Weapons of a Web Ninja

Hello All!


As some of you may know, I was fortunate enough to have an interview with New Media Manitoba last week and sit down with Kevin Hnatiuk, Louie Ghiz and Kathy Driscoll. Even if I don't get the job it was worth it to pick their collective brains about what is happening in Manitoba with the Digital Interactive industry. Exciting things!!!


Facebook is earning more and more respect from me as I see it connecting more people in our community, locally and globally. Did you know 16 550 620 Canadian's are on Facebook? That's almost 63% of our population. Just a personal example below, without a social tool such as Facebook how would my accountant, brother, cousin who lives in BC, and close friend who is so busy with her own career be able to offer support and advice to this silly girl? BTW Thanks guys!















In the interview I feel I talked a lot about my web-foo(web kung-foo, translation for my mother) as a practice but not that much about the weapons I use. Just like BabyDoll in SuckerPunch with her samurai sword and hand gun I have a few weapons of choice when it comes to projects.






Evernote is a FANTASTIC app shown to me by the talented Ms. Lori Dyck of Wildfire Online. It revolutionized the way I take notes! Evernote is an online app or Saas that helps you make, store and organize 'notes'. Pre-evernote I was using the .rtf. The plain text file I would keep on a project or client with 'notes' and upload it online to my website server so it was available to me anywhere. This app has streamlined this process. It allows you to make:

A text note.
A picture note.
A VOICE note! (Recording things for later is the equivalent of taking down a giant robot samurai)
A web page Clipping.
A twitter clipping with notes.

It also has a tagging system that allows you to tag every note so you can organize your notes and search through them quickly later. Storing them online I am able to take notes with my mobile and it syncs directly with my online account, giving me access to them from any computer.





I never hide my Google love! They are creating such fundamental developments right now that I must tip my hat to them in general. Google Docs is a fantastic online alternative to Microsoft Word and Excel. It allows to to create:
A written Document
A Spreadsheet
A Presentation (Power Point)
A Form (to fill out, great for clients)
A Drawing
A Collection (a way to organize the files)

These documents are stored online and you are able to share them via email with other people. Very helpful when communicating and collaborating on a project with multiple users. It allows you to import and export documents easily and in multiple formats, you get free file hosting(within reason) and you can store Gmail attachments sent to your documents automatically. Other apps I use are Google Calendar, Google Reader (very helpful with research and development), and of course the all mighty Gmail. All the hype with Google+ I have an account but have not yet explored it's capabilities. I don't see how it could be bad as they had all of Facebook's social networking mistakes to learn from. I have a feeling it will soon be an essential tool.



Mail Chimp is my favorite email campaign program. Again it is online and FREE up to 2000 subscribers which is normally for our purposes enough. I find this helpful not just for the subscriber database and the ability to send updates to my readers automatically but it alerts me to their birthday, which is a great way for you to contact someone, wish them a genuine happy birthday and touch base.

So there is my round up of organizational weapons I use every day to help me beat the enormous monster of a project I am currently battling.

What do you use?

Jack at the Park

Staring my amazing puppy dog Jack. Created with a Winnipeg developed mobile video editing app called Video Edit. A really handy application for on-the-go video editing and posting.

Smash-Art is attending Ad:Tech London!

Great news! I applied a few months ago to the Manitoba government's Skill Development for Young Entrepreneurs grant program to attend a world class online advertising seminar taking place in London, England.

Well tonight I found out that I'm approved for funding! Hazzah! UK here I come!

I will be attending Ad:Tech London THE event for online marketing. I will be taking in two full days of seminars and speakers from the top online brands in the world including Google, Forbes Media, Amazon and Ebay just to name a few. There is a combo of five main topic rooms including Reach & target, Research & insight, Creativity & innovation, Measure & analyze, Engage & convert.

I will be bringing all this great information back home with me! Stay tuned for updates!

Dexter learns to Eskimo kiss!

Our Father's Day

What did you do?

Digital Road Trip!

It's time I hit the open road. Sometimes I feel that there is nothing better for the soul then to jump in the car and head for the horizon. So I'm headed with my cousins to the big ol U S of A! Maybe not that exciting for those readers that already live there but for a girl that lives in -30 degree weather and hibernates most of the year getting out of the house is a thrill.

It's great to know how big the world really is and thus how small you really are.

I am going to be a Digital Tourist! We are going to so many interesting and exciting places along the way and I hope to share some of the knowledge and experiences with world.

In today's world because of the type of lives we live I feel there is too much physical separation. Digital media is a fantastic way to promote community among friends and family. People are doing it more and more around the world.

So I am going to meet as many interesting people as I can. See as many amazing things that I can. Capture as many endearing moments as I can and share it all with you!

Excited? I am.

Well, I clammed up!

This happens often in the blog-o-sphere, as shared by Trish Rempel in her latest blog post on Attempting Balance (I love your artwork there), it is almost too easy to fall out of the habit of posting and literally 'falling off' the digital world for a while.

It's silly, I have been capturing great moments and experiences with my IPhone completely meaning to share them with the world and then I don't.

Now that I actually joined the Wpg Girl Geek blog challenge and had readers... I didn't know what to say.

The 'what ifs' set in. What if no one reads this? What if someone thinks I'm stupid? I make a spelling mistake? Get's offended by my opinions? Doesn't like my sentence structure? Thinks I'm just a silly girl?

Well. I am a silly girl.

A silly geeky girl living in Canada that wants to make the world a better place. Honestly, that's what I strive to do every day. I want to make the world a better place with family, work and friends, promoting truth, happiness and acceptance. A good friend once told me to Lead by Example. So I am going to share with you the random happenings of my life and hopes it helps you in your life somehow.

Girl Geek Dinner's Blog Challenge

It has been talked about for a few months, idea's floating around between emails and Twitter and now it's finally here! The Winnipeg Girl Geek Blog Challenge!

For those who don't know a blog challenge is just a community of like minded people that encourage, comment and give feedback to fellow bloggers. Since this is focused on local girl geeks I am very excited to get to know all of the other techy ladies that are out there.

This week's challenge: Reasons for Blogging.

I have several reasons for blogging. I find it a great way to record my thoughts and feelings on any given day and revisit them. Whether it is a personal post, business related of a review of an event or equipment it is a great way to keep track of and REMEMBER what was happening in my life at that time.

Another reason I blog is with my small business Smash-Art-Graphic Design, Web and Print it is one of my missions to remain 'transparent' to my clients. Meaning that I am open and honest about my business and my life, there is nothing hidden up these sleeves!

The most important reason I am blogging right now is to create a community with other like minded people to share experiences, resources and support. I know from working on my own in a home office it can become a very lonely profession. Also I do not know any other female PHP wizards, do you?

So cheers to the Winnipeg Girl Geek Blog Challenge! Let's get this party started!