March Challenge - Day 23: More election promises - still blah

So both the Liberals and NDP unveiled a campaign promise today. The Liberals focused on education, the NDP focused on credit card debt.

The Liberals plan, wrapped with a ribbon and called the "learning passport" gives $1000 a year to any student's RESP when they are between the ages of 14 to 17, and would be paid out during each year at college/university. For low income families, that amount is $1,500.

The NDP unveiled their plans to slash credit card interest rates in an effort to cut down consumer debt. This promise would effectively ban high interest rates, cutting it down to close to 5% above prime compared to the 19 - 21% banks currently charge.

Both plans are interesting and certainly appeal to a core voter group - families. Families with kids they have aspirations for to go to post-secondary education. Families with debt.

The trouble with the Liberals' plan is that while $1000 helps, it doesn't address the crippling student debt a large majority of students will have to take on to pay for the rest of the cost that the $1000 does not cover. Rather than the $1000 handout, why not address the student loan system and provide incentives to pay back the loans faster, programs for students struggling to find work after they leave school so that they can pay more manageable parts of the loan? Perhaps restructuring the student debt payment program would be more beneficial to students rather than giving them a handout as you're in a way teaching them financial responsibility - for every loan you take out, you must pay back. But give them the leniency that they need so they don't default. The cost to this program? $1 billion a year. I would say, take that money and do a complete restructuring of the student loans system and you'll see a greater return.

The NDP promise is interesting - and noble. Credit card interest rates are insane. However, you put a cap on the banks, they'll find another way to get money from consumers. And let's address the bigger problem in the first place. Too many people have too many cards. Cap limits on cards. Cap the dollar limit on those cards so that people aren't taking out more than they make. It's not cost of living that is driving people into credit card debt. It's irresponsible spending based off of no limits set in place for credit card acquisition. Interest rate caps aren't the problem. People who are in debt will continue to be in debt regardless of the interest rate.

So again, two smoke and mirror promises. 0 points to any of the parties so far.

March Challenge - Day 22: Open Letter to Olivia Chow - Let Elizabeth Speak

Dear Ms. Chow,

I am one of your constituents in Trinity-Spadina and I was outraged to hear that your party took such a lacklustre stance in the decision by the media consortium's decision to exclude Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from the leaders' debates. By not taking a stand and asking the networks to allow the leader of a legitimate national party to join the debate, you are in fact chipping away at the democracy you constantly say you defend.

When your leader Jack Layton said that he is ready to go head to head against Stephen Harper to become the Prime Minister of this country, he failed to mention he was too good to go head to head with other leaders who stood a chance of challenging his candidates in key ridings. Is he afraid that Ms. May and her party could pose a serious threat to your party in future elections because your parties share such similar ideologies? Is that why he's willing to compromise democracy and make sure that Canadians do not have an opportunity to listen to another party who has a legitimate right to be heard?

The Greens are running the same number of candidates as all three major parties. In fact, it's running over 200 more than the BQ, yet they have a seat at the table. The Greens received 6.8% of the popular vote last year - 3% shy of the BQ and about 1/3 of your party's popular vote. This showing should at least guarantee them a seat at the table.

As a female MP, I'm sure one of your interests is to see more women represented in the HoC. Pressure your leader to take a stand and get Ms. May into the debate. Let the only female leader of a major Canadian political party speak and get her party's platform out for Canada to see. Give her the same shot your party has.

Thank you for your time.

March Challenge - Day 21: First Campaign Promise Fizzles

So the Conservatives were the first to lay down a campaign promise today, one that really isn't important to me, but important for any family with two parents - income splitting.

For couples with kids under the age of 18, they can split up to $50,000 in income, allowing 1.8 million families a savings of approximately $1,300 a year. This $2 billion dollar tax cut that impacts about 20% of the population (if not less) comes with two big ifs...

(1) The Conservatives win a majority.

(2) The Conservatives can balance the budget.

While the first point is a possibility (with 12 seats away from a majority, gains in Quebec and Ontario can make all the difference), the second is a laughable condition. With it's own predictions during last year's budget that they won't be able to eliminate the deficit well until after 2015, they'll be well on their way to planning another election before this tax cut can kick in.

For a tax cut that is both unrealistic and doesn't help those single-income families that could use a tax cut the most, you get an F on your first campaign promise.

March Challenge - Day 20: Make your own Friday video Madlibs

If you are not one of the people who've contributed to Rebecca Black's close to 60 million views of her "hit" song "Friday," where have you been this past week?

For those of you looking for Youtube Superstardom, here's an easy plug and play formula / mad libs to star in your own day of the week video:

(mix of ohhs, ahhs, yeas, and hmms)

(insert time), waking up in the (noun).

Gotta be (adjective), gotta go (place).

Gotta have my (noun), gotta have (noun).

Seeing everything, the time is (verb).

Ticking on, and on, everybody's (verb).

Gotta get down to the (place). Gotta (verb) my (object).

I (verb) my (pl. object)

(Verb) in the front (noun), (verb) in the back (noun).

Gotta make my mind up, which (noun) can I (verb)?

CHORUS

It's (day), it's (day), gotta (verb) on (day).

Everybody's looking forward to (noun), (noun).

It's (day), it's (day), gettin' (verb) on (day).

Everybody's looking forward to (noun), (noun).

(Verb), (verb), yea! (x2)

(Expression), (Expression), (Expression), (Expression), looking forward to the (noun).

(New time), we're (verb) on the (noun).

(Verb) so fast, I want them to (verb).

(Expression), (expression), thinking about (expression).

You know what it is.

I (verb) this, you (verb) this. My friend is by my (place).

