Do I know you?

When someone sends a friend request on Facebook, it's generally because they know the person. Now every once and a while, some weirdos add people they don't know, or get confused.

In a case where someone requests to be your Facebook friend, and you don't know who they are, you either completely ignore it or you send them a message saying  "Do I know you?, How do I know you?, Who are you?"

But on Twitter the case is quite the opposite. You want people to follow you who you don't know. It's like, the more followers the better. Though some people feel that way about Facebook and add every Jo Blow who comes around, the general consensus is that Facebook is for friends, family and your private life and Twitter is for networking with people with common interests, and to get as many unique followers as possible so that your message will be far spread.

Though the goal on Twitter is to have more followers than you do friends on Facebook, it isn't necessarily the easiest one to reach. Your tweets have to be interesting to the people you follow and if they're not, they will unfollow you. Also if you write something that offends them or they don't agree with, unfollow. The challenge of Twitter is that there are so many people with different interests on it tweeting that it's hard to sell yourself.

The things you say on Twitter vs. Facebook aren't always, but should probably differ. I view Facebook as my personal page, for only people I want to see to see. I set the privacy settings so ONLY friends can see, nobody else. Twitter is out there for the world to see, you can't have anything to hide.

My advice, if you want to stay private, stick to Facebook. If you want to unleash your thoughts on the world, cross over to the Tweet side.

Resilience Runs in the Family

As you may or may not know, over the past 6-7 years, I've had some pretty unfortunate problems happening with my body. From chronic tendonitis, to growth plate displacement, to dislocated pelvis, you name it, I've probably had it. Through all of it, I've still managed to keep up my dancing and regular exercises, and not get fat! (woohoo)

Over the past few months I have realized where my resilience, some may call it stubbornness, from. This blog post isn't about me, it's about my Grandma.

My Grandma is the most stubborn, resilient lady I have ever met. Even through her failing health, she keeps on pulling through. Now, let me give you a brief history of her "miracles".

Grandma is born to a woman in her mid-thirties (this was unusual at the time), youngest child (1922)
Grandma has a child (my dad) in her late thirties (also unusual at the time - 1958)
*Now these past two things may not seem like a big deal, but let's put this in context. My Grandma was born to a very poor family who lived in rural Manitoba, with little to no health care nearby, and limited resources. Also, for women to have babies past 30 was considered unsafe at the time, until the 1960s I'd say it was, when women started having careers.*
Grandma gets diabetes around her 70th year.
Grandpa (Grandma's husband) dies of a heart attack in 1998, leaving her alone to live in her rural home for a couple years.
Grandma moves to the city and learns how to drive (2000).
Grandma has many hospital visits, scares of diabetic health and such (2000-2010)
Grandma needs surgery, to put in an artificial artery to help bloodflow to her legs, and survives (2010-age 88)
Grandma needs more surgery, actually she ends up having 3 surgeries in 2 weeks. Surgery 1- extension of artificial arteries, surgery 2- redo of one, because it didn't work in the right leg. Surgery 3 - amputation.

And that brings up to today, where my Grandma is recovering from the amputation of her right leg at Deer Lodge. The surgeries didn't help the blood flow to her right leg, and they had to amputate above the knee for her to survive.

The spry 89-year-old started physiotherapy just a day after the surgery, and is doing better than anyone could've expected, especially since we didn't think she would survive.

She makes comments like "Good thing I have a needle and thread in my wallet, I need to hem all my pants." and "I want more physiotherapy so I can get out of here". She even told the doctor she was going to fire him if he messed up one more surgery.

The cutest thing was when she asked my dad if he could buy her some sweat pants for physiotherapy. No elastic though, and they have to be gray. And when he asked what size she said "34 inch waist". Oh Grandma, you're so funny, they don't make sweat pants like that.

I love you Grandma, thank you <3 xox.

Psycho Woman Writes a Book

Hypothetical situation: Terryn Shiells writes a novel.

What would I write about? Maybe a love story, where high school sweethearts get married and then one dies. Oh wait, no, that’s a cliche.

I think if I were to write a novel, it would be the world through the perspective of someone who is psychotic. I’m not sure how I’d pull it off, I’d have to do a lot of research and maybe even be psycho myself, but I think it would be fun to write. 

So yes, a couple years go by and am I finished writing this masterpiece, now what? Should I publish it myself, take it to a publisher...or just make it into en e-book?

On one hand, an e-book is a good idea since more and more people are shying away from spending money on print, because of wanting to be “green” and the technological advances we have. But on the other hand, who doesn’t want a copy of something they can keep forever. The smell of the pages, the everlasting feeling. Like, imagine your iPad or your kobo breaks, or you want the newest version, that means your books aren’t forever.

I think, if I were to write a book, I’d take the steps to self publish it, and make sure it was available in hard copy. With a hard cover too, because everyone knows you can’t fall asleep reading hard cover books.

The "Situation" Analysis

No no, this is not a blog post about Jersey Shore! It's a snippit from our situation analysis as part of our proposal in PR class for our magazine, it was really fun figuring out what could go really wrong, and really right in the project.

The situation analysis for Run WPG magazine outlines internal and external factors that could affect its success. Strengths and opportunities being for, and weaknesses and threats, against.

Strengths

• The editorial team members represent different age groups. Having writers who represent different generations will be beneficial to the content and the readers of Run WPG.
• The editorial team members are all residents of Winnipeg. They are familiar with the city, the goings on and the overall personality of the population. 
• The magazine allows for two-way communication between the reader and editorial staff through its format which includes letters to the editor.
• The concept is sustainable. There are many possible topics to be covered since running itself is diverse and can be associated with many other types of exercise and nutrition.
• The editorial team has a lot of good connections in the running community. One member is good friends with Darren Anderson, who is the director of the Manitoba Marathon.

Weaknesses

• The concept promises content for both runners and walkers, but the focus is blurry. The editorial doesn’t include anything specific for people who walk, which will potentially defer them.
• The spring 2011 issue is being written in the middle of winter, making it hard to include news worthy and relevant topics for the time of release. It is also difficult to create original photography of people running outside without snow on the ground.
• Not all readers will identify with the celebrities that are featured in Run WPG. People will see a face that they don’t like, and won’t be prompted about purchasing the magazine.
• The editorial staff consists of only four members. They are creating everything from advertisements to stories which will make it hard to keep the quality of work consistent.
• There is a very limited budget for the magazine. Being a student project, there is no advertising revenue and all costs will be paid out of the pockets of the staff.

Opportunities

• The demographic of 25-40 year olds that the magazine targets has a lot of dispensable income. 
• The running community is very small and tight knit. Run WPG can benefit from word of mouth within it.
• There are many running events, such as races and marathons in Winnipeg where the magazine can be a presence.
• Many charities are associated with running, and Run WPG can take advantage of the benefits being associated with charities can have on the magazine’s image to the community as well as partnering for distribution.
• Mainstream media is very popular with Run WPG’s target market and many celebrities in these mediums endorse staying fit and running.

Threats

• There is a lot of competition for Run WPG. The strongest being lots of content available for runners online, as well as other magazines.
• The weather in Winnipeg could create seasonality of the magazine.Though some people do run in the winter, all of the events are happening in the spring and summer. It also rains a lot here, and it could happen that marathons and races are rained out.
• The possibility of failure is a factor for Run WPG, as it is with any print production.
• Though running is trendy right now, it could happen that it becomes unpopular, making the survival of the magazine very difficult.
• There are opposing interest groups that are against running for reasons such as health and safety that could protest the publication of Run WPG.