Wednesday this week kicks off NXNE! I absolutely love this festival. Think SXSW more Canadian. I’ve been attending and doing giveaways for NXNEi since 2010 (photos below). I spoke on two panels last year about the Psychology of Narcissism and on Social Giveaways.
This year, the Interactive festival runs June 12-14, is curated by FITC and two lucky people, will win a pass to attend. You’ll get to experience the intersection of media, technology and culture with the world’s best visionaries and leaders. It’s not hard to win. Tweet this button and you’re in. I’ll pick a winner at two on Tuesday, as in tomorrow, June 11th.
I’m passionate about innovation. It’s what is driving us forward and building the future. Last week at Ford’s Go Further conference, innovation came up in every talk about technology, design, sustainability. At Banff World Media two weeks before, I introduced you to the concept INNOVATE OR DIE on my show. If you are not constantly innovating your business, yourself, your thoughts, you will be left behind. The title of my recent interview in TechVibes was ‘Survival of the Fittest’, you gotta focus on making yourself better.
Watch this video. You will be inspired:
We are living in an extraordinary time, ‘embrace your inner trouble maker’. Let’s build a better future. NEVER STOP DREAMING.
My favorite line is ‘intellectually seductive’. That’s what I wanna be. I wanna stimulate your brain and make you think. I want to get your mind all riled up and excited. Cause movement in your corpus. Get your central nervous system going.
Thank you kindly to Julian Shenoy for tweeting me this. It was the first message I saw this morning and an AWESOME way to start the day.
Last week I attended the FW 2012 preview from Levi’s at The Burroughs Building, one of my favourite venues in the city. I’ve been a lover of the Levi’s brand since I had my first pair as a kid. I remember how excited was to rock my first 501s.
I was happy to see the brand taking a stept outside the denim box into lifestyle clothing. I’d really in love with the little dress. There’s a bunch of denim dresses in the SS collection I would love to be wearing right now.
It was nice to see some creativity in the fashion show. You’ll see how the models each came out and walked the stage playing ‘characters’ who wear Levi’s.
There was a few couples dressed in similar styles, the preppy kids, hipster boy with a fixie to show lock holder on jeans, pretty girl in the dress, and suave babe in blazer. It was nice.
Not to mention the whole performance starting with shirtless hunk.
Watch The Video:
I’m pretty sure every fashion editor in the city was there.
We watched all the models get dressed in different styles right before our eyes.
This guy was the babe of all babes.
Last year I wrote a piece for The Levi’s Girl blog about building your personal brand.
“Casie Stewart knows a thing or two about leaving an online footprint. Recognized by Klout as one of Toronto’s top tweeters and bloggers, she has plenty of tips on how you can leverage social media channels as an invaluable element to your personal brand.”
Mum used to tell me I was “someone special,” and I guess you could say I believed her. I’ve had lots of different jobs growing up, but my current job is one I only ever dreamed of. When I started a blog, I didn’t think I was starting a brand. In 2009, I was on a TV show and the host asked, “What do you want to be?” I responded without hesitation and said, “I want to be a world brand.” Yes, that was reaching pretty far, but I knew one thing was certain: I was building a personal brand and nothing could stop me.
Not too long after that, social media really started picking up. I was right in the middle of it, spinning a web of content around me via my blog, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. I fell in love with the Internet and social media because it gave me an outlet to let my creativity run wild. That’s the beauty of building a personal brand: creating a representation of who YOU are and sharing it online.
A personal brand is you in an art form; it’s a mix of business and creativity. My mum used to say, “Casie, just because you don’t have money doesn’t mean you can’t compete. You just have to be more creative.” We’re lucky to live in a day and age where you can set a profile, create a voice and build a brand with an idea and the Internet.
Here are some tips on building your personal brand:
Set a goal: Make a plan for your brand. What are you passionate about? What do you want to be known for?
Start a blog: Use WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger or Posterous to create a free home for your online activity.
Find a mentor: Find someone who is doing what you want to do and introduce yourself, learn from them and get inspired.
TGIF: Twitter, Google, Internet, Facebook: Create profiles for yourself online and update them regularly with things that align with your brand.
Get Involved: Seek out events related to your passion and get involved by volunteering. This is a great way to grow your brand, meet others and learn from experts.
I’ve been building my personal brand online for over five years. At first, no one read my blog, and I had no followers on Twitter. We all have to start somewhere but have the potential to go anywhere. In the words of Napoleon Hill, “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
Learned a bunch the last few days at FITC but what really stuck with me was the very last session I went to by Jason Theodor about creativity and how to create more, better different. I have some great notes from the conference I’ll be formulating into a piece an article TAXI. Feeling inspired!
Read this article “Marketing is dead” by Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide. I’ve been a Saatchi fan for as ling as I can remember. Passion for advertising and design started very young. Anyhoo, here’s an excerpt, read the whole thing on The Drum UK here. I reckon you’ll enjoy it.
“We don’t just live in a VUCA world – a volatile, uncertain, ambiguous and complex world – we live in a super VUCA world. We live in a vibrant world where our kids are connecting to each other and to brands across the world with no money involved. To us this is a world that’s gone crazy.
“Strategy is dead. Who really knows that is going to happen anymore in this super VUCA world? The more time and money you spend devising strategies the more time you are giving you rivals to start eating your lunch.
