I believe what I’m saying is, I ROCK.

You’ll see the results (and judge for yourself) on Sunday!

That’s not to say you’ll have any inkling from the raw tape of the interview that I’m not a complete Apple-yte. (Like that? Acolyte, only for Apple?) I gush about the size, rave about the user experience and drool over the price. God help me, I think I may have said “game-changer”. (In the final story, I just drool over the prize. So you’re spared most of it.)

But there’s still one thing that makes me hesitate: the Application Store.

Oh, sure – it’s going to be packed with apps of all different kinds. If the iPhone experience was any indication, I can’t wait to see the kind of innovation that developers bring to bear on it.

But the fact remains that, if you want to put an app on your iPad, you’ll need to shop at the company store. And that separates the iPad from, say, a MacBook. Or a netbook.

If you want to customize a Mac or netbook, you can. If you want to use a different email app, or extend your browser’s functionality with plugins, or install preference panels that change the way the system works, you can – and you don’t have to go to any Application Store to do it. You just download straight from a developer you trust, and you’re on your way.

Hell, you can even wipe Windows or OS X from your hard drive and install a whole new operating system (hello, Linux!) and – provided your tech chops are up to the task – it’s all perfectly straightforward.

Sure, there are risks: apps that don’t play well with each other. Badly coded memory-hungry extensions that slow your browser to a crawl. Malware. But a little due diligence can keep you safe, sane and computing the way you want to.

Not with the iPhone, and soon not with the iPad. Escaping the confines of the Application Store requires a measure called “jail-breaking” – and with good reason. You’re in a grey area, from a warranty and user-agreement standpoint, and you’re relying on the ability of a brave band of hackers to stay one step ahead of Apple’s crackerjack team of developers. (In fact, it’s less one step ahead and more a game of leapfrog; there’s often a lag of days or weeks between a release of the iPhone OS and the jailbreaking hack for it.)

Which means that, short of jailbreaking, you’re stuck with what Apple wants to give you. And I’m not saying Apple isn’t giving you a lot, or that it’s unattractive; as I mentioned, I was drooling with the best of them as the presentation unspooled (and that was just on the basis of liveblogging and a handful of still photos). But choice is taken away from the end user, and that isn’t a good thing.

It isn’t good for tinkerers. It isn’t good for experimentation. It isn’t good for innovators.

Peter Kirn makes a case on the Create Digital Music blog that the iPad’s very attractiveness makes its lack of openness all the more dangerous:

Apple threatens to split computing into two markets, one for “traditional,” “real” computers, and another for passive consumption devices that try to play games without physical controls and let you read books, watch movies, play music, and run apps so long as you’re willing to go through the conduit of a single company.

And, of course, this wouldn’t be worth my breath if not for my real concern: what if Apple actually succeeds? What if competitors follow this broken path, or fail to offer strong alternatives? The iPad today is a heck of a lot slicker than alternatives.

Now here’s the thing: most people don’t want to jailbreak their iPhones. They’re happy with the standard suite of apps that come included, plus maybe a few others they download from the Application Store. And they would be hugely unhappy with the degree of risk and need for tweaking and vigilance that jailbreaking would entail.

These are users who just want the damn thing to work, and they deserve that choice – and Apple’s done a pretty good job of giving it to them. (Not that it couldn’t do better, judging by the tales of capricious and arbitrary App Store decisions.)

But Steve, how about releasing another iPad? You’ve embraced at least some degree of openness with the iPad’s ebook standard, and with the fact that the 3G iPads will be sold unlocked. How about adding another item to this lineup, alongside the locked-down iPads, and selling a truly unlocked iPad, one that doesn’t limit us to the Application Store for software, to native apps for features like email, or to the iTunes and iBook Stores for content?

We’d be able to tinker, customize and experiment to our heart’s content… and you just might get a few clever ideas worth incorporating into future editions.

I’d probably pay more for that than the locked-down iPad. And what’s more, I’d feel a lot truer to the spirit of openness, innovation and the free flow of information that’s animating the digital communications revolution.

It's the "I don't like this" link (the opposite of that little thumbs-up icon under each ad), and I use it regularly. I let most Facebook ads slide, but some either offend me (usually with a gratuitously sexist photo, or a clearly misleading come-on) or are just so clearly not intended for me (thanks, but I'm not in the market for a condo) that I end up clicking - more to alert Facebook than for any other reason.