I (verb) this, you (verb) this. Now, you (verb) it.

(Verb) in the front (noun), (verb) in the back (noun).

Gotta make my mind up, which (noun) can I (verb)?

(repeat chorus)

Yesterday was (day). Today is (day). We we we so (verb). We so (verb).

We gonna have a (noun) today.

Tomorrow is (day), and (day) comes afterwards.

I don't want this (noun) to (verb).

RAP SOLO - please recruit creepy looking rap artist driving a moderately priced vehicle, preferably a Honda or Toyota. As it is rap, the artist has freedom of expression.

(repeat chorus) x2

AND YOU'RE DONE! Well on your way to being a Youtube wonder!

PS - I noticed the word FUCK fits perfectly throughout the song. What a versatile word.

March Challenge - Day 19: You can't be serious

So our first election issue is talk about whether or not a coalition will happen after the election. So all parties are preparing for a minority government (again). Proof once more that this $400 million boondoggle will make Canadians even more furious and stay home this election.

Please guys, let's talk about things Canadians are worried about:

- Health Care

- Economy and job creation

- Lower Taxes

- Urban transportation infrastructure and funding

Maybe that way, you'll get the majority you want as opposed to a minority that we're surely to get if we don't talk about important issues.

March Challenge - Day 18: How to be an asshole during Earth Hour

This will be my third year participating in Earth Hour - during this hour, I'll be wandering the streets of Toronto taking pictures of normally lit hotspots going dark like Yonge and Dundas Square. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what Earth Hour is all about, it's to raise awareness about how much energy we use and what one hour of not utilizing electricity would do.

Last year, I got into an argument with two of my friends, one of whom does not believe in Global Warming (which I consistently remind him that Global Warming has now been rebranded as Climate Change - still no dice). Their argument - what's the point of Earth Hour since the electricity has already been generated? True - the electricity that is "saved" during Earth Hour has already been generated and if not used in that Earth Hour, would be used at a different time. However, turning off the lights helps in two ways: (1) Generating awareness on how much energy we use, some of which is unnecessary and (2) through that awareness, if it motivates people to use less energy, then the electric companies won't have to generate as much in the future. It's like getting rid of plastic bags - sure, the plastic bags are already made, but if people stop using them, grocery stores order less, which in turn makes manufacturers produce less.

Doubtful I'll ever be able to change my friends' views, however, I realize that there are still many ways for people to be an asshole during Earth Hour even if they don't turn on their lights at home. And here's how:

(1) Hum some Lionel Ritchie as you bathe.

It's dark, so what's more soothing (and possibly romantic) than to take a nice bubble bath with candlelight. Of course, you'll want to unload the dinner you just had - make sure to flush two or three times, as it's dark and you don't want to have the stench of pork and beans filling up your bubble bath environment. Make sure to make the water extra hot - you don't want to have the water go cold during your relaxing bath. Note: a bath uses about 3 - 5x more gallons of water than a shower - the bigger the tub, the more water you waste.

(2) Furnace, full blast - engage!

It's fucking cold outside, even for March. And in the dark, even snuggling under layers of blankets won't get you warm. So why not turn the furnace to full blast? This way, you can also share your heat with others in the building also observing Earth Hour. You're friendly and thoughtful.

(3) Canadian Idle.

So you're bored after your bath and snuggling under the blankets, you want to go outside for some fun! Forget public transit, you only have an hour - you don't want to be waiting at a bus stop for the majority of your time just so you can share a vehicle with commoners. Jump into your H3, go over to your local gas station, fill the tank and drive to some lookout point and idle that baby as you observe Earth Hour from a vantage point. Boy, the city does look beautiful all dim, especially when you have your highbeams pointed right at it.

(4) Grocery Shop til you Drop.

Go to your local grocery store. Buy a lot of exotic and imported food (you're so cultured and supporting people thousands of miles away!) and also plenty of items in non-recyclable containers. Go home and immediately throw all that food into the garbage. You don't need all those calories - what were you thinking?

(5) Shotput that trash.

Immediately take all of the packaging from your grocery shopping adventure and chuck it over your balcony. If nature's so great, it'll take care of it.

(6) Burn, baby burn.

Gather your leftover gas from your Hummer excursion, cut down some 100 year old trees in your neighbourhood and start a giant bonfire to bring the community together - hey, I know some great pagan ritual dances that will really get the party started.

(7) Chemical brothers and Expired Medicine - no, I'm not headed to a rave.

It's time to get rid of all those harmful chemicals in your cabinets and throw away all that expired medicine. What better way than to pour it down your drains and flush it down your toilets so that it helps clean up our water supply. Estrogen pills go bye bye - we all want bigger boobs right? This way, you're sharing the wealth with everyone as they sip our tap water.

(8) Clubbing - seal clubbing.

Okay, this might be difficult in major urban centres (unless you live by a zoo) but there's nothing more fun on a Saturday night than to beat some defenceless animals to death. Don't let their cute faces deter you. I believe a certain issue of German People magazine in 1937 voted Hitler as the Sexiest Man Alive...and we all know how he turned out.

(9) Timber!

So an hour might be pushing clear cutting a large swath of forest, but not if you get hundreds of like minded people involved. Teamwork makes things work faster. Plus, you'll have all the wood you need for activity #6.

So I've run out of activities one can participate in - but nonetheless, you get the point. You can still be a douchebag during Earth Hour, but hopefully we're all smarter than that. Be a part of the global movement and understand our actions have a big impact on others. By changing our daily routines, we can make a difference, and if by turning your lights off for one hour helps you turn off more lights throughout the year, well, then the Hour has helped.

