UPDATE: The winner of the tickets to Shmoozefest is Patti Church! Congrats!

Stay tuned – at the end of this post I have a great giveaway!!!

I am extremely fortunate to be involved in many amazing projects right now. In addition to my day jobs, which allow me to work with amazing people like Mark Saunders at Saunders Farm, film director Andrew Lavigne, and the awesome staff and students at Algonquin College, I also am privileged have numerous side projects on the go with fabulous folks at United Way/Centraide Ottawa, TEDx Ottawa, OttawaTonite.com, and SAW Video Co-op.

All of the projects are distinctly different, but they all require me to be able to do one thing well – ask for stuff. It might be someone’s time, it might be goods and services, or a favour – any way you slice it, it requires the ability to ask of others and do it well.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to ask – and it can really mean the difference between getting what you want and getting doors slammed in your face. Over time, I’ve learned that asking is an art. Here are a couple of the things I’ve learned.

Visibility is key. Everyone hates cold calling. I despise it. And, I don’t find it to be very effective, either. If the person I’m asking has no clue who I am, why would they even consider what I’m asking for, when they probably have 100 other people that they actually know asking for stuff? Unless it’s the deal of a lifetime, I probably don’t have a shot.

What does it take to get on someone’s radar? Well, it takes time, for starters. And, it also takes a good balance of not trying too hard with putting yourself out there as a real person.

Social media tools are a great way to sneak onto someone’s radar. The occasional retweet, promotion of that person’s stuff on your personal blog, or a few good recommendations of that person’s work can go a long way to start to build some visibility. Here’s the key though – it has to be 100% GENUINE. I’m never, ever going to promote someone’s book just to get noticed. I am doing it because I actually believe in the author’s message. There’s a big difference between a light tap on someone’s office door and barging in. Knock lightly. Ask politely. You may have to do it a few times. But in the end, it will get you noticed in positive way, rather than a negative one.

Short, sweet, and what’s in it for me. As this blog has become more popular, I’ve started to get more and more requests for my time. I get several emails per week now asking for me to review something, or write something, or meet someone in person. I appreciate all of the people reaching out to me. How do I determine what I’m going to pursue and what goes in the trash can? It’s all in the approach.

If someone sends an email that is short, succinct, gets to the point (i.e. the “ask”) right away then I will read on. But there’s something that’s key to a good “ask”. Tell me what is in it for me, right off the bat. If I can see how what you want jives with what I want, then I’m definitely going to take notice. If what you’re asking is all about you, then there’s no value for me. We’re not a fit.

When I ask someone for something, the FIRST thing I do is figure out how to make what I want about them. It sounds counter intuitive, but if you put some thought into it, it will work. Don’t suck up. Flattery, when it’s over the top, just makes people uncomfortable. State why you’re contacting the person, in two sentences or less. Then ask. Then tell them why this is a great opportunity for THEM. I guarantee you’ll at least get a reply if you stick to that formula.

The best way to get people to listen to your ask is to be real. Be gracious. And above all, be human. Connecting with people is not about kissing up, and it’s never contrived. Never have an ulterior motive. Connect with people first because you want to. Then figure out if there’s a way your goals can jive with theirs. Then, and only then, ask.

What about you? How do you ask?

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

In keeping with the theme of this post – I have two tickets (thanks to Stacey Diffin-Lafleu) to give away to the United Way’s Shmoozefest 2009 on October 21st. It’s a great event with all kinds of opportunities to connect with amazing people in the Ottawa business community. If you want to be entered to win, simply reply in the comments with “I wanna go to Shmoozefest, Suze!” and I’ll enter you in the draw. I’ll draw the winner on October 15th. Good luck!

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As some of you may know, this semester I’m teaching a course at Algonquin College on Web Media. We’re talking about and doing everything from blogging to podcasting to social networking and anything else that falls under the Web 2.0 umbrella.

What I love about this course is that though I was given a basic outline by the college, I’ve pretty much been given free reign to design the course the way I want. This means, not only do I get to come up with all the fun activities we get to do, but I get to hand pick who I’m going to bring in to help me teach the stuff.

Today we were fortunate to welcome my friend, Information Architect extraordinaire Jeff Parks to the class. I knew the students were in for a treat, as Jeff is one of the most passionate speakers I know. Perhaps it’s because if his info architect nature, but the guy can analogize like nobody’s business. And, he’s funny as heck, too.

Needless to say, the class was enthralled for the whole hour he was with us, as he discussed how people disseminate data into real value and how understanding the way people communicate is absolutely vital to succeeding in the online world. Many thanks to Jeff for his invaluable contribution to today’s class.

After Jeff left, we were back to business, and today was the day the students were presenting their second assignment, about online communities. Their task was to work in pairs, and research an online community. They could pick any community they wanted, but they had to explore it thoroughly – what tools were being used, how people were being encouraged to participate, and so on.