“Management is dead. To win today you need a culture and an environment where the unreasonable power of creativity thrives. Ideas are today’s currency not strategy. Martin Luther King did not say ‘I have a vision statement’ did he? He had a dream. You have to make sure you have dreams and your brand also needs a dream.”
In other news, posted a bunch of bearded babes to my Pinterest board yesterday. If you’re into that, you’ll be REALLY into it. Enjoy the day!
It’s been going around the internet and I have to show you. It really touched my heart.
I had such a WILD imagination when I was a kid. Always starting businesses, telling stories and putting on shows. Don’t ever lose that passion for life. Don’t ever lose that love. Don’t ever stop being a kid
Have a magical day
<3 CASIE
If it makes you feel any better, I bawlllled my eyes out. K. bye.
In 2009 I heard/blogged about this great contest where you make a video about something or someone who inspires you and you’re given the opportunity to win $10,000. Well, the ‘Who Inspires U?’ Video Contest for 2012 has begun and Tri-Cyclen Lo is on a mission to help empower young women across Canada achieve their dreams! They’re are giving $10,000 in cold, hard cash to support your quest for GREATNESS!!
Inspiration is a HUGE part of how I got here and turned my dream into a reality. I’m living it out every single day.
One of the most inspiring people in my life is my Mum, she’s always encouraged me to be myself, be creative and follow what I was really passionate about. This weekend I asked her about inspiration, what it means to her and what inspires her. Here’s a mini interview with my lovely Mum on inspiration, creativity and living a great life. Enjoy! You’ll like her accent I reckon!
The Who Inspires U? contest is open to young Canadian females ages 18-34 (no Quebec, sorry!). There is also a monthly contest with an AWESOME prize pack of an iPad 3, coach bag and Dior fragrance. I just entered. To enter yourself click HERE.
Here some useful links for more information about the overall $10k contest, monthly contest, prizing & video requirements:
Your video must be 5 minutes or less and submitted between March 1st 2012 and May 18th, 2012. All videos will be judged on creativity and entertainment value of the video and your inspirational story and how you are striving to achieve your inspirational dreams, so get creative!! You will have a chance at winning $500 in Round 1 if you are in the Top 3 and a chance at winning our $10,000 Grand Prize in Round 2! Check out the website Toolkit for cool graphics that you can include in your video entry!
Photos by Kelly Krushel. Dress was Mum’s. When you enter PLEASE link your video in the comments and on my FB Page so we can all vote.
Then you found it, what would you sacrifice?Think about it. Then think about what you are searching for and go find it.
Title is a quote from Ian Ruhter who has taken a delivery truck and his life savings to create a massive camera based on the 1800 wet plate technique. It is incredibly interesting and beautiful. It will inspire you, it inspired me.
Following his passion for film photography he travels around American shooting photographs that cost him $500 dollars per image.
My sister Jenie took this cool shot yesterday from the highway on iPhone. So happy she has iPhone.
Found this little guy in our quest to make jewellery. Do you know who he is?
Have a really busy day today. Teaching a private blog lesson in an hour then off to a meeting about upcoming charity event then rushing to studio for a photoshoot for upcoming project. It sounds fun but it’s gonna be a rushed day. Heading to Hoxton later for the launch of P&L Catering. Everyone and their blog will be there I’m sure.
Some staples in my day, good book (know which one?), sunnies (RayBans), stylus (drawing), Macbook, sketchbook for notes, Sharpie pen for writing everything down.
Some friends at Endloop Mobile created this totally awesome app that’s a hybrid between video & photo called Flixel. Check out this one I made the other day. CRAZY cool. I’m gonna make a whole Flixel post soon.
Took this just now off the balcony, it’s beautiful out there. GO! Go out and do something awesome. Maybe it’s just a little walk in the sun. Have fun
Last night at the SAY Media party for DX3 I had the time of my life playing with a parachute. It was so fun/cool/awesome, seriously.
The band man is Rich Aucoin and here are his deets so you can follow him. Canadian and good looking too.
I was shaking the parachute with about a hundred other people. A bunch were in the middle and running from side to side as the parachute went up and down dancing the air. Charlotte from SAY emailed this photo to me after the show and I’m sure there are heaps more in cameras around. Right when photo was taken I was in this totally awesome childlike state where I swear I don’t know if I’ve ever had so much fun. It was absolute bliss.
I’ve said it before and will again, the SAY Media team really know how to throw a party. In conversations last night I learned that lots of people were learning about the company for the first time. This is pretty rad for me because I’ve been working with them for almost a year now. I’m their Canadian ‘poster child’ for social & one of their passionate people building culture. I’ve mentioned them a few times on blog before.
I think lots of old friends were surprised to see my face on their signage. “Hey look, that’s you“
I fell in love with how SAY Media really ‘get it’ the first time I received an email and checked out their site. They work with Passionate Voices connecting us with brands and stuff we like. Last year when I was an Android user, I did a national campaign with HTC. SAY is the first ever real advertising I hooked up with too. Those fancy video ads in my sidebar, that’s them.
I’m heading to DX3 for day two today and will probably be hanging out in their booth when not in a session. Come stop by. Look for these faces:
Know what else was totally rad last night? Turns out Rich from the band knows of me from my old friend Ryan Brooks. Ryan and I were in Australia together years ago. Today is Australia Day! Small world after all. If you text Rich he will send you the album.
