training expert and speaker Shane Gibson and personal development and leadership expert Robin Sharma.

If you are interested in convenient access to our Events without end blog posts please subscribe via the links also on the left bar. Look for more posts on social media for small business soon.