ChrisTalbot.com

Thoughts on the Outdoor Adventure Show

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:11:00 +0000

It had been at least ten years since I'd last attended the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto, but with three others in tow on the Saturday, I braved the trip across the city to Airport Road to attend this year's show. As with the last time, it didn't disappoint.

Presented by Ontario Tourism and produced by National Event Management, the Outdoor Adventure Show caters to adventure enthusiasts, with more than 300 exhibitors that offer products and services that include travel, diving, cycling, hiking, camping, canoeing and kayaking, and eco-tourism.

Arriving shortly after opening, I walked into the hall and right into the Tent City booth, where I discovered several good deals on pieces of gear. With no interest in toting around bags of loot from the get-go, I made a note of the booth and decided to return on my way out.

The most interesting exhibitors were the ones related to camping, even though most of those were there to sell equipment to the outdoors enthusiasts visiting the show. I kept my spending to a minimum but made mental notes about several suppliers and vendors (to be looked up at a later date online).

Perhaps the show's biggest downfall is the myriad of exhibitors that had nothing to do with the outdoors or adventure and made little effort to connect themselves with the overall theme. Whether it was someone trying to get me to sign up for a Visa or Scotiabank offering a new type of savings account or Sony sporting its brand of high-def TVs (putting outdoors shows on the TVs doesn't really count), the show was scattered with examples of vendors that really shouldn't have been on the floor.

Even some of the travel destinations weren't trying very hard. While the Caribbean tourism boards in attendance talked mostly about diving, there were a few others that were more focused on simply getting people to go hang out on resorts or take luxury cruises. The spirit of the show was lost on those exhibitors.

Thankfully, the useless vendors were far outnumbered by vendors who really understood the show's mentality. We ended up spending more than four hours wandering the hall, ending our day waiting for the youngest member of our group to meet Terry "Mantracker" Grant and have his picture taken with him.

All in all, the Outdoor Adventure Show was a day well spent. I saw a lot of cool things, made note of a few places I would like to go in the future, and returned home with a far lighter wallet.

Services

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:27:00 +0000

Good communication is key if you want to get your message out there and have it heard (and read). I offer a range of services that can help you get your message across to your present and future customers, partners and employees. My services include:

Writing newspaper/magazine copy
Advertorial writing
Media/press release writing
Newsletter writing
Web content writing
Marketing writing
Ghost writing
Editing
Book editing
Proofreading

Do you need a writer to get your message across? Do you need an editor to polish your manuscript? Then don't hesitate to email me for a quote.

The Road of Life is Full of Shades of Grey

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:55:00 +0000

I'd like to announce the release of the ebook The Road of Life is Full of Shades of Grey: Every Day is a Winding Road, created, edited and compiled by Michelle Warren.

Many people contributed to the ebook, each providing one page of content. I number among them.

You can download the entire ebook here.

Social networking: The importance to business

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:33:00 +0000

Social networking isn't restricted to personal use. Instead, it is also a valuable business tool, and it's becoming increasingly important for entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes to make use of the social networking tools at their disposal.

The problem is the benefits from engaging in social networking are often intangible. While I've spoken to a handful of people that have found net new business through LinkedIn and one person who got job interviews as a result of Twitter posts, it seems that for the most part, social networking is a place for business to sink time and money.

However, the benefits of social networking come from the exposure you can get from simply being there and being active. LinkedIn was developed to be an online business networking tool. Facebook has groups and fan pages that you can use to market your business. And Twitter offers interested people a way to get your news and views in a timely fashion.

There are two dangers I want to focus on related to social networking, though.

The dead zone
A tool that isn't being used isn't really much of a tool. While it's okay for your hammer or screwdriver to sit around until they're needed, it's not okay to ignore your social networking initiatives. A stagnant Twitter feed is a dead Twitter feed, and a Facebook page that hasn't been updated in several months might as well not even exist.

Businesses that jump into the social networking world need to make sure they have someone who is managing it effectively.

Spewing garbage into the ether
There's the difference between a personal touch and too much information. The former is good, and the latter will create a social networking disaster. Understand there's a fine line between being personable and telling others too much about your personal life in a public forum.

Stay professional. Now, that may mean different things to different people, but if you find yourself tweeting from the urinal in your local bar, you're probably going way too far.

The end result
While I use LinkedIn for keeping track of my network of professional contacts, I have not yet found its true value in generating new business (but others will surely tell you it's there). I've had suggestions for developing new business, but my LinkedIn efforts have not yet generated new business.

Twitter, on the other hand, I see as a valuable marketing tool. While I can't prove that it's driving traffic or potential clients to me, my suspicion is that it will eventually yield results. Time will tell if it really happens.

Writing Samples

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:53:00 +0000

Here you'll find a selection of writing samples on external sites. This is only a selection of the thousands of articles my byline has been attached to.

