What would be better, another day off or decent minimum wage? Ward Perrin — PNG

Last week I read in the comment section of The Province that the newspaper didn’t agree with BC Liberal leader candidate, Christy Clark’s proposed Family Day in February, calling it totally “irresponsible.”

I don’t agree with the irresponsible part, as I do love holidays, but if we did receive another stat holiday that would make our total count to 10 holidays throughout the year.

The only other province and territory that offer 10 holidays are Saskatchewan and NWT. The majority of provinces and territories have 9. Some, like Newfoundland and Nova Scotia only have six, the poor suckers.

So does that make Vancouver entitled to receive an extra holiday and include us into that exclusive minority in Canada? Well I may be completely biased (as I live in Vancouver) but after moving here from Toronto and being completely thrown for a loop by the high cost of living and, paradoxically, the very low minimum wage I do believe we deserve it, but more importantly BC needs to change their wages.

Guess what British Columbia? We are currently the lowest across Canada in minimum wage at $8.00 an hour. How do people afford living here you might wonder? Well some people can’t and are currently living in squalor. Since 2001 BC hasn’t changed minimum wage and yet since 2001 the cost of living has risen by 14%.

This affects everyone, even those who are earning more than the minimum wage, because it sets the bar lower for everyone.

I hope Christy Clark recognizes this and instead of planning to give us one day of solitude, will instead raise the bar for everyone in BC.

So for the first critique of 2011 it is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

By the end of this book it’s hard not to have a familial affection for Greg Mortenson, the real-life hero of this book, who currently spends more than half of his year in war-torn Afghanistan building schools, mending villages and helping children grow with purpose.

Map of Northern Areas, including Korphe and K2

The title, Three Cups of Tea, refers to the way Pakistanis do business with each other as Mortenson learned. The first cup of tea you are strangers, the second cup of tea you become friends and by the third cup you are family and work as such. Throughout the years Mortenson experiences many other confusing formalities and learns new languages in order to build schools for the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan. His dream eventually becomes reality once the Central Asia Institute (CAI) is founded in 1996 and now they support over 180 schools, as well as health and women’s centers – and Mortenson is still building more.

It’s easy to see, even as Relin jumps around the subject, that Mortenson has faults. His scope is tunneled. He wants so much to give everything he can to Pakistan/Afghanistan that he loses touch with his fellow CAI board members and some end up distancing themselves from the cause. Relin also mentions more than once that Mortenson procrastinates, he arrives late to meetings and forgets to call. This was probably one of the reasons why he lost some relationships along the way.

What is hardest on his family, however, are the long periods he spends on the other side of the world. While reading the book I began to imagine Mortenson as a soldier deployed to the front line. Each time he leaves, Tara, his wife, has to say goodbye to him as if it is their last. Mortenson has feared for his life on more than one occasion. In the book he was kidnapped, caught between cross fire and walked through mine fields. He also worked throughout the war in Afghanistan, a time when  it was considered dangerous for Americans to travel around the Northern Areas of Pakistan, the Hindu Kush and Tajikistan where Taliban would be seen. For a woman, like Tara, to let her husband work in such challenging areas of environmental and political strife, and raise their children by herself, she deserves a gold medal of her own.

Hushe School built by the Central Asia Institute (CAI)

Yes it does seem as though Mortenson focuses mainly at the task at hand in Pakistan/Afghanistan and forgets about his responsibilities in North America, but  that is where his heart lies. Mortenson can be described as a late bloomer, he discovered his passion, his career and his family later in life at the age of 40. For years he was a wanderer, not quite sure where he was meant to end up. Ironically, his failure to reach the peak of K2 led him to a whole new chapter in life.

What becomes a very important part in this book is how Mortenson begins discussion with U.S. Congress and even Donald Rumsfeld – which was described as ‘inhospitable’ – sets in motion his logical approach to fighting the “war on terrorism.” He begins to fully understand the distance between the Pentagon and Afghanistan. Rumsfeld’s ‘do or die’ approach isn’t doing any good and Mortenson must spread his knowledge of the east to Americans so they understand the facts of Taliban, Wahhabi madrasses and Osama Bin Laden.

Relin captured Mortenson, faults and all, as someone we can identify with because most of us still don’t really know what we want to be either. The fact that he managed to overcome so many obstacles in such a humane way shows readers they can do just as much with very little. A very inspiring story and a very good read.

But there is always room for improvement right? And judging by my stats I could do a little bit extra in order to receive more views.

I have no plans on making a theme for my blog. I’ve never meant for it to be based on media, public relations, or skills, rather as a respite for my own musings and interests (which is usually current events and something learned.)

