Manara

I can’t believe that last week I officially launched Yes We Did! What an exciting week it has been for me.  I started out the morning of June 4th as the Keynote Speaker for the MARCOM conference where I did my first official book signing. It was so completely surreal to see so many physical copies of the book and to have people want a signed copy. It made me feel giddy and so excited! It was also a weird coming of age feeling as the conference took place in the same ballroom that I had my highschool graduation in. Basically, I gave the keynote standing about 20 feet away from where I accepted my diploma all those years ago.

I think my favorite part is meeting so many cool people who shared their own favorite campaign moments with me.

As the afternoon progressed I become increasingly nervous for the official launch. Rotman had contacted me to let me know that there were over 400 people attending! Having my longtime mentor, Don Tapscott (who also wrote the forward to my book) introduce me was such an emotional moment for me, and I became doubly nervous knowing he would be in the audience. Once I got underway I started feeling all of the support pouring in from my family and friends  and got through the presentation without any major hitches.

I just want to say a big, big, BIG thank you to everyone who came out to support me or who send their digital love via   facebook messages, emails, text messages and tweets. I could not have gotten through the last few months without the humor and warmth of my community and I count myself to be so blessed to have such amazing friends in my life.

I’ll be touring around various places promoting the book for the rest of the year, but I am happy to say that this month has been the peak of the insane travel I have planned. I just might get to enjoy living in Europe for a while instead of constantly trekking back and forth to North America in the mother of all commutes, lol.

I have sorely missed my blog and plan to revive TED Tuesdays with a vengeance, along with a few more blog series I have kicking around. I am a bit behind in terms of my schedule, but hopefully after this week I’ll be back on top of everything.

The Foush is back!

I just got back from a whirlwind trip promoting YES WE DID, and sat down to answer some questions about the book, politics and life in general from the blogging team of Nuestracausa (which means  Our Cause in Spanish), a website dedicated to helping empower young people use collaborative technologies in order to participate in the political process. Pretty cool!

You can take a peek here:

Coming up: An interview on BNN, and photos from the official YES WE DID booklaunch party at Rotman!!

Canadian Marketing Association – Winnipeg, Manitoba

New Brunswick Securities Fullsail Summit- Fredericton, New Brunswick

BDigital Congress, Barcelona Spain

When I first heard rumors that Amazon was releasing a new Kindle I was annoyed because I had JUST gotten my long awaited Kindle 2 and was appalled to think that Amazon would dare introduce a new version so soon just to spite me! I was tormented with stories of touch screens, color screens, and  pretty much every imaginable feature short of shipping Jeff Bezos to read to you himself.

So you can imagine my surprise when I found out the Kindle DX was just…bigger? Meh. I was puzzled. This was the new version? Lame. You can’t even fit it in your purse like my sweet and thin Kindle 2! Thanks, but no thanks.  Apparently I’m not the only one who thought it was a little ridiculous.

For the record, I love, love, LOVE my Kindle. It is one of the best purchases I have ever made. As a frequent travel and rabid reader I cannot imagine going back to physical books ever again. Honestly, the fact that I can load up my Kindle with 1500 books guarantees I am endlessly entertained on plane rides where the only alternative is the horror that is “Inkheart.” It saved my sanity! It does have some drawbacks which I’m currently covering in a review video I am making and will post soon so stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out this trailer for Inkheart. I rest my case.

I spoke at the Innotech Conference.

Some feedback from my presentation:

Obama’s Rahaf Harfoush Rocks Keynote Speech at Innotech

InnoTech’s Speaker, Rahaf Harfoush was captivating!

If you’re around on June 4th you should definitely swing my the Rotman School of Management and celebrate the launch of Yes We Did, the book that has consumed my life for the past six months!

Not only is this a big milestone for me, but I am really looking forward to seeing my friends and family. I’ve been in Geneva now for about two months and still miss them like crazy!

So what does the evening have in store?

