42point1

personal branding

I want to get a few thoughts about personal branding down here.

There's a lot of talk about "personal branding" out there in the podcasting world (and in the blogging world, and -- well, let's face it, everywhere).

The concept comes out of the marketing world, and just like companies want to develop a corporate or industry brand (you can be sure that the company that makes those shirts with the little alligator on them wants you to associate them with a certain level of quality and a certain standard of living, and if you want to be like that, you'll be wearing that brand), for very good reasons, we are, all of us, all of us hanging out here on the interwebs, advised to develop our own personal brand.

On a conceptual level, I get it.  My personal brand is how I market me, myself, and I to the world.  I want to be sure that people know who I am, what I do, what I stand for.  I want them to know what to expect when they read a blog post, when they listen to a podcast.  I want them to have a consistent and accurate idea of who I am and what I'm trying to convey.

On a personal level, though, I have to say the whole idea makes me really uncomfortable.  As I said at Podcamp Toronto, when I think of personal branding, it makes me think that I've turned into a box of soap, an object to be bought and sold.

Okay, honestly?  It's an idea that makes me more than really uncomfortable.  It's an idea that makes me really, really, really, really, (really), uncomfortable.

I've been turning this over in my head all week, because I do think that at Podcamp, what folks saw was this cranky old hippy broad who thought that anyone who wanted to measure success in stats and find any and every way to put advertising on their blog or show page or who (heaven forfend) actually wanted to make money from podcasting was -- well -- I dunno.  Wrong.

So let me say that I understand why businesses want to make use of new media tools and concepts in order to, well, further their brand.  I do understand, up to a point, why knowing how to gather stats and how to interpret them could be interesting (and thank you to the young woman who pointed out that depending on what kind of stats I was looking at, I could be getting ideas about the community I'm trying to reach out to, to connect with, to build on-line, I thought that was a brilliant point, and one I hadn't thought of).

And believe me, as someone without an income, I can understand how you might want to at least make podcasting revenue neutral (meaning the money you make covers your costs), and at best, make a modest living out of it.

I understand why you'd want to invest some time and thought into your personal brand, on how you present yourself to the world.

Perhaps what makes me uncomfortable in this is that I know that the "me" that people see sometimes isn't an entirely accurate or complete reflection of who I am.  I often think I'm best hiding out here on the internet -- I write decent emails and comments, mostly because I have the time and space and isolation behind the computer to allow me to stop being nervous or worry about what people are seeing when they meet me in person.  Because the physical me doesn't make a great first impression, and believe me, if you think I don't know that, then you're wrong.

But what assumptions will you make about me?  Will you know that I am very shy and quite introverted, and if I'm quiet when we meet (even after exchanging emails or comments), it's just that I need some time to get my bearings? Will you understand that maybe I just don't have enough money to invest in some hip clothing and a little make-up, that what I do have is better spent on a Y membership (oh, let me tell you sometime how that keeps me sane)?  Will you know that I have thyroid problems, and no matter what I try, I just can't lose the thirty pounds I gained before getting things under control?  Will you understand that I'm often tired and sick and occasionally depressed, and it means that I'm not always in top form when it comes to putting some cohesive thoughts together?

I suspect a lot of folks would just see me as a loser, as a slob, as stupid and not worth their time.  (On my bad days, I would think they were right.)

So much for my personal branding.

And this makes me sad, because what you'll miss is someone who actually has a not bad sense of humour, who, when she's on form, can be sharp and insightful and thoughtful and optimistic about the world, who is willing to open her mind and change her opinion if you can give me good reason to do so, and who is someone who cares very much about other people and what they do, who loves to see people making their dreams come true.

If I like your energy, if I feel the passion behind what you do, I'll tell you so, and I'll pray like crazy that you get what you need in life and get where you want to go.  If I know someone who can help you, I'll connect you with them.  If *I* can help you, I'll do it, as far as my limited energy will let me.

But if what you want is a box of soap in a happy, shiny package?  Well, then, I can't really help you there.

Krazzy 4

Okay, I don't know what it'll be like, but I don't care, because it features an item number by Shah Rukh Khan.