Well, not only was I extremely impressed with the quality of the students’ presentations, but I was quite pleased to have been reminded of some interesting facts in the process.

Social media ain’t the only game in town. So here we all are, us social media types, Twittering and blogging away about Twittering and blogging. Meanwhile, out there (I mean, still in the online world – just outside of the social media bubble) there are communities upon communities chock full of wonderful people connecting in amazing ways. It’s true! Go look for yourselves!

Today I heard presentations from my class about online communities that exist around sports (Canadian sports broadcaster TSN is doing some really cool stuff), video games, 3-D animation, local independent music and even candy! Yes, entire online communities exist about CANDY. There are blogs, forums, podcasts, and videos a-plenty in these communities. And most importantly, there are lots and lots and LOTS of people hanging out in these communities. Are they all on Twitter? Well, a few are. Are they all blogging and Facebooking – yep, quite a few, and their numbers are growing. Are they participating in forums and having conversations and connecting? In droves!

Go on, go look! Here’s a task for you – take a walk outside the bubble this week. Do some searches for other stuff that interests you besides social media (or even stuff that doesn’t interest you that much). You will be amazed at what you find. The thing is, the candy lovers, gamers, sports fanatics, and musicians that are out there interacting in these communities? I bet if you asked them, a lot of them wouldn’t even know that what they are doing is social media. They are just out there. Interacting, contributing, and connecting, without even thinking twice about how to do it better or more effectively. We can learn a lot from watching what’s going on out there.

Ooh! More secret sauce. I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. The answers we’re looking for, on how to build better communities and use social media more effectively? They’re already out there. In the candy community, and the sports community, and the gamer community. Go check! You’ll see what I mean.

The thinkers have their place. Now, I’m not trying to say that studying social media, analyzing it like crazy and teaching people how to use social media more effectively is not useful. It’s extremely useful, and not only would I be dead wrong, I’d be putting myself out of a job if I said otherwise.

What I AM saying is that we need to remember that the echo chamber is alive and well, and that once in a while, we need to turn our radar outwards. We need to stop talking to each other, and start talking to the communities themselves. So do you still need to be thinking about social media in these terms? If it’s part of your business, then absolutely. Just don’t forget about the Candy People in the process, or your view will be too narrow and too skewed.

Why I teach. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Teaching, although it is only a smallish part of what I do for a living, is absolutely one of the most rewarding parts of my job. Why? Because I get to talk to people about things I love to talk about, like video and blogging and writing and geeky tech stuff. But what I also love is that every time I go into that classroom, I’m learning too. Thanks to my class today, I gained a new perspective on my work in this space. And for that I’m very grateful!

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Yesterday was the last class of the semester prior to the Christmas break. For the past 15 weeks, I’ve been teaching video production to 84 first-year future web developers and designers. It’s designed to be an introductory course, covering all the technical basics of lighting, shooting and editing but also emphasizing video as a visual storytelling medium and use of video on the Web.

Overall it was an extraordinary first semester. My students were enthusiastic, showed up ready to learn, and really got their hands dirty and worked hard on their projects. I challenged them a lot – they had to produce a short video that told a story without using any dialogue (video is a “show me” medium, not a “tell me” medium!), and also create a mini-documentary. What the groups were able to pull off in the limited amount of time they had was really impressive.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tough having such a large class (it was actually two classes of 42, but still a large group). I found it challenging to be able to connect on an individual basis with everyone, particularly the more quiet students. But in the end, I think I managed to get a good handle on the strengths and weaknesses of each person, and set them up as much as possible for success.

Setting people up for success. That is what teaching is all about. It’s not about standing at the front of a class spewing facts and figures to a room full of half-asleep students. It’s about figuring out how to create an environment in which everyone, no matter what, can learn. The secret to doing this well is to GET PEOPLE INVOLVED. I did very few lectures this semester – and for the ones I did do, I involved people – whether it was having volunteers demonstrate things or asking them questions and getting them involved in a discussion.

Most of the work this semester was done by the students, not by me. My job was to arm them with the tools and the basic knowledge, but the real work (and the real learning) came when they grabbed a camera and went out to create their projects. Sure, they made mistakes. Some had to re-shoot things. Some realized their original concept wasn’t going to work and had to go back to the drawing board. Some got frustrated. Some even wanted to pack it in. But with the right kind of gentle encouragement, they persevered.

Last week and yesterday, when we screened their final mini-documentary projects, and they were all so excited to show what they’d accomplished to the class, I knew I’d done my job.

Teaching isn’t about talking and carrying on until you’re blue in the face. Teaching is about imparting a foundation of knowledge, then stepping back and allowing your students to take that knowledge, work with it, make a bunch of mistakes, and then turn that knowledge in into something they can take ownership and pride in.

Happy holidays to my wonderful classes. Thank you so much for your time and attention. I’ll see you again in fourth semester!

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