PS - read a great article in Fast Company about companies participating in Earth Hour. Really - can't they make more of an effort. It's just an hour.

March Challenge - Day 17: Another fucking election...

Okay, I've been terrible this week at posting any entries. Since Sunday, I've been lazy and haven't posted anything. That will change this week.

This week, Ottawa has been abuzz with talk of an election and today, it was confirmed - the government was defeated in a historic vote in which they were found in contempt of Parliament. Great, we have a government who has been labelled liars by the opposition - the result is a $400 million boondoggle for an election that will produce what will be another minority government (party to be determined).

This will be the four time Canadians head to the polls since 2004 - four elections in seven years makes for very grumpy voters, especially considering the 24 years before 2004, Canadians headed to the polls only six times. If the cost of an election is truly $400 million, we've spent $1.6 billion - that money could have been better spent for social programs or needed tax cuts for lower income families.

Albert Einstein famously stated that the definition of insanity is doing something the same way over and over again and expecting a different result. This is a perfect description of this fourth election. There are so many things that are the same from the last election in 2008 that Canadians should not be surprised that we get yet another minority government this April.

What's the same you ask?

(1) Same guys running the show - Harper, Duceppe, Layton, May...are we back in the election of 2008 again? The only leader change up has been Dion to Ignatieff, which in my opinion is trading someone incoherent and boring for someone who's just boring. How will one decide between such uninspiring leaders? I mean, you have one candidate who's party was just found guilty of lying to Parliament, another who's party's motto is "go fuck yourself if you're not from Quebec", and one who's struggled in the last three elections (and several by-elections) to try to even get a seat in the house. It's time Canadians demanded a change at the top of each of these parties - boot Harper, Iggy, Layton and Duceppe (well, I'd say boot Duceppe's party altogether) and ask for fresh talent that inspires Canadians to care about politics.

(2) It's doubtful any of the platforms are going to be anything inspiring. In elections where the parties have a feeling that there might be a minority government, a strange phenomenon occurs - rather than heading up bold and aggressive party platforms that would likely motivate people to vote in your party as a majority, parties revert to safe platforms that barely rock the boat, which ultimately causes a minority. I hold no high hopes for any big policy proposals from any parties. What would I like to see a party have in their platform?

- how to overhaul the failing Canadian health system by investigating how private health care can play a bigger role in helping to improve services and reduce procedure waiting times

- a focus on supporting our big cities by developing better transportation infrastructure

- incentives for companies to go green and a more aggressive plan for the environment portfolio

- tax cuts for small and medium enterprises as they are the ones who will provide the job creation in many communities

(3) A lack of cooperation from any party to work together. With five major parties set to fight it out, it's likely none of them will get a majority, which means that from the get go, parties should at least look to one another and say alright, how can we work to form a majority? Many might remember my staunch disapproval of a coalition between the Liberals/Bloc/NDP back in 2008, and say, why the change? The difference here is that the coalition was proposed after the election in a bid to steal power. If a coalition started out during an election, at least people know what they are voting for.

(4) Voters won't be showing up. People are tired and the latest round of shenanigans on Parliament Hill isn't impressing anyone to show up to the polls to make sure things change. Politicians are to blame for making voters fatigued, voters are to be blamed for not standing up and saying enough and firing these jokers who've made our government so unworkable for four years. Then again, you're not really firing them because it's the same people at the helm.

In any case, things won't be changing anytime soon. I look forward to seeing what the parties have to throw at each other in the coming weeks.

March Challenge - Day 16: Dummies posting video opinions onto the net

Alexandra Wallace, a student at UCLA, posted this video last week in regards to her views about Asians in the libraries (*Note: the link does not go to her Youtube page, rather someone who reposted the video - Alexandra Wallace has removed herself from ALL forms of social media). The video went viral and drew scathing comments and video responses from people of all cultural backgrounds. There are a number of funny responses to Alexandra's original video, two of my favourite are here and here.

Poor, misguided Alexandra. Her attempt at humour (she later claimed in an apology letter she really didn't think people would take offence to her video) crashed and burned like the Hindenberg (God bless those who were lost). And when you post a rant for the consumption of the entire Youtube community, there are a few pointers to keep in mind:

1) Wear something appropriate - I fear that her rant was caused by a lack of oxygen circulation to her brain as the corset she had on to push out her cleavage was likely causing severe asphyxiation. The choice of poor camera attire was likely due to obstructed vision from the 5 - 10 layers of mascara and eyeshadow this poor girl has on. She's channeling her inner Tammy Faye Baker - all she needs is to cry for sympathy.

2) Don't target your hatred on one group of people, cast a wider net. Had she said, I hate people who talk on their phones in the library as opposed to Asians who say "Ching Chong, ling long, ting tong," (which by the way Alexandra, is Chinese for "Bitch, don't listen in on my phone call.") she would have had many more likes as opposed to death threats from the UCLA campus triads. Remember - hate everyone equally, that way, you're an equal opportunity hater.

3) You're less credible when you have slutty pictures in the background. Gurl, we all like people who like to have fun. And what better way to show people you're a fun person by displaying your drunken photos in the background of your vlog? The only problem is, you're trying to do a "serious" talk with the Youtube community. Those pictures ain't helping you out sista friend. Do you see President Obama with his keg stand photos in the background when he does a speech from the Oval office? Okay, Bush might have, but let's get real here, pick a nice backdrop that will give you credibility - for you, I picture burning cross and men with white ghost costumes on as a nice background for your intellectual presentation.

