May 1st is Doctors’ Day here in Ontario!

Did you know that today, May 1st, is Doctors’ Day here in Ontario.

The Ontario Medical Association is asking Ontarians to help celebrate this day by sending a personalized thank you card to their doctors. The cards can be created on this website, http://thanksdoc.oma.org/. Once submitted, the OMA will deliver your thank you card directly to your doctor.

When was the last time you thanked your doctor?

As an added incentive, everyone who submits a thank you card is eligible to win an iPhone5 and Fitbit One™ Wireless Activity & Sleep Tracker.

You can even thank you Doctor on Facebook, or send a kind note to the OMA through Twitter for taking care of their members.  I have spent numerous hours on their Facebook page reading articles which as a parent are important to me, such as the OMA asking to have antibiotics removed from livestock feed in Canada and the alarming amount of sodium in restaurant food.

As a special thank you for posting about a wonderful cause, the OMA is offering you, the reader, and opportunity to win a $25 Sport Chek gift card.  All you have to do to have an opportunity to win is post a comment on my blog or Facebook page of the direct link to their thank you on the website (example: http://thanksdoc.oma.org/#367)  just to be sure that you have actually participated in this day of recognition.

On May 15th, I will take down the names of all of you who took the time to comment, put them in a hat and have one of my children draw a winner.  The winner will be notified via email.

I’m off now to send a thank you to our family doctor of 13 years who adapted her style to meet our needs when she realized that we prefer to try natural remedies first before getting to the antibiotics for us and our children.  As a result, she offers us all solutions and we greatly appreciate that!

Thanks Doc!

Related articles

• OMA calls for crackdown on antibiotic use in farming (cp24.com)
• Ontario’s doctors say province needs to address its ‘drinking problem’ (globalnews.ca)

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

I had a dream the other night that I had to send a very important email to a friend and instead I sent it to a client.  I then woke up out of a deep sleep in a cold sweat.  That would be pretty disastrous, wouldn’t it?  Well it happens more than you think it does, especially in cases where people or organizations have multiple social media accounts and the lines between business and personal becomes faint.  Social media can be a great way to build your brand, but if handled incorrectly, can erode these efforts in a hurry.

In light of this panic, I thought it would be a good time to post this article which had been sitting in my draft folder for over a year.  The 13 Most Common Social Media mistakes which can either damage your brand or cause others to look at it and then move on to someone else.

Back in the day, your handshake was your word, and if you shook someone’s hand and then didn’t follow through or did so with the intent on lying or being deceitful, it was your name that was ruined.  Fast forward, and it’s your brand.

13. Having Incomplete Profile(s)

Having profiles which are not completely filled out, or are filled out in a comical way, or through false credentials is meaningful to the person / organization looking for you.  It means that you are either:

• Extremely unqualified that you do not have enough background information to fill a profile up.
• Very lazy because you don’t have one hour to add all the information into your profile.
• A joker who cannot take anything seriously, or
• A scammer who has to make things up in order to cover up for something you must be hiding.

12.  Inconsistency among networks

Imagine this.  You are looking to do business / connect with someone and you think you have found them on Facebook, but when you check on Twitter, they have a name and email address, which is different from Linkedin, and from Pinterest.  So now you Google these names and email addresses and all kinds of stuff comes back to you.  What are you thinking now?  Probably that they’re hiding something, or that they are very disorganized.   All these micro-networks that make up your overall network should be as consistent as possible as a consistent image is key to building a memorable, identifiable brand.

11.  Using Social Media to make money after building a significant network.  

For this mistake, I am thinking about the blogging world where bloggers attract a significant following due to their writings, then they realize they can pitch products to their networks which eventually turns their brand into an advertising site.  Those are a dime a dozen, and readers often wonder if the blogger is endorsing a product that they actually use and support, or because they are getting it for free.  The message becomes lost.  There is a fine line between doing what made you popular, and losing credibility among your readership.

10.  Audience participation.

Have you ever wondered why you have invested so much into your brand, and get so little in return?  Could it be that you are not meeting the needs of your readers / customers?  It is important to make sure that you engage your base whenever they take the time to reach out, for whatever reason they have chosen to reach out.  Talk to them, not about them.  Also, have a look through your Twitter feed and see how many of the last 30 tweets engage others, and how many are just random posts to your entire network.  Successful brand-builders don’t just tweet and re-tweet.  They also respond, engage, ask questions, and answer questions.

9.  Not Interlinking Your Profiles

The simplest mistake to fix.  Take 10 minutes, make sure all your social network profiles link to one another because the more touch points that exist to connect with your network, the better.  Your next best connection might be a die-hard Google + user, but you might only use Facebook and Twitter.   Make sure you have all profiles linked.

8.  Being impersonal 

Connections are gold in this day and age, so don’t take a potential connection for granted and allow the service you use to send out a generic stock message when trying to connect.  Linkedin, for example, provides a stock message that reads “I’d like to add you to my professional network on Linkedin.”   Take some time and put some effort into a greeting which makes that person want to connect with you.  Surely you have 30 seconds to include your name and a personal message.

7.  Stay on-topic as much as possible

A first-time visitor to any of your social media outlets should be able to instantly tell “what you are about”.  Don’t mistake frequent posting with relevant posting or think that everyone you are connected to is reading each and every post.  Every once in a while, logout and review your posts as if you were a visitor to see if you messaging is “on-brand” and if it’s not, get back in there and fix it!

6.  Automated Direct Message

The automated direct message on Twitter is the biggest personal branding disaster that seen on a daily basis.  It says, “You’ve just met me, and you want to spam me with your blog or product?”  Epic fail, and a sure way to lose followers quicker than you gain them.  Instead, send them a personalized direct message or @reply with someone’s actual name and a message relevant to their area of interest.  This one message may lead to a lasting connection that might not have occurred otherwise.

