Tech | The FUTURE is HERE: Siri Can Now Send Money via PayPal

Last week I met up w/ Jen aka @jennandthecity for after work drinks, we’ve been meaning to hang out for ages and our schedules finally aligned. It was my first time checking out Bar Reyna in Yorkville which has a gorgeous back patio that feels like an escape from the city. I picked up the tab bc we were in a bit of a hurry and a couple days later, Jenn sent me money via PayPal using Siri. I’ve had PayPal for ages and it’s my fav way to shop online, this new integration makes sending money to friends super easy. If you’ve ever had to pay someone back or been waiting for someone to pay you back, it can be super awkward and/or annoying. Luckily your girl Siri makes it super easy.  Starting November 10th, for the first time in Canada, iPhone users can tell Siri to send or request money through an integration with the PayPal app. A first for Canada, PayPal launches peer-to-peer payments w/ Siri. More here: https://t.co/U2dvZqlYFk #P2Ppayments #sendmoney #remittance pic.twitter.com/MvaJR1qz7N — PayPal Canada (@PayPalCA) November 10, 2016 Once you’ve got the PayPal app [download here if you don’t have it yet!] and your phone is on iOS 10, you’re ready to roll. Wake up Siri and ask him/her to send money to a friend.  Contacts who match the name will pop up, select the person, and voila, Siri will send it. You can 100% send money to someone who isn’t on iPhone and if they person doesn’t have a PayPal account, they’ll be prompted to set one up. Lending money to friends can end bad, on average PayPal found that 30% of Canadians have lost a friend over an IOU. Been there? Me too. In the PayPal Money Habits Study by Koski Research, they found more than 53% of us Canadians find it…

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Tech | Canada’s Leading Digital Media: NextMedia + Digi Awards 2016

Last week I was a speaker at NextMedia, Canada’s leading digital media conference. the 2 day conference focusses on creation, distribution, and monetization of digital media content and technology. Our panel, moderated by Amber Mac, was Blurred Lines: Best Practices for Disclosing Paid Content. I’ve mentioned it a few times how this is a hot topic. My thoughts are that if you are working with someone or got the product/thing as an in-kind donation or gift,, just say so. If you always work on things you genuinely like, being authentic is easy. This isn’t a great photo but it was a memorable moment. Jake said people who will just work for any brand and do it for the money are ‘brand whores’. It’s hard to trust someones opinion if they don’t really have one and they’re just slingin’ stuff at you all the time. Discussing the #BlurredLines on #Disclosure of #Paid #Content via new #Advertising Standards #Rules ☠️ #nextMEDIA16 #handshake A photo posted by Kevin September (@septembersphere) on Nov 10, 2016 at 7:49am PST Amber asked me to be a presenter at the Digis which is the award show closing out the conference.  In it’s 10th year, the awards celebrate Canada’s most successful digital media companies and creators. I wasn’t nervous at all until it came time for rehearsal and I had to read a teleprompter. Which, by the way, was easier than I thought! I presented the award for Best Branded Content. The winner was Lilly & The Snowman from Cineplex. In other news, I left getting a dress to the last minute. So, I popped over to my go-to girls at Studio Fitzroy to rent something. Remember in the summer when I blogged about their dress rentals? That biz was SO SUCCESSFUL they’ve opened a dress rental spot on Dundas West.…

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Winners of The 48 Giveaway – See You at The Office!

It’s time! I feel like it’s time to grace the world with some good news and great views. The winners of The 48 office space giveaway are announced below. I’ll be reaching out to a few more of you to join me at the offices for a tour and toast in the next few weeks. The 48 Office Suite Giveaway – Winners Grand Prize Winner: Cara Rice – 6 months mailbox – 8 hours in executive suite – Invite to cocktail event with +1 2nd place: Martin Rubio – 4 hours in executive suite – 6 month executive mailbox – Invite to cocktail event with +1 3rd place: Michael Brassel – 2 hours in one of the smaller offices – 6 month executive mailbox – Invite to cocktail event with +1 Runner Up Prizes: I will be contacting a handful of people to join me and the winners at The 48 for a cocktail hour and tour of the office. The 48 is a beautiful place to work with a variety of other services and amenities to make your new workspace the best place to get things done. Aside from a great view and location at 1 King West, you can get 24/7 access with Valet Parking. You can use this beautiful big boardroom for important meetings, focus groups, team lunch, or shooting the next episode of your soon to be trending YouTube show.  ?✌? Once you’ve sorted out the details of your new office, you’ll get access to the hotel gym, discount on One King West dining, preferred hotel rates, and more. Need catering? No problem! The internet is fast and each office has a TV you can connect to your phone or laptop to use as a second screen or display monitor.  The kitchen has full amenities including fridge, stove, and sink for entertaining guests,…

