Daily Blogging: The NaBloPoMo Challenge

I have known about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) since I lived in California and I still plan to participate one November. On November 1, I stumbled upon National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) on WordPress.com. I had a blog post ready to go on my business blog, so I hit "publish" and spent the next 24 hours debating whether I had it in me to publish a blog every... single... day for a month. It wasn't an easy debate. For all of 2013, I have been struggling to write a post once a month. How would I find the time for daily posting?

The prospect of participating with a community of active bloggers is what finally convinced me to make the commitment. Two weeks in and I'm glad I did! I have been writing content every day since I haven't been able to write ahead enough to schedule posts days in advance. It certainly hasn't been easy, but I'm happy with what I have written so far. I am getting more inspired and, most importantly, I am getting more engaged with my blog and blogging in general. I also seem to be attracting a wider audience, but that will be clearer after the month is over.

Hopefully, after a month of daily blogging, I'll settle back into blogging weekly in December and in 2014.

Related articles

• How to Decide Between NaNoWriMo and NaBloBoMo

Different Is Bliss! Blissdom Canada 2013

"I'll be out of the office Thursday and Friday this week. I'm going to a blogging conference that will be mostly women. So, if I come back wearing something pink... you'll know what happened."

That's pretty much what I told my team at work at few days before taking the train to Mississauga for Blissdom Canada 2013. Some context here: I work in video game development, so "normal" to me is a ratio of about 15 women for every 100 men (and that includes HR and Finance!).  When I bought my ticket, I knew that this conference would be something completely different and I'm not talking about learning/networking/partying with around 300 women (and a few men) for three days. Something completely different is exactly what I was looking for!

My bliss started weeks before the event. I won my hotel room in a draw for participating in a pre-conference Twitter party. Amazing! Thanks so much to the Blissdom Canada Team and Delta Meadowvale! Check out the great room:

The comfy bed at the Delta Meadowvale

This was followed by a lovely welcome box I received in the mail. I've attended a lot of professional conferences and this was definitely a first.

Sponsor samples from Sunlight and Philosophy

On the subject of sponsors... All conferences have sponsors, but this is the first conference I've been at where the sponsors sincerely try to woo us. I came back from the last conference with a collection of stress toys (what does that say about project managers?):

Stress toys collected at the PMI Global Congress 2012

Arriving at Blissdom, my ride from the GO Train station was courtesy of the wonderful concierge service from Chevrolet Canada and I was greeted at the hotel with this adorable bear, who also supports pancreatic cancer research:

Tempur-Pedic Bear from Sleep Country Canada

Even our conference welcome bags were stuffed with Sponsor goodies:

Conference welcome back Sponsor swag and the Sleep Country Tempur-Pedic travel pillow 

I quickly realized that these Sponsors got it. Here's a conference with 300+ socially connected writers. This was the perfect opportunity to directly connect with consumers and influencers and, for some, it was a two-way connection. If you are looking for feedback on your brand, this would probably be one of the best groups from which to receive it. The Tim Horton's #timspirations suite became a favorite hangout:

One way to connect with your audience...

But I didn't go to Blissdom for the Sponsors. My goal was to learn more about blogging and to learn from the community. Within 30 minutes of arrival, I knew I was in the right place! I think "bloggers" does not adequately describe the Blissdom participants. This was the most diverse group of entrepreneurs I have ever met. I met a fascinating photographer, jewelry maker and kraftswoman in the conference's Handmade Marketplace. At the opening cocktail, I met an inspiring woman with an organic seed business and a food blogger in search of yummy-ness, just to name a few. Throughout the weekend, I also connected with a Social Media Fairy Godmother, an Animated Woman and a Canadian Mom, who are all in my own backyard of Montreal. This really is only a few of the fabulous people I met. I could go on and on.

As for the sessions, some of my favorites were:

• The Art of Creativity, by Jason Theodor
• Taking That First Step microsession with Gillian Duffy
• The Power Hour, which included:
• How Is Your Blog Doing? by Elan Morgan
• How To Succeed By Being A Quitter by Sharon DeVellis
• and inspiring talks by Chris Read, Joe Boughner and Erica Ehm
• An emotional panel on Social Media Etiquette, beautifully summarized by Common Cents Mom

The highlight presentation was Drew Dudley's closing keynote. I wrote a summary of his inspiring talk on my business blog.

So, did I come home wearing something pink? You betcha! My nails were polished bright, sparkly pink at the pyjama party the last night of the conference.

