Regular followers of my blog may have noticed that rtstrategy.ca has been a little quiet lately. My apologies for my lack of postings in the last two weeks. And even that last post was a bit of a rant, rather than anything useful.  So it’s really been 3 weeks or so since I last provided the two of you with any value!

It’s been an odd few weeks. Busy. And massively rewarding.

There is no truer quote than this “Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”

Please re-read that.

Did you? I hope so.

Whether or not you did – here it is again. With bold bits.

“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”

Without going in to detail, the last few years of my life have not had enough worthy purpose. Then suddenly, partly by chance, partly by design, I recently found myself involved in four worthy community initiatives.

So has the above rung true?

Well, in the last 3 weeks, I’ve slept half the hours I did in the previous 3. I’ve played about 1/4 of the golf I’d normally play. I’ve billed clients less than I should have done. I’ve seen my beloved Arsenal football team lose two key matches, ending their hopes of winning a trophy this season. And I still have a damn big smile on my face and a ton of energy.

So… here’s what I’ve been up to… and why I’m smiling!

Summit International Awards

One of my personal values is recognition. And that goes beyond “credit where it’s due”. You see I’m pretty difficult to please. Just ask half the places I go to eat. Or many of the colleagues, suppliers and contractors I’ve worked with in my career. I owe my career success to date to that fact.

Sometimes I see (with hindsight) that I have set higher standards for others than I have for myself. I know I shouldn’t. But I do. I’m human. I’ve had times when I’ve been burnt out and not able to live up to my own standards.

The counter point to that is that (I believe) I not only give credit to, but work hard for, even fight for those that meet and exceed the standards I set. Again, I believe a number of former colleagues, suppliers and contractors would testify to that.

I was therefore delighted to be asked to join the judging panel for the Summit International Awards. I’ll write blog post specific to that in due course. For now I’ll just say that I saw some work (including one particular piece in Marketing Industry Self-Promotion) that blew me away.

Connections at Work

Valuing relationships and collaboration, I was delighted to be asked to sit on the first board of Connections at Work – a new, independent business networking group that operates on a single-member-per-classification model – similar to that of Business Networking International, but without a lot of the complexities that turn myself and some others off that organization. The group is still in it’s infancy, but has already provided value to most of its membership.

Kelowna Community Food Bank

12 days ago I was asked to consult regarding social media by the Urban Adventure Challenge’s organizing committee and was happy to donate some time. However looking at the time frames involved and the tasks that were required, I quickly became hands on. Two days later the website above was launched and a Twitter & Facebook campaign were underway.

The event is in support of Kelowna Community Food Bank’s “Tiny Bundles Program” which supports low-income pregnant & nursing mothers – ensuring they, and Junior receive proper nutrition.

Please do what you can to support the event.

2nd Thursday

2nd Thursday is a new organization to connect and support Okanagan Valley marketing, creative and media professionals, seeking networking, professional development and advocacy opportunities.

In the last three weeks I’ve been working hard to take this organization through conception, naming, (partial) branding, the recruitment of a first executive and board, the holding of a successful first social event, establishing an online and social media presence and reaching out to many stakeholders.

We have also held an initial strategic planning session and are entering a period of consultation with first directors, stakeholders and strategic partners including the local Economic Development Commissions and Chambers of Commerce, before rolling out our purpose to the marketing, media and creative sector and the wider business community.

Having set an ambitious, aggressive but achievable agenda for the organization my role will be an ongoing test of leadership, and I look forward to the challenge!