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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Pack Your Bags! Earn More Miles with Aeroplan

Over the last few years, I’ve had some amazing adventures with Aeroplan. In this post, I’m excited to share that Aeroplan has a booking tool that will help you earn more miles, faster. Making Memories with Aeroplan Looking through travel photos gives me so much joy. I was browsing iCloud finding photos for this post and was reminded of how travelling is truly one of the greatest things in life. You learn so much about yourself, other cultures, and it enriches your life, leaving you lasting memories. Portugal 2018: On this day I took a bus tour around Lisbon by myself, listening to facts about history and architecture. I went shopping, ate a fresh Portuguese egg tart by the Belem Tower, and had ice cream on the beach. I took heaps of photos of the city and hardly any of myself. When I think back to this moment I was so warm and free, happy in the sunshine. It was one of my all-time favourite adventures with Aeroplan. If you’re heading to Lisbon and looking for some tips, check out this post. Aeroplan’s Booking Tool In addition to earning Aeroplan Miles on flights and purchases, Members can earn miles with 250,000 hotels and more than 11,000 car rental locations in 50 countries. You also earn miles on bookings made through aeroplan.com when you book using cash. My friend did the same when booking her trip to Crete, she then checked out e-mietwagenkreta for car rental deals, so I hear and it just made her trip so much better. “travel has never been easier and more achievable” Aeroplan They’ve made it super convenient and enhanced the online experience so you can add multiple items to your shopping cart and check out with ease. One of my favourite ways to earn is…

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Review: Roomba i7+ Robot Vacuum

Over the past 45 days, I’ve been testing the Roomba i7+ from iRobot. Overall, awesome vacuum, especially great for bungalows, love the self-cleaning feature. I’ve wanted a Roomba or years and talked about it on Twitter back in 2012. Hello, who wouldn’t’ want a little cleaning robot?! We have quite a few stairs at home, so I decided Roomba would live at the 1188 office. Honestly, it’s been such a hit with everyone, they were all so excited when the big box arrived, it would be interesting to find out what is best robot vacuums to try out. It feels like we have an office pet again! This works for the floors, but for the rest of the Office Cleaning we do still hire a specialist cleaning team, as the Roomba can’t clean walls, fridges, technology, and other office items! I would say the only downfall about the Roomba Robot Vacuum is that it can’t do stairs, yet! It does have Cliff Detect so it won’t fall down or take a tumble should you have some stairs around. Once I got everything set up, it was really quick to download the app and connect the device. The Roomba i7+ is the smartest robot vacuum yet. It has a cleaning dock to empty itself plus an app that lets you control it and see where it’s cleaned. You can see it was super quick to set up. I snapped these screenshots all in the same minute! My favourite part aside from clean office floors is the app (by the way, this is the perfect vacuum for wooden floors). I’m able to see if there’s an issue, what’s been cleaned, or set it to clean at any specific time. Cleaning Two features that make this an amazing machine are 1) Dirt Detect™…

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Monday Motivation

You got this, girl. Monday is a new week. A new opportunity to make magic happen. Focus on what you need to get done and try not to get distracted. When you catch yourself scrolling mindlessly, STOP, and go back to that list. You will thank you later. Check things off when you’re done. Exercise when you can. It may be the morning one day or the night the next but it all counts. Smile. Forget about things that don’t matter and focus on people who do. Love yourself, you are amazing. Monday means the start of a new week and anything can happen. Make something happen.  You got this. The photo is from Happy Place in Toronto, I went to the media preview last week. It’s in TO until January. Tickets here! (not sponsored lol) buy Premarin no prescription https://vifreepress.com/wp-content/languages/new/plavix.html Buy Cozaar online

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Podcast: Altavie + The Business of Cannabis

