Social Media - Twitter

Why do people use Twitter?

I understand celebrities, companies, and events because they all have something to sell you. They want an audience for new projects, new products, and/or to raise money because of the first two.

I follow the local news twitter feed because I'm a commuter and like checking the traffic report before I head out. I follow event pages because I'm already planning on attending that event. I follow companies to find out when something is being released/renewed/cancelled. I follow groups to get links to relevant pictures and webpages. I follow celebrities because they're often funny and really nice to their followers, and you occasionally get the inside scoop on upcoming shows. I follow my friends because Twitter suggested it, but most of my friends don't tweet and the one who does uses Twitter/Facebook as more of a Marketing tool for her Real Estate business which kind of makes her more of a company.

I understand that you can tweet private messages but I never have and am not sure I know how to. I have unlimited text messages, I usually have access to my email or Facebook, and if all else fails I always have an actual phone to use.

I only have 7 followers - occasionally as high as 10. About 3 are friends, 1 is a co-worker, and the rest are companies trying to sell me things based on my profile hoping that if they follow me I'll reciprocate and follow them.

I tried scheduling a bunch of tweets in advance - I'm very proud of my casual Friday tee and would like more people to be aware of my awesome tee collection - but it quickly failed because my interest waned after setting up 5 or 6.

I've tweeted about blog posts I've written and if I use the right tags it has been retweeted. I've tweeted and retweeted to win contests - still haven't won anything.

I think I'm missing something.

Looking online, reasons to use Twitter include:

• To follow trends i.e. hashtags
• Interesting people - not just celebrities
• Creative outlet
• Access to celebrities
• Instant news reports - [excellent reason, but be careful the source is reliable and if the report interests me I follow up with a legit source elsewhere later]
• Short attention span - limit of 140 characters removes TL;DR comments [why anyone would make those comments confounds me]
• Meet new people
• Sending out thoughts to everyone in the social network can be empowering [but how many actually get read/make a difference]
• Easy to use
• Allows for mini-reflections instead of massive blog posts
• And many, many more

I agree with many of these things: I get tips and updates from the people I follow, I feel more connected to the celebrities I like. I don't know about easy to use [I seem to have some kind of mindblock due to my obvious wordiness] and hashtags confuse me: do I create my own or use already created ones? I haven't met any new people, I haven't found an easy way to post pics so creativity is out, I never write TL;DR cause if I had time to make that comment I had time to read the whole post.

Why do or don't you use Twitter? Any tips to make it work better for me?

I kinda prefer tweetcaster as opposed to Twitter itself cause it more easily allows me to schedule posts and quote tweets when I reply to them. What app do you use?

First Ever Cosplay - The Hard Part

This is how I made my cosplay Dalek costume for Fan Expo 2013 The Gathering of Dalek Guiness World Record attempt. My purchases, prep and decision-making is described in my blog post, First Ever Cosplay - How Did I End Up in This Mess? 
My first step was to cut 20 of the 3" white Styrofoam balls in half [10 rows of 4 balls each = 40 half balls]. Most of them cut fairly easily, but some seemed to explode bits everywhere. It took about 15 minutes. I then placed half of them in a cardboard pop box so that the low sides would keep the balls in place even with the spray blowing pushing them around. I gave them one thick coat of matte black spray paint and then painted the second half of the balls and the whisk and mini plunger. I had only purchased a small can and ran out of paint without doing a second coat. If I ever do this again I will buy a full-sized can. They dried in about 15 minutes in my open garage.