Click it, and up pops a dialog box saying "Tell us what you think. Why didn't you like this ad?" You can then choose from a range of reasons, such as "Irrelevant", "Offensive", "Misleading", "Repetitive" or "I DON'T WANT TO PLAY #@$&ING FARMVILLE OR MAFIA WARS!" (Actually, that last one isn't an option. It desperately, desperately should be.)

Click "Okay", and then... what?

Truth is, we don't know. Facebook says that "over time, this information helps us deliver more relevant ads to our users." But they won't tell you how... and it isn't unusual to see the same ad you've just dissed pop up again in a minute or two - complete with the little "x" link.

Which is just so last century.

Asking people for their input, and then sucking their suggestions into a black box and never letting them know what happened to them - that isn't going to fly much longer. Not for governments that conduct "consultations" around issues they've already decided, and not for businesses that want to get valuable targeting information from their audience and customers without giving them any value in return.

That goes for organizations large and small. If your web site invites input from the public, you want to be doing something more than just nodding politely while they talk; this is an opportunity for interaction that looks less like the old suggestion box and more like conversation.

What if your users could see the list 20, 50 or 100 items they've liked or disliked? What if they could meet people who've liked and disliked similar things? What if they could talk about what they like or dislike, make it part of their profile, and tell advertisers how they do and don't like to be approached?

At the very least, what if they could click a button that means they would never see that particular ad again?

If you're going to ask your users a question, you need to be able to show them you've actually heard their answer. It's perhaps the most basic skill in conversation - and so far, Facebook hasn't learned it. Has your site?

Right. Mike has just beta-launched a new and highly cool news-and-opinion-site for anyone following tablet computers… in particular, the upcoming (so-the-rumour-mill-has-it) Apple tablet.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls… Dr. Tablet.

Here, by the way, is my comment on one of Mike’s posts:

One area where I still think Apple could miss a trick: extensibility. Yes, the iPhone has the app store – but so much of what apps are allowed to do is truncated and locked down.

While we accept that in a phone – grudgingly – for now – we’ve grown to expect the ability to enhance and extend our computer experience. On the Mac, even the simplest add-ons like Default Folder X and TextExpander have dramatically improved the way I work. Mail.app enhancements and Safari plugins add functionality that many (or even most) users might not need, but that make my life easier. And there are other programs and utilities that extend or combine the features of existing programs and system functions in a more sophisticated way.

I’m excited about the Apple tablet. But if it really is “just” a giant iPhone, or a Kindle in funky black, then I’m quickly going to be frustrated – and looking at other options.

(By the way, nobody knows for sure what Apple’s big January 27th event is. Could still just turn out to be this.)

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

Like many people, when I heard about the disaster in Haiti, I wanted to help. And I wanted to give others a way to help, too.

Here’s what I decided to do: go to a relief agency’s web site, and set up a peer fundraising page (along the lines of what Convio, Blackbaud and DemocracyInAction create for their clients).

These are pages where you can collect donations on  behalf of the charity; they handle the credit card transaction and tax receipts. Health charities in particular have become adept at creating those pages – think Run for the Cure or our friends at BC Children’s Hospital Foundation – and the breakout success story for peer networked fundraising was the Howard Dean presidential campaign.

My thinking was, for every donation over a certain amount – say, $50 or $100 – I’d send the donor a signed print of their favourite Noise to Signal cartoon. While I can’t handle credit card transactions or charitable receipts, I can handle printing, signing and mailing prints.

I’m all ready to go at this end. But I can’t find a Canadian relief agency that would let me do this.

Pretty much everyone takes donations online, but whether I’m missing something or it’s just not there, the fact is I couldn’t find one enabled for networked fundraising.

So I’m turning to Social Signal’s (and RobCottingham.ca’s) readers and the nptech community: can you help me find the right agency? Here’s what I’m looking for:

• Ideally, I’d like to work with a Canadian charity. But if I can’t find a Canadian partner, I’m happy to support another agency. (Ammado looks like a possibility.)
• I need to be able to track who has given how much (or at least who has given more than the threshold amount).
• I need to collect their contact information – at the very least, an email address – so I can send them their print.

Suggestions?

Here's what I decided to do: go to a relief agency's web site, and set up a peer fundraising page (along the lines of what Convio, Blackbaud and DemocracyInAction create for their clients).

