• How to run a networking session that doesn't suck
    Articles

    How to run a networking session that doesn’t suck

    Networking sessions are almost always garbage. They only actually work if they’re guided in some way that gives a reason for strangers to interact. Even people like me, ballsy, confident, social people who always have something to say, find most networking sessions to be an excruciating waste of everyone’s time and energy. The idea that the plan is just 1. Room/People/Alcohol 2. ????? 3. NETWORKING!! is stupid beyond belief. Everyone should stop running them like this. They do not work. People with lots of connections talk to each other and gain nothing. People with few connections hardly talk to anyone and then feel shitty and miserable afterwards. If you’re thinking…

  • 2014 - A new day!
    Articles,  Year-End Thoughts

    Not too shabby, 2014!

    Not a bad year, not an amazing year.  A good, solid year without major setbacks,  2014 has been pretty good to me.   The biggest achievement of my year, without a doubt, was achieving my long-held goal of paying off my student loans.  It happened in October.  After a decade of confusion, ((To this day, I’m not quite certain what my total amount loaned was – the system changed several times during my undergrad, leading to Federal and Provincial  loans all over the place.)) getting the run-around from various banks and student loan services, and low-paying contract work in Peterborough, I finally had the kind of dependable income that allowed me…

  • Articles

    Lift up your heart and let out your voice: Peterborough Needs PCVS

    When I started high school in 1991, I was nervous and excited, like a lot of kids going into Grade 9.  Coming from a very small rural elementary school at the edge of the village of Keene, walking through the doors of this 160-year-old urban high school was like a dream.  One of 50 students accepted into the Integrated Arts Program that year, I knew only two other people at PCVS, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. Elementary school had been, for me, completely brutal.  Our family moved to the village when I was in kindergarten, and in a place where many families could trace their roots back…

  • Articles

    So you want to make a difference: 7 Strategies for community organizers

    A community's greatest asset is its skilled workers; protect yourself, and the important work you do, by avoiding the pitfalls. I've given this a lot of thought, having been involved in the community sector a long time, and often fallen into the traps described above. As paid staff, volunteer, and Board member, I've both asked too much and been asked too much. There's not a mistake on this list I haven't made myself, sometimes over and again. So, as much to remind myself as to educate anyone else, here are seven strategies for making a positive difference in both your own life, and that of the community!