5.  Tunnel Vision

Have you focussed your brand-building on you and you only?  The 90/10 rule of social media brand building generally states that

90% of what you share should be made up of personal insights and thoughts along with a heavy dose of helpful links, while 10% should directly benefit you.”

Keep this rule in mind the next time you want to Tweet about your site or product.  I guarantee that the 90% of the time you take to help others will increase the attention paid to the other 10%.

Also keep in mind that a successful social media / brand building campaign takes into consideration the views and opinions of others.  For every organization which has a social media manager, there are probably 10-20 other employees who have ideas, thoughts and suggestions about the business which, if implemented, will help the business grow and get recognized.  To ignore this dedicated internal network is a crucial error that many organizations suffer from.  The silos have to be broken down in all areas of the business in order to improve the brand, and relying on one person to know the ins and outs of every organization is not possible.

4.  Don’t forget the impact of your word

In the age of social media it’s easy to forget that what you say to someone on the phone or in person can still come back to bite you in the ass.  You may not be sending an email to someone because you don’t want what they say to have a living trail, however as much as people save emails and forward emails, people also take what you said and post it on social media, and this negative messaging can mess with your brand.   So make sure when you are dealing with others that you are prepared to be upfront and honest because there is nothing worse than having them erode your credibility over a matter in which you chose a less than professional approach to.

3.  Un-friending, Un-following, Un-linking

All of these connection removals can have disastrous impact on your brand, especially around timing and how seriously the other person takes your connection.  If, for example, a friend from highschool removes you from Facebook, you will certainly get offended and you might even ask why.  If a follower on Twitter removes you, you probably understand that they may have followed you expecting something but got something else, or they disagree with your views, the frequency of posts, or possibly they need to remove people in order to be able to add others.  If, however, someone on Linkedin removes you, the severing of the business network goes much deeper because what that message says is that they never want to use you as a connection in the future ever again and that all those other people who are connected to both of you as 2nd or 3rd degree connections can get caught in the middle.  Imagine if a 3rd degree connection was ready to connect, then found themselves no long part of your network, but choose to reach out using their previous connection as the link, unbeknownst that this connection ended badly.

As well, people forgive and forget, so to remove someone right away may potentially sever that relationship for good, and you never know down the road when you might really need them!  One should never cut off their nose to spite their face in this day and age and to do so without proper thought often comes back to bite someone in the behind.

2.  Keeping your marketing and social media objective quiet – internally and externally

You build a business / brand through communicating internally and externally your message so that not only will your network be engaged, but also your customers, clients, friends, family, colleagues, etc.  Keeping them in the dark, or only focussing on external networks does not take into consideration that employees have lives outside of the office or social networks of their own.  The faster the message gets out and to the greater number of people, the better are the odds that your business / brand will be successful.  To not tap into that network is akin to advertising a businesses services on a telephone pole.  Sure the message gets out but only to those who see it and tell others.  If this was the chosen method to advertise the business, would you not want every employee to post advertising flyers on telephone poles near where they live?  That already increases the network and the chances that your business is going to get customers.  To do otherwise, just doesn’t make any sense.

1.  Not having a Social Media plan

Not having a social media plan, including ways to promote your brand is the biggest mistake that an individual / organization can make.  By just signing up to multiple micro networks and using them here and there demonstrates a poor social media plan just as much as signing up for multiple social media platforms and never using them, or worse, using them to connect with networks outside of your desired market.  In the few seconds that someone checks out your profile, they are deciding whether to stay and browse some more, or go back and look at one of your competitors.  If they choose to stay and see empty networks or random connections they quickly come to a conclusion about your brand and social media plan, that you don’t have one, and they will move on.

Know beforehand what your social media plan is going to be and share it, along with the do’s and please don’t, so they can be on board and help grow the brand.  To not have a plan in this day and age, or to make one up on the fly is going to lead to issues, inconsistency and confusion for everyone involved.

Hey! Could I get a little bit of help, please! The 2013 Bloggies are about to close!

logotype of The Weblog Awards (Bloggies) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not exactly sure how this happened, or how I missed this but a couple of weeks ago I noticed a massive spike in readership here at The Urban Daddy and after a very quick check of my statistics I came to realize that I had a whole bunch of new readers coming to see me from The 2013 Weblog Awards aka The Bloggies.

The specific reason for the increased traffic was because many folks were dropping by to learn more about this blog which was nominated, and made it to the finals of the 2013 Weblog Awards in the following two categories.

Best Parenting or Family Weblog
Best Canadian Weblog

I’ve always been a big fan of the Bloggies because of their global coverage and I looked through many of the other blogs who made the finals in their respective categories and there are some pretty awesome blogs out there being written by some pretty amazing writers. Being nominated is really great, as I’ve said before after being nominated for the Canadian Weblog Awards, it’s great just to be nominated.  That someone other than myself has taken the time to put forward my URL is quite humbling. (thanks Mom!).

But now I need your help, and I need it quickly! I don’t normally beg or ask for favours but I’m going to do both today. I need your vote! Please.

Voting for the 2013 Bloggies closes on March 17th, and all you need to do in order to vote for me (or someone else if you like them better) is follow the link to their website, here, then vote for at least 3 blogs, enter the security code and your email and you are almost done. You will receive an email from The Bloggies to ensure you are legitimate, and once you confirm that, your vote goes through. Nice and easy!

But remember to only vote once, please. If you vote more than once, the awards use your most recent vote.  We don’t want to waste your time now, do we?

Then, after that has been completed, you can sit back until the 24th of March, at which time you can Watch the Ceremony from 8:00-10:30 PM EST (UTC-5) on the Bloggies’ Twitter feed and Facebook page. One winner will be announced approximately every five minutes, culminating with the Weblog of the Year at 10:30, at which point the winners will be posted to the site. Follow the feed to keep up to date on the Bloggies!

