• Time to Practise Compassion and Mindfulness

    There is a group I meet with, which gathers weekly to deepen our practice around compassion and mindfulness. Often, we open sessions by going around the circle and stating one word that captures the essence of the preceding week. My word for this week would be “tested.” It is relatively easy to extol kindness, self-compassion, understanding, and common humanity as virtues, but it [...]

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    Focus on the Tangible

    My work as an author, coach, and consultant puts me squarely at the intersection of the digital and analog worlds. My blog posts, articles, and books focus on how we can mindfully navigate the challenges of being human in a technical world. Whether I am working with corporate leaders, or solopreneurs, everybody is trying to cope with the demands of an ever-changing world. It is easy [...]

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    Preparing Teens for Digital Citizenship

    Digital Life Skills for Youth is the newest book by Self-Counsel Press author Angela Crocker. While it may be fair to say that much has been written on this subject, and that parents and educators have been coming to terms with the digital risks and rewards for youth for much of the last decade or so, Crocker’s book offers an important new perspective. Her approach emphasizes the development [...]

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    The Age of the Internet of Things

    As a result of advances in sophisticated artificial intelligence and machine learning, automation and augmented reality, the Internet landscape is undergoing massive change.It’s no longer just about accessing information via electronic devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. From toasters to transit systems, we are now in the age of the ‘Internet of Things,’ where interconnected [...]

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    Join the Online Video Wave

    From Facebook Live to Instagram Stories and Twitter Periscope, video content has fast become a key part of social media engagement strategy. The front-runner remains YouTube, with all of these social platforms offering user-friendly livestreaming video options in various forms. Recently, LinkedIn joined the party, rolling out a beta test of its new livestreaming platform in early spring. [...]

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    Review Social Media Use for Youth

    It is September and there is a quickening in the air carried by the subtle changing of the season as summer sidles out the door, leaving shorter days and cooler temperatures behind. Forests and gardens are thirsty for rain. The leaves are poised to fall. Children of all sizes lug shiny new backpacks to school, some for the first time. After the long and lazy days of summer, routine is [...]

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    Changes to Facebook and online reach

    Different groups have different roles. If you spend any time on Facebook, either for business or personal reasons, you’ve likely noticed significant changes in what content is being distributed over the newsfeed. The reach of most Facebook Pages has been severely reduced while posts from Facebook Groups are getting more visibility. Facebook’s algorithm has always governed what we see and[...]

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    Catalyst for Positive Change

    On April 4, Maple Ridge played host to the Innovation in Emerging Cities Forum. The event brought together representatives from industry, education, and government to discuss ways to foster a climate of innovation and how to attract, develop and retain the talent required to sustain such a culture. I had the pleasure of emceeing the event and working with the City of Maple Ridge’s economic[...]

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    Creating landscape for future economy

    It is easy to forget, tucked as we are into the far northeastern corner of Metro Vancouver, that Maple Ridge is part of a large urban region with a population of roughly 2.463 million. At the heart of the region is the City of Vancouver, one of the world’s Top 10 most livable cities, according to Conde Naste. Proximity matters, and as land and housing prices skyrocket throughout the [...]

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    Maple Ridge on Innovation in Emerging Cities

    The first in a series on innovation and emerging cities. Technology impacts nearly all areas of our lives, from how we communicate to how we work. According to Randstad Canada, Canada’s largest staffing firm, “Technology is changing traditional industries, and how business is done and the type of work performed. Virtual technologies dictate how natural resources are sourced, recovered [...]

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