Social media, online marketing hints, tips and advice – Liz Hover's Diary of a Web Gal (Winnipeg)

I’ve kept this low-key for a while but I feel it’s time to share it with you.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to attend one of my presentations, check out my most recent which was filmed by the wonderous James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot of Blink Works -  a Winnipeg boutique production studio.

This video was shot during my presention for PechaKucha Winnipeg.

Note: some strong language.

This month’s Winnipeg Girl Geek Dinner is all about blogging and I’m the presenter along with my pal Polly Washburn.

We’ll be sharing our experiences, from the techie bits to the creative stuff of choosing a theme, deciding what to write about, how to format a blog post, and why it’s important to post regular content.

Join us on Tuesday, June 8 (at 6 p.m. if you want to nosh on the delicious food at EAT! Bistro in Aqua Books or 7 p.m. if you just want to feed your mind.)

While the title of the event might be a bit girl-biased – boys are totally welcome.

Everyone is invited; if you plan on attending, please RSVP via Facebook or Eventbrite.

Really hope to see you there.

About us (the gals doing the talking)

I moved to Winnipeg from London, UK seven years ago and work as the digital media manager for the National Screen Institute – a film and TV training school. I author two blogs: Diary of a Web Gal and Hi, I’m Sadie Shih Tzu (nominated for a Canadian Weblog Award). I’ve presented workshops about the social web for the National Screen Institute, On Screen Manitoba, Canadian Women in Communications, the National Film Board and more. I also do web consulting to help develop and improve websites. My passion is the internet and how to best use it as a communications professional. Catch me on Twitter @lizhover @nsicanada @sadieshihtzu

My pal Polly moved to Winnipeg from New York over 10 years ago. She’s a film and digital media producer, owner of the production and consulting company Positron Media. She provides consulting and training in production and web marketing. She’s currently producing three feature films, a couple of shorts, a collaborative online digital media project, an iPhone app and an augmented reality game. Oh and if that wasn’t enough, she’s just launched a new blog ScreenLiving to examine content creation and distribution in a world where screens are both converging and proliferating.  Catch Polly on Twitter: @pollywashburn

There was a little rejoicing in the Web Gal household yesterday.

One of my blogs, Hi, I’m Sadie Shih Tzu has been nominated for a Canadian Weblog Award (Life category).

The Canadian Weblog Awards promote blogs from across Canada year-round with interviews, articles, and the nomination, judging, and award process. A jury then decides on a short list and winners are announced in January 2011.

The awards are something of a breath of fresh air: they’re designed to uncover good, but perhaps not mainstream or popular blogs.

Much of the judging criteria focuses on common sense stuff that all web designers would apply when creating a website. The same stuff I use in my job as website manager.

Design

• Usability — Is the website user-friendly and easy to navigate?
• Operability — Do all of its components function properly?
• Interactivity — Are a comments section and author contact information available? Are its interactive components (including comments, audio, video, etc.) effective, appropriate, and accessible?
• Aesthetics — Is the website pleasing to look at? Is its design original?

• Originality — Is the content original and creatively expressed?
• Intelligibility and clarity — Is the content well-written? Are the content’s messages clearly and effectively delivered?
• Currency — Is the content timely? Is the weblog updated on a regular basis?
• Transparency and authenticity — Is the author’s purpose and realness both trusted and apparent?
• Attention to detail — Has the content been edited for spelling and grammatical errors? Is the content arranged for ease of consumption?
• Engagingness — Is the content interesting? Does it contain broad appeal within its genre?

So we’ll have to be patient for a few months before we find out if Sadie’s blog progresses any further.

This is truly an honour to be recognised among my fellow Canadian bloggers. I’ve never envisioned making money from Sadie’s blog. It’s only ever an online space for her personality to come alive for others. Pure entertainment. And with the deluge of blogs available it’s a wonder anyone ever found Sadie’s.

We’ve no idea who nominated Hi, I’m Sadie Shih Tzu. If it was you, thank you.