If you are able to take the time to vote, I appreciate it. Heck, I’m happy that you even come by, subscribe and “like” my blog.

Related articles

• Bloggie, Bloggie, Blogger (marriageconfessions.com)
• The 13th Annual Weblog Awards (youlookfab.com)
• The Post Where I Beg for Your Votes (pocketfulofjoules.com)

Just under 46 Reasons why my kids have freaked out, at 3-years-old.

My wife posted a link to an article on Facebook the other day called “46 Reasons Why My 3-Year-Old Might Be Freaking Out“, and this was just after our 3-year-old daughter Boo had an epic 20-minute meltdown.  Once she was done we confirmed the cause of the meltdown was a result of the fact that she wanted the zipper on her fleece sweater zipped up… Who knew?!?

Sidebar:  Forget the terrible two’s, new parents.  It’s the Terrible three’s which will kill you!!!  Am I right?

I loved the article so much I wanted to re-post it, but I also wanted to yank out a few of the 46 reasons which applied to any of our 3 children.

So please, visit the original article, but only after you read this on either Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Tumblr or here on The Urban Daddy’s blog,   Then your next mission is to see which meltdown’s we have I/ had in common.  Then let me know in the comment section so we can all laugh together.

I’ve broken it down by boys (ages 8 & 6 right now) and girl (just turned 3).

Coles Notes Version

Meltdown’s in Common:

His sock is on wrong.

His lip tastes salty.

His shirt has a tag on it.

They are hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

We don’t understand what he/she said.

He/she doesn’t want to get out of the car.

He/she wants to get out of the car by himself.

The iPad has a password.

He jumped off the sofa and we weren’t  watching.

He’s not allowed to touch fire.

Everything is wrong with his coat.

There’s a dog (or raccoon or monster or dragon) within a 70km radius.

I asked him/her a question.

His brother/sister/mother/father is talking.

The cat is in his/her way.

The inside of his cheek feels rough.

Things take too long to cook.

He has too much food in his mouth.

He sneezed.

He doesn’t know how to type.

His/her mom is taking a shower.

Someone knocked over his tower.

The food won’t stay on his spoon.

… and so much more…

How does this relate to your kids?

Related articles

• Momfessional #47: Freaking out (themomfessional.com)

Active for Life: Great Resource AND Cool Steve Nash Contest. Details Inside

Steve Nash(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently came across a cool contest run by an organization called Active For Life.  Active for Life happens to be a leading promoter of children’s physical literacy to help parents raise active and healthy kids and they are kick-starting their new year to get families thinking about getting active with an exciting contest for a chance to win a Luyou shoe autographed by Steve Nash, himself a Dad and an advocate for physical literacy, and $200 SportChek gift certificate.

This contest is currently running and it’s worth heading over to the site to see some great current articles such as;

Tips to manage your kids handheld media time, which can be found here;

or “Soccer Skills, not Trophies, leads to success” which can be found here.

As a Dad blogger, I hadn’t really heard of physical literacy before seeing this, but I’ve learned an incredible amount over the last few months and this site is great for offering suggestions to keep children active and healthy.

Active for Life is the place where parents go to learn about how to make a difference in the health and happiness of their children. Research shows there’s a right way and a right time to develop the fundamental movement and sport skills that benefit kids for their entire lives. Learning these basic movement and sports skills is known as becoming physical literate.

Being physically literate is the foundation for being successful in sport and in life. Physical literacy gives active kids the best chance at becoming top-level athletes who may someday compete in high-performance sport. It also results in them leading an active life. And as the word “literacy” implies, just like reading, writing and arithmetic, movement skills need to be taught.

The website offers expert advice, inspirational tips and activity ideas which can help us, as parents, make sure our children get their recommended daily amount of physical activity and we all know that active kids become active adults.

Physical literacy, is about giving our kids the physical foundational skills to enable them to stay active for life – able to participate in a range of physical activities.  What I like about this in particular is the down-to-earth information and articles that provide practical direction in how to incorporate physical literacy into family life and some of the do’s and don’ts around it to help us get it right.  Their website is a magazine format that provides a ton of information and a very cool skills-builder tool which helps when we want to look at what skills to work on with kids at a given age.

You can find out more and enter the contest here.

It’s a great cause, and a very cool contest.  Active for Life can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Love It or List It Vancouver. My Interview with Co-Host Todd Talbot.

Love It or List It Vancouver’s Todd Talbot

A new twist on an old favourite, Love It or List It Vancouver, premièred on Monday, January 7 on W Network.  I’m sure you already know the premise of the show and if you have seen it, then you already love it.  It not, then you must tune it and see what the hype is about.

Love It or List It Vancouver showcases families in B.C.’s largest metropolitan city who are struggling with homes that no longer suit their needs.  They have either outgrown their home or the lustre has worn off which means the home owners are faced with the dilemma of whether they should love it (renovate it) or list it (put it up for sale).

The “Love it” side, features interior designer Jillian Harris, best known for her work in “The Bachelorette” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” pitted against the “List it” side, featuring West Coast realtor, actor, businessman and overall real estate expert, Todd Talbot.  Jillian’s challenge is to make the owners love the house again by delivering a show-stopping renovation while Todd is determined to get home owners to relocate by dangling temptation right in front of them with dreamy homes on the market.

I have caught all three of the episodes so far, and these shows have taken viewers on an emotional roller-coaster as Jillian and Todd implemented their plans to sway the home owners to their side.  The stakes are high as the home owners weigh the financial and emotional decisions of buying a new home or staying in the renovated one — will they love it enough to stay or is it time to list?  It’s a situation that most of us have encountered or currently are dealing with which is what makes the show even that much more fun to watch.

Todd and Jillian were in Toronto recently and I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Todd about the show, his love of real estate, his acting and find out how he juggles all of this with two young children at home.

