Think Visibility: Why I Traveled 15,272 Kms For My First Conference — Part 1
(I’m sure it was more KMs than that, and each one had significance, but…well…let’s keep this to one three a few posts. Also, I’ll warn you that this is as much a personal account of my trip as it is my official thoughts on Think Visibility, so I’ll make it as easy for you to scan (and skip to the good parts) as possible.)
There I was. Driving through the bugs with the Great Canadian Rockies on the horizon, sun streaming in the window, and giggles coming from the back seat. My mind was racing with all the possibilities, opportunities, new faces and exciting things I was going to see and do.
I’ll admit that I underestimated the Think Visibility conference and the wonderful people I’d meet once I touched UK soil. You see, I thought I’d do a quick ‘here’s what you missed’ post when I got home, but I should have blogged by the minute and just published it once I got home.
A Friendly Face After A Long Flight
I would love to blame my bad nerves on the flight, but since it wasn’t my first time in the sky, I know I’d be lying. The entire time my mind wandered with all the ‘what ifs’ and excitement of a child on her first day of school. I kept myself occupied taking lots of pictures from the plane for my kidlet, but I was really waiting impatiently to land.
When we did land, I pulled my luggage through the crowds at Heathrow Airport and made my way to the ominous line of authoritative people who would ultimately let me into the country.
Now, when I say crowds, I mean swarms of people from every culture and walk of life. This might sound boring to everyone else, but for a Canuck girl from a town of 2,100 people, this was like having my entire province shoved into one big room. If you’ve ever lifted a rock and discovered an ant colony, this will make sense.
After I got through immigration, I stopped, took a huge breath and made my way to where someone would be waiting to take me to Leeds. That someone was the delightful Stuff Consultant, Tim Nash.
Pretty hard to miss him, really. He’d mentioned the colour of his sweater and the fact that he’d have a netbook. In Tim language, this means he would actually be using the netbook in one of the busiest places on Earth. Pure geek move that makes perfect sense, once you get to know him.
After a short assessment, he concluded I wasn’t a psycho killer, too much of a freak, or something else you wouldn’t want to be alone with on a crazy-assed busy road (sorry, but there’s just no other way to describe it). We left for Leeds, but we had to make one tiny detour into Central London. Oh, and I finally realized why he didn’t get a chance to drink his coffee on the way down.
Welcome To The UK Redneck
So, let’s just say there was no easing into this. In true ‘Angie’ fashion, I jumped in with both feet.
This wasn’t my first trip to London or the UK, but it was the first time I got to look at it with the wise, experienced eyes of someone who has lived on her own, fought traffic, and tried to make her way in life. I was smack dab in Central London asking myself a very important question:
Do I trust him well enough not to kill us? Someone I’ve only known online…As in, while not in a fiberglass bullet moving on roads that have no business having parked cars on them, never mind TWO directions of HEAVY traffic that are also on the wrong side of the street and seem to just do whatever they feel like. This includes parking half-a-smart-car’s SIDEWAYS on very narrow streets.
Y’all are crazy.
Once I removed my fingernails from the dashboard got out of London and onto the road to Leeds, I slowed my heart rate down was fascinated by the many new things to see.
We chatted, shuffled some boxes, and took a short walk, eventually making our way to the flat where I met the next friendly face: Carolyn Jones!
It was so wonderful to meet her after hearing and getting to know all about her. She really is as wonderful as she appears and is tons of fun. If you’ve not had a chance to meet her online or see what she’s up to, you should. She’s a smart marketing and SEO peep, who definitely doesn’t get enough attention! (Did I mention her delectable taste in music?)
We were pretty hungry by this point, so it was out for a fancy dinner at a local Italian spot (seafood ravioli! Yum!) and over to the pool party for Think Visibility.
Other Posts In the Series:
The Official “Think Visibility” Conference Coverage (Part 2)
A Day Spent In Leeds (Part 3)
Visiting Harrogate and York (Part 4)
Brits VS Canucks: What I Discovered (Part 5)
Angie’s Copywriting Gets Nominated for a SEMMY!
I was very pleasantly surprised yesterday. My piece, ‘Don’t Blame the Snake Oil Salesman‘, has been nominated for a SEMMY Award in the ‘industry’ category! Voting opens on January 20th.
I wanted to thank them very much for the nomination. Being ‘new’ to the industry (especially in comparison to many others on the list) and a copywriter, I’m honoured to know that my post is considered one of the year’s best.
Even A Writer Can Help…An Appeal For Victims of The Australian Bushfires
If you are unaware of the Australian’s plight, I urge you to read these posts by Lee Hopkins on the Australian bushfires. He is only one of many wonderful people I’ve come into contact with in recent months. While he may not be in danger yet, nor any of the others I know personally thus far (still waiting to hear of some), others are.
So far, there are thousands homeless, well over a hundred people dead — some instances wiped out entire families — thousands injured, and thousands of animals in need of care.
While I go into it in more detail on my Writer Coaching and Consulting page, I will say here that I need to do what I can to help. While I do have several other small things planned, I wanted to announce that ALL of the proceeds from any coaching or consultation sessions booked from now until further notice will go directly to the Australian Red Cross, Salvation Army, and CFA.
I don’t generally ask for much, but I ask that you help me help them, or make a direct donation to help. They need it.
Tweet this post, blog about the situation, share the word, make a video, share the Red Cross donation link, and do what you can. Every small step will turn into a giant helping hand for someone who really needs it.
A Twisted Arm, A Gypsy And 7 Things
I met a delightful SEO ‘mad scientist’ the other day who greeted me warmly with a ‘welcome to the madness’ message after a short exchange. When he greeted me the next morning with a friendly hello and informed me he had gone more than 30 hours of sleep, I knew the day would prove to be interesting.