These are pages where you can collect donations on  behalf of the charity; they handle the credit card transaction and tax receipts. Health charities in particular have become adept at creating those pages - think Run for the Cure or our friends at BC Children's Hospital Foundation - and the breakout success story for peer networked fundraising was the Howard Dean presidential campaign.

My thinking was, for every donation over a certain amount - say, $50 or $100 - I'd send the donor a signed print of their favourite Noise to Signal cartoon. While I can't handle credit card transactions or charitable receipts, I can handle printing, signing and mailing prints.

I'm all ready to go at this end. But I can't find a Canadian relief agency that would let me do this.

Pretty much everyone takes donations online, but whether I'm missing something or it's just not there, the fact is I couldn't find one enabled for networked fundraising.

So I'm turning to Social Signal's readers and the nptech community: can you help me find the right agency? Here's what I'm looking for:

• Ideally, I'd like to work with a Canadian charity. But if I can't find a Canadian partner, I'm happy to support another agency. (Ammado looks like a possibility.)
• I need to be able to track who has given how much (or at least who has given more than the threshold amount).
• I need to collect their contact information - at the very least, an email address - so I can send them their print.

Suggestions?

So what if you're not sure you're ready yet?

The good news is that - just as you can babysit a niece or nephew, or volunteer to take your neighbour's Shih Tzu for the weekend - you can get your feet wet in social media without diving in over your head. You'll get at least a sense of the kind of time and attention various tools demand, and that can help you start planning your organization's first public foray.

Here are six ways to try social media on for size - midnight feedings, shedding, dirty diapers and all - before you commit your organization to taking the leap.

Facebook

Been resisting the siren song of Facebook? Its flaws are undeniable and well-documented... but you won't understand why people stay involved with it until you jump in yourself. Create a personal profile, and use the privacy settings to keep your cards as close to your vest as possible... then start exploring.

Join a few groups, fan a few pages, install a few applications... but go easy at first, especially with expanding your herd of "friends". (At least, until you get a good feeling for the difference between "friends" and friends.) Get to know how people interact, and then ramp up: from leaving comments on walls to sharing photos, videos and anything else you want to. And be sure to check out how organizations like yours are engaging with Facebook - especially what works and what doesn't.

Google profile

Before you go much further (you're still only toe-deep), you'll want to create some kind of identity on the web: a home base where people who meet you can go to find out who you really are. One handy way to do that is to create a Google profile. (Here's mine.)

Start with the basic information: you name, a (non-embarrassing) photo, a brief bio and whatever contact information you feel comfortable sharing. In time, you'll be able to add pointers to your other social media presences - a blog, a LinkedIn account, Facebook, what have you - but for now keep it simple. Your goal initially is just to have a landing page with some basic information.

Delicious

Nearly four years ago, Alex introduced Social Signal's readers to the beauty of Delicious and social bookmarking. The elevator pitch: store your bookmarks in the cloud instead of on your computer, and you can use them with any browser on any device, discover similar sites, sort by tags instead of strict hierarchies (although some browsers are finally getting wise to this, too), share with others, and discover people with similar interests.

Here's what makes this a great way to sample the social media world: it's completely scalable. At first, you can store bookmarks in complete privacy; screw up, say something dumb, and nobody need ever know. Take the time to add a few notes about them, then get the hang of tagging (re-read Alex's post), and then start checking out bookmarks with similar tags from other people.

Once you're ready to lay out the welcome mat, you can start saving your bookmarks publicly - and even then, you'll discover that Delicious makes next to no social demands on you. (Handy hint: be sure to snag the bookmarklet that lets you bookmark any site with a mouse click.)

Commenting

Now it's time to take your first big step: expressing an opinion, tied to your identity. Yes, you could comment anonymously... but if you're going to be responsible for an organization's social media presence - and reputation - you need to get used to the idea that anonymity is often illusory. Better for an organization to stand behind their content than to be accused of sock-puppeting or astroturfing.

Pick a blog you like, and follow it for a while, reading not only the posts but the comments. Get a feel for the local culture. And then find an opportunity to weigh in with a comment that adds something to the conversation: a new point of view, some pertinent information, a useful link.

Lean more toward conversational than provocative, and keep your comment relatively brief (again, keeping in mind the typical comments on the blog). Then keep watching the blog for responses to your comment; where appropriate, respond to them, and build a conversation.