What many may not know about Todd is that he is a professional trained stage performer who grew up learning that real estate is more than just the house you live in.  At an early age he watched his parents’ involvement in the real estate industry, through buying, selling, investing and renovating properties and that was where he began to develop his understanding of the benefits of investing in real estate and his love for renovating.  Todd is also a self-proclaimed social media junkie whom you can follow on Twitter @ToddTalbot or see more information on his personal website, here.

But check out Todd’s personal website quickly because there is a new one coming… Bigger… Better… Stronger.

Stay tuned.

Before speaking with Todd, I carefully selected 15 questions to ask him and I suspected that I would need 20-30 minutes to get through them, but I was caught totally by surprise at how awesome he was to speak with and after an hour of talking I felt that I had taken up way too much of his time, yet I wanted to keep chatting – which is why posting this was so difficult – I had so much great information and very few of them tied into the questions I had originally set out to ask.

So if you have never heard of Todd before today, here is what you should know about him;

• He’s a father of two young children whom he loves dearly and he is a devoted husband who credits the love, support and understanding of his wife with his ability to juggle fatherhood, the show and all the other stuff he does.
• The other stuff… Yes.  He is a professionally trained actor and has appeared on stage and on TV too many times to list here, so you are going to have to follow the link to his blog and check it all out.
• He has a real estate marketing business which he runs with a partner and their website can be found here.
• He is passionate about real estate.  I referred to him as being a quintuple threat because of his in-depth knowledge and understanding of the markets, renovating, buying and selling houses, investing in real estate and marketing.
• He has a hard time saying no to new business ventures.

This man does it all, and when you look at him on TV you would never know because he looks so darn young (and he’s only a year younger than I am).

But once he speaks, you understand how knowledgeable he is, how educated he is and how passionate he is.  This show is perfect for him because it ties his acting with his passion and that makes the show worth watching.

I asked him this question; “People may not be familiar with your considerable body of work, so how would you best explain yourself in 140 characters (or more if necessary).  What would you like them to know?” but very quickly realized that he had answered this over and over again throughout our conversation, and I think my bulleted comments above go a long way towards explaining what he is all about.  Plus he’s on Twitter, so follow him, and see for yourself (he’d love it).

I was also curious about the length of time, on average, that it takes to go through all the requirements for a show – from finding the potential couples, meeting them, showing them houses and / or renovating their house, etc. in order to get that one hour (or 42 minutes) of viewing ready?   In response to this question, I was astounded to find out that the shoot process (filming) is around six-weeks from start to finish, but the entire process from finding people, getting permits, the renovations, etc., take much longer.  Todd did share with me that in some cases he had provided the home owners with very detailed information on camera during the taping and when it came to air, his comment to them was edited to something like, “It looks nice”.    At least the home owners know the real story and used that to make their decision.

I asked him if he would be able to provide a general answer to someone who wanted to know if it made sense to move houses, or renovating their current house based on the current market conditions in Vancouver and would his advice change if interest rates were up at 5% instead of in the 1% range?

To that question, Todd provided me with the response I expected, which is that he would need to assess each situation on a case-by-case basis.  Obviously with interest rates being this low for so long, anyone who got into the market is reaping the benefit of being able to maximize their mortgage payments, however, jumping in at these low rates and just being able to make the minimum payment is never a good idea because when interest rates rise (and they will rise) it may force the home owner to sell or miss payments, which can lead to foreclosure.

We also spoke about the real estate “bubble” and whether the recent reduction in house prices in Vancouver was a sign that the bubble was bursting to which Todd and I again came to the same conclusion, that there was no bubble, and the bubble that economists have been predicting will burst for the past 10 years have to admit that even in such a depressed period, house prices are rising and that might be the way it stays for a long while.  Waiting for the bubble to burst is not a good reason to wait to buy a new house, I remember Todd saying, and for those who have waited and continue to wait, they are losing out on the satisfaction a new house would bring them.

And with that question, I thanked Todd for his time and told him I should be able to have this post in draft form in a day or two which could not have been further apart from how long it took me to take all this great information and put it into a post which did the show justice, him justice and explained why on Monday’s on WNET, you should be watching Love It or List It Vancouver.

I hope I just did.

Enjoy the show.

Related articles

• Vancouver real estate market crash? Not so much… (vancouverobserver.com)

Hope for the New Year, 2013. Fiscal and Social Responsibility: #OHIP4IVF

In my opinion, 2012 was a year of awakening for many.  We came to realize that government meets half our needs, people treat each other with indifference and financially “we” are on the verge of bankruptcy.  In 2012 opportunities were lost when we occupied, worked to rule, or went on strike, while corporations accepted massive loans from government and still gave out multi-million dollar bonuses to the executives who cried poor in the first place.

The Ontario Auditor General’s 2012 annual report flagged a number of wasteful programs, including $25 million on a scrapped electronic Diabetes Registry, and $700 million on a little-known Toronto commuter card, known as PRESTO.  There was also the cancellation of the 2 power plants – the actual cost to cancel both plants is at least $640 million and there was an Ornge scandal, just to name a few.

In Ontario, the politicking is getting worse as is our healthcare.  In order to compensate for this waste, the Ontario Liberals have been slowly using our healthcare system to sweep their mismanagement under the rug.  They put in a user fee, the delisted physiotherapy and chiropractic care, they forced doctors to take less money and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

We are not working.

It’s you… Not me.

So in 2013, we need to take a stand.  We need to elect officials who care about people and who can keep finances in check.  We need to micro-manage our elected officials and make sure they do as we require and if not, we must boot them out.  We cannot stand by any longer and allow government to waste our tax dollars on over-priced union wages or buying votes to the detriment of Ontario’s hard-working citizens.   We cannot allow our elected officials to cut healthcare in order to balance a budget that they failed to take care of.  We cannot allow our elected officials to treat people the way they have been treating us any longer.