I scoured the internet trying to find a skirt pattern that would work considering I had only purchased a single curtain to use as fabric. I wasn't that successful because I didn't want to use elastic for the top since I've never sewn an elastic waist and didn't feel comfortable trying for the first time. I ended up folding the curtain in half and cutting one size down to half my waist measurement plus approximately 2-3". I held the piece up against myself and figured out the length I wanted [just below the knee] and added about 4" so I could hem the bottom and leave some fabric at the top to thread a ribbon. I pieced together the 2 pieces of fabric and sewed the two sides together. It took about 20-30 minutes for each side. I had to hand sew the pieces because my mom gave away our sewing machine and I couldn't get a hold of another one. The last step was to thread a piece of black ribbon - about 12" longer than my waist - through the top. The top already had a seam because that was where the liner met the heavy fabric of the original curtain.
I grabbed my red ribbon and pinned it to the skirt in order to mark the 10 necessary panels. The two seams would be covered by ribbon and then 4 pieces of ribbon divided each side [front and back]. I tried to sew them so they would still look straight even when the top ribbon tied [and thus bunched] the skirt around my waist. It took about 1.5 hours [though I was watching TV and playing Farmville so this may not be accurate :)].
After the red ribbon was done, I hemmed the bottom of the skirt. It took another 30 minutes.
Last ribbon step for the skirt: I added black ribbon around the bottom of the skirt to hide the hem job and give the skirt a proper base. I did 2 rows and it took about 30 minutes. This was the beginning of the second week working on my costume.
Very last skirt step: attaching the balls. I figured that a day of cosplay would be hard on Styrofoam balls so after quickly [I was really tired - very long work day] planning out the position of the balls, I lightly glued them down [almost running out of glue gun sticks] and then ran some thread through them a couple times so they would stay put and not fall off. Any black paint that chipped off, I covered the spots in permanent black marker to blend in. This took about an hour over a couple week nights.

The top:
I had bought a red tank top to go with the skirt. I thought about leaving it blank, but decided to make a Dalek-like pattern. I looked at various cosplay tops on Google, as well as pictures of Daleks. I thought about doing a full pattern on the top, but in the end, the material was way too stretchy to adequately sew on un-stretchy ribbon/scrap fabric. Instead, I added a red, medium-sized rectangle of scrap fabric to both front and back and cut two ribbons to use as waistbands to give more definition to the top. If I find some energy I may sew more red ribbon to the edges of the rectangle. It took about 45 minutes [planning and design, reworking the sewing after trying it on] over the course of an evening.

The neck piece:
I noticed that a lot of Dalek hats/cosplay had some rows of black to give the Dalek costume a neck. I used an old black pillow case and cut out six strips on a curve so that it could go over my head to cover my chest/shoulders. This was fairly quick once i figured out how to layer them like I wanted. It took about 20 minutes. I've noticed that the edges are fraying and you can't really see the three definite rings, so if/when I find some motivation/energy I may try to add definition either through a hem on each ring or by sewing more black ribbon on.

 The last step: the Dalek dome.
I needed to find a bowl that was large enough to rest comfortably on my head and hold up my Dalek eye stalk flashlight and my two antenna shot glasses. I went back to the dollar store and found what I thought would work. I covered the bowl with the last of the red curtain fabric [using glue to attach it] and then glued down the plastic shot glasses on the top. I covered the base of the eye stalk with fabric and glued it down as best I could, trying to rest it on the rim of the bowl to give it some extra support. I added some leftover red ribbon to try to hide the seams. Next time I would probably try to take more time and cut the fabric more carefully so I didn't get some really weird and ugly folds/seams. It took about an hour.

Wearing the dome, I realized it's very, very heavy at the front with the flashlight - which I had considered, but rejected when I initially bought the flashlight [I guess I got caught up in the excitement of the moment]. In order to be able to wear the dome for the required 10-15 minutes I will have to wear a baseball hat backwards to support the front.
I decided to make a plan B. In about 5 minutes I made a headband out of my scrap red fabric and added two shotglass anntennae to it. It looks good and if I decide to cosplay for the entire day this will work well. I also cut out a rectangle of fabric to attach to the headband and made an eyestalk out of a spare half sytrofoam ball, two shot glasses glued at the bottoms and three pieces of ribbon. It looks okay and I'm now considering replacing the flashlight with a version of this, using construction paper instead of ribbon so the three rings are more 3D. The replacement would mean I probably wouldn't need the backup or the baseball hat.