I was recently on a panel at House of VR hosted by AltaVie, a recreational cannabis brand by MedReleaf. It was broadcast live on The 4:19, a daily show by Jay Rosenthal & The Business of Cannabis. We had a great chat about how we use cannabis in our lives and how is changing the world and becoming accessible to those who need it, for example, from somewhere like this shop weed online. That was not all though. Cannabis is being transformed into other forms like oils which can be used for people with health problems and not to smoke, you can visit Yours Nutrition to get your hands on some CBD oil. I actually know quite a few people who use cannabis for both medicinal and recreational purposes so I was fascinated by this opportunity to explore cannabis in more detail. For example, a friend of mine has recently started to use the purple space cookies strain to manage her stress levels. I will definitely be telling her to check out this talk. Scroll down to listen and watch a few snippets on video. Listen to ‘Cannabis Everyday on the 4:19 The panel starts around the 3-minute mark and is just over half an hour. Hit play below to listen and check out more episodes of the 4:19 here. Joining me on the panel were Shannon O’Hearn, Manager, Clinic Affairs, MedReleaf, Ming Bérubé-Sam, Yoga instructor, cannabis patient. The panel looked at a series of meanings of “Cannabis Everyday” – from medical applications to incorporation into wellness regimes to adult-use recreational use. Thank you AltaVie & MedReleaf for providing the space for us to have these conversations. I’m looking forward to more like this in the future as Canada becomes a world leader in legal cannabis. You can already see…

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The Internet of Things – Protecting Your Smart TV

We just got a new Smart TV and I’m super stoked. Sean and I worked from home the day it arrived and we also ordered tacos which turned into a great game of tv or tacos?! It’s my first time having a *brand new* TV. Our previous model was bought 2nd hand years ago, we’re retiring it to the cottage now.  The Sony 4K Android Smart TV is so clear and it was really easy to set up. It comes with Google Play, Netflix, and internet connectivity making it easy to watch your fav shows, download movies, or watch videos on YouTube. Over the last year, I’ve been making our home smarter with the addition of Hue Lights which I’ve heard a friend managed to build some of his own, wow! He told me he built some with parts he found at Octopart but I digress, a Dyson fan, Alexa, and now an Android Smart TV.  As we start to make our home smarter, we’ve got so many entry points putting us at risk for privacy and hacks. 90 percent of Android TVs are reportedly vulnerable to hacking The solution is to make sure we can browse the internet and watch all our fav shows without having personal data compromised. ESET is a leader in security solutions for home computer & mobile.  They’ve created the world’s first ever security solution for Android Smart TVs, using tech to guard against cybercriminals with their eyes on connected TVs. I quite like their i-Robot style dude below.  There’s a free version available for download as well as a paid version that gives you premium features for a year at $14.99. I went for Premium. If you have a Sony Android TV, the app is already downloaded you just have to pop into the HOME section from the remote and click Accept. Android…

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Building a Great Influencer Program

This summer I went to Vancouver to meet with the Canadian team of Telus Advocates. I’ve shared my love for Telus over the years but this experience was truly amazing. They flew in content creators from across the country to visit their Vancouver office, tour Telus Garden, create, eat, explore, and build relationships. I’ve worked with heaps of brands but I truly admire the influencer program Telus has built over the years. Ok yes, I am a little bias because I chatted with the team before they created the program and shared my likes, dislikes, and brand experiences. They have set the bar high for what it means to work with a telecom company or a big brand. The experience (as an influencer) is tailored to each person’s style of content and audience. This kind of influencer marketing service is bound to provide a great product for their clients too, as they clearly value quality and retention. In this post, I’m sharing a few of my tips for creating a great influencer program with Telus as my example. Build Relationships The thing about being an influencer is that you’re usually sharing your real life, so when you work with a brand, it means authentically integrating their content into your own experience. You have to get to know each other in order to learn what works and create opportunities that mutually benefit the relationship. It’s cool when you work well together and even cooler when it becomes a friendship. I’ve worked with Telus for about 8 years now and we’re colleagues but also friends. I can text with jokes, links, or that odd time on the weekend when I broke break my phone. (Sorry!) Since we’ve built a good working relationship, we all reach out whenever something cool comes up like…

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#ShareLove Pride 2018! Video + Parade w/ Telus!