4) Mixing dumb talk and trying to use big words does not work. Alexandra apparently bought a dictionary recently. In the video, she uses words like "epiphany" and one wonders, does she really know what that word means? She mixes that word in between her various valley girl vocabulary (likes and blah, blah, blah) which is like eating $1000 caviar with Premium Plus saltines as a base cracker. You are not kidding anyone - leave the big words to those with +100 IQ.

There are so many other things wrong with this video, but most of the response videos have already addressed those points. The story didn't end well for Alexandra - she has left UCLA, fearing reprisals against her and her family (girl, why you afraid for your family, it's not like your brother, father, sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, etc. visit you on the weekends - you're not Asian). On her way off the campus, she was greeted by the hordes of Asian students who brought their families along to wish her a fond goodbye by waving their cellphones up in the air and chanting "Ching chong, ling long, ting tong." By the way, that phrase has a second translation - it also means "Goodbye ugly pig girl."

PS - I wonder if like every other trashy sorority chick on US campuses, she has an Asian character tattoo - OH THE IRONY!

March Challenge - Day 15: Youtube Symphony Orchestra

For all you music lovers out there, at 5AM EST, Youtube is set to premiere its first Symphony Orchestra by streaming it live from the Sydney Oprah House. A year ago, Youtube asked people to audition by submitting their videos, and the public voted on who should be selected for the orchestra.

If you're up early enough, check it out at:
http://www.youtube.com/symphony

Youtube showcases each of the members of the orchestra and their audition videos. Google Maps features the locations of where the musicians are coming from around the world. They are also getting the audience involved through augmented reality - users can either print out or snap a photo of it onto their mobile device, activate their webcams and start making their own music by moving the AR bar code along a series of virtual strings. You can record your masterpiece and email it to a friend.

However, Youtube / Hyundai seems to have missed out on an excellent opportunity to design a contest around this and allow a channel for all recorded masterpieces created by this AR experience to be posted, viewed and perhaps voted on by the online community. They also missed out on other SM channels like FB and Twitter and to attract others who might not have known about the Youtube Symphony to go to the site and create their own video.

Try it out - and share with your friends your musical talent using the AR experience. Better yet, if you can wake up early enough, enjoy the symphony play live from the comfort of your own home.

March Challenge - Day 14: Sh*t My Dad Says

I recently borrowed the book Sh*t My Dad Says from my friend Jean. This has got to be one of the funniest books I've ever read. It's so funny that I almost fell over the stairclimber at the gym while reading.

This book started off as a Twitter account and soon grew to be so popular that it was turned into a book...and now a TV show. Fuck, if only my Twitter feed could take off that way!

The book led me to think about all the funny things my dad has said over the years. The difference between my dad and the dad in the book is that my dad rarely means to be funny, it just comes out that way due to the fact he doesn't know English all that well. Some of the best lines were:

- "Hello son Terence, please do not drive to Ottawa. It is far, and you will get sleepy, tired and die." (I'm thinking he meant to say, I'd get tired and fall asleep at the wheel causing an accident, but it seems he cut right to the chase)

- "Hello son Terence, I have started eating healthy and no meat. I am a vagetarian" (true spelling, caused torrents of laughter.)

- "Hello son Terence, I've given your brother $1000, $500 to spend on his next flight to Taiwan (um, does he know how much a round trip cost to Asia?) and $500 for him to go buy meat." (apparently, it's okay for us not to be vegetarians).

I do love that my dad provides my brother and I with such great entertainment. Perhaps I should start my own Twitter feed on him.

March Challenge - Day 13: Assholes

I'm sure most of you are as devastated and shocked as I am by the footage you've seen coming out of Japan. Day after day, the news doesn't get better. With an earthquake then tsunami, they now deal with nuclear meltdown.

But was is more sickening than the horrific video captured by people stuck in the disaster, are the number of fake charities popping up to take advantage of people's generosity. CBC did a feature on this tonight and I am pissed. Now, this is not new - with every disaster comes scammers trying to take advantage of the situation. To avoid being scammed, donate to charities that are easily recognizable (Red Cross), beware of emails that don't link back to a credible website, never send money wires or transfers to a paypal account, and make sure that a tax receipt is issued.

To read more about scammers - go here.

March Challenge - Day 12: Those who pervert "God" to suit their motives

Today, while on Facebook, I stumbled across a video a friend posted of some lunatic with a webcam professing that God is great...because he caused the earthquake and tsunami to wipe out the "atheists" of Japan. If you have the stomach to sit through the whole video, click here.

Sadly, she is one of many fanatics who have perverted what God is supposed to be (like so many before her) to spew venomous hatred towards others that are not like her. Those of us with any thought process should pity this girl - clearly misguided, most likely brainwashed, her rants make no sense to anyone (except a horrifying few who seem to have liked this video).

A couple days ago, I wrote about Representative John King (R-NY) opening up a new MacCarthy-era style committee to investigate Muslim extremism in the US, after watching this video, he might consider shifting his focus.

Yes, people of all religions pervert the idea of God and use it to manipulate others. Rather than the love that most religions teach, these zealots bend the texts and target those most secceptable to this kind of preaching. They turn love into hate and open-mindedness into intolerance. They do exactly what the devil does - lead people away from the love and hope that God provides.

Now, I'm not religious by any means. In fact, the last time I stepped into any church was back in 2006 when I visited Notre Dame, and that was only for photos. I can't really remember the last time I attended a church service, but I do remember I was bored to tears. But I did realize at an early age that the concept of God was good in my life. His followers (well, in the New Testament anyways) preached love and acceptance of others, something I have yet to fully grasp as I have somewhat of a judgmental nature. His followers lived by a set of rules, that are pretty much common sense - don't cheat, steal or kill. Nonetheless, the idea of being accountable to a higher being does often make one think and evaluate the consequences before doing something foolish.