So my new years resolutions on how to make my blog better will be:

• Re-do my Bio – A must as you can guess things have changed in the past few years. I’ve been meaning to do this but haven’t yet thought of one as interesting as the bio I have right now.
• Write Once a Week: Which can be difficult sometimes as life takes over or I may have writer’s block. Quality over quantity I always say. However, I think once a week is doable.
• Update my Flickr Photos: I have some lovely photos that I never bother to put up on Flickr. I need to showcase my favourites.
• Post my BBC Book Reads: As a personal goal I have promised myself to read ten books from the BBC’s Top 100. I will post a critique for each book I finish throughout the year.

And that’s how my blog will be that much more enjoyable in the new year.

Happy New Years everyone!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2010. That’s about 4 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 10 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 43 posts. There were 7 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2mb.

The busiest day of the year was December 3rd with 48 views. The most popular post that day was About Sure Writer (Erica Timmerman).

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, twitter.com, en.wordpress.com, en.search.wordpress.com, and hootsuite.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for beverly thompson, nancy holt, chris gailus, isamu noguchi, and bev thompson.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

About Sure Writer (Erica Timmerman) March 2009
5 comments

Centenarian Breaks Four World Records in Swimming…and he’s my Grandpa June 2009
2 comments

Love in the workplace with Chris Gailus and Jane Carrigan November 2010

The BBC’s Top 100 Books List and which ones I will read this year November 2010
4 comments

Do you know the new face of Canada’s Veterans? November 2010

But how does it work? And who is the most successful? Gailus and his wife, Jane Carrigan reporter for Global BC, were kind enough to offer five tips on how PR professionals can promote good media relations with journalists and explain how, “the most successful understand The Beast.”

1. “There needs to be news angle. Make it controversial, a human interest story,” says Carrigan. The press release has to grab the interest of an editor, so write it like a journalist. Research the daily newspapers and look for an angle in your product. What makes it new and different from the others? Write the most interesting part of the story in the first paragraph so your message gets through before they throw it out.
2. “Provide video and images,” advises Gailus. This works for all types of media. Sometimes the difference between your story getting into the paper and another not getting in is the fact that you had a picture added to it and they did not.
3. “Understand time constraints,” says Carrigan. This means you need to know the deadlines before sending out a press release. Television airs the morning news between 6am – 9am so send out a media advisory the day before to morning editors. There are also noon slots and 6pm news to take into consideration. Schedule your event at a convenient time for TV reporters. Same goes for radio and newspaper. Usually their story meetings are set at 10am, so send your story in early A.M. when journalists are looking for news.
4. “Choose a dynamic spokesperson,” says Gailus. TV reporters are looking for interesting visuals and that includes interesting people. If your CEO can’t deliver a message the way you want it, then pick someone with power in the company who has charm. 
5. “Provide good relationships,” says Carrigan. Don’t send out press releases to every media outlet available. Target media and say they will receive exclusivity as long as they get back to you by XX date. If they don’t, assume you can then contact others.

Below are the BBC’s top 100 books.

The instructions are to copy the list, bold the books you’ve read and italicize the books you started but ended up never finishing.

1. Make it a living document - and that means update it frequently. Create a plan for every freak accident that could or would happen then write up the key messages you want your spokesperson to say. Set up roles for each team member and file contacts, home, cell and otherwise.
2. Practice makes perfect – Practice your plans, you will be glad you did. This way you can see what works and what doesn’t, more importantly you learn who you can trust and who you can’t when the shit hits the fan.
3. Relationships are your saving grace – It’s important to know the people of organizations such as emergency, media, police. Take them out for coffee and get to know them as people. Don’t let a crisis be the first time you pick up a phone to call them.
4. Own the crisis- When a crisis hits approach the media and state the obvious. Also explain the schedule you will be running on and keep to it, allow briefings to be every morning and evening until the crisis has died down.  Make announcements early before the media finds their own experts.
5. Don’t forget to debrief – You can learn from each crisis. Find out what worked and what didn’t, then share with organizations and help others. You can become the expert.

These tips will help you in a time of crisis. They even have the promise of changing things for the better and, if done properly, raising you to humanitarian status. Think of Rudolph Giuliani. Before 9/11 he was considered one of the worst mayors in history, post catastrophe he is considered a hero for the way he became the face of New York. Remember you cant control what the journalists write, but you can control the message you give out. That’s the start to a right path.

Global news anchors Chris Gailus and Jane Carrigan think so.

“There is a physical divide between BC and the rest of Canada, I would even say a psychological sense of self British Columbians have,” said Carrigan.

You could blame it on the mountains but BCers just feel separate from other provinces, especially Ontario.

Gailus, who has anchored many news stations across Canada and the U.S., says he admires Global news for its, “warm and familiar relationships” with viewers.

“There is huge stability, it’s an anomaly that is unheard of anywhere else,” said Gailus.

Global news is the highest ranking news station in BC,  beating out CBC News, CTV news and City TV news. Gailus and Carrigan said it is because Global is known as a station focused mainly on local news while CBC and CTV are focused on headlines in Toronto and Ottawa.