Posterous

Let's combine the skills you picked up on Delicious with your commenting chops. Head on over to Posterous (or Tumblr, or any of a number of other similar sites) and set up an account.

For all intents and purposes, you've just created a blog. Deep breaths - and relax: this is a surprisingly easy blog to maintain. What you'll be doing here is logging the interesting things you find online, just as you did with Delicious. (And here, too, the bookmarklet is your friend.) But you get to choose an excerpt to include, and add your comment about the page, video or image you found.

You can also check out other users, subscribe to their feeds, comment on their posts and, yes, do a little social networking. But at first, be conservative about how visible you are. That helps to keep the stakes low until you decide whether you're in this for the long haul, and want to invest the time and social capital in building a more networked presence.

Guest-blogging

Got a particular area of expertise? Chances are there's a blog out there on that topic... with an author who wouldn't mind running a few posts of yours. Your best bet is someone in your personal network, or a friend of a friend who can vouch for you; you may have to knock on a few virtual doors before you find someone who's willing to take you on.

Talk over expectations and possible topics, agree on a schedule of posts, and then stick to it (to get used to the idea of a steady rhythm of content creation). Respect the tone and voice of the blog's author (although you don't have to imitate it). Talk up your posts in your other online presences, and engage whatever conversation emerges in the blog's comments and on other blogs. Finish off with a thank-you post mentioning both the author and the blog's community for having you, and ride off into the sunset... until your next guest-blogging stint.

Ready to bring that puppy home?

Now you've had a real taste of the world of social media, what was it like? Were the time demands onerous, or were you able to manage them? Did you find that words came easily to you, or was it like pulling teeth? (And did you find yourself resorting to clichés like "pulling teeth"?)

What you've learned in this six-city tour of social media is only the beginning. (We barely even touched video, audio or photography.) But now you have a first-hand sense of the time required and the degree of public exposure it can involve.

What's more, hopefully you've done more than just clean up dog poop and change baby diapers. You've also had a glimpse of the more rewarding side of the social web - the shared ideas and relationships that can be so powerful both for individuals and for organizations.

So now you get to decide: is your organization ready for a puppy of its very own?

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

The four three-hour evening sessions start on March 24 at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, and the course fees are $425. Here are the details:

This introductory course provides an overview of social media: its history, theories and the principles behind online communication including the power and impact of web 2.0 . Starting with a definition of "online community", yo explore the range of social media technologies and applications, including such tools as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, RSS, wikis and social bookmarking, and how they apply to a variety of goals and strategies. You'll explore real-world cases and discover emerging "best practices" for this rapidly-changing field, and how it is shaping communication in everyday business today.

Register here.

Even cooler news: that course can help you earn UBC Continuing Studies' new Award of Achievement in Social Media. And to follow on from our Fundamentals course, the award program also includes courses in Social Media Monetization and Social Media Strategy and Marketing taught by friend-of-the-show Rochelle Grayson.

Register now to be sure you get your space!

I’m loving What the Gregg?!, a webcomic that covers a lot of the same ground as Noise to Signal. The cartoons are simple, fluidly drawn and fun – perfect for presentations – and some of the gags are laugh-out-loud funny. (I’ll leave it to you to find the cartoon with the perfect winter app for the iPhone.)

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

She likes to start presentations off with a slide showing a free puppy and a baby. Both of them, she says, come without a price tag. So does a Twitter account, Facebook profile or WordPress.com blog... but don't kid yourself. You'd better know what you're getting into before you click on the "submit" button. (Or take hold of the leash. Or make a baby.)

She's right. Price tag or no price tag, you'll be paying: in time, attention and energy. (Mercifully, nobody's come up with a social media presence that requires you to take it to the vet to get neutered.)

You'll need to...