Overall, it took about 430 minutes [around 7 hours] over the course of about 3 weeks. It also cost around $70-80 including tax.
I plan to straighten my hair day of and wear plain black flats. I will have capris underneath the skirt and carry a tee [Dalek-themed] in my bag in case I get tired of cosplaying.

I think I'm ready for Fan Expo and the Dalek gathering. I'll post some pics after the event - I need to get there early on the Saturday to register and check out all the other costumes :).

First Ever Cosplay - How Did I End Up in This Mess?

My friend convinced me in the beginning of May to attend Fan Expo 2013 in Toronto with her. I went for the first time last year and had a good time, but had decided to just drive the 1.5 hr trip every day to Toronto which sucked. After purchasing my ticket and confirming that I was sharing a hotel room with my friend and 2 more of her friends I was set. 

And then an announcement happened: The Doctor Who Society of Canada - Toronto Branch created a Fan Expo event. They planned to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Gathering of Daleks [the record was set in the UK with a mix of 95 people dressed up and actual Dalek models].

I was hooked. It was a one day cosplay, on the Saturday of the con, and I decided I could come up with a costume in time for the event at minimal cost/effort. There are still a few lingering concerns about possibly missing exciting panels or other events I really want to go to during the Record-breaking event [and all the time to set up and take down the event], but unless something major happens I will be participating. 

I immediately decided to be a red dalek. BBC recently came out with a red Dalek beanie that could work and Hot Topic had a red Dalek t-shirt dress on sale. Awesome, relatively cheap [between $40-50], and easy [aka minimal work involved].

Two days later the group posted the requirements. Crap.

"Daleks costumes must, at a minimum, adhere to the following requirements:

a. The base of the costume must be a decahedron.

b. Panels rising from the base to the middle must have a minimum of 4

hemispherical protrusions. 

c. The costume must contain an eyestalk mounted on the dome at the head

of the costume. 

d. The costume must contain a gun mount and telescopic manipulator, or

recognisable representations thereof." 

Well there's goes my pre-made dress and beanie idea.

I contacted the event coordinators to find out if a skirt could still be used. Happily they said it could and they re-posted the requirements with the addition that "skirts may be used but panels must be represented, e.g. sewn on as seams, sewn on ribbons or other material, or even drawn by markers." I was back in business, but decided to build from scratch instead of ruining a t-shirt dress [didn't have enough balls or any lines].

I went to various craft shops and was shocked by the price: I needed at least 20 styrofoam balls to cut in half for the skirt [4 balls/panel x 10 panels = 40 half balls]. A bag of 6 balls was $8; a cost of about $32. Ribbon was also pricy starting at $8 a spool - I bought 1 black and 1 red and almost immediately regretted it. I also bought 3 rolls of thread [black, red, and white] for $1. I bought a curtain from Value Village for $6 at the suggestion of my dad and then headed to the Dollar Store for the rest of my materials. I got 3 bags of 8 styrofoam balls and 1 bag of plastic shot glasses [for Dalek head "anntenna"] for $4 total. I also saw the same ribbon from the craft store [just a shorter length] for a buck a piece. Sigh. My mom gave me a small whisk [gun mount] she picked up for a buck at Wal-Mart and I got a mini-plunger [telescopic manipulator] at Canadian Tire for about $3-something. My total so far was about $40 dollars [including a red tank top from Value Village in case the curtain didn't have enough fabric and $5 can of black spray paint].

I ended up purchasing a Dalek Eye Stalk flashlight from Amazon for $25 for a couple reasons: it was fast [even with suggestions online I didn't feel like I had time/materials to build even the most basic eye stalk] and the shipping was fast and free. Bonus: it makes Dalek noises that freak my sister out.

Not including gas $ to travel to various stores and then back to make some returns I spent about $65 [not including tax] on this 1 day cosplay. Hopefully I can reuse bits or the whole thing at Halloween or future Doctor Who-related events.

Now for the hard part: actually making the costume.