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Travel | Walking Wynwood w/ New iPhone 7 Plus from Telus

On my travels last month I was in Miami for a short visit so I took a tour of the Wynwood Art District. I’ve been dying to go there and check out the walls. Telus hooked me up with with the new iPhone 7 Plus before my trip to the Florida Keys so I left my DSLR at home and went iPhone only. Telus has been rated the BEST National Carrier for iPhone and has  a variety of plans avail to make sure you get the phone you want. You might be looking to upgrade after all my travel photos! For info about the iPhone 7 Plus or awesome features of iOS 10, visit telus.com. TBH this phone camera is the absolute BEST I’ve ever had. I strolled around Wynwood for about hour taking photos of walls, doors, various alleys, and art in alleys. When I got to the airport I edited them all using Camera and no apps or filters. I am so impressed with this little thing!  The sky was a little crazy this day because Hurricane Matthew was passing by, it made for a good street art backdrop though.  The iPhone 7 Plus has 2 lenses 1 is a reg iPhone camera and the second lens is a telephoto. With the iOS 10.1, Apple released Portrait Mode which uses the telephoto lens to isolate the subject like a professional camera (DSLR). It’s incredible. Works amazing to take photos of friends but also is killer for close up shots of products, nature, just about anything with dimension. Lots of photos in this post so have the short version here, click below for like 20 more!

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100 Pieces of Sponsored Content + New Ad Standards for Influencers

I’ve been trying do a better job of keeping tract of my actual blog related work. Since casiestewart.com is a mostly a diary about my life, it can be hard to determine what is sponsored (work) and what isn’t. I share heaps so maybe you miss the little disclaimer line now & then. I like to keep a good mix of non-sponsored content mixed in with the spon con. Last year I set up casiestewart.biz as my online portfolio website and I UPDATED IT THIS WEEKEND. There’s 100+ examples of sponsored things I’ve done over the past few years. Crazy how they all add up! Found this quote on Forbes over the weekend and it’s what motivated me to stop scrolling social media and put in some quality time building my website. I’m finding/remembering stuff all the time so there’s a bunch more to add. CASIESTEWART.BIZ/WORK  This week I’m on a panel at the NextMedia Conference talking about this stuff with someone from the ASC, Facebook, and an agent who represents influencers. It’s sure to be a good discussion and spark even more around the topic. In a prep call for the panel, Janet from the ASC said: “We have simply introduced a new Interpretation Guideline to require disclosure of any material connection, because we identified a gap in the coverage of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards regarding bloggers and influencers.” Influencers and sponsored content are a very hot topic right now with new rules in Canada from the ASC based on the USA FTC regulations on testimonials, endorsements, and reviews. If you are interested in the you can find them here. DEFF WORTH READING. I’ve got a few more things to share on this topic, it’s surely not going away. Until then, make sure you take a peek at my work at…

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Subscribe to Behind the Blog – My Newsletter is Coming Soon!

Over the next few weeks I will be pulling the details for a newsletter I’ll be sending out in January called Behind the Blog. It’s for anyone with e blog or online business interested in learning about creating content, managing a website, having an online business, or other tech stuff like apps and gadgets. There is so much that you will probably have to learn though, and I know that I am still learning a thing or two. No one is perfect, even if I like to think that I am. However, I do think that I am good enough to teach you a thing or two, and hopefully, you will find it beneficial. For example, I might at some point talk about how you need to get a web hosting company involved (for example, a company like the one found at a hostiserver.com). I would like to believe that you would find something like this useful. It won’t just stop there though, I have loads of other things that I can tell you about in my newsletter. I’ll make sure that it’s all relevant for creating content, managing a website, having an online business, or other tech stuff like apps and gadgets. So it will be totally worth your time if this is something that you need a little bit of extra guidance with. I promise I’ll be able to help you. I won’t spam you and I really hope I can send it twice a month. Somehow when I am the busiest I feel like I should add another task to my life. I feel like sharing this information with you will help me be more organized. I’d love for you to subscribe/share. Email First Name Last Name Have a Website? Email Format html text

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November Sunshine On Your Face ☀️

It’s so nice out today. Left the house early w/ Sean to get the new car sorted. I love the new trucks sunroof and he loves everything else. Still reading The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittal. It’s good, nominated for the Giller Prize which is awarded on Monday. We grabbed breakfast at a cute little spot called Pheasant Table after picking up a couple magazines. I love how cute Emma Stone looks on the cover of Vogue with a pixie. I don’t think she actually cut it but not 100% on that. Last night I got a tattoo! Ok not a real one but a semi-perm that lasts 2 weeks by Inkbox. It’s for the election. Can you guess what it is????! Look closely.  Went cruising in the East end and to the beach at Cherry Point. (Which apparently now being ‘Lower East Side) The sun felt so nice on my face. The leaves are all different colours and falling in the breeze. The water was cool but the air is warm.  I love this city so much. I also love the sunroof? Did I mention that. It’s so great for taking photos out of ?!!! We might go to the cottage for a couple days but if we don’t, won’t mind enjoying the weather downtown. Hopefully you are out soaking up some of this great weather. Looks like it’ll be 10+ degrees most the week! ☀️??

