This week has been crazy busy with NXNE and NXNEi taking place. I’ve been attending NXNE since I moved to Toronto five years ago and have covered it for a variety of online sites, including my own blogs. I was really excited to hear that they decided to launch an Interactive component to the already successful NXNE Music & Film Festival.
I met up with the lovely Casie for the panels and I was very impressed with the panels and their content. One thing that most people noted was that there was no WiFi access for attendees. For an interactive event this was a pretty big NoNo and really the only negative thing I heard anyone say. There is a promise of free WiFi at next year’s NXNEi so let’s hope it happens.
I sat in on four panels: Amber Mac’s “Architects Of Community”; Jamie Woo’s “Social Media Circle Jerking 101″; Scott Stratten’s “Stop Marketing, Start Engaging. Social Media and Viral Marketing”; and the Women in Social Media panel titled “Thank you for being a friend: Tips, traits and tactics of successful women in tech and social media”.
I have been to a couple of Scott Stratten‘s presentations and I admire that he has created a strong personal brand with hard work and passion. He covered everything from his past professional experience (both good and bad) that have led him to creating his Unmarketing online personal brand. I recommend going to an event to hear him speak if you haven’t already.
Social Media Circle Jerk was of course a popular panel, that discussed how people and organizations use social media that annoys their followers instead of engaging them. They also touched on what kind of content users post on Twitter, including being critical of others online, censorship and posting personal tweets on business profiles. Speakers were Kevin Airgid, Mark Evans, Andrew Lane, Michael Dolan and moderated by Jamie Woo.
Architects of Community featuring Alan Cross, Amber Mac and Erica Ehm was one of the most interesting panels in my opinion. The topic was building communities through social media and learning how they grew them with limited resources. It was interesting to hear that the key point was again being authentic and the level of engagement you have with your community.
Women in Social Media featured Lucia Mancuso, April Dunford, Guinevere Orvis and Amrita Chandra and it was a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere for this panel. Three main topics were discussed – gender and technology, mentors and online identity. Their main points for success were: setting clear goals, seeking out mentors, and asking questions. These women were the highlight panel of my NXNEi experience and it really got me thinking about my business model and plans for the future.
I had a great time at NXNEi and really learned alot. I can’t wait to see what next’s years conference will bring. Thanks to Jason for stopping us to take photos!
NXNE 2010 starts tomorrow and I can’t wait. This year they have added an Interactive conference to the Music & Film component and I am really looking forward to attending tomorrow.
This year, NXNE’s music lineup features 650 bands over five days and 50 venues with an awesome free lineup at Yonge and Dundas Square which includes The Raveonettes (8 pm on Sat. 19th), Iggy and the Stooges (9:30 pm on Sat. 19th), and De La Soul (9 pm on Sun. 20th) but also 21 other great bands over four days (Thurs. 18th – Sun. 20th). There are also free shows all over the city. You can get tickets for single showcases at the door of the venues or you can purchase a 5 day festival ($150) or 1 day festival ($25) wristbands online
Yesterday was 4/20, as you probably all know. I cut my work day short and went to meet Casie at work so we could go to the Hot Box Cafe and watch Raymi & The Harlettes perform. It was a beautiful day and we met up with Sabrina and Alex on our way. I was feeling so happy and inspired walking down Queen in the sun, with 3 babes.
We got to Hot Box and I got ID’d! It made my day even better that I don’t look 19. There was an awesome reggae band playing when we first got there – the guys name was Sun Ray (sp?) – and a ton of cool peeps hanging out and doing their 4/20 thing.
They had a munchies menu and servers walking around the patio with trays of drinks, sandwiches and brownies. I had the yummiest vegan sandwich – tomato, avocado, sprouts, cucumber & spicy hummus – and a pink lemonade.
We watched the Harlette’s perform on the rooftop (hard to get a clear photo) sans Raymi – she danced in the earlier performance which you can see on her blog HERE. And then Chesty LaRue did a solo performance. She is hot and a really great performer. I love burlesque dancers and always wanted to be one. Maybe I’ll try it out someday.
After Harlettes 2 members of The Salads performed an acoustic set, which was awesome. We sat on the patio in the sun for a couple hours and then Shaun came in with a nice surprise before he went to get tattooed. I love Shaun, he’s a real sweetheart and one of my favourite people.
Casie & I finally left around 6:30 and walked down to Queen to go home. She told me about this great store where everything is $12.99 so we went to check it out and I got two cute dresses, a new spring/summer jacket and a really pretty purple shirt. Then we went for a romantic dinner at Chez McD’s where I got my weird version of a Big Mac. I called it the Fry Mac cause it’s a Big Mac with no meat. You wouldn’t believe the strange looks I get from staff and other customers when I ask for no meat. I guess it’s a pretty weird thing to get, but McDonald’s has yet to come out with a veggie burger. It was such a great hang. Casie you’re just a little ray of sunshine in my life
After dinner I hopped on the streetcar to go home and was back in time for Glee! The Power of Madonna episode is the best one I’ve seen all season and it really empowered and inspired me even more. There is something about Madonna that makes you feel like you can do anything. All the songs they covered were amazing – I loved Express Yourself, What it Feels Like for a Girl and my favourite of the night was Like A Prayer with a full choir! That song is so powerful and it was the perfect ending to my day. I can’t find the visual clip but here is an audio version for anyone who didn’t get to hear/see it. Lea Michele can really sing and all of the cast are so talented.
I heard a loud bang and thought that Chad kicked the door because he’s coming home with groceries. I went to open it and no one was there. A minute later my neighbor came down because he heard me and told me that Police just detonated explosives that they found in a storage unit in Scarborough at Leslie St. Spit, and that was what I heard.