One very important way for elected officials to accomplish both fiscal responsibility and social responsibility (caring for people) is through the immediate funding of In-Vitro Fertilization.   Funding IVF saves us, the taxpayers, considerable amounts of money and funding IVF sends the message that the government cares about couples who are struggling with infertility.

Did you know that the average cost of an IVF treatment is around $10,000.00.  And did you know that many doctors implant more than one fertilized egg in hopes that one of the batch will result in a pregnancy.  And did you know that if there are multiple babies born, usually prematurely, that not only does this pose a health risk for the mother but also for all of the babies and at the end of the day after hospital care and treatments, the bill to the taxpayer can be as high as $1,000,000.00.  That is $1,000,000.00 per pregnancy, folks.  That cost is covered by OHIP which means by you and I.

In Quebec, however, the government funds IVF treatments, which means infertile couples don’t have to mortgage their financial futures to have children AND with one egg implanted, there is no risk for multiple births and a much lower probability of hospitalization by the mother and the baby which can lead to additional illness and a huge toll on OHIP.

Net result of IVF funding… Considerable reductions in the cost burden on us, the taxpayer.

Infertile couples (hopefully) get the opportunity to be parents and there is no elitism as only the rich can afford the massive IVF bill.

It’s fiscally responsible, which I like.

It’s morally responsible, which I like.

It’s socially responsible, which I also like.

It provides a better, safer, opportunity for couples who really want to be parents to be parents.

So why doesn’t the government do it?

No idea.

So let’s send all the parties this holiday card below with a note to get moving on this issue or start clearing out their desks.  Elections are coming and it’s time to take a stand against government stupidity.  If I hear another politician dismiss this issue by saying that they “studied it and at this point it doesn’t make sense”, I’m going to take names and post them at election time so we’ll know who can safeguard our tax dollars and who shouldn’t ever be in that position again.

Here’s hoping for a better 2013 for all infertile couples.

Feel free to tweet your thoughts using the #OHIP4IVF for those of you in Ontario or who wish to show your support.  If you add the tag #onpoli then that hits the Ontario politics feed as well.

You can also follow Conceivable Dreams @OHIP4IVF on Twitter and on Facebook here.

We can make this happen!

Related articles

• Four Ways Men Can Support Their Spouses During In Vitro Fertilization (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Win a Baby: A controversial IVF contest (karmasdogma.wordpress.com)
• Having a child may be priceless, but infertility is not… (karmasdogma.wordpress.com)
• The Emotional Side of IVF (themwordmag.wordpress.com)

First Movember, Now Manuary: Taking Men’s Health Seriously!

Hey men!  You have heard of, and possibly participated in Movember, but how about Manuary?

For those who cannot grow one…

Manuary is a chance to raise awareness about, and money for, Head and Neck Cancer research which is the 6th most common cancer worldwide!  Participants grow a beard for the month of January, aka “Manuary” and get sponsored to do so.  Can you think of a better excuse to grow a beard?  I know some dudes who have a full beard by noon, and some, like myself, who cannot grow a beard to save my life.

At the end of the month of “Manuary”, a “Facial Hair Face-off” awards the crown of Manuary to the person (male or female) with the most creative facial hair.

For those unable to grow their own facial hair (ahem), no problem.  They do not discriminate and all you have to do is email a photo of yourself to manuary.canada@gmail.com and they will beard your photo with some creative (and humorous) photo editing for posting to their Facebook page; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manuarycanada.  Head over there, “like” it and get ready to grow!

Alternatively, there are lots of beards out there for purchase!

So why Head and Neck Cancer?

Head and Neck cancer is a devastating disease as it affects some of the most personal aspects of life, including facial appearance and the ability to speak and eat. While affecting both sexes, men are 4-times as likely to be affected. In particular, this disease is rapidly becoming more common in younger patients due to newly discovered associations with human papillomavirus (HPV).

Head and neck cancer is a type of cancer that is very well treated early in the course of the disease.  Unfortunately, the majority of cases present at an advanced stage – something that could be prevented with increased awareness.

Participants can sign up by clicking on the links below, or can contact them at manuary.canada@gmail.com and how cool is this!  Any participant who raises more than $400 will receive a beardhead hat from beardhead.com.

Do you need a better excuse to grow a beard in January!?!?!

Now, Manuary is being run in London, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta and you can sign up through the links below if you are in or near those areas, but you can also donate at any time by following the links below.

London Participants

Click here to sign up today!

Edmonton Participants

Click here to sign up today!

DONATE NOW

LONDON DONATIONS

CLICK HERE!

 

EDMONTON DONATIONS
CLICK HERE!

 

Please also follow Manuary on Twitter @ManuaryCa

 

The Importance of a Social Media Policy and Compliance to that Policy

English: Data that lists Social Media activities (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a user of the Internet, for work or for play, it is extremely important to know and understand what the consequences can be when you use social media.

Many do not.

I am constantly amazed that people get caught doing, saying or showing things online which they later regret and the consequences of their actions can be very severe. It certainly changes the way people see them, and can change the way people treat them, with bullying, job loss, or lack of promotion some of the worse case scenarios.

I learned this the hard way. In the almost nine years since I started blogging I did so with the mistaken assumption that no one read my it and that the 5-10 hits a day were complete strangers who arrived there by error. Not having any comments, and being able to see the search engine terms used to get there it was easy for me to write whatever I wanted in complete anonymity. My blog was my forum to bitch, moan and complain about whatever I felt like, whenever I felt like it. Getting it all off my chest made me feel great.

Then it all came crashing down. I can recall this as if it were yesterday, when I hit send on one particular post from 2005 in which I complained about my employer and also lambasted some colleagues for their lack of work ethic. I never thought for a moment that there was a remote possibility that anyone from my company was reading my blog and that the information I wrote in that post, or in any of my previous posts were going to be spread around the office and used against me, like they were.