However, starting from about the eighth grade, it was apparent to me that while God aspired his followers to be one thing, because we're human, mistakes will happen. Fear and anger are natural emotions we feel and it can manifest into terrible actions, while using God's name to justify it.

I am thankful I did not grow up in or near a community with any religious wingbats. In fact, many of the deeply religious people I know were taught the right message. And those people that I know who are deeply religious don't often find it necessary to criticize or demean others for not believing in what they do.

My position is this - if you have to bully or make the big sell (cough...Scientologists) to anyone to join your religion, don't you think you're on the wrong team if you have to work that hard to convince someone else you're right? Would people be naturally curious about what you believe in if they saw that you were doing well for yourself and others around you and engage you in a conversation about it? Why must these fanatics berate the rest of us with their lunacy?

There are laws in many countries where racist or hate-filled remarks can be prosecuted and people cannot hide behind free speech (for example France, where anti-semitism is illegal as John Galliano recently found out). Shouldn't that be extended to this type of hateful religious rhetoric as well? In the video, the girl clearly was wishing ill will towards all "atheists," and praises God for "shaking them". One should think, if she felt God didn't act on her prayers to do harm to the atheists, would she have done something in God's name?

Social media is a great reflection on democracy. People voice their opinions and are applauded or shut down by the masses around them. While I, along with many others, I'm sure, are disgusted that people like this nutjob exist, it is comforting to know that the large majority vilify her as much as I do. It shows, that no matter what you believe, common sense and decency still reigns among us.

March Challenge - Day 11: Retaining Talent

Ever since university, I've been told that your success comes from the people you have around you. Your team, whether you are the leader or a member of the team, you are important and have a contribution to make. I took a course in university called "Managing People for Excellent Performance," which not only re-emphasized the previous points, but helped you play the role as the manager of this team. I also had first hand experience leading a big team of my peers as the head of a student council - looking back on that experience, there were definitely areas where I succeeded in leading, and others where I failed miserably.

With all of these lessons learned before I entered the workplace, you could imagine the shock I had when I entered it and finding out that seasoned managers and executives still had problems getting this right. It's not that they are stupid or emotionally inept, but they continue facing the problems I did when I led a large group of people, there's always areas where we succeed and places we fail when it comes to human resources.

In a recent conference, Andrew Bennett, the CEO of Havas Arnold Worldwide stated some shocking statistics during a speech on Agency/Employee Loyalty. While I say shocking, I mean for people outside the industry - people within advertising are less than surprised by any of the following statistics:

- 30% of the collective agency workforce will be gone within 12 months

- 70% of employees call recruiters back if one reached out to them

- 96% of employees said they can easily find another job

- 37% expect to stay 1 - 5 years in the industry, 66% plan on staying 5+ years

- 90% of employees said they learned to figure out problems on their own as opposed to formal training (Bennett asserted that an average Starbucks barista has more training than any person entering the advertising industry)

So what's happened? Why have we as an industry given into the fact that this is a reality of our industry as opposed to doing something about it? In my five years in this industry, I've seen several factors make people quit and jump agencies - good people, who would have stayed if any of these issues were addressed:

- low compensation and recognition

- performance reviews and development plans not completed or discussed

- lack of advancement opportunities or challenging projects to work on within the agency

- lack of training or funding to training outside the agency

- managers not mentoring direct reports for the next level

So many of these issues could be addressed easily if open communication is involved (ironic that our industry is all about communications, yet we cannot seem to grasp that internally). This jumping of talent from agency to agency doesn't serve any agency any good - managers might think, oh, well, I'll just get someone better who's looking to advance from another agency to replace the employee that has quit. But if you consider the amount of money that is involved in recruiting, interviewing, training and getting that new employee acclimated to their new role, would likely superceed any amount that old employee was asking for to stay in their role.

Trust me, managing people is incredibly difficult. It gets astronomically more difficult as you manage 50, 100, 200+ people and try to balance it so that you keep them all happy. No one can say that they have a perfect workplace, not even those on the Canada's top 100 workplaces list (not surprisingly, no advertising agencies made that list). But managers have the onus of being able to keep their ears to the ground and figuring out how to address their employees' concerns, and it's up to the employee to bring up the concerns and open up the dialogue, as no one can read minds. As much as the discussion might be difficult, if you don't get it off your chest in a professional manner, no one will know that you're not happy.

One other point that ad agencies do a terrible job of is recruitment. Mostly based off of the fact that we can never gage where our business will be six to twelve months from now, we rarely go out to schools and recruit, we let the graduates come to us. It's an incredibly narcissistic way of looking at things. Even the best companies in other industries go out to schools to recruit, that's one of the reasons why they continue to be the best, because they attract the best talent by reaching out to them. This is what is going to make an agency stand out from another one - those that actively goes to schools and recruit, they will get the best talent submitting their applications.

It's doubtful that the industry will change anytime soon based off of Bennett's speech or this blog entry. The focus is still on the bottom line and no one is willing to take the chance of being disruptive in the way they manage their team.

But I am hopeful - with agencies taking more chances due to the shifting of traditional media to digital media, maybe that risktaking will carry over in their approach to managing and retaining people.

March Challenge - Day 10: Grandmama's gonna knock you out

An article in this week's MacLean's magazine, "Angry Grannies, Fists of Fury," talks about self-defense classes for the women of Nairobi's slums, in particular, the grandmothers. Years of HIV/AIDS deaths have made many sub-saharan African nations states with a large population of grandmothers having to care for their grandchildren, after their own children have died of the terrible disease. Now, more and more of these grandmothers are finding themselves victims of sexual assaults as young men find themselves desperate enough to attack women twice to three times their age. In fact, 10% of rape cases are now women over the age of 60 - a horrific stat that no woman in their golden years (well, any woman for that matter) should have to endure.