Update: The event will be at 11am on the Saturday of Fan Expo in the North building and the first 100 Daleks get a special Guiness and Fan Expo prize pack/goodie bag and as people who know me would know I always try for the freebies, so I will be there bright and early with my Kindle to register, get my Guiness record attempt pin, and watch all other participants arrive while reading some of the 50th anniversary Doctor stories. Hopefully, there's no important events I want to attend before lunch. 
Colin Baker [the 6th Doctor] will be there and will turn our 15 minute mandatory gathering [to break the record] into a special Dalek-only forum.

Clipart Deck of Horrors

Image from gograph.com

I can remember the first time I ever used PowerPoint. The variety of colors, word art, clipart, etc. was overwhelming and I used as much as possible. It was so different from Word and Paint [my primary tools up to that point, probably around '97]. I made the same mistakes everyone does in their first presentation: colored font, distracting backgrounds, having every bit of text present so that I was just reading off the slides instead of having cue cards with additional info for the basic/important items on the slides. I loved exploring clipart and finding just the right image for the slide. My mom still has some of my initial PowerPoint-created newsletters and posters covered in stars and generic images of animals and people.

Eventually Google came around and I started to get my images from there - hurriedly trying to find ones without watermarks. I had no idea about copyright rules until probably high school English when suddenly I was bombarded with the differences between foot notes and end notes, works cited and bibliographies, citing quotes and paraphrasing.

As a university student plagued with a news report almost every week about some student failing a class or getting expelled over plagiarism I became very cautious and mildly afraid my professor would run my paper through one of those "plagiarism detector" programs that were suddenly popping up and finding out that I used the same phrase someone else did and I either didn't cite it properly or never even knew it existed [horrible fear of this accidental plagiarism based on a Gilmore Girls episode where Rory got in copyright trouble for using clichés].

As an editor at a tech research firm the copyright rules are very simple: provide links and names for all quotes and statistics right on the slide, include a references slide if necessary [hardly ever done to any kind of standards, i.e. APA, MLA, *sigh*], and either use paid images from our subscription site or source the image [the real site, not Google].

For the first 8+ months I had no real issues with images other than people not giving me the image # so I could buy it from the site [only 5 people are allowed to buy images to minimize costs and confusion]. Then I got a PowerPoint deck that seemed fine until slide 80-something [out of 144]. It was filled with these horrible, generic, pastel, thickly lined clipart images. Admittedly it does say you can use clipart in our standards guide if you have to, but why would you when the paid images look so much better and are more consistent? I spent the better part of an afternoon replacing these images with similar purchased ones. Cartoon-y image of clipboard with stop watch? Replaced with paid image of clipboard with stop watch that looked more 3D and just fit better into the color scheme of the page [brown/white instead of yellow/blue/silver/black]. Funny clipart image of firefighter replaced with photograph of a firefighter.

I told the author what I had done and asked about the images I didn't feel comfortable changing - the "mystery image slide" [I had no idea what meaning he was trying to convey by using them].  He responded by saying that the images were clipart because the paid site is too general and he couldn't find what he wanted there and the clipart worked better.

I sat there in shock for about 5 minutes and then spent another 30 minutes trying to come up with an appropriate/professional response [something other than "What the hell?"]. How could he not find what he was looking for on that site, with a Google-like search engine and millions of images? He had also asked to know which changes I made. I sent him my list of 20+ image replacements, plus another 5 or so images that I sourced because they were grabbed [aka stolen] by him via Google from people's websites and blog posts. I also asked again for the meaning of the "mystery image slide."

He responded to my 20+ lines of corrections with: "Those are fine" and told me that "mystery image slide" was supposed to be facilitated by the presenter. No acknowledgement about the sheer volume of work I did or the fact that the replacement images had the same elements/meaning but actually looked professional; nothing.

I said thanks and mentioned that the "mystery image slide" [still filled with ugly clipart by the way] had no facilitator's notes and asked how could it be explained by anyone. He finally gave me a brief blurb [which I added as facilitator's notes] repeating that it was a facilitated slide. How helpful. Maybe the facilitator's notes were just invisible and I, as a lowly editor, couldn't see them even though I went through the deck at least twice.

