business.creativity.life.

[Originally posted on BIT Blog]

48 hours of gaming-ness is finally upon us and BIT (because it is so amazing) is the Global Game Jam 2010 Ottawa chapter host. Students are being brought together the world over during a 48 hour time-frame where they find out the theme of this year’s competition on the Friday night and by Sunday they have produced a fully functioning video game to be submitted and judged. This is the second year that we are hosting the event and it looks like it may be a full house, with a waiting list of participants even traveling from Montreal just to participate and judges from all disciplines of the gaming world we can’t wait to see the results. If you’re not participating in GGJ (ie: in the event itself, being a volunteer, etc) hopefully the live tweets (with #GGJOttawa) and final results will inspire you to get involved next year at least. Stay tuned for the results!

I volunteered for this event last year and thought it was the coolest thing! Despite my lack of so-called ‘gaming’ abilities I will be participating this year primarily to do 3D and graphics. Be sure to follow me (@amandaemmanuel) or BIT Degree (@BITDegree), the host of the Ottawa chapter, for live tweets on the weekend long event.

I love these videos! Can’t get enough of them!

In today’s world of opportunity there are so many paths, so many options for each of us to embark on and make our own. But what happens when things don’t pan out the way we had envisioned? How do we pick ourselves up and move onto the next experience? With the oldest trick in the book: positive thinking.

Negative experiences are bound to come anyone’s way, scaling from disappointment to detriment. But when encouraged to see the silver lining to any situation, it becomes easier to turn a frown upside-down. I believe that thinking positively about any situation can only work in your favor, what do you have to lose? Positive thinking is a form of self-motivation, thinking ‘I will get that promotion’ or ‘I am getting an A on this paper’ is the first stepping-stone to your action plan. By taking a pessimistic approach one would most likely be bogged down with negativity and never think to make a risk, or take the plunge; stepping outside of your boundaries is what life is about. I think my approach intertwines with the concept of ‘karma’ in a way, since the ‘what goes around, comes around’ philosophy behind it can only be beneficial if taken with a positive attitude, right?

In dire situations, finding the motivation to think positively is a daunting task and sometimes negative results will seem like they are always coming your way despite it all. But that’s where thinking optimistically can prove as a coping mechanism as well. I’m not saying that it’s easy, but I am a firm believer that the results of positive thinking can only make you stronger and better prepared for life’s obstacles.

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed just a little boost of motivation to either make your idea or reality or keep pushing through the one you’re working on? Well, this video ‘Entrepreneurs Can Change the World’ developed by Grasshopper (and brought to my attention by the Sprouter blog) is a gem that needs to be tucked away in your vault of motivational tools. Using simple graphics and words of motivation the video enlightens and inspires viewers to take flight with their thoughts. Check it out and see for yourself!

A great video that consolidates and summarizes today’s technology statistics and gives insightful predictions about the future of information technology due to the advancements of social media.

After an impeccable presentation by Saul Colt at the SproutUp Ottawa meetup tonight I just felt compelled to relay the tips Mr. Colt so effortlessly indicated to us entrepreneur-hopefuls about how to run a business. His interesting approach of educating us about business by highlighting its parallels with the world of dating was just one of the ways he brought across thought provoking information in a refreshing manner. In case you weren’t able to attend, here are the details:

In any dating pursuit, you have the basic steps: 1. the introduction, 2. the attraction, 3. courting, 4. dating 5. love. Here is how each of these sequential steps can be used to establish happy, loyal customers in your business.

1. The introduction – you need to introduce the world to your product and do it well such that the user can interface with the product or service without your intermediary help

2. The attraction – your product needs to be attractive, people once introduced to it need to have an intrinsic need to want to know more about what your product is and what it can do for them

3. Courting & 4. Dating – Take the time and effort to make a strong if not personal connection with your customers. Let them know you care in simple ways, whether it be a hand-written thank you card or just some gratitude for a re-tweet

5. Love – You want people to fall in love with your product/service, because everyone loves to be in love which in turn makes them want to broadcast it or share it. 

6. ‘So now that you have love, what are you going to do with it?’ – This is where maintenance comes in. Once you have established a need for your product you have to continually produce functionalities and results that will grow and benefit your end users; because if they’re not going to love you there will always be more fish in the sea for them to love.

That’s the gist of it, @SaulColt delivered the talk with much more panache than I can deliver in a simple blog post, he is simply an awesome person with a wonderful sense of humor and extensive knowledgeability. He effectively made his own niche within the corporate world by working with companies such as FreshBooks and Zoocasa to get them to get more bang for their buck and maximize their ROI. If you ever get the chance he really is someone whom you should meet, they don’t call him ‘the head of magic’ for nothing!

