This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
Dedicated to community builders who know the value of teamwork
I’m super grateful to be a member of several communities in my work and personal life. On Saturday I joined some of the #sayhitoastranger team members for an hour to say hello to strangers as part of the 100in1Day campaign. Since it’s no longer my first rodeo doing this, I was less armoured and self-conscious and was able to feeling I was giving away my greetings without feeling bad if someone did not say hello back or said “no thanks” because they thought we were selling something. It was also interesting to experience more people open to saying hello back and stopping to talk to us in the good weather. It doesn’t mean everyone will be in the greatest mood, but it certainly helped to cheer me up at least!
Afterwards, Divyani and I walked a block over to check out a few other 100in1Day participants, which included a group called Hollaback! Vancouver. They support women who might feel verbally harassed in public places, and had set up a station for people to brainstorm kinder compliments that aren’t along the lines of body image. Had we not volunteered that day, we might not have learned about them.
Yesterday I officially stepped down as Chair of the Board of the Vancouver Short Film Festival after 3 years in the position. I am hugely relieved to have a former board member and colleague Devon Cooke of Storybubble Media as my successor, and could not have imagined a better person. We also voted in Kristyn Stilling, who is our new Festival Director and has really taken the bull (our festival) by the horns so to speak. It’s refreshing to see other leaders doing their thing.
I was telling Leo about how it is feeling like a new phase of my life which can be scary, but also exciting. I’m lucky to have him to share my feelings with, along with the many team members who support me in my personal and professional life. Gratitude for all the positive community builders out there who are making the world a better place, one step at a time.