A charity training centre called Streams of Hope and Peace has started defence classes, teaching the basics of karate as well as "dirty tricks" like a swift kick to the groin or fingers in the eyes.

This is so horrific, I don't know where to start. I am saddened to see that this is a reality and that women that have already lived through so much pain and suffering, have to be vigilant about possibly being sexual assault victims themselves.

Going back to my blog a few days back in regards to International Women's Day, this is yet another point to add to that growing list of why we need to step up our fight to ensure equal treatment of the female gender. This charity, and what they are teaching these women of the slums, is helping to empower women and take back the control that these horrible men are trying to seize.

Let's hope the international community helps more charities such as this one and help give more women around the globe ways to defend themselves against attack.

March Challenge - Day 9: Earthquake in Japan

Before I start my blog, if you haven't done so already, and you want to help in the relief efforts in Japan, please think about donating to the Red Cross. Click this link to donate directly.

I woke up this morning and while I had planned to work from home, I looked outside to groan at the terrible weather outside. "Rain, again?" I asked myself, "lucky, I don't have to leave my house today." Like all people of my generation, I turned on my computer and logged onto my email and then checked my social networks. First posts I see talked about an earthquake in Japan, which ultimately made me go right to theglobeandmail.com. As the page uploaded, I thought to myself, "I probably shouldn't have complained about the rain."

Horrified is nothing short of feeling I had when reading about the disaster. Throughout the day as I worked, I had the BBC coverage on in the background and the footage that was captured was incredible.

Here are some stats of today's quake:

- 5th worst earthquake reported in history
- lasted for six minutes
- shifted the world's access by 20cm
- tsunamis measuring 23ft high
- 88,000 people still unaccounted for

I've always had a fondness for Japan. My family moved there when I was four years old and my dad was there to compete his Masters education. I don't have that many memories - most of them are captured in photos to Tokyo Disneyland and Mount Fuji. I do remember being fluent in Japanese and always having small lunchboxes to bring to school everyday. I took a trip there back in 2006 with my dad on one of those tours and we spent time in Tokyo and Ito. It's truly a fascinating country with an equally fascinating history and culture.

Japan sits near one of the most active shifting tectonic plates in the world, so it was not a surprise that an event like this happened today. What is shocking is the amount of damage it caused the world's most prepared country in earthquake disaster.

In the last two years, I've experienced three earthquakes. Back in 2009 when I was in Taiwan over the Christmas holidays, I experienced a minor quake that lasted for 20 seconds. We weren't that close to the epicentre, but it was frightening nonetheless. During Easter last year, when I was in LA visiting family, I experienced an earthquake that hit southern California. Again, nowhere near the epicenter, but the 10 seconds worth of shaking was not amusing. Finally, back in early June, Toronto experienced an earthquake and the city flipped out (most people thought it was a terrorist attack before the G20 summit). Social media networks in the city trended hashtags of EARTHQUAKE and immediately Facebook newsfeeds were littered with EARTHQUAKE in all caps.

So I can't even imaging being stuck in what the people of Japan had to go through today for nearly six minutes of shaking, falling debrid and watching buildings sway from side to side.

Japanese people have annual drills for earthquake preparedness. School children and office workers know exactly what to do in case of emergencies, which is why you saw most of them not reacting too much in fear while the situation around them was absolutely terrifying. What will be on every news show tonight is going to be the headline, "are we prepared?" And it is a relevant question to ask.

Given our less than calm reaction to the earthquake in Toronto (my co-workers told me that our agency, which I wasn't working at during the earthquake had evacuated the building for the day), what do we need to know in case of an earthquake?

The Government of Canada actually has a page set up to answer your questions, here are some highlights:

- be prepared with an emergency kit with water, clothing and first aid materials in case you need to evacuate

- talk with your family on what you would do during an emergency (where to meet being an important topic)

- if you're indoors, stay indoors, and stay sheltered under sturdy furniture like a desk. Cover your head and torso from falling debris. Stay away from windows and objects that are not secured to the ground.

- if you're outdoors, stay outdoors and go to open areas as opposed to near buildings

- if you are in a vehicle, pull over in an open area to allow access to emergency vehicles. Avoid overpasses or bridges or any structure that could collapse, tune into a local radio station for instructions and warnings on the news

All of these preparations were certainly a part of the drills that the Japanese have been teaching their people every year since they were children - and this preparedness most definitely contributed to more lives not being lost.

Thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected in Japan.

March Challenge - Day 8: Rep. Peter King - the new Joe McCarthy

While watching the news tonight, I watched a segment which talked about new hearings in the US Capitol about the radicalization of Muslim extremists in the US. Watching the coverage of it made my blood boil - as it should yours. For more reading, take a look at this LA Times article.

The head of this panel is Republican House Rep. Peter King, who claims by holding these hearings, he is "broken down a wall of political correctness on an issue that needs to be addressed." There's no arguing that terrorism is something that needs to be addressed, however, in targeting one group and claiming they are responsible for the extremist actions happening on US soil reeks of McCarthyism fearmongering.

LA Sheriff Lee Baca was one that was called to testify at the hearings by Democrat representatives on the committee. You might remember him from such appearances as Michael Jackson's death announcement and the many trials and tribulations of Lindsay Lohan. Sheriff Baca testified that narrowing this committee's investigation down to just one religion is short-sighted stating that while 41 cases of reported terror plots since 9/11 were from international and domestic Islamic groups, 77 other cases were from non-Muslim domestic groups alone.

