On (Semi-Permanent) Hiatus

Just a note, dear reader, to let you know that this blog is not currently active. It seems, with the pace of modern day life, and professional responsibilities that include maintaining an online presence for a large arts organization, spare time to keep up a personal blog is few and far between.

I've left up my archived blog entries, so please feel free to have a look around. I'm not ready to say that the Slant Perspective is dead. If I return in some incarnation, here or elsewhere, I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Thanks for reading!

An Object of Beauty

I seem to blog more and more sporadically due to my work and life commitments, but, I still have things to say!

The other day, I bought a copy of Steve Martin's new book, An Object of Beauty, which is all about the New York art world.  I haven't started it yet, but the beauty of the book as an object is really impressive.

I love books, and while I can see the usefulness of e-readers, especially for travel, I really think a book should smell like a book.  It's fair to say I'm a bit of a book snob.  I have a degree in English literature, and worked in a bookstore for three years. My house is filled with books. Some of my prized possessions include books from the late 19th century/early 20th century that I inherited from my grandparents. There's a box of original Nancy Drew novels in my parents' basement that I plan to steal when I have room to display them. My mom and aunt read them when they were kids, and so did I. Books have been a constant companion, and in the face of all that history, e-books seem like blasphemy.  Or at least a soulless version of a book.

An Object of Beauty is the kind of book that demands a creative package, and the publisher delivers, as it's a piece of artwork itself.  The dust jacket mimics the texture of canvas.  The letters of the title and author look like they have been cut out of a painting. The end sheets are full-colour abstract pieces, and there are colour reproductions of modern paintings within the pages. You just wouldn't get the same experience reading it on an electronic screen.  I can only hope the content of the novel lives up to the packaging!

I'm not a luddite -- far from it. Maybe my rebellion against the e-book is really that I'm afraid of losing that tactile experience of a book. A book is still a tangible thing that hasn't been reduced to a cacophany of ones and zeros like so much of our modern lives.  You can turn the pages. Feel the texture of the paper.  Smell the ink.  Share it with a friend.  Put it on a shelf, where is becomes a part your environment.

There just isn't an ap for that.

Dissecting the Media Launch

I'm very excited about the upcoming arts & cultural event that is happening across Canada: Culture Days, otherwise known as a celebration of my favourite things.  With audience participation!  As a communications person, I made sure to attend their recent media launch on September 14th at the forks.  And in true Teri fashion, I feel like looking at how they did from every angle. I can't help but always be a critic.  After all, it's as good way to learn something. 

Considering Culture Days is a national event that has been organized by a small number of people, in a short amount time, they did great.  But things can always be done differently.

The Good

• They sent out a media advisory the week before the event and it contained lots of relevant info
• One of the attractions (which was of course mentioned in the media advisory) was a performance by an aerial dancer.  What media wouldn't want to capture that?
• They presented the conference in both English and French
• CBC is a sponsor of Culture Days, so it was pretty certain they would cover the event
• While the launch was outside, it was under the canopy at the forks, which took into account possible bad weather
• They integrated Aboriginal participation, which included a drum performance and a blessing of the event- always good when you're trying to be inclusive; especially when you're standing on sacred land
• They called arts organizations the morning of the event to make sure people from the arts & cultural community were going to come
• Media actually showed up!

The Not-so Good

• The media conference seemed pretty long at almost an hour.  Most of the media got what they needed and left, and they wouldn't have had a chance to do interviews one-on-one with organizers after.  A lost opportunity to drive your key messages home
• There didn't appear to be pool sound, and the canopy at the forks is surrounded by fountains.  That makes it a little more difficult for media people to get good audio
• There were too many talking heads.  Five people gave presentations, and they all pretty much said the same thing
• Media kits weren't ready when the media got there
• When I accidently grabbed a media kit off the information table, I got scolded.  I'm not sure if the person putting media kits together was the communications person or not, but as far as she knew, I could have been a reporter.  Being rude when you're representing an event or an organization isn't a good plan. 

All in all though, it was a good experience to be there, and of course it was great to represent for Arts & Culture in the city!

I'm sure I'll be talking more about Culture Days before the month is over, so stay tuned...

Narcissists with Low Self Esteem & Medical Centres with Major PR Issues

I have many things I would like to blog about.  But finding the time to blog is becoming harder and harder.

There's the whole Facebook is for narcissists with low self esteem story splashing across the news headlines.  Is it even possible to be a narcissist and have low self esteem?  Isn't that kind of an oxymoronic concept? And then Mr. Jian Ghomeshi points out on Q this morning that this crazy news story is based on an undergrad thesis.  The study that revealed those results had exactly 100 participants. Not exactly a representative group. This is a national news story?  I have a feeling it's more about the media's obsession with telling us how shallow and silly Facebook and social media in general is. Enough with the picking on social media and the people who use it!  This is one of those instances where it's evolve or die.  While many people use Facebook to annoy the people who follow them - Farmville users, I'm talking to you- it is possible to use Facebook for the greater good.  It's a great networking and promotional tool for instance! 