“BC is usually the last to care about Ottawa,” said Carrigan. “I remember when I worked in Saskatchewan residents cared about politics, but here, not so much.”

Global Network’s national news hour is in Vancouver, which is the only network not to produce their national news in Toronto. That creates a challenge itself, because while BC residents may appreciate the location, does the rest of Canada feel the same way?

Chris admits it’s not easy. “Global National needs an Ontario audience because there is more saturation and impact in Ontario.”

In the end it may always be a dividing line between the east and west without a station that can attract both. Lifestyles, politics and cultures are too mosaic for one to take them all on.

“What works here doesn’t necessarily work elsewhere,” said Gailus. “People come here to duplicate but it doesn’t work.”

We may be one nation but in the news we are a world apart.

Global BC Evening Anchor Chris Gailus

I’m fortunate enough to live in the same apartment building as lovely couple and Global BC TV personalities, Chris Gailus and Jane Carrigan do. There is no doubt they are just as enchanting in person as they are on TV. They possess the “It” factor we all want, that’s why they are successful.

Which is why I asked to sit down and have a “job chat” with them…which inevitably became more a discussion about, what every twenty-something young woman is really interested in, relationships.

Global BC Reporter/Anchor Jane Carrigan

Chris and Jane met in Calgary when they both anchored at Global Calgary in 1997. They fell in love, and after working alongside each other for a couple of years Chris asked for Jane’s hand. It was obviously love at first sight. They’ve been happily married now for over 11 years.

How does it work for them when they are in such close proximity to each other at their job and at home? Don’t couples need some space within the life they share together? Or do relationships in the office really work?

“A lot of people are married in the same business,” said Chris. “The hours, the weird shifts, being at work when everyone else is at home. It’s hard to meet someone outside of the business who can understand all that.”

“Try dating someone when you work 3PM to midnight every night throughout the week,” added Jane.

They are also quick to point out that they don’t spend all their time together as one would assume.

“There are times that Chris has to attend an event or go on a business trip and if it’s not that important for me to be there then I won’t go,” said Jane.

Chris does have the higher position at Global, as anchor of the evening news, which requires more obligations. From the time they married Jane has been faithful in helping her husband succeed in his career, even putting her own on the back-burner at times. They have moved from Calgary to Dallas to New York to Vancouver in order for Chris to grow professionally, as well as personally.

“We weren’t happy in Calgary and interested in adventure,” said Chris. “It was a personal adventure, to see if you could ‘make it’ in the U.S.”

Obviously it must be frustrating trying to maintain a relationship while working in the media business. Would Jane have been able to follow Chris across America if it wasn’t for the fact that journalism was her own dream job too? Maybe Chris’s success is Jane’s as well because they both worked on his career together.

The hours that Chris and Jane spend together at work and at home obviously hasn’t hindered their relationship. You can see it in the way they lovingly look at each other and laugh together; even after over a decade of marriage. I was touched, and although I received quite a bit of advice about business in the media through our “job talk,” I also felt I learned even more about successful relationships by observing theirs.

War Veteran, Keith Shannon of the Sea Forth Armoury

When you picture war veterans, what image pops up in your head?

I trust the majority of you imagine old, wrinkly men from WWII era wearing a pea colour uniform and red poppy on their lapel.

The truth is that many veterans are young and a number of them just returned from Afghanistan, a country we’re still at war with.

The Veterans Portrait Project was brought to my attention a week ago. My teacher is involved with the 100th anniversary of the Seaforth Highlanders regiment in Vancouver and asked if I could write a press release for an exhibition of black and white photographs some of their veterans were involved with.

I interviewed the man behind the project, Shaun O’Mara, and learned he came up with the idea as he was talking to friends about Canadians’ misconception of the current veteran. His idea became a mission to preserve the history of the regiment while capturing vivid images of veterans from multiple generations.

He’s found the portraits he’s snapped have also revealed a portion of each soldier’s story.

“Many people won’t get answers to how they (the veterans) feel because the experience is still new, it’s still raw. A way for us to learn what their story is though is captured in the photo.”

In one instance O’Mara said one of his subjects began to talk about his regiment’s tour while being photographed and opened up that his friend was killed in service.

“I asked him ‘What do you do with the rage when you have to stay professional?’ and he looked at me with such intensity while the shutter clicked that his photo captured all the emotion of his story,” said O’Mara.

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Remembrance Day and we will inevitably be thinking of those who fought for us years ago.

Please also reflect, however, the thousands of Canadians who have fought and died recently in Afghanistan as well.

Event Details:

The Veterans Portrait Project will be open to the public all day Remembrance Day (November 11) as well as Nov 12 – 14 at the Seaforth Armoury, 1650 Burrard St. Vancouver. The soldiers who posed for the photos will also be there to chat with.

The exhibition will then be relocated for the public to view at the Douglas Mitchell Centre, 2555 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, Saturday November 27, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Centenary celebrations.