My hits over the next couple days went from 5-10 to 150 on that post and I started to receive anonymous ominous comments on that post. Stuff started to disappear from my desk, and I would get hang-ups in the middle of the night. Then some of my colleagues would start random conversations with me and include information from my blog that they would not have known if they did not read it there, like “how was the movie you saw Saturday with your wife at Yorkdale.” I was perplexed.

It was soon thereafter when I realized that I had made a really stupid mistake and if I wanted to continue to work there without having my stuff disappear, I would need to go into damage control and implement my own social media policy.

Some of the key points are below;

1) No mention of work. Ever. I’m a blogger building my brand first and foremost.
2) No mention of names of my family or friends unless they give me permission.
3) No posting of pictures on any form of social media except for family pictures on Facebook that I would be comfortable sharing with the world or a future employer.
4) I would never say anything online that I do not believe in or would not say face-to-face to someone.
5) If I am going to be critical of something or someone it had to be fact based and that required sources and a ton of research. No gossip or hearsay.
6) I am my own brand. I want my brand to be respected and taken seriously so I will have to treat others that way – good and bad.

The next thing I had to do was take a step back and see how this new social media policy worked for. I moved my blog from Blogger to WordPress and kept it hidden until I was sure that I could play by these rules. Once I came out from hiding, I not only started to play fairly, but I started to informally educate others about the consequences of using social media for I realized that whatever you post that can be traced back to you, or your brand, can and will be used against you at some point in your life.

I have seen people tagged in photos where they are with friends and drinking, and the picture is most unflattering – maybe they are winking but look drunk – or the comments to a photo are unflattering or rude, or a photo taken in an inappropriate position – like on the toilet, and even an innocent comment like “I’m bored” which shows up next to a mention about your place of employment. All these examples can have long-lasting consequences far from the original intent. Ignoring them is not an option and just removing them usually does not suffice either. Not being in that situation is the best choice a person can make, and letting others know if equally as important.

I’m being tough on myself, but it’s nothing compared to the tolerance that certain industries have for themselves and when tracking their massive employee base.

Financial services, for example, can be especially tough due to the high regulation and as an employer they must ensure that their employees are clear about the organizations expectations and the social media policy.

I, for example, when hiring for my tax units always spends a few minutes to check out the candidates Facebook page, LinkedIn profile and then I Googled them to see if there are any warning flags. To not do so, would be not be responsible on my behalf. If they post anything and their profiles are not neat and tidy it means either they are going to be social media nightmares for the company or I am going to have to do a lot of coaching and mentoring them to ensure they don’t get caught online harming the company’s image of their own brand.

One of the first discussions I would have with staff is to caution them about what they say when using certain social media outlets, like LinkedIn. If they are choosing to comment on posts and join discussions they have to remember that they are not just individuals commenting there but they are also employees so they have to be cautious to keep their comments on topic and away from anything which could get them fired or the company sued.

I treat all my online activities, whether blogged, tweeted, liked or commented on, which relate to any external business as being monitored and recorded by someone if the company is not doing it themselves. I expect the same from my staff, my colleagues and my peers. I know when I talk to staff who are not practicing safe, social media that it is just a matter of time before it catches up to them.

Implementing an effective social media compliance process isn’t rocket science especially when the company has a clear social media policy and everyone abides by it and that policy has to be more than reactionary and punitive. Effective companies outline how they interact with the world via social media and how they expect their employees to do so as well. Leading organizations empower employees to build the corporate brand but it is certainly a team effort every step of the way.

Almost every other department has a key role in shaping the message. Marketing defines the scope of the message, the IT group outlines which social technologies will be used and provides the devices to be used while the legal and social media compliance groups are critical to ensure that the messages meet the necessary regulatory criteria. Once all that is in order it is absolutely critical for the training and learning group to be engaged so that the organization be trained to understand the pros and cons of using the various forms of social media, the most common being Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

What most employees in large organizations do not know unless they are trained is that any output on a social media platform goes through a series of serious checks and balances before someone hits send. Static content, for example – such as Facebook and LinkedIn profiles – require documented pre-approval before being posted online, while interactive content such as updates to Twitter, LinkedIn, and other networks do not need to be vetted, however, regularly monitoring the content is extremely critical to ensure that there are no compliance violations or negative comments.

What most employees fail to understand is that these tight rules not only apply to business-related items posted by the organization but also if it comes from the employees personal social media accounts. It pays to think twice before speaking about your organization, their practices, clients or earnings.

Organizations keeping a close eye on their social media content in order to control the public message and ensure it is compliant with the organization’s policies and procedures. It also allows organizations to control their message and that makes sense from a brand perspective as quick accurate responses to comments shows a proactive organization while quick responses to, or removal of, derogatory or inappropriate messages displays a proactive social media policy. Keeping negative comments unanswered in a thread is a message to the general public that it is okay to pile on with more negative comments and spam the site. If these comments are removed and/or responded to quickly than others will think twice before hitting send.

Even prior to the monitoring the output, employees usually are not aware that many organizations prefer to control the message by utilizing tools to prevent rogue posts from ever hitting the web. Organizations assign limited permissions to certain employees and once that employee is finished creating a tweet, comment or update it is them moved into a queue to be edited or for managerial review before it moves to the compliance group, then on to marketing before it is approved and posted.

The best of these systems even come with their own archiving tools already built-in as financial services are heavily regulated and keeping all outgoing messages for a certain period of time, are a requirement of regulators.

Banning social communications altogether and hoping for the best, is no longer a viable alternative. Restricting communication, access to information and people networking is a practice which many organizations have been moving away from since smartphones have become commonplace on the hips of many employees. There is also the opinion that if organizations continue to resist, that their competitors and customers are moving ahead and talking about them to their current customers and to their potential customers.