Business

Partners have to change the way they deal with customers at eChannelLine (Aug. 26, 2009)

Technology

Data centres increasingly seen as critical business priority at eChannelLine (Aug. 14, 2009)
Friday File: Game on, students at eChannelLine (April 21, 2005)
Friday File: The proof is in the petition on eChannelLine (Jan. 27, 2005)
Friday File: The HP inkjet cartridge conspiracy at eChannelLine (Feb. 24, 2005)
Data leakage as much a physical and behavioral problem as network issue at eChannelLine (Sept. 30, 2008)

Music

Slipknot interview at Extreme Online

Video Games

Punch-Out!! for Wii (review) at Game-Over.net (July 7, 2009)
Halo: Combat Evolved for PC (preview) at Game-Over.net (Sept. 10, 2003)

Cabin fever sets in

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:59:00 +0000

It's the middle of winter, and enjoying the Canadian outdoors means cold temperatures, gloomy weather and a lack of active wildlife. The splendour of freshly fallen snow -- followed by the aching muscles of clearing the driveway -- is missing in action. Instead, we're stuck with the cold, the wind and even rain. There's an element of regret that I didn't take better advantage of the outdoors during the summer months of 2009, but already I'm making plans to explore the out of doors much more this year.

It's almost cliché to say that the Canadian outdoors offers a lot -- particularly here in Ontario where we have those "Ontario, Yours To Discover" advertisements that have been trying for years to convince Ontarians to get out and experience all the province has to offer.

Like many others, I grew up outside. That doesn't mean I was outdoors every hour of every day, but it does mean I was camping almost from the time I was born and fishing from the time I could barely hold a rod. I built snowmen, had snowball fights, soaked the neighbourhood with water guns and stopped to watch squirrels playing or raccoons duck for cover in the early morning. As a budding amateur photographer, some of my favourite subjects were wild animals (one of my favourite photos my parents took of me is a very young me feeding a chipmunk peanuts from my outstretched hand).

Many factors have led to this cabin fever I'm now experiencing, including a successful September camping trip in the Parry Sound area, a continually-growing friendship with a fellow gamer and outdoorsman, learning about foraging, becoming more familiar with modern (lightweight) camping gear, and some creative non-fiction for a potential job.

And now here I am, stuck indoors without proper winter outdoors attire wishing the spring would hurry up and get here so I can go face the mosquitoes and blackflies.

Credits & Clients

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:43:00 +0000

My byline has appeared in several different publications, as well as on various websites. Here's a selection of where my byline has been spotted:

Technology

eChannelLine
Communications & Networking
Computing Canada
Network World Canada
Silicon Valley NORTH
Toronto Computes!
Visual Convergence

General News

The East York Observer
The Original Bay News

Beer & Mead

The CABA Times (newsletter of the Canadian Association of Amateur Brewers)

Clients

In addition to work I've done for newspapers, magazines and newsletters, I also do content generation, press release writing and ghost-writing for businesses. A partial list of clients is below:

Ontario Power Generation
Treefrog Interactive Inc.

About Me

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:24:00 +0000

I've wanted to be a writer since I was about ten years old. Of course, back then I also wanted to be an actor, a private investigator and Superman. I dabbled in acting in school. I still think I could do the PI job. And since I have no superpowers and that Clark Kent guy has the Superman job (man, what job security!), I focused on the writing thing.

I wrote almost every day through high school, coming up with wild fictions about anything you can imagine. However, knowing I'd probably have to take some crappy job to support a "career" as a novelist and short fiction writer, I focused on something that would pay better and be as rewarding -- journalism. I went to college, overcame a serious shyness streak and learned all about the top-down news writing approach.

College ended and I've been writing professionally ever since. I've written about technology, video games, music, business, science, biotechnology, homebrewing and other topics. I can write serious or add a healthy dose of humour and creativity.

I take an active interest in a lot of things. I love beer, mead, wine, whisky and the process in which they are made. I brew my own beer and mead at home. If it wasn't illegal, I'd likely experiment with distilling. I love board and war games -- and have a sizable collection. I'm a movie buff. My music collection is so large that it no longer fits on my iPod. Although I took some years away from it, I absolutely love the outdoors, particularly hiking, camping and fishing (even though I'm a lousy angler). I'm a gadget geek. I read comic books and graphic novels. When the mood strikes me, I paint 28mm scale miniatures.

I simply have far too many hobbies. Life really is that interesting.

The DIY mentality

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:13:00 +0000

There's no feeling quite like being able to point to something and proudly say "I did that," but in a world of fast food, convenience stores, and every necessity and luxury available at the click of a button, the do-it-yourself mentality seems to have gotten lost in the proverbial woods.

Many people have probably experienced elderly (or even not-so-elderly) relatives talking about working a cheese churn when they were younger. Outside of a museum, I'm not sure I've ever even seen a cheese churn. Canning vegetables and pickling seem to have mostly vanished, whereas a generation ago it was much more common. It's so much easier to stop by the local supermarket and buy whatever you need than it is to take a day or two to do the work yourself.

I'm as lazy and time-constrained as the next person, but I enjoy hobbies that are a bit outside the norm. When I took up homebrewing beer and mead in 2007, I had taken up a do-it-yourself hobby, and it quickly became clear that it was not only fun, but also provided a point of pride at the end. Even if I simply followed someone else's recipe, at the end of the fermentation process, I had a beer that I could proudly say was mine -- and even better, it was something I could share.

The time and energy required was minimal when compared to the sense of accomplishment when I poured that first glass of beer for a curious friend.

If a website falls in the ether, does it make a sound?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:10:00 +0000

Anything is better than nothing.

With my inability to design anything but a very simple, HTML-based website that looks like it just stepped out of 1995, the front page of this site has shown nothing more than an "under construction" page for months.

Unhelpful as that is, I have seen the light and relaunched my blog.

Well, not quite. It's an all-new blog, actually. Out with the old and in with the new, as they say.

Stay tuned for further developments.