A couple weeks ago I was invited to Telus Toronto to share some of my Pride memories. I’ve been going to the parade since I was a teenager. Dad took my sister for our first time when we were in high school. It’s been a place for positive self-expression, to celebrate, to join friends for their first Pride after coming out, or to remember friends who have past. Every year we get together to share love, joy, and friendship while dancing in the street together. Pride is an opportunity to #ShareLove and inspire LGBTQ+ youth. Watch how Pride has impacted the lives of those from the LGTBQ+ community. pic.twitter.com/JUFwaVe8S9 — TELUS (@TELUS) June 20, 2018 Thank you, Telus for having me in to share what PRIDE means to me. I am so proud and glad to work with a company that supports diversity, LGBTQ, and gives back in communities across the country.  This weekend I’ll be walking in the parade with Telus. I love being there and feeling the happy energy flying all around. Sending you sunshine and I hope to see some of you at PRIDE! buy Citalopram no prescription buy Topamax http://buywithoutprescriptionrxonline.com/prednisone.html

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Twitter Fronts – Content Partnerships & New Live Shows!

I love Twitter, I have since the day I joined over 10 years ago. It’s still my favourite social media platform, it’s the place news breaks and where you want to be when live events happen around the world.  Thanks to Twitter, I’ve been able to share my voice, meet like-minded people, and build life-long relationships. I love sharing random thoughts, photos, links to things I read and write, and getting the latest news. “When something happens in the world, it happens first on Twitter” @KayMadati, Head of Content at Twitter If you’re not familiar with the term ‘Upfronts” it comes from TV and has to do with advertising. The Twitter Fronts are a chance for agencies, brands, and advertisers to see what options are available for branded content and partnerships. Upfronts: In the television industry, an upfront is a gathering at the start of important advertising sales periods, held by television network executives and attended by major advertisers and the media. [Wikipedia] Read My #TwitterFronts Tweets Here Hellooooooo! ? #TwitterFronts pic.twitter.com/mJGbqEDv3h — CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) May 31, 2018 According to the source, Twitter users are engaged, affluent, and educated. They want to make sure brand partnerships have contextual relevance, they have to make sense, and be mutually beneficial relationships. They’re bringing exclusive partnerships for live content straight to Twitter to leverage their storytelling capabilities. We’re talking Buzzfeed, BNN, Corus, sports, BetaKit for tech, and a new media centre for brands who want to create live content. They’ve got everything covered, #onedirtydish will feature your fav chefs, This year, for the first time the MMVAs will be broadcast live on Twitter, the show AND the red carpet. This is huge! I was the social media manager for the show when I worked there back in 2010. It was a dream of mine to see the show live on…

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Be happy where you are, this is once where you wanted to be.

I was sitting here feeling a bit of Monday blerghs and then I looked at my computer and around me and said: “WTF, stop it!”. Actually out loud to myself. I’m working from home and I’m drinking a coffee I made downstairs with the patio door open and my plants are in the sun while I look at my little space and suddenly think I will eventually need a sliding door repair for my patio as the latch is becoming stuck more often than not, but that’s a different days job. I spent most of yesterday updating my speaker’s agency profile information sitting in my room watching Netflix. THIS IS ONCE WHAT I DREAMED OF. Ok, it’s not all roses and rainbows but I wanted to be here. I worked hard for this. I put in hours and days and years of work to get here and I have nothing to be so damn salty about. Sometimes all you need to do is remind yourself this is right where you wanted to be and fully be IN that moment.The sun is out and I am feeling good. It’s easy to get down or distracted and feel like your neverending list of tasks is piling up but there is a lot you can be grateful for. I talked to a friend this morning and a reminded her to make a list of things she’d already done, then she wouldn’t feel bad about the other list she had been meaning to do. There is enough time in the day or week to do the things you need to do. Some of the things I want to get done are not necessarily what I need to get done. Ex. my hair is a shag and the house is a little messy but that’s…

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The sun is finally out!