• The event will be hosted by Alexander Manu (Author of Everything 2.0) and Don Tapscott (Author of Grown Up Digital)
• I’ll be giving a brief presentation on some of the ideas covered in the book.
• There will be a book signing
• Refreshments and mingling (my favorite part!)

Tickets are $30, and include a copy of the book as well as some tasty treats.

You can register for the event HERE.

Facebook event listing can be found here.

WHEN AND WHERE:

June 4, 5:00pm-7:30pm

The Rotman School of Management, Fleck Auditorium

105 St. George Street

More info about the book

Ok that is the last time I dissapear for three weeks without so much as a mini-blog post – PROMISE. But I have exciting news: the book is finished! After months of researching, writing, and battling writer’s block it is finally all coming together in something that can actually be sold in respectable establishments!

Honestly, this book has been the most challenging and rewarding work I have ever done. I struggled. I fretted. I doubted. I tossed and turned. I battled writer’s block and insecurity. But I held true to the philosphy of “just show up,” and little by little chapters were formed. There were days when it seemed that stringing together coherent sentences was beyond my grasp, and there were magical days when the words just seemed to write themselves.

I aplogize for falling of the face of the planet, but between the World Economic Forum and copy-editing after work there was very little time for anything else.

So some news:

I am speaking at the 2009 Innotech Conference in beautiful Portland, Oregon. I am joined by some excellent company.I am so excited to be here especially since I can finally use my Kindle the way that Jeff Bezos intended it. Rick Turoczy, the smart mind behind Silicon Florist asked me a few questions about my keynote.

Next week I am speaking at the Voices that Matter 2009 conference in San Francisco. I’ll be posting more about that as soon as I get there.

I’ll be uploading a special book section on this site shortly that will have pictures, videos and the first chapter for your reading pleasure!

Yes She Did!

I was the keynote speaker at “The Social,” MySpace Canada’s industry event. It was held in Toronto.

Link

It’s so good to be home for a little while! Here’s what I’m up to this week.

Tuesday – Unfinished Business Lectures: Karen Stephenson

BEYOND ORGANIZATION: DESIGNING FOR SUSTAINABLE CHANGE

The nature of organization lies in its barrier to entry: in how “membership” is defined. This is the raison d’être of organizational “culture”.  This disheartening social fact is all the more lamentable in today’s globally interconnected world where our need to meaningfully integrate across disciplines, cultures and firms is more important than ever before. Historically, the prevailing wisdom was to let good ideas “bubble up”, but along with the economic myth of “trickle down” it is just and only that, MYTH! A counter these myths are the proven anthropological approaches that get to the heart of culture, using interviews and participant-observational techniques….all good, but still very time-consuming. What is needed is a new way to reliably accelerate an accurate diagnosis of an organization and intervene to produce predictable and sustainable (read: healthy) change.

For more information and to register, visit www.eventbrite.com/event/291382533

Wired Wednesday

I am going to Wired Wednesday to hear David Crow and Saul Colt speak about cool geeky things that make my heart go pitter patter.  It’s free. It starts at 6. Details here.

Thursday – The Social, MySpace Canada, Toronto

This Thursday I will be the keynote at “The Social” MySpace Canada’s industry event. I will be talking about my new book Yes We Did which is being published in May 2009.

I will also be participating on a panel called “The Social Circle” which will be moderated by Nora Young of CBC Radio’s Spark and include:

• Yanick Bedard, Director of New Media, Sid Lee Montreal
• Dave Stevens, General Manager, MySpace Canada
• Dr. Boris Wertz, CEO of Nexopia and W Media Ventures

Friday – #Geeklunch

I will be organizing a #geeklunch this Friday April 3, 2009 in Toronto. It will probably be at the Bright Pearl since I have a major Dim Sum craving! If you are interested following the #geeklunch tag on Twitter for final details. This time I will bring my camera since I had so much fun at our last one!