My complaint isn't about the poor communication between myself and the author [although that is an area for personal improvement]; it is about the idea that clipart was more useful than paid images. I get that someone did design these images and technically they are paid for through our Microsoft license, but to look at them from a professional point of view, knowing that people who paid to access this document were going to look at these generic, blocky, pastel images just makes me cringe.

I'm sure there's a time and a place for clipart: when you're in school creating your first presentations, when posting something quickly on a website, when you don't have a paid subscription to an image site, etc. but I really try to avoid clipart. I am willing to use my own photographs, usually modified in Photoshop, Google images [with proper sourcing], or anything really to make my work stand out and look somewhat more professional than a middle school project.

***Final note: I did a walk through with an editing colleague showing her the original and then my changes [to make sure I wasn't crazy] and she asked for a copy to give to her husband who is the head of the design department to help build his business case to get designers involved in the research presentations. She cringed too when I showed her the "mystery image slide" and a nearby designer said "Clipart?" in a disgusted tone.

****Last note, I swear: There have been instances of people in the research department using Paint or a similar program to create an image from scratch, but it has a low success rate - only 1 was kept [that I know of] and only then because the author had a really good explanatory slide included in the appendix and the image was used in multiple presentations.

Halifac EAC 2013: Between the Lines Part 2

In June 2013 I got the opportunity to go to a work-sponsored conference and jumped at it.

The conference was the annual Editor's Association of Canada (EAC) Conference. I had attended a EAC seminar a couple months prior and enjoyed myself, and the senior editors at my company seemed excited about someone going to the conference as they were unable to go.

The schedule seemed interesting, with a variety of sessions that ranged from pure fun to pure business. I chose a couple of the first and a couple that approached the second.

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Opening Keynote Speaker

I'm going to admit that I had no idea who Robert MacNeil was when I heard he was going to be the keynote speaker. I don't read a lot of non-fiction and I'm really bad with remembering names.

Mr. MacNeil was an excellent speaker and listening to an author of many genres talk about his experience with editors was enlightening. I was sad to see him leave the stage.

Day 1

The first session that caught my eye was "Effective manuscript queries." I have a hard time getting across in email what I really mean when I'm talking to authors. Either they don't answer all of my questions or they miss the question I was really asking due to my own wordy-ness which hides the real question or their own busy schedules. Elizabeth d'Anjou had several great tips for communicating with authors which basically boils down to "helpful, clear, brief, and tactful." This was probably the most useful-to-my-job session I went to over the whole weekend.

The next session was "Spin me a yarn, tell me a tale." The two storytellers, Liz Newkirk and Steve Vernon, were amazing performers and I was captivated by their stories and their description of what storytelling really is.

My last session on day one was "Truth in non-fiction?" David Swick was a great speaker and the audience was really engaged. He presented several sides to scandals in publishing/journalism and where he sees non-fiction heading. 

Note: I heard Copyright Changes in Canada was an excellent session from everyone who went and although I have the presenter's email address to request her PowerPoint slides I know it won't be the same.

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Day 2

The first session I went to on the second day was "Shortening text." One of the biggest issues editors have is word count or preserving white space. To hear how Elizabeth Macfie tackles cutting text was really helpful. She gave a great list of "waffle words" to look out for and explained how to make proper cuts. This was an excellent companion session to "Manuscript queries."

"Editing magazines in a digital world" was not what I was expecting. They tried to cram too much into one hour and it got muddled. I don't feel it was worth my time and I kind of wish I had gone to "Clear communication" instead.

"Editing by number" was a standing room only session. Rosemary Tanner presented numbers in a new light. Her examples of numbers and how to edit them opened my eyes to how editors deal with all number issues and not just accuracy.

The last panel I went to was "Editing social media." The presentations were short but the discussion was engaging. It was an interesting mix of people firmly entrenched in the social media realm and those just taking their first steps. The biggest result of the whole conference was the realization that I need to participate more in the social media world and move beyond just Facebook and the occasional tweet.

