Like Roxanne, but with Ray

Tumblr is the place I turn to when I want to post something I know people would lose their cool over on my Facebook profile. I can't help it that I'm popular!

Everything Counts (Depeche Mode) cover by a really cute family.

So, I went to this this weekend. I only found out about it on Friday, so some of the cool stuff (including Grace's screenings) were sold out. But I got to see Mitchell Davis and Jack Douglass!

I was so close to him! I love YouTube celebrities a stupid amount.

Anyway, the festival allowed video content creators to showcase their work in the real world and a host asked a bunch of questions about them. It was cool.

I was twice as old as most of the attendees. They kept looking at me with a face that said, "Whoa, you must be important. Do I know you?" Or "Poor old lady. I hope I'm more famous than you are right now when I'm your age."

Also, my MacBook no longer has a trackpad, so I took an old mouse from work. It sits on my bed when my MacBook is on my lap and doing anything on the Internet is so hard. It hurts to move my body this way.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! Since Newfoundland has always had closer ties to England than the rest of Canada, we always celebrated this day as Bonfire Night.

I grew up in a small fishing village called Lower Island Cove and Bonfire Night was one of the funnest days of the year. We'd cart old boats deep into the woods, near the old mines, and burn them (and whatever else we could find to burn).

I applaud conference organizers because their audiences are full of jerks like me who assume they won't learn anything new or get riled up in a good way. That's obviously a challenge, and one the folks behind The Art Of are taking on and nailing.

I attended The Art of Small Business Conference with one of my TELUS clients a couple weeks ago and left with a lot of excitement and positivity.

The highlight for me was probably former Dragon Brett Wilson who simply told his entrepreneur story. He talked about everything from going out on his own and having big time clients from his previous role follow him because of his relationship skills to his time on Dragon's Den (and how Kevin O'Leary is as big of a dick as he seems) to how he screwed up his family life and what he did to fix it.

He didn't say much that was unexpected, but it's nice to hear some known lessons from someone as successful as he is. He also seems very sincere, which goes a long way in a room of a couple hundred folks trying to be someone and easily forgetting basics like Be a Decent Human Being.

Here are some of my takeaways from the day:

Leaders are often more effective when they're vulnerable. (via @jonathanfields) #TheArtOf

#1 rule of business according to @WBrettWilson: Don't slag your boss to your top client. #TheArtOf

If anyone ever says, "That's not my job," that's the one they shouldn't have. (via @WBrettWilson)#TheArtOf

Learning is a lifelong process. You have to take care of yourself along the way. (via @WBrettWilson) #TheArtOf

Biggest business mistake @WBrettWilson has made was trusting people he shouldn't have. As if I need more reason to distrust! #TheArtOf

Because of my oh-so-clever personal nuggets shared on Twitter during The Art of Small Business, I've been invited to The Art of Leadership Conference on November 26! Col. Chris Hadfield and Gen. Colin Powell are two of the speakers for this day, so I'm a little giddy just thinking about it. 

I'm looking forward to a conference that goes beyond digital marketing trends and execution. One of the best parts of my job is getting to learn from everyone I work with, no matter their level. A great leader is a great listener and problem solver. She's able to see how and where every detail matters and she has no problem getting into the weeds of things.

I've been very fortunate at my job to not only learn and grow pretty quickly, but also figure out what I want for myself. One of those things is to help High Road be a leader in our industry -- beyond public relations, advertising and marketing. Beyond another agency. 

I think a lot of people land in or are given leadership opportunities they're not right for, and I want to make sure this doesn't happen to me.