To further that point, many organizations who are already heavy in social media are forging ahead with new social media positions, such as the social media compliance officer who among other things, lines up tweets for management’s approval and works closely with legal, marketing and training to ensure the right message is getting out and that all staff have been trained in a meaningful manner on the risk of non-compliance to these policies both for their personal brand and for their company.

Banks in particular, are moving forward quickly in all areas of social media, and with great reason. These customers tend to be more affluent and faster adopters of new, expense-cutting technology such as online and mobile banking, which makes them particularly valuable at a time when revenues are low and expense cutting makes the most sense. Getting them on the bank’s side also helps on the public relations front as these tech savvy folks are just as likely to comment online about good experiences, as they are to complain about bad ones.

So next time you fire up the computer, smartphone or tablet, make sure that before you press send that you are doing so responsibly. You don’t want to ruin your brand in a manner of seconds (or a few words) considering how long it took you to build it up.

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Urban Daddy Recommends: WineWire.ca

This blog does not regularly endorse products or services.  That’s not why I started writing all the way back in 2004, however, I will mention, endorse or support products or services which I believe in, or feel that might be of interest to my readership. 

As a result, I am supporting this new Canadian business venture because I like the business model, it’s a Canadian business and, I know a wide variety of my readership, who have kids, could benefit from knowing this service exists, especially when planning a nice dinner a home with their spouses or when they want to enjoy a nice bottle of wine with friends or family.  I can’t tell you how many times over the years we have been invited over to friend’s houses or on playdates knowing that the hosts enjoy a very nice bottle of wine and not knowing what to bring with or if it’s any good. 

WineWire.ca, which launched in Ontario in September 2012, offers wine lovers an option beyond the catalogue of imported wines available at the LCBO by offering the first-ever one-stop location to learn about, discuss and purchase imported wines from a large selection of independent wine agencies, whose consignment wines are typically available only in licensed restaurants and bars.

At the time of its launch, WineWire.ca featured more than 250 individual wines for sale from a roster of 18 wine agents.  With approximately 130 active wine agents in Ontario, representing close to 10,000 unique wine listings (almost three times the number of wines on the LCBO’s general retail list), the number of wines and agents represented on WineWire.ca will grow significantly.

WineWire.ca acts as an independent marketing representative for the wine agencies that choose to promote their products on the site and has developed a convenient online ordering mechanism to enable customers to purchase the wines directly from the agent. WineWire.ca does not directly handle any part of the actual buyer-seller transaction. 

Consignment wines are wines that are not available for sale in LCBO retail outlets because they have not been selected by the liquor board’s merchandising group responsible for filling the LCBO’s shelves.  Consignment wines are typically bought and sold by restaurants and other licensed establishments. Individual wine enthusiasts can purchase consignment wines through WineWire.ca which come directly from wine agents in case lots.

The power of choice rests with the customer.

Care to learn more?  You can head over to www.winewire.ca, or you can continue reading the FAQ’s below which should provide some answers to questions you may have before you try this service.

FAQ’s

1. Q: Does WineWire.ca actually sell the wines promoted on its site?

A: No. WineWire.ca acts as an independent marketing channel for wine agencies that choose to promote their products on WineWire.ca who have developed a convenient online ordering mechanism to enable customers to purchase wines directly from the agent.  WineWire.ca is a wine marketing business who does not directly handle any part of any actual transaction that occurs between the wine agent and customer.  WineWire.ca passes the order and payment information in a secure manner directly to the agent for payment and delivery. 

2. Q: Isn’t the sale and purchase of alcohol over the Internet in contravention of a number of legal statutes and regulations?

A: No. The sale, distribution and purchase of alcohol is strictly regulated in every provincial jurisdiction across Canada and WineWire.ca adheres to both the spirit and letter of these laws.  Similarly, any wine agent who promotes their products on WineWire.ca is contractually bound to abide by all applicable laws and regulations regarding the sale and distribution of alcohol.

3. Q: How big is the potential market for online wine sales in Canada?

A: Huge. Consumer spending on wine in Canada has been steadily increasing for the past decade, with some estimates pegging the total sales volume at almost $6.5 billion for 2012. Currently, online wine sales in Canada account for less than 2% of the total volume but it’s growing.

4. Q: Do people really buy wine online? 

A: There have traditionally been very strict restrictions on the sale and distribution of wine, spirits and beer between provinces. These restrictions have inherently worked against the emergence of the kind of online wine sales and delivery services you might find in the U.S. or Britain, but there is still a great deal of room for growth in this country, even working within the confines of these restrictions.  Over time, we’re hopeful that the rules and regulations will be amended to allow WineWire.ca to offer our services across provincial borders.

5. Q: Is it possible for minors to illegally acquire alcohol by ordering from WineWire.ca?

A: No, there are very strict regulations governing the delivery of wine and other alcoholic beverages to persons under the legal drinking age.  Agents must adhere to all applicable laws and regulations regarding the sale and distribution of alcohol. Anyone making a wine purchase through WineWire.ca must be at least 19 years of age and must present valid government-issued age of majority identification when the order is delivered.

6. Q: The concept of online wine sales in Canada is not entirely new, so what makes WineWire.ca so different?

A: WineWire.ca does not hold an exclusive relationship with any one wine importer or producer and visitors to WineWire.ca have the opportunity to learn about, discuss and purchase wines from any of the many competing wine agencies that choose to list their products on our site.   The power of choice rests with the customer. That’s the way it should be.

7. Q: What are consignment wines?

A: Consignment wines are privately imported wines distributed by agents through the Speciality Services department of the LCBO. For the most part, consignment wines are bought and sold by restaurants and other licensed establishments. However, individual
wine consumers can also purchase consignment wines from wine agents who import the wine, as long as they agree to purchase the product in case lots.  Case lots usually contain 6 or 12 bottles per case.