I was right.
A short time later, he reappeared and tagged me to do this little post. I won’t mention any names (Hello, David Harry of Huomah.Com. I’m sure you will read this when you wake up), but I am now responsible for revealing seven things that others may not know about me.
Trying to come up with something that won’t earn me relentless teasing later on was a bit difficult, but I think I have come up with a list of seven as well as a wonderful tidbit at the end that I didn’t write. It isn’t written particularly well, but it is the best blog post I’ve ever read. I couldn’t help but share.
1- I have a thing for frogs. Not just real ones either. They have taken over my bathroom, and are appearing throughout my house including my favorite apparel. I have everything from frog shower hooks and toothbrushes, to frog clocks and light fixtures.
I have no idea why. Is this even normal? This might just fall into the odd category.
2- At one point, we had a hermit crab, fish, two cats, a dog, three kids, and the two of us all living in the same house. Can you say zoo? Now that the older boys have moved out of home, the house is considerably quieter. We are also down to one cat, and the fish.
I’m an animal fanatic, so I actually miss the little critters. I have contemplated getting a ferret, but so far, I’ve been able to talk myself out of it.
3- When I was little, I had my heart set on being a ballet dancer. After realizing I had more klutz in me than grace, I opted for the orchestra pit instead. I started playing at the age of ten. I thought I would always have forensic science to fall back on, but obviously that didn’t get any farther than the ballet dancing.
4- Located approximately twenty minutes south of my home, the Cypress Hills is one of my favorite places in the entire world. We take all kinds of pictures, fish, hike, have hot dog roasts, and generally spend as much time as possible here. When there are few tourists around, you can sit for hours in the quiet and tranquil surroundings. For interest sake, ‘Bald Butte’ (located in the center of the park) is the highest point in Canada between the Rockies in British Columbia, and the Laurentians in Quebec.
5- I have an obsession for music. It plays with or without audio equipment 24/7. Once I quit performing professionally, this obsession led me to karaoke. While it may sound odd, this love affair with karaoke led me to a job as a DJ when I was flat broke, my loving second hubby (who lived with the couple who owned the karaoke company), and my first article sale. To add yet another twist to the story, I knew the family of my hubby’s ex-wife before I knew him from a completely different town. We discovered this fact months after we met. Small world.
6- I wake up each morning with thoughts of a new day. Life is too hard to live it any other way. When a new day breaks, my goal is to live with my eyes, heart, mind, and arms open. This doesn’t mean that I don’t slip up, but I will definitely give it my best shot.
7- I’ve got my entire retirement planned out. I’m going to strike it rich. I’m selling my house. I’m buying an old castle, and moving to Austria. No negotiations. I was there on a national tour in 1996, and the feeling of stepping on that soil has never left. The only thing left is to convince hubby to share that winning ticket he has hiding.
Now for the ‘guest post’ I promised earlier from my favorite blogger. It is my soon-to-be 8 year old’s first post.
The World Is A Place
The world is a place. A wonderful place because it has flowers and grass and trees and this world is where we are. We live in Saskatchewan and I think the world is a really cool place.
I thought it seeing the world through his eyes really put things into perspective. He has gone through so much, but the world is still a really cool place.
You can almost hear the hope and optimism in his voice.
I need to tag people. I am in the midst of hunting down addresses, but I will update them as I hunt them down.
My chosen victims are:
1- Michele Tune of WritingtheCyberHighway.com (@MicheleTune) — Freelance writer
2- Trina Lee of Professional Content Writing (@TrinaMLee) Writer and Author (with a preference for werewolves and vampires)
You Know You’ve Been Working Too Hard When…
The Other Half Of Angie's Copywriting
I’ll begin my story by introducing you to my constant companion, Smokie (that’s right it’s ‘ie’…he’s a writing rebel. The typos and spelling errors are, in fact, his contribution to these posts if there are any 
).
This seemingly innocent laid-back cat isn’t what he outwardly appears. He is my guide and good friend.
He shows me his undying devotion by spending hours laying around my workstation and laying in various positions collecting the hours of sleep we’d all like to have.
One of Smokie’s favorite things to do is to sit on his chair (which just happens to be next to mine) and stand with two paws on the arm of my computer chair.
Normally when Smokie wants attention, he will find a paper bag to attack. If I ignore that, he brings his ball (He really thinks he’s a dog). When I continue to ignore his demand for affection, he quietly sneaks over to my couch and expertly digs his sharp nails into my old ratty couch. He knows that this is one thing I can’t stand. Did I mention he was a boisterous cat?
He tries to jump onto my lap, but I kept putting my arm in front to keep him down. When he’s on my lap, I can’t get anything done. Life was going good…until yesterday.
After spending several comfortable hours relaxing on the heat vent, He decided to jump on the chair. I continued to work on the day’s projects and ignore his cute, but unwanted interruptions, when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his paw come up to take a swipe at my face. Very out of character for him. I instantly raised my arm to stop him from scratching the heck out of my cheek. As soon as my arm was high enough, he immediately seized the opportunity to jump onto my lap.
He immediately puts one paw on each of my shoulders and proceeds to nuzzle at my neck. Of course, pushing him off isn’t a option — not if I want skin left on my neck anyway. I didn’t know whether to get upset with him or give him the attention he so deserved.
My own cat had just outsmarted me. He figured out exactly how to get what he wanted. I had put too many hours in working and not enough on the things that mattered.
Drastic times call for drastic measures I guess.
Time off is scheduled in for the future, and not a moment too soon I guess. Lesson learned.