Then there is another PR story that crossed my desk this morning. A couple of weeks ago a woman in Winnipeg publicly criticized the Lakewood Medical Centre for refusing her elderly mother service because there was an unpaid cancellation fee. Original story here. Now this week, the woman has been banned from returning to the clinic.  According to the Winnipeg Free Press story: "Macduff said her mother got a letter from the clinic's manager saying they will waive her previous "no-show fee" but she must book her own medical appointments and find someone other than her daughter to accompany her to the clinic."  The clinic claims the daughter violated the "policy prohibiting violent or abusive patients and visitors" but refused to comment further.  While we as the general public don't know the full story- like what exactly the daughter did that was abusive or violent - from a PR perspective, this doesn't look good for the Lakewood Medical Centre.  In fact, it looks petty.  The woman's mother missed her appointment because she has severe dementia, a disease where you have good days and bad days.  Her daughter is the only person who can take her mother to appointments, and suddenly the 90 year old mother isn't able to have her primary caregiver there when she visits the doctor. In addition, the daughter is banned access from her own doctor. Without the clinic really explaining their position, the public can only conclude that the reason for the ban is that the woman took a public stance over doctors charging cancellation fees.  That isn't great PR for the Medical Centre.

You add that to the fact that in 2009, a doctor at the same clinic refused to treat a lesbian couple (a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights which says you can't be discriminated against for your sexual orientation) and the Lakewood Medical Centre has a major PR problem.  If they haven't lost patients over these incidents already, they probably will.  Maybe they've weighed the consequences  of that and have decided that it's worth the risk to ban this patient. Maybe they aren't considering the Public Relations fallout at all.  Either way, they don't seem to be doing themselves any favours.

The Cube: A Po-Mo Addition to the Historic Exchange District

On my lunch break today, I went by Old Market Square to check out the newly revealed stage, dubbed 'The Cube." I'm personally a fan of architecture that challenges, and in an area of Winnipeg where the majority of the buildings are stone and brick Chicago-style architecture, the Cube, with its chain-link aluminum mesh, definitely challenges. For that reason, it's controversial among some people, but others have pointed out that with Red River College's Princess Street Campus and the renovation of the old Royal Bank tower into Red River College's new culinary institute, the Exchange is well on its way to incorporating new design with the old. And that's a good thing.

We didn't really get to see what exactly the new stage is able to do over the lunch hour, but apparently there is a laser light show tonight that will reveal more.  And upon doing further research, it really sounds like a neat structure- available as a performance space, but also a bit of an art installation itself, with the ability to entertain with or without performers.  Check out all the details here.

The Cube has the potential to become the next great Winnipeg landmark; a tourist destination for sure.  And since the Exchange itself is a place that all visitors to Winnipeg should check out, this is just another jewel to discover.  Some people may think that it's more eyesore than jewel, but they're still talking about it.  For the promotion of our city and its arts & culture scene, that's always a good thing.

Say it on the Radio

I've expressed my love of radio on this blog, especially non-commercial radio.  I'm an avid CBC listener, I'll surf KICK FM and CKUW but my heart belongs to UMFM.  It's the radio station that six or seven years ago let me take over the airwaves.  Okay, not quite.  But they gave me an in, and allowed me to discover this thing called radio.  And I loved it.  I started as a board operator on a theatre talk show.  I did a brief stint as a talk show host- Midday, the student life edition. Then came my personal crown jewel: a music show. 

I'd heard this rumour, or I read it somewhere, that commercial radio stations won't play too many songs by female artists in a row.  Whether fact or fiction, the truth was out there: it was difficult to find women on those stations.  Especially rock stations.  There are amazing female rock acts, but you wouldn't know it.  Sure, you had your Britneys and your Christinas on the pop stations, but I knew there was more. I was a fan of so many female/female-fronted acts, and  I wanted to hear them on the radio.  Which led to: I want to play them.

And Venus Envy was born.  Apparently I love a good pun.  This past year, I completed a radio doc named Winni-Pagan: Wicca on the Prairies.  I blame/thank my father for this aspect of my sense of humour.

I'm doing my radio show right now, grooving to the music as it travels outward on invisible waves.  I have no idea how many people may be listening on any given night, but it doesn't really matter.  I'll get a call occasionally.  Or an email.  A request for a song name or more information. Kind words about the show.  And it's enough, to know that someone is listening and possibly discovering a new artist or song.

My personal music collection has definitely slanted towards the xx side of things, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.  Especially since, I pretty much love or at least strongly like everything I play on my show. Now for the shameless self promotion: check it out, Thursdays on 101.5 FM in Winnipeg or www.umfm.com.  Become a fan on Facebook, just search Venus Envy.

Watch This Space

Just a little note to tell you, dear reader, that I have not abandoned my blog.  I'm just taking a bit of a break post-school, pre-career.  So stay tuned for more of The Slant Perspective.  I've got some interesting posts brewing, including one on my two favourite ad campaigns currently running on television. *Insert suspense here*

In the meantime... check out one of these fab shows: Glee, Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD, Battlestar Galactica on DVD, True Blood and/or The United States of Tara.  That'll keep you busy!