Release date is April 11th, so this is just a teaser.

thoughts on podcamp

Old friends, we have sought out a place to meet,
Now we chat by the window until
The candles burn out.
Talking and laughing together,
Our faces are happy
And our hearts serene.
This friendship is as pure as water;
We jot down our poems
With strong brushwork. **

- Monchu (1739-1829)

(** well, in the case podcasters, we record it, but who am I to pick nits with ancient wisdom...)

le lion est mort ce soir

I am terribly, terribly sad this morning, because the great Henri Salvador has passed away:

Henri Salvador Dans mon ile
Uploaded by metal83

(This is from his last Album, Révérence, from 2006).

In an interview not too long ago, he was asked how he'd managed to stay singing so long, what was his secret.  Essentially, his response was that he'd had to learn how to deal with how his voice had changed as he grew older*, eventually just "murmurring" into the microphone.

*You can hear what he sounded like earlier in his career in this clip, "Le lion est mort ce soir".

no! not a new Dany Boon film, too!

First, the latest Asterix, and now, Dany Boon has a new film out:  "Bienvenue chez les ch'tis"  (Les ch'tis are the folks from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais in the north of France.):

恭喜发财, or kung hei fat choi*, y'all

*Congratulations and be prosperous!

So, today is the Chinese New Year, and although we don't generally do a whole bunch of fuss, we do, however, try to get some things cleaned up and out and prepare a few special things for dinner.

However, not this year.

I'd been planning on getting to the Asian grocery store I shop at one evening this week, but both of us ended coming down with whatever it is that's going around at the moment, and that meant that Monday and Tuesday were right out.

Which left last night.  We were both feeling better, but the weather just didn't co-operate. 

(In fact, the last time I uttered the words, "I don't think I can live through another Canadian winter," we ended up being sent to France.  I'm hoping the Universe will opt for Tahiti this time 'round.)

So tonight, there are leftovers.  Not an Auspicious Beginning to the New Year.

This is, BTW, the Year of the Rat, and I just happen to have been born in a Rat year (and I was *not* born in 1960 -- many sources just give the western calendar year, but you have to remember that the Lunar New Year runs from January/February (depending on the date of the New Moon) to January/February.  Thus, since I was born in January of 1961, I am a Rat, not an Ox.)

I am a Metal Rat, though, and this is an Earth Rat year.

Rats btw, are, supposedly: meticulous, intelligent, shrewd, compassionate, charismatic, charming, ambitious, practical, industrious, honest, eloquent, versatile, familial, creative, hard-working, neat, organized, lovers of music, loving.

Okay, so we're also: controlling, obstinate, resentful, lacking a sense of humour, manipulative, cruel, vengeful, power-driven, critical, possessive, stingy, bossy, fickle, defensive.

I'm not sure I agree with all of that.  Okay, I'm stubborn, bossy, maybe controlling at times.  But I'm not cruel, nor am I vengeful.  And forgive me for being so immodest as to say that I think I do have a decent sense of humour.

Apparently good professions for rats include espionage (I kid you not), detective work, psychiatry, accounting (oh, god, no, so not me), politics (gack), law (gack, gack) and acting and writing.

I think maybe the writing thing might be the way to go.

Although espionage sounds kind of exciting, no?

dust of snow

A week or so ago, when I was feeling particularly down and especially tired of winter, a friend sent me the poem "Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost, and suggested maybe I just try to find one small thing about winter that I could enjoy, one small thing that could lift my mood.  It was a good piece of advice, and Frost's poem is such a jewel.

As I sit here today, with yet another storm blowing outside the window (we've already shovelled out once today, this is the second round), a pot of stew bubbling on the stove (the first dinner I've made in days, as I've been in bed sick), I'm mostly grateful that in a few weeks the worst of it will be behind us.

I know that's not what he meant, but it's the best I can do today. 

Dust of Snow (by Robert Frost)

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

st. brigid's day: silent poetry reading

Thank goodness I didn't miss this, though it's a near thing.

Last year I posted a poem by one of my favourite Canadian poets, Milton Acorn.  This year, it's another Canadian, one I love just as much, Lorna Crozier:

Onions

The onion loves the onion.
It hugs its many layers,
saying, O, O, O,
each vowel smaller
than the last.

Some say it has no heart.
It surrounds itself,
feels whole. Primordial.
First among vegetables.

If Eve had bitten it
instead of the apple,
how different
Paradise.