Review: Sonos x IKEA Speaker Collab

This week I went to the 2020 Ikea Catalogue media preview where they announced their partnership with Sonos. I love IKEA and smart home accessories so was keen to learn more. Through this partnership, IKEA is focussed on enhancing your home with sound and lighting. This post is not sponsored by Ikea but I would love if it was! I was given the new SYMFONISK speaker and set it up as soon as I got home. Wanted to share my thoughts right away because I’m super impressed. It’s my first Sonos and by far the nicest speaker I’ve ever personally owned. Symfonisk Setup In a few minutes, I set it up on my home wifi, connected it to Apple Music, and my Amazon Echo to work with Alexa. The SYMFONISK I received is a bookshelf speaker which is quite the coincidence because I have been looking for the best bookshelf speakers recently so this was perfect timing! It can go vertical or horizontal and be mounted as a shelf that can hold up to 7lbs. Multiple speakers can be paired for surround sound, paired over wifi, or to your TV. You control the speaker with the Sonos app and can set up voice controls. Mine is connected to Alexa and works perfectly! Symfonisk Design x Quality Both speakers in the series come in black or white and are designed to blend in with your home decor. The bookshelf speaker is $149 and table lamp speaker is $249. Pretty good price for the sound quality and Sonos brand. For the one with the light, you can add in smart bulbs like Phillips Hue or Ikea’s own smart bulbs to make the light change colour. At the media preview, they had a bunch of the speakers paired together for ‘party mode’ which…

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Interview: Vocab Comm Influencer Tuesdays

I recently did an interview w/ Chrissy, longtime friend, OG PR, and founder of Vocab Comm. I talk about the social media landscape, influencers, and my career. I included part of the interview below, read the whole thing here. Chrissy used to host MMVA and celebrity gifting lounges at the beginning of social media, we worked together on a few. This was a fun one. Tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in Cambridge, Ontario. My parents immigrated here from New Zealand and my dad had a custom Hot Rod shop growing up. I created my first business in grade 2 and at 14 I wrote a book and started a publishing company. I went to Conestoga College and last year was given an Alumni Award for my work from the President of the college. I went to university in Australia and have a B. Com in International Business. I have lived in Toronto since 2005 when I started my blog. Through my blog, I’ve built some amazing brand partnerships (Pepsi, Telus, Aeroplan, Sassoon) and traveled to incredible amazing places in the world (Thailand, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Disneyland). How do you define an influencer? I think the word ‘influencer’ has really taken on a whole new (kinda negative) meaning with the rise of Instagram influencers. To me, influence is a product of something someone does. It’s not something you get by having a lot of followers. My influence has grown from being a pioneer in a new industry and constantly innovating. I share my life with the world and love discovering new things, my influence comes from building trust with my audience. What advice do you have for other people looking to become an online influencer? Don’t do it. Find something you love and do that! Don’t…

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Review +Wireless Headphones Giveaway: AfterShokz Trekz Air

Hellooooo! I’m excited to share this review with you and announce the giveaway I mentioned in previous posts. My favourite thing about AfterShokz Trekz Air is how you can hear the world around you while wearing them. This month in my final post, I got a second opinion from my tech-loving friend Dan Levy and have a great prize pack up for grabs. Dan and I have known each other since the early years of Twitter 10 years ago. He’s written about heaps of tech gadgets in the time I’ve known him. Dan has a love for great music so I was keen to see what he thought of AfterShokz Trekz Air. Find his edited review below and make sure you enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post. AfterShokz Review: A Second Opinion from Dan Levy I’ve been using the AfterShokz Trekz Air headset for a couple of weeks after Casie asked me for a “guy’s perspective” on this new Bluetooth headset. Out of the gate, the coolest thing about this headset is how it delivers sound to your brain without going into your actual ears. Instead, they use a technology called “bone conduction” where the headset’s audio is delivered to you via your jaw bone under your ears as opposed to going into or over your ears like other headsets you’ve used before. [Read more about this in a previous post by Casie] I have really enjoyed using these headphones for walks and just day to day audio. Aftershokz greatest strength is also their greatest weakness – that they allow you to be aware of all that is going on around you because they don’t block your ears from hearing ambient noises. This is FANTASTIC for when you need to be present to the sounds around you…

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