Photo courtesy of Anna Epp Photography

To read more about Blissdom Canada 2013, check out the blogs linked up on their wrap-up post.

Summer Mini-Bloggiesta

Rainy summer weekends are perfect for reading and writing, so it's the ideal time to participate in a mini-Bloggiesta. What is a mini-Bloggiesta? Well, it's the same as the regular event, just shorter and with fewer mini-challenges.

Here's what's on my to-do list this weekend:

1. Write two planned posts for this blog.
• One done. Postponing the other until #2 is done.
2. Write at least one new post for my business blog.
• Done Monday night. Whew! 
• While I was there, I updated my featured posts on the front page.
3. Send the Knowledge Event themes to the volunteers for the for the PMI Community of Practice blog I edit. 
• Done!
4. Find a blog post to republish on the above blog. 
• Done! Just waiting for permission...
5. Participate in the Twitter chat at 10pm today.
• Done!
6. Promote my Sockets and Lightbulbs Facebook page (including this link doesn't count).
7. Do the following Bloggiesta mini-challenges:
• Comment, Comment, Comment by Mom's Small Victories
• Done!
• Easy SEO Tweaks by On A Book Bender
• Done!
• alt motives by Spamantha
• Done!
8. Break apart an old post into three separate posts so I can share them separately.
9. Write custom Blog Follow Email and Comment Follow Email texts.
10. Start an article for an online magazine that had approached me for a contribution.
11. Reconnect with another blogger for a potential guest post.

If I think of anything else to add over the weekend, I'll just update this list.  At the end of the weekend, I'll also update this post with what I accomplished.

Time to get some tea and start writing!

Mini-Bloggiesta Time

This weekend the bloggers behind It's All About Books and There's A Book are hosting a mini-Bloggiesta - a weekend dedicated to improving your blog in the company of fabulous bloggers doing the same thing all around the world. I've participated in the last three and loved it!  I always look forward to when the event rolls around again.

Unfortunately, I have to work and have other commitments this weekend, so I will not be able to spend as much time on Bloggiesta as I would like.  Still, I will try to fit in whatever I can.  I plan to be home in time for the Twitter chat at 10pm tonight and I want to check out the mini-challenge on marketing your blog.  No matter what, I need to write posts, both for this blog and my business blog.

So, if you need to spend some time updating your blog, check out Bloggiesta this weekend. Hope to see you at the starting or finish line!
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Finish Line Update:

Considering I had work and other commitments this past weekend, it turned out to be more of a micro-Bloggiesta for me.  Still, I made some progress:

• Participated in the Twitter chat, met some fabulous bloggers and had a great time!
• Participated in the Marketing Your Blog and Comments Love mini-challenges.
• Wrote my February post for this blog.
• Started writing posts for my business blog, but didn't finish.  I'll chip away at those during the week.
• Tried to set up MyFreeCopyright.com, but never received the confirmation email.  I would love to hear if anyone has any advice on that service.  For those of you who use it, do you find it valuable?

Next Bloggiesta is March 22-24.  I'll make sure I keep the whole weekend reserved for blogging.

Bloggiesta Burrito (Wrap-up)

I was SO looking forward to this edition of Bloggiesta.  When I first signed up, I had grand plans to do all sorts of writing and blog improvements over the three days.  I viewed that weekend as sacred - I would have nothing else on my agenda, except for blogging.  Unfortunately, as the weekend arrived other important and urgent items crept into my weekend plans and my Bloggiesta goals dwindled. Considering how little I have been blogging lately, I am happy that I was able to find a little dedicated time for Bloggiesta.

So how did I do with the remaining goals?