SproutUp Ottawa was honestly my most anticipated meetup to-date. Sprouter is an online community geared towards entrepreneurs as it’s an online tool that lends itself to connecting veteran and budding entrepreneurs world-wide. To help promote the tool and the communities it is establishing, Sprouter has been to Toronto, New York City and now Ottawa to have face-to-face meetups for Sprouter members and those keen to join. This event definitely did not disappoint! With presentations from Aydin Mirzaee for Fluid Surveys, Scott Annan for Network Hippo and Saul Colt for Zoocasa the evening was filled with resourceful information, helping hands and most importantly: laughter!

Whether you are a dot-com-millionaire or someone who just heard about entrepreneurship 2 minutes ago, tonight’s SproutUp Ottawa meetup was a must-attend event. The overall environment and mood of the evening was one of ease and relaxation all revolving around the understanding of learning and meeting new people. Everyone was cheerful and friendly, all willing to share their entrepreneurial story and lend a helping in any capacity. Between the Girl Geek Dinner on Tuesday evening and today’s SproutUp Ottawa meetups I felt like I was attending a social media tour and collecting business cards as MVP trading cards along the way! In two days, the people I have met and the conversations I have had have been so intrinsically rewarding. Everyone hesitates to attend those pesky ‘networking events’ especially after a long day of work, but honestly at both events I never once felt like I was ‘networking’. Conversations and demeanors were similar to those with old friends full of laughter, funny stories and insightful information all over yummy food and drinks. I can’t wait for the next SproutUp meetup and am tempted to make a day trip to Toronto for their next monthly meetup (October 14th). Even if the trip doesn’t pan out I’ll be sure to maintain more of a profile of awesome upcoming events such as Girl Geek Dinner, SproutUp and more in the future.

On Tuesday evening I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Girl Geek Dinner (Ottawa Chapter) with social media maven Tara Hunt at the Black Tomato in downtown Ottawa. The place was packed with women all buzzing to meet new people and talk about the latest and greatest in technology, and to a fellow geek like me that aspect alone was enough to keep me there into the wee hours of the night. But to make it an even more exciting night, for a social media junkie like myself, getting to hear Ms Hunt speak (about anything, really) was the cherry on top.

Tara Hunt has been making waves in the social media world for quite some time and one of her latest endeavors, a book titled The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Media Networks to Power Your Business has brought across useful, applicable information in a simple and practical way. On Tuesday evening she spoke candidly about her journey to and through entrepreneurship including how she struggled, being a single mother, as well as how she prevailed. Girl Geek Dinner was such an awesome event to go to since it was a small setting I was lucky enough to speak to Ms Hunt personally  (and get her to sign my Whuffie Factor book!!). The amazing part about meeting her was to see how ‘real’ she actually is. Yes, she has an awesome book, has started a lot of cool companies and has thousands of followers on Twitter but at the end of the day talking to her was like talking to one of my girlfriends. She has her struggles and success stories just like anyone else but she’s not afraid to let others know where she came from and how she got there because she genuinely wants to help people and make them realize the potential they have to make a difference.

All in all attending GGD Ottawa was one of the best things I did this week, and yes it was a bit scary to meet and introduce myself to complete strangers but in the end I am so glad I did. I met some of the coolest people (@saucy_15 @edwardog @bethmaru @juliehache @Chocolat_noir @sequindawn @serenangai) and had some amazing conversations and good laughs. I can’t wait for the next event, and I hope we can get more fellow geeky girls to come out too!

Fantastic video that summarizes interesting social media statistics and trends. The video also creatively illustrates how the various social media platforms are being used throughout the world.

Sprouter is yet another addition to the world of social media and online communities, except this time it’s targeted to one primary domain: entrepreneurs. The website is geared towards global networking and collaboration between entrepreneurs. Better yet, founder and CEO, Sarah Prevette, is a fellow Canadian! 

Sprouter is definitely a great initiative that enables valuable connections and information for anyone interested in entrepreneurship. But before you get too excited, unfortunately it’s still in private-testing and is issuing members by invite only. But there may be a silver lining for the eager entrepreneurs of Ottawa.Erin Bury, of RedWire, has taken liberties to create a ‘Sprout Up Ottawa‘ Meetup group for all of us Sprouter enthusiasts to get connected. Their first meetup is coming up fast: September 16 at The Velvet Room (see details below). So don’t wait, get involved and let your entrepreneurial ambitions sprout!

Sprout Up Ottawa Meetup Details

When: September 16 (6-9 pm)

Where: The Velvet Room

62 York Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A1
(613)241-6810 

Details: Sprout Up Ottawa Meetup Group