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Twitter is Very Much Alive and Here is Some Motivation

I’ve had a really great time on Twitter the last 24hours. Sometimes people say ‘Twitter is dead’ but that goes right out the damn window when there’s a live event. I love twitter the most when we share moments like this. Nothing brings us closer than live event tweeting! #WorldSeries — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) November 3, 2016 The Twitter chat Daniel and I hosted with Kobo was a trending topic in Toronto and then Canada last night earning 3 million+ impressions. Then, after the chat I tuned in for the World Series Game 7 to see the Cubs win and HOLY COW what a game. I am happy the Cubs won bc my friend Tony Pierce aka @busblog is a die hard fan. ⚾️ ? This morning I watched Cam, Head of Comms at Twitter, chat about the election on CTV. I felt like last night was a preview of the tweet storm about to go down on Tuesday night when the US gets a new President. I’ve been invited by Twitter Canada to watch it at their office and I can’t wait. Casie Stewart Live from The Nest! I’ve shared my love for live event tweeting for over six years from my days tweeting Jersey Shore & The Hills at Much/MTV, to every award show since, the Olympics, Superbowl, The Bachelorette, and more. It’s gonna be really intense. Looking forward to watching the election at @twittercanada on Tues. @cam_gordon on @CTVNews talking what's trending! https://t.co/Q1XhePrdSj — CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) November 3, 2016 I just watched this video andI’d like to thank my old friend (and apparently new neighbour!) Christine Estima for this performance. I’m spending the afternoon writing and organizing the book I’ve been working on because THIS YEAR I AM DAMN DETERMINED TO DO IT. I signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and…

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It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

Honesty, I woke up this morning and put on Michael Buble’s Christmas album with NO SHAME. Ripped the halloween decorations off the walls and mirrors. I’m ready for the season! I won’t rush putting up all the decorations just yet but I won’t hold back the spirit! One of my fav Christmas albums is She & Him. When Sean and I started dating, I remember him singing ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ to me at our first christmas saying I should stay a little while longer.  So much love in the air this time of year. Still swooning 6 years later! ❤️?? [arve url=”https://youtu.be/iigfts-sJFg?list=RDRz4oG4eh5J0″] On Thursday eve I’m going to Saks/Hudson Bay for the Christmas Tree lighting and holiday window reveal. AND in a christmas miracle twist MARIAH CAREY WILL BE THERE TO LIGHT THE TREE. I can’t wait. It’s only a matter of time before we bust out this wonderful ‘Togetherness Sweater’ that TOMS X Target sent a couple years ago. Last year Netflix sent over THIS amazing Christmas Sweater feat. Bill Murray. Here’s to kicking off the holiday season! I’m excited. Can you tell!? ??????  

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Tech | Sharing My Love of eReading + Win a Kobo in Our Twitter Chat!

Back in April I worked with Kobo and got my first eReader. TBH I Hadn’t really ready any books in ages and thought, maybe this is my gateway to the love of reading I’ve kinda lost. Well, it was. This is the kind of brand partnership work I truly love, something that fits perfectly. I read heaps of books growing up and since getting my Kobo I’ve read more in 5 months than I have in 5 years. I can’t deny my love this little thing!  ❤️Its been on all my trips, spent summer at the cottage, and is often found in my purse. I read 10 books on it over the summer alone. This weekend I finished my 12th book since April. I will always love paper books, I’ve got stacks, but there’s this new joy for e-reading that I’ve really come to enjoy. So, onto the next bit of info on how YOU can get a Kobo eReader too. Daniel (dothedaniel.com) and I are hosting a 1 hour Twitter Party with Kobo to celebrate the Giller Prize nominees on Wednesday this week at 8pm. Pour yourself a cuppa and join in the fun. We’ve got 6 Kobo eReaders to give away! REGISTER for the Twitter Chat on Wednesday at 8pm ET Powered by Eventbrite Also, if you’re feeling creative and want an extra shot at a Kobo eReader and $500 – write a haiku inspired by any of the 6 books on the 2016 Giller Prize shortlist. I’m currently reading The Best Kind of People and this is my haiku poem entry. Revolver you will never know terror hiding behind walls of a broken heart by Casie Stewart

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