• WRITE! I haven't written a post for my business blog all month.  I have a couple of posts in draft and another forming in my head. In addition, I have been asked to guest post on two other websites.  I need to spend the weekend writing.
• Yeah, well, that didn't go as planned. I got derailed by some bad news regarding a conference presentation proposal, followed by some Treasurer work for my building taking longer than expected.  The guest posts did not get done.  I did get a post up on my business blog, which is more than I have done in a month.  It's progress, but not as much as I would like.
• Clean up my categories on my business blog. 
• That got done the first night.  WordPress made it really easy to get it done quickly.
• Participate in a mini-challenge.  In particular, I want to check out the WordPress v. Blogger mini-challenge hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea.  
• I got this done first thing Saturday morning.  I then checked out the other mini-challenges and wound up completing 5 more:
• Tips for Setting Up Guidelines and Policies (always important!)
• Photo Copyright: Bloggers Doing Right By The Graphics We Use! (helpful for finding more sources for free/inexpensive photos and graphics)
• Six Techniques To Revitalize Your Old Content (some great suggestions)
• Grade Yourself! (Using a website grader - no surprises, but good to check)
• How To Use Evernote (Got me using it for more than clipping websites, plus I learned about The Secret Weapon!)
• Improve the visual appearance of both blogs.  
• Sadly, didn't get to this at all.  Next time... or it's something I'll do over Christmas.
• Ramp-up new editors for the PMI-Agile Community of Practice blog I edit and schedule a few more posts.
• I got the ramp-up part done just before midnight on Sunday.  Whew!  Just under the wire.
• Added during the weekend: Put "Popular Posts" on my sidebar, thanks to 6 Techniques To Revitalize Old Content mini-challenge.
• Didn't get to this.  However, I did revitalize a couple of really old posts in the new blog post written for my business blog.  So, I still put that mini-challenge toward my original goals.  I consider that a win.

In the end, it was a productive weekend, even if it wasn't as productive (for blogging) as I had hoped.  This was my 3rd Bloggiesta.  I still find it fun and helpful to virtually hang out with a cool group of book bloggers and write, improve my blogs or just swap tips and tricks.  I would highly recommend the experience to any blogger.

I'll Be Joining The Bloggiesta Party!

Yay! Bloggiesta is back for the second time this year! Now everyone knows what I will be doing the weekend of Sept 28 to 30!  I first participated in the event in January 2011 and again in March of this year.  Both times I had a fun and productive blogging weekend and I'm always excited when it returns. In past Bloggiestas, I wrote posts related to the event on my professional blog.  This time I'll write my updates on this blog to keep my other blog focussed on management topics.

What is Bloggiesta, you ask?  From There's A Book blog (one of this year's hosts): it’s a blogging marathon devoted to ticking off items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing.   Started by Natasha of Maw Books Blog, I discovered it when WordPress featured a blog about the event on the Freshly Pressed page.  Even though the event is open to all bloggers, many of the participants are book bloggers who I discovered are a wonderful community to learn and share ideas about writing and blogging.   The event even has it's own mascot, Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize).  Mexican-themed food and drinks are optional but can be an added bonus to the event :)

Mini-challenges are part of the event and a great way to building your blogging know-how.

If you want to join in the fun, you can sign up here.

I have already started thinking about my to-do list for the weekend.  There are quite a number of improvements to my professional blog that need to be done and I have to decide what I want to do with this blog.  Stay tuned!

Power Memoire

Since starting my professional blog on WordPress, I have not been investing any effort on my personal blog.  It's also a good indication on what has been going on in my life the past year - mostly just work and home with some travel and a bit of a social life thrown in.  However, I couldn't resist yesterday's challenge on the Daily Post blog from the folks at WordPress.com:  Write a power sentence for every year of your life.  With a house full of guests snoring away while I write, Sunday morning is a good time to reflect.  So, here it goes:

1. Came into this world with copper red hair and moved to the town where I grew up.
2. Discovered a love of music and an irrational fear of showers and car washes.  (As I got older, the love grew and the fear thankfully disappeared.)
3. A series of very good things: parents divorced, moved back into the house where I would grow up, and learned to speak English at day care.
4. I had enough pennies because I saved them, thank you very much.
5. Had the best day care teacher ever, who taught and challenged me to read 100 books.
6. Helped my friends learn to read.
7. Started school and loved it.
8. Making and keeping friends was more complicated than I had thought.
9. Visited my grandmother in Germany for the first time and traveled to Majorca.
10. Got straight A's and was then challenged to maintain those marks.
11. Mom opened her own real estate office and introduced me to the world of business.
12. Got really good at shooting hoops.
13. Inspired by Gordon Korman, I wrote my first book! (My book is still in my filing cabinet, though.)
14. Started high school and was a little less bored.
15. 3-1/2 week tour of Europe with my mom.
16. If you like technology and you're good at math and science, you could get a full scholarship - hell, yeah, I'll become an Engineer!
17. Growing up in a small, rural town made getting my driver's license and first car a major step forward for my independence.
18. It was all about graduating high school and moving on.
19. Moved across the country and started University.
20. Decided that no matter how hard I studied, I wasn't going to have the same marks I had in high school, so I would try having a life instead.
21. Fell in love, or at least I thought so at the time.
22. Got work (school)/life balance right and succeeded at both... at least until graduation.
23. Moved to Toronto and started my first job, which is still influencing me today.
24. Discovered physical chemistry with a young man who treated me like his queen.
25. 154 hours of overtime in the snowiest January Toronto had ever seen - time to go find my fame and fortune elsewhere.
26. Moved to California, where I started my second job, and rediscovered work/life balance for awhile.
27. Went back to school and truly appreciated it.
28. Fatefully fell in love with the man who became my husband.
29. Learned to ignore the "shoulds" while planning the wedding.
30. Got married, changed jobs, moved back to Canada and was part of something that can be found in the Guinness Book of World records.
31. Traveled the world while trying to focus on buying and settling in our first home.
32. Joined the video game industry and rebuilt my professional confidence.
33. Really learned what being a manager is all about... the hard way.
34. Separation knocked me on my butt, but I still moved to Montreal for me.
35. Properly dated my husband for the entire year and learned to understand him a lot better.
36. A few months of being Mrs. Awesome, both professionally and personally.
37. Patiently trying to make the best out of difficult situations.
38. Making progress... and it's Batman!
39. Year #25 redux, but stuck around.
40. Proved what I've been preaching, then spent a month in Australia to celebrate!