• Plan before you launch: You need to know just what you're hoping to accomplish. Just want to learn a little about YouTube? Hoping to create a new channel for customer service on Twitter? Whether your ambitions are modest or audacious, taking the time to clarify your goals and exactly how you plan to achieve them is critical to social media success.
• Keep posting regularly: Status updates for Twitter, posts for your blog, photos, videos, notes or links for Facebook... it all adds up quickly.
• Respond to comments: Social media is conversational, and you'll want to stay engaged in the discussions you spark - both on your own presence and out in the larger web.
• Tend to your community: As your online community grows, you'll want to encourage participation, make introductions, extinguish flame wars and keep things moving productively.
• Promote your presence: You don't want to go to the effort of creating and maintaining a social media presence without having it count for something, right? So you'll want to let the world know about it - which can involve everything from advertising to guest-blogging.
• Monitor the social web: You need to know what's being said about your organization and the issues that matter to you. That can be as simple as searches set up on a tool like Technorati or Google Blog Search, or as sophisticated as commercial tools.
• Track metrics: Since you're investing this much effort, you want to make sure it's giving your organization some benefit. Actually measuring those results can become more or less automated, but analyzing them and deciding on actions to take: that requires time and energy.

Organizations that have had social media success will tell you it involved real effort, but yielded great results -- just as dog owners and parents know it's sometimes tough work but tremendously rewarding. You end up with someone who, yes, chews up your most prized possessions and covers you with slobber, but is also a loyal, loving friend. (And with children, they grow out of the chewing and slobbering phase. I'm told.)

So what if you don't know whether you're ready for the responsibilities of raising a child, owning a dog or tending a wiki? That's next week's post.

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

(You can find the individual cartoons at Noise to Signal's new home. And not to worry - we'll keep posting the most social-media-y of Noise to Signal here on SocialSignal.com.)

To all of our friends, family and supporters out there, happy holidays and a spectacular, successful and peaceful new year.

And now the details.

I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, and the holidays (plus huge assists from Mike Kelly and Alex) gave me the time I needed to finally put the finishing touches on it. I’ve used the Webcomic plugin for WordPress, which should make it a lot easier to find your favourite cartoons and keep up with the latest ones. (There’s a fair amount I still want to do to polish the site up, but I take to heart the saying that if you launch with your site in perfect shape, you probably waited too long.)

And as a reverse-housewarming present of sorts, I’ve drawn a 2009 social-media-year-in-review… and Alex has turned it into Noise to Signal’s very first kick-ass video. Have a look and let me know what you like.

Think video games, and chances are the pasty-faced, glass-eyed kid your brain conjures up is a boy. Yet the demographics of gaming have changed, a growing number of girls (and women) have joined the picture, and the industry is scrambling to catch up.

Here’s a terrific gaming news, review and commentary site pitched to women who are happiest when they have a controller in their hands.

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

I was lucky enough to get to talk to the delightful Chris Hastings about his webcomic The Adventures of Dr. Mcninja.

An actual panel from the Adventures of Dr. Mcninja issue #11 titled “Punch Dracula.” Art by Chris Hastings.

Dr. McNinja is one of my favourite webcomic addictions reads (thanks, Catherine!). In this podcast, writer and artist Chris Hastings tells us about the good doctor’s origins, offers a peek into the creative process… and, helpfully for our ongoing inquiry into how cartoonists go pro, informs us that most of his revenue comes not from ads (although they’re doing pretty well at the moment) but from Dr. McNinja merchandise.

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

The cover letter was written extraordinarily well (and believe me, you don't appreciate quite what a treat that is until you've posted a job opening). And the resumé - a decade of non-profit program and funding development; launching a sexual health education project for Montreal youth; promoting human rights in Europe; writing a kick-ass blog - was stellar.

Can I admit now that I was just a little skeptical? It wasn't until we were well into the hiring process with her that I realized I was right: Channing Rodman wasn't as good as she looked on paper.

She was much, much better.

We asked her to complete a test assignment as a short-term contract, so we could pay her for her time. I fully expected to have to rewrite everything she turned in - after all, she was completely new to the project and, for that matter, to us. Surprise: we got a well-written, comprehensive document that moved the project forward and earned kudos from our client.

And that's been the story since we all took a leap of faith, and Channing moved here from Poland to take the position. She's consistently delighted clients, leapfrogged the learning curve (yes, she's good enough do drive me to mixed metaphors) and offered insights that send stalled conversations flying in an unexpected, productive new direction.

But more than that, she's become a good friend. It would be far too much to expect so much talent to come with a warm, engaging personality - not to mention an encyclopedic knowledge of geek culture - and she manages to pack that in. Channing's a big part of what we look forward to every day at Social Signal.

So that means some deeply mixed feelings over the fact that our transition to a new stage in Social Signal's life comes with the news that Channing will be taking up a truly cool new position at National Public Relations (whose Vancouver office has some pretty great people in their own right... so she should fit in nicely).