It must be frustrating to be an American again. After 8 years of Bush and the warmongering language spewed by that administration, there was two years of relative calm until now, when the Republicans have regained control of the House.

Of all the issues most pressing to Americans, is this truly one of them? Focusing on Islamic terrorists is a witchhunt to stir up antagonistic feelings and to justify their military actions overseas. Isn't it ironic that those sounding the wardrums and calling for swift action against terrorists are willing to spend trillions on weapons, but criticize their sitting President for trying to put forth plans to spend money on protecting the health of their own citizens?

As I have many Muslim friends and colleagues, I am truly offended by what's happening on this panel. Unjust accusations and bigotry is on display here, not the search for any truth. If you want to talk extremism, fine, but don't just target one group just because of their religious background - there are nutsos from all religious faiths (ahem...Westboro Baptist Church?)

This committee is truly a witchhunt and led by a man trying to stir up trouble where trouble does not exist. He wants to call out Muslims for encouraging and inciting hatred that leads to extremist terrorism. Rep. King, aren't you encouraging and inciting hatred towards your fellow Muslim-Americans and leading those non-Muslim extremists to resort to violence against anyone of the Islamic faith?

Thank goodness Congressmen only get two years per term. Hopefully the people of his district in NY will see his bigotry for what it is and vote him out in 2012.

March Challenge - Day 7: Quit a six-figure job? I do what I want!

Recently, I was forwarded a hilarious video called "Honey Badger don't give a shit" - one of the funniest lines is that "it does what it wants."

I recently read an article in Toronto Life about how five Bay St. types quit their six-figure jobs and started to do what they want. One was a lawyer turned chocolatier, another was a developer turned yoga instructor and studio owner, another was a software salesman turned movie producer and finally an investment banker and her lawyer friend turned organic butchers. The common thread - they walked away from successful, high-paying careers in the corporate world and pursued opening their own business, doing something that they loved.

Several of my peers from my HBA class made the switch last year too - from working in a corporate environment to starting up their own business. The change in their attitude is obvious - they are happy, they are challenged, they are eager to wake up every morning and work on their business. It is very refreshing to see.

Then there are the rest of us, weary of making that big leap. It is reminiscent of the time we all graduated and we pursued careers for the money rather than what we wanted to do. Most of us aren't willing to make the leap into self-employment, having to fight for every piece of revenue coming in and penny-pinching on every expense that goes out. Most of us are not comfortable not knowing if you'll get paid this day or the next. Most of us are comfortable with routine and complaining about how our jobs suck.

I've always wondered where I'll be five or ten years from now. Looking back to five years ago when I started out in advertising, I had pretty ambitious goals to which today, I've satisfied most of them. But I think - while I knew I'd still be in advertising today five years ago, I'm not so sure if that'll be the same five years from now.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I work at a great agency where I learn and am challenged daily to deal with new and interesting situations in the world of digital advertising. I work with great people who provide great laughter and comraderie. And I work in an industry that is all about creative expression and digging into human truths and insights, something much more fun to talk about at dinner parties than projected forecasts of oil futures (sorry finance folks, you know I still love you).

However, I see the entrepreneureal spirit of my classmates and the people featured in these articles and say, I can be like them too. I just need some more courage (like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz). And an idea of what business I would go into if I did leave the world of advertising...give me some time to think about that...

March Challenge - Day 6: 100 years of International Women's Day

1919 - Full access to the vote was given to all women in Canada. (We were the 6th nation in the world to grant this right.)

1921 - Agnes MacPhail is the first female MP elected to the House of Commons.

1989 - 68 years later, Audrey McLaughlin becomes the first leader of a major political party in Canada.

1993 - 4 years after that, Kim Campbell becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

2011 - Canada ties Mauritania for 49th place in the ranking of % of women represented in politics at the Federal level. If you're curious, Rwanda is #1.

So why all of these dates? Today marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day - recognition of the great strides women have come since 1911, where in only two countries, women had the right to vote. It is also a day to recognize how much further we need to go to level out the inequities that women still face every single day.

One might ask why I only picked important milestones for women in politics. Well, politics is a great snapshot of the country's mental state. In times of economic uncertainty, people vote conservative. In times of economic prosperity, they tend to vote for parties that promote more social spending. The fact that women make up just 22% of our House of Commons, our national legislative body, shows that we have quite a ways to make up.

As someone who grew up around women of strong character and intellect, it often surprised me when I heard statistics like how Canadian women continue to earn on average 20% less than their direct male counterparts. Or how women now outnumber men in universities, yet their representation in local, provincial and federal governments rarely match anywhere close to that number.

I recently watched a great TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. She was speaking at the TEDxWomen's conference, and spoke eloquently about how too few women are making it to the tops of any profession - from politics (13% is the world average for governments), to business (tops out at 15%), to entertainment, to technology - women are still hitting that supposedly broken glass ceiling from the 80s. She points to the fact that women have much harder choices to make when determining whether to advance her professional career or cultivate her personal life. She states their are three simple messages to help women look towards the top of their professions - always have a seat at the table, make your partner a real partner and don't leave (mentally) before you leave (your career). It's a fantastic talk and one worthy of 20 minutes of your time.

It is important to recognize how important balance is in any aspect - in nature, in society, in our lives. Having an imbalance or extremes lead to conflict, wars and genocide. This is why it's so important to continue to work towards a balance in every professional arena, to get women the equal representation, pay and respect that men receive.