8. Q: What if I have a complaint about a purchase I made through WineWire.ca?

A: Customers should direct any customer service enquiries directly to the agent in question, however, if you have a serious complaint about the business conduct of any wine agency promoting its products on WineWire.ca, we want to hear about it.  Contact us
directly at 1-855-517-7555, or by e-mail at info@winewire.ca.

9. Q: Can I purchase wines from WineWire.ca if I live outside of Ontario.

A: Not currently. However, WineWire.ca plans to roll out its online marketplace for imported consignment wines to other provinces in the relatively near future. Follow our ”News” section on our website or follow us on Twitter @WineWireCA for updates.

10. Q: Can I mix and match bottles within the same case order?

A: No. Wine agents are only permitted (and licensed) to sell wine by the case lot.  Unfortunately, this prevents the agent from mixing wines within the same case order.

11. Q: Does WineWire.ca only represent imported wines?  What about Canadian wines?

A: In addition to consignment wines exclusively imported from outside of Canada, WineWire.ca will also feature Ontario VQA wines not available at the LCBO.  These wines will be available on WineWire.ca as they are made available to us, so please check back regularly for details. 

12. Q: Does WineWire.ca only promote new release wines, or are vintages also available?

A: The selection of wines available through the agencies listing their products on WineWire.ca is extremely wide, from new releases in every price category to premium vintages and rare finds.

13. Is there a standard delivery schedule / fee for wines purchased on WineWire.ca?

A: Although delivery times will vary among the wine agencies selling their products through WineWire.ca, most wines can be delivered within 3 – 10 business days.  The delivery fee to have the wine delivered to your door is set by the agency.  Alternatively, if it is more convenient, you can have your wine delivered to a LCBO store anywhere in Ontario at no cost.  Customers choosing this option can expect delivery of their wine in about 2 to 3 weeks.

14. Q: How do I order a wine I’ve read about on WineWire.ca?

A: You simply browse the wines available on WineWire.ca, click “Add to Cart”, fill out your personal and delivery information and the agent representing the wine will call you to arrange for payment and delivery.  You can also call 1-855-517-7555 to place an order by phone.

15. Q: Is there a minimum order size I must place?

A: Yes. Due to strict provincial restrictions surrounding the sale of consignment wines, you must order at least one case lot at a time, which is usually 6 or 12 bottles.

16. Q: Is there any way I can try a wine before ordering it?

A: WineWire.ca promotes wine tasting events across Ontario, where many of the wines featured on our site can be sampled in a fun and lively atmosphere. Many individual wine agents also participate in wine tasting events in their local markets. Details are available on our website or on Twitter @WineWireCA.

17. Q: Are HST and bottle recycling deposits included in the price of the wines on WineWire.ca?

A: Yes. All prices presented on WineWire.ca are inclusive of HST and bottle recycling deposits.

18. Q: I am ready to place an order!  Is there any way I can track it once it has been placed?

A: Yes. All registered customers who order wine using WineWire.ca will be able to track the status of their order at our website under the “My Account” link. Also, WineWire.ca will automatically email the customer when their order is being processed and when it has shipped.

19. Q: What if I need to cancel my order? How do I do that?

A: If a customer needs to cancel or adjust an order for any reason, they simply need to contact the agent over the phone.  WineWire.ca provides the customer with the representing wine agent’s full contact information to ensure total satisfaction.

20. Q: Am I able to pick up my order in person?

A: Most wine agents are happy to allow you to pick up your wine in person at their offices.  We encourage you to discuss this option with the wine agent when they contact you to arrange for payment and delivery.

So if you are a wine-lover, or are curious about wine and want to learn more, then you must visit www.winewire.ca and make sure to check out all the episodes of Wine Wire TV where WineWire’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Adam Bekhor – a candidate with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust diploma program and Nelson Abreu – Wine Wire’s co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (who has earned his diploma with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and was elected a member of the Wine Judges Commission of Canada) educate and enlighten you about the wines they have featured. 

In addition, if you are in Toronto, the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo (GFWE) runs this weekend, November 15th to 18th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and WineWire.ca will be there.

If you’ve never been to the GFWE you have no idea what you are missing, especially if you love wine, as they have over 1,500 wines, beers and spirits at this year’s Expo, meaning you won’t be hard pressed to find a bunch of new offerings, including dynamic options from around the world. 

The GFWE provides everyone with the opportunity to sample a tremendous variety of wine that they may never have had a chance to try before.   

“There are so many great wines out there and the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo is the ideal place to learn about the differences between selections from around the world,” said Christopher Waters of the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo. “You can sample the wines from Chile, jump over to France, go to Germany, then over to California and then finish in Ontario and discover what makes each region’s offerings so unique.”

One of the highlighted Ontario wineries at the Expo this year is Southbrook Vineyards, located in Niagara-On-The-Lake. Southbrook Vineyards is Canada’s first certified biodynamic winery and is also certified organic. The winery produces a wide variety of options such as the traditional Chardonnays, Syrahs, Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots but also branches out into fruit wines and the Canadian classic – Icewine.

 “If you consider yourself a bit of a wine expert or just want to check out some of the 2012 InterVin International Wine Award winners we invite you to the Fine Wine Tasting Lounge. Guests can sample rare premium consignment, vintages and private order wines in this casual, yet truly distinctive setting,” said Waters.

For more information on how to buy your admission or sample tickets, visit www.foodandwineexpo.ca.

Here is the link to a printable coupon for $4.00 off the entrance fee to the show from their website; http://foodandwineexpo.ca/sites/foodandwineexpo_ca/upload/pdfs/2012/GFWE_web_Coupon.pdf

General Admission tickets are $20.00 (before coupon) and keep in mind, parents, that there are no infants or children permitted at the Expo.

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