For Channing, it's a chance to combine those social media chops with her innate talent for communication strategy - and for direct, honest conversation - in some very interesting projects. And National, for its part, is gaining both some serious Web 2.0 smarts and a terrific new member for their team.

We're looking forward to great things from them both. And to Channing, our fond best wishes for a superb new chapter in an already impressive career.

Funny thing: It’s also exactly the sort of thing I find myself saying to my own kids.

And speaking of ’tis the season, thanks and all the best to all of you who’ve read, tweeted, forwarded and commented on Noise to Signal this year. Have a great holiday if you’re celebrating, and just have a lovely week or two if you aren’t.

The debate rages on over whether social networks (and Twitter, and YouTube, and, and, and) have any legitimacy in the workplace, fueled in no small part by people who sell tools to block them.

But employers who turn their noses up at Facebook et al. may well discover that their coveted Millennials (a.k.a. Generation Y, a.k.a. those damn kids who won’t get off your lawn) are happy to return the favour when recruiting time rolls around. Blocking access to Facebook looks a lot like those IT departments that wouldn’t install web browsers on your computer a decade ago… or external email access a few years earlier.

And like those tools before them, the social web today is increasingly being used by companies and organizations for productive, collaborative work. So it’s not just a question of denying your HR department a hiring pool of cool kids. Blocking social media from your company can mean cutting yourself off from an important potential source of productivity, innovation and increased efficiency.

Of course, that’s an argument I like to make to people who haven’t just received a dozen Farmville notifications.

Originally published on ReadWriteWeb

Which, frankly, doesn't surprise us too much. Every organization has its unique demands and idiosyncrasies, and short of a tailor-made solution, no off-the-rack suite is going to drape every bump and curve in the most flattering way.

But we came remarkably close with a combination of project-management upstart Manymoon and Google Apps. (You may remember Manymoon from such blog posts as this one, and such podcast episodes as this one.)

And now the nice people at Google are telling the story of how we did it, as part of their series of customer profiles. (To see Social Signal's article, selected "Professional services" and "Small business". Or view it as a Google Doc right here.)

It's boggling to realize how recently you would have had to pay thousands of dollars for tools like these - mainly because they were only being built for enterprises, if at all. Yet the no-charge edition of Google Apps is more than enough for most organizations... and Manymoon is almost shockingly affordable.

And therein lies an untold story. How big an impact has the arrival of new, no-to-low-cost business applications (and their open-source counterparts) had on the creation and growth of small businesses and non-profit organizations? So many of them run with such tight margins that I'd be surprised if it isn't substantial, but I haven't seen any research on the question. Anyone else?

Alexandra Samuel has chalked up some impressive firsts.

With her husband Rob Cottingham she launched Vancouver’s first social media firm back when Twitter was something birds did, not humans.

More recently, she and Cottingham astounded traditional knowledge-based businesses by giving away the keys to the shop — open sourcing all their trade secrets and lucrative and long-built consulting tools.

And this week Samuel announced she is taking up a post as director of the new Centre for Moving Interaction at Emily Carr University of the Emily Carr University of Art+Design.

I couldn’t be more excited about Alex’s new position (you can read about how excited she is here!) – and not just because it gives me an excuse to stroll around Emily Carr’s fascinating campus more often. This brings together so many strands in Alex’s astonishingly varied skein of skills, knowledge and talents that I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.

Posted via web from robcottingham’s posterous

When you're living on the streets, though, it's more than just discomfort. Cold, wet feet can quickly become agonizing to walk on - adding a big barrier to finding a job, food or shelter for the night.

And I'm going to let Kate Dugas from ChangeEverything.ca take it from here:

A few months after its launch, ChangeEverything and the people that make up the community here, made a difference in the lives of some people living on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with successful drive for warm clothing during a particularly bitter cold snap. Since 2006 we have used ChangeEverything.ca to collect thousands and thousands of items of warmth for folks living in the DTES of Vancouver.

Cold wet feet are a huge reason people living on the street get sick and even die in the winter. Getting clean dry socks to local shelters is a great way to help alleviate this problem. So this year we are focusing on socks!

So start looking through your closets and drawers. We’ll take mis-matched socks that are clean and in good condition. But even better, we’ll take ones that you went out and bought especially for this purpose. Reply with a comment on this post if you have leads on enormous quantities of socks, or if you just have a few pairs or even one pair to give. Each pair will totally make a difference. It’s true. Believe it.