The closing keynote speaker was Donna Morrissey, who's book we received in our goody bags. She didn't talk much about editing except for an anecdote at the end, but her stories about growing up and becoming an author were engaging.

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All in all I enjoyed my first work-related conference and I look forward to Toronto EAC 2014.

Halifax EAC 2013: Between the Lines Part 1

Editors, from what I've heard, tend to be introverts who like to work independently. I am the personification of this: I have a fear of embarrassing myself in public and hence try to blend into the background at public events. This was not possible at the first work-related conference I went to.

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I started as a junior editor at a business tech research firm in September 2012. This was a major change for me coming from a retail background where I was on my feet eight hours a day surrounded by fellow employees who were usually very chatty. I loved putting on my headphones and logging into my computer and essentially working by myself...for about two weeks. Then I became somewhat bored/lonely and frustrated. The only people close to my age were the co-ops who are only around for four months and who seemed to be very outgoing and somewhat intimidating to my introverted self. I've since become a bit more social with the people in cubicles around me, but considering I still commute an hour each way everyday I'm not one for hanging out after work and I usually get lost when they tell me the places/bars they went to on the weekend.
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June 2013 I got the opportunity to go to a work-sponsored conference and jumped at it. They paid for my admission, my hotel room, and my flight.

The conference was the annual Editor's Association of Canada (EAC) Conference. I had attended a EAC seminar a couple months prior and enjoyed myself, and the senior editors at my company seemed excited about someone going to the conference as they were unable to go.

The schedule seemed interesting, with a variety of sessions that ranged from pure fun to pure business. I chose a couple of the first and a couple that approached the second.

What I didn't realize is that the biggest benefit to going to the conference, and indeed being a member of the EAC, is the networking opportunity. I had stumbled onto a in-house editing job almost right out of school and had never really planned to be an editor, hence I never had to network to pick up freelance jobs/internships like many start out doing. I hate small talk and shy away from meeting new people and suddenly I was trapped at an event where I was expected to do both, in addition to participating in the sessions and talking about my job [which I tend to have a hard time doing: "in-house editor/producer at a tech firm" never seems to be enough for people. I bet "editor at [insert publishing house]" is much more self-explanatory and less prone to questioning].

Suffice it to say I was surrounded by mostly women who wanted to know 1) where I'm from, 2) what do I do, and 3) do I have any connections to possible freelance jobs. My answers 1) London/KW/Toronto depending on my level of frustration regarding commuting, 2) editor at a tech research firm [always leading to more questions about what I edit and why], and 3) No. Of course from there the conversations either went towards politics/current events [which I tend not to follow closely enough to remember or don't have an opinion on], the conference itself [the "how's the weather" type of question when scrambling for conversations at a conference], or way too personal conversations about menstrual cramps, pregnancy/child-rearing [I don't have kids], or the inability of some men to find a clitoris/g-spot [I was shocked too when this came up]. I don't even talk about those last things with my best friend of 13+ years.

I survived the reception somehow and even the next day during breaks with my usual "smile and nod" technique and trying to ask as many questions as possible to redirect the attention off of me and pretending to pay attention. The last day I gave up. I sat by myself for most of the day and kept my head down except when someone from the previous day came to say "Hello." I even shared a cab ride with two other women to the airport without too much awkwardness [thanks to a chatty driver]. I was ignored at the airport except for the typical "Did you hear/understand that announcement?" and I drove home a midnight to a wonderfully silent house.
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I've come to the conclusion that I need to get out and be more social so I've created a personal goal to be more involved in the fall [most groups have shut down for the summer]. I plan to join the K-W twig [the local EAC group] and participate as much as possible there and at work. I also plan to actually move to London to stop commuting which will give me more time to potentially be social as well as erase the "location confusion" when I say I work in London, live in K-W, fly out of Toronto.

I'll always be an introvert, but maybe I can become a chatty introvert...at least at conferences.