Yaaaaay! GUYS, spring. It’s like almost hereeeeeee! If you go outside today there are so many smiling people. ?????????????????? I mean it’s mostly the sun but it could also be 420. We are having pizza at the office. Tonight I’ve got a double date with one of my bffs to the Tokyo Smoke event at The Design Exchange. We’re planning a cottage visit this weekend and I wonder if the lake has thawed? It’s about time to start looking at water pipes for sale for my bff maybe to make use of it at the cottage! Today I posted on Instagram for the first time in over a week. I haven’t felt like posting on my own account. Behind the scenes, I’ve been manning client IG accounts but with the long, grey, freezing days, I’ve been so BLARGHHH. I stook outside on the roof patio with my arms up facing the sun, trying to charge my batteries. It’s amazing how much of a difference sunshine makes. I wish I was wearing this outfit right now and every day after. I love it so much. It’s a rental from the girls at Studio Fitzroy. A post shared by CASIE |Writer Speaker Director (@casiestewart) on Apr 20, 2018 at 5:08am PDT   Sequins, so hot right now and forever. I’m pretty sure my 10 years in dance as a kid are to thank for my love of sequins. I could wear them any time of day, any day of the week. A post shared by Duckie Confetti (@duckie_confetti) on Apr 12, 2018 at 9:46am PDT Met these ladies in Jamaica with Andrew. It was such a fun trip. They retired and moved there to live their best life. So happy and fun. Here’s to a great day!

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Sometimes I Don’t Feel Like It #15

I didn’t realize how many days it has been since I blogged. There’s a handful of photos ready to publish in posts with no words. I haven’t had them to write. I mean they’re always floating around my head and in notes on my phone. Sometimes I don’t feel like sharing. It all sounds so dramatic when I write it down, I’ve just been working on other stuff.  A whole life happens behind scenes of a blog, with clients, speaking, freelance writing, new work, family time. This weather is 100% not helping my desire to stay cooped up in the house though. Binge-watching show after show, I’ve only gone to the store 1 block away since Sunday. Yesterday I watched a season and a half of Doctor Foster on Netflix. Today I’m going to make date scones and spaghetti bolognese.   It’s ok to stay inside. It’s ok to not want to share on social media. It’s cool to spend heaps of time hibernating and feeding your soul. Soon enough spring will come and we’ll all be outside spinning in the sunshine. I think of those days and feel warm inside. Until then, I’m ok staying cooped up in the house and keep a little quiet, low key. And here we go, it’s SNOWING AGAIN…    

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Creativity: It’s Always There, You Just Have to Find It

I haven’t written much in the last week. I’ve been busy but I’ve also been tired/lazy. Last week I directed a commercial, went to a conference, and had a press trip. It was non-stop go-go-go and although I relaxed over the weekend, come Monday I felt drained. I love my work and what I do but I am much more of a homebody and introvert than you might realize. I love staying home! Being a blogger (writer) means you spend a lot of time at home on your computer.  I’m listening to the Call Me By Your Name Soundtrack, did you see that movie? It’s beautiful. I saw it on one of the flights I’ve taken since January. By the end of February, I’d seen almost every new movie on Air Canada. I was happy to see this one pop up, it’s good. After coming back from New Zealand I was pretty relaxed and ready to start 2018 business. But now, I can’t believe it’s April and I feel like the last two months have been a blur. I was super sick for half of February then I had a week in Vancouver, a week in San Francisco, a couple weekends at the cottage, and few days in Ottawa (Gatineau). Where did the time go?! This weekend we are heading up to the cottage and I can’t wait. Before we head north, I’m attending a creativity workshop with FITC. I’m hoping for an electric charge that inspires me to make things. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine, feeling tired but your creativity is always there, you just have to find it. I’m a very creative person but I go through waves of stopping and starting, staring at my computer, into hour-long blackholes of scrolling FB or IG. It’s easy to get caught…

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