I am also working on having a Vancity “Got Socks” account opened. Watch this space.

Kate

PS -oh and please spread the word. tweet this. add it to your facebook. emai your friends about it, heck post it to your fridge! see if your kids want to take up a collection at school for socks. whatever you can think of, the wackier the better.

Just leave a comment on her blog post to tell Kate you have socks to donate. And click here to pass the word along on Twitter!

Last month, we told you we were refocusing on capacity-building: helping other organizations, agencies and individuals to make the most of social media. We expected that would mean we'd support our clients through trainings and Concept Jam strategy workshops, while reaching a larger audience through blogging, cartooning and other media.

But no sooner had we decided to head in this new direction than Alex was approached about a position at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Emily Carr had received a major grant from NSERC to fund a new applied research on digital media, and they wanted someone with both an academic background in tech research, and real-world experience in the tech sector. For Alex, it was a perfect convergence of many of her passions... and the result is she's the new Director of the Centre for Moving Interaction. (You can read her blog post about it here.)

Alex's position at Emily Carr will bring a fresh dimension to her work as a tech capacity-builder, but Social Signal remains the hub for both of our efforts. I'll be leading Social Signal and managing our day-to-day operations, client services and sales; Alex will partner with me to deliver Concept Jam workshops, group trainings and to provide advice on other projects as needed. Morgan will continue to support both of our work, working at Social Signal as our Operations Manager and as the new Partner Liaison at Emily Carr.

On projects that require additional expertise or more hands on deck, we'll continue to draw on our great network of colleagues and partners.  Whether it's Natasha's technical prowess and project management chops, Aaron's Drupal prowess and community animation skills, or Channing's social media strategy insight and sharp eye for entrepreneurial opportunities for organizations, we like to know we can turn to the extended Social Signal family for a wide range of skills and expertise when the demand arises. (On that note, I've recently started working with David Eaves on our second engagement together. And between his grasp of negotiation strategy and keen understanding of organizational dynamics, he lends a whole new facet to what we can offer clients.)

We're excited about this new structure, which focuses on assembling the best team for each specific project, as an extension of the trajectory we've been on for the past four years.When we first moved from doing all our development work in-house, to partnering with great developers like Affinity Bridge, Work at Play and Agentic, we discovered that we got better results – and the bandwidth to take on a broader range of projects – by selecting the best development team for each specific projects. Now we'll have the flexibility to build the perfect all-around team as well.

Most crucially, this new structure gives Alex and me the flexibility to focus on the work we're most passionate about: the teaching, brainstorming, training, inspiring and creating. Growing and running a company is its own full-time job, and as Social Signal has grown, that part of the job has become bigger and bigger. Instead, both Alex and I want to be working with our clients, their stakeholders, and the fascinating ideas, insights and discoveries that social media can offer. It's been a great four years for Social Signal... and they're just the beginning.

When you’re living on the streets, though, it’s more than just discomfort. Cold, wet feet can quickly become agonizing to walk on – adding a big barrier to finding a job, food or shelter for the night.

And I’m going to let Kate Dugas from ChangeEverything.ca take it from here:

A few months after its launch, ChangeEverything and the people that make up the community here, made a difference in the lives of some people living on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with successful drive for warm clothing during a particularly bitter cold snap. Since 2006 we have used ChangeEverything.ca to collect thousands and thousands of items of warmth for folks living in the DTES of Vancouver..

Cold wet feet are a huge reason people living on the street get sick and even die in the winter. Getting clean dry socks to local shelters is a great way to help alleviate this problem. So this year we are focusing on socks!

So start looking through your closets and drawers. We’ll take mis-matched socks that are clean and in good condition. But even better, we’ll take ones that you went out and bought especially for this purpose. Reply with a comment on this post if you have leads on enormous quantities of socks, or if you just have a few pairs or even one pair to give. Each pair will totally make a difference. It’s true. Believe it.

I am also working on having a Vancity “Got Socks” account opened. Watch this space.

Kate

PS -oh and please spread the word. tweet this. add it to your facebook. emai your friends about it, heck post it to your fridge! see if your kids want to take up a collection at school for socks. whatever you can think of, the wackier the better.

Just leave a comment on her blog post to tell Kate you have socks to donate. And click here to pass the word along on Twitter!