Not bad for only one sentence per year. I'll come back about once a year and update this.

Just a Blog

With the passing into a new month, and having a weekend to myself for the first time in two months, I thought it was a good time to update my blog. Then I started thinking about what has been going on in my life since Thanksgiving. It's been less than a month since my last blog post, but it feels like much longer.

Insanity at work continues. I once worked with a project manager who compared long, difficult projects with giving birth to a baby. I think it's a perfect description for several of our projects at work. The biggest "baby" is taking most of my time and energy and trying all of our patience. It's confirming my long held belief in the importance of adequate project planning and having simple processes to deal with and communicate change. For anyone who has complained about their project manager, please imagine what life would be like without one at all. Just think about what it would be like to work in chaos. For those of you who work with one, go give your project manager a pat on the back. Mixed in all the project fun was, I kid you not, a 40 minute debate on the word "yet" in one of our soon-to-be-published company values. I know words are important, but c'mon, that was unnecessary.

On a better note, my social life is active and I'm trying to pace myself well.

D and I did a road trip to Cobden, Ontario to see his sister and family. I was looking forward to a drive filled with Fall colours. Instead, it was pouring rain. We had better weather on the drive back, but many of the trees were bare from the storm. On the way up we stopped by La Gantoise in Lefaivre, Ontario to pick up some Belgian Blue Beef. I was told about this place from xtreme foodies friends, who also wanted me to pick up orders for them... which they forgot to place. Oh well, I now have a couple of exceptional roasts in the freezer. It was great to see the in-laws, which I haven't seen in about 3 years. The kids are growing up fast!

Halloween is big in Montreal. Two sets of friends, one from Kingston, one from Kitchener, came up for the event. Halloween night I had two events - a birthday party at a great cocktail and tapas place called L'Assommoir, followed by meeting the out-of-town friends and D at a goth club on St. Laurent. Both were costumed events and I amazingly pieced together a French Maid outfit from clothes already in my wardrobe. (Yes, pieces of it were from another costume.) The festivities didn't end with Halloween night. The next day, L wanted to go to mass at St. Joseph's Oratory (pictured above), which gave me an opportunity to see that Montreal landmark. That night was a French Cassoulet dinner followed by accompanying the out-of-town friends to another goth club on St. Denis. Unfortunately, I was so tired from staying out late the night before and the rich cassoulet dinner that I had to call it a night relatively early. After two nights dressed in black for goth clubs, I didn't wear any black on the Sunday.

I watched the US election at home and was happy to see that my American friends had a real choice this election. I was also happy to see that America was ready to elect Obama. He has a big job ahead of him...

One MEETin friend is heading back to Nairobi this week so a few of us had a send-off dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant near Jean Talon market. We all hope A gets another UN project here in Montreal and we see her here again soon.

Last night I hosted an Alumni event - a university hockey game against a long time rival school. I'm happy to say that the few Alumni and students in attendance were good ambassadors for my Alma Mater. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the host students, particularly those from the Rugby team. I remember what it's like to be a student, cheering for your team and putting down the other team, but these students only put down the other team and rather viciously at that. It just made them look bad.

Whenever I log in to update my blog, I check out the latest Blogs of Note. I'm adding a link to the One Minute Writer blog. I highly recommend my writing friends check it out. Now I just need to follow my own advice...