I've only touched upon development of women in the professional world, but haven't barely scratched the surface of all of the other issues that need to be resolved before women can enjoy equal status with men. Abuse, poverty, health issues and discrimination all disproportionately affect women moreso than men. Abuse being one of the worst injustices - 1 in 4 women in the world will be victims of physical abuse. A book I recently read called "Half the Sky" talks about poverty and how it leads women around the world to prostitution, a gateway to the abuse I spoke of a sentence ago. Maternal health, while enjoyed by the majority of the develop world, claims the lives of millions of women and their unborn children due to improper medical treatment during pregnancy, botched abortions and unsterile living conditions. Discrimination, which leaves little physical signs, scars even deeper emotionally, leading to self-esteem and other mental health issues.

We must remember that men have to also champion women's rights. We have a role to play in making sure our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends are recognized for their contributions to our society and celebrated as our equals. And as members of the developed world, we cannot stop championing this cause as developing nations look at us to lead as examples. If we don't show them that women deserve equal respect and treatment, they will not follow.

Sadly, coverage of this historic day for women's rights probably made page two of the paper or the 10min mark of the evening news. What's even sadder is that Charlie Sheen made more headlines recently due to his antics than any coverage leading up to this day. Another sign that women's rights is slipping on our list of priorities.

March Challenge - Day 5: Finally caught up with a morbid topic: Obits

Phew, I'm back on track with my posts. Damn, reading and writing is hard (twirls blond lock of hair).

I never quite understood why papers had the obituary sections - I often wondered, who the fuck would read this morbid shit. Seriously, you'd take your time to go through the section and voyeristically look through who died recently and see who's mourning their loss. An old fashioned Death Facebook.

MacLean's magazine gives their back cover story to a reader each week who sends in an obit for a friend or family member that has recently passed. These obits are more extensive, more thoughtful and have changed my mind about obits in general.

Not only are they well-written, the words bring the individual to life, even though they are dead. More elaborate than the 100 words or less 1/64 of a page obit in the god knows what fucking section of the newspaper, these full-page stories bring a 30 year old mother of two who recently died in a freak traffic accident in BC or a 18 year old teenage boy who died on a ski slope, or an 80 year old who lived a long and rewarding life.

Death is nothing foreign to me - I've seen four close family members pass, I've seen young people die for no reason - car crashes, suicides, cancer. But I've been mostly stoic when dealing with death - very rarely showing any grief or expressions. Which is probably why I never understood obituaries - they are expressions of grief from the living trying to memorialize their departed friend or family member.

Then I realized, I've been an obit writer myself! Last year, on the 10th year anniversary of my mom's passing, I wrote a tribute to her on a Facebook note. It was long, featured photos of her throughout her life, and my musings on how she would be like if she were around now. In a sense, it really helped me cope with my loss (even though its been 10 years, it's still incredibly painful to think about). Had I done it earlier, like these people have, perhaps it would have helped with my grief process more.

While I normally never pray, I certainly hope that I will not have to write an obit for any of my friends or family anytime in the near future. However, if that day comes, I look forward to using that as an outlet of my grief, which it seems so many do, to whatever audience that wants to read.

March Challenge - Day 4: Emotion Contagion

So the book I've been reading called Connected, has been incredibly interesting. Chapter 2 is all about emotions being contagious and how the people you surround yourself with, and the people they surround themselves with will ultimately impact your emotions.

Most of you might be going "duh, tell us something I don't know," but seriously, how often do you stop yourself in a day to calibrate your emotions back to that safe place, you know, that place where you're not overwhelmingly happy that people think you're Charlie Sheen, or that place you're overwhelmingly sad like a Sarah MacLaughlin album (I swear, that woman can make "Don't worry, be happy" sound like a funeral march).

I've recently hit a slump, and it wasn't until someone else told me about being negative that I was able to take a more conscious note of it. I'm an emotional person, although I try to deny that I have any human emotion, I'm very expressive when communicating with others. When I'm happy, I let out several guffaws while slapping the shit out of my knees. When I'm angry, a torrent of swear words gets unleashed into the world and my hands flail like a mad person. And when I'm overwhelmed, I get quiet and scattered. All of this is picked up by other people and like a domino effect others begin to feel the exact same emotions I project. If I panic, others do; if I stay calm, so do others.

In a study the authors conducted, they found out on average, if you had one close friend who was happy, you were 9% more likely to be happy. But if you have a close friend who is sad, you're 7% more likely to be sad. So the goal seems simple, surround yourself with happy friends, right?

Sure, that sounds simple enough, but terribly difficult when you consider how peoples' lives change on a constant basis. Your happy friend could turn sad one day, and vice versa. What's important is that you continue to check your own state and consciously figure your way back to a medium spot.

Another part of their study talks about how ultimately, people do level themselves out subconsciously - there are very few that spiral completely out of control or that can maintain a nirvana like happy state. However, if you consciously make the corrections everyday, you don't have to wait out the up to 365 days to get back to your normal self.

So the saying is correct after all - check yo'self befo' you 'reck yo'self.

The book talks about love next. Have a feeling I'm not going to like this chapter.

March Challenge - Day 3: Get Hired...or free tuition.

The March 7^th issue of MacLean’s magazine features their 6^th annual Student Guide. A miniature sized version of the University guide they publish every year, the Student Guide is mainly for over-involved parents of high school students or keener high school students gearing up for the next stage of their academic careers.

In this issue, they featured a great articled in the Get Hired section called “Get me a job – or give me my money back.” Here’s a quick synopsis of the article: in the last decade, universities and colleges have decided to shift the focus on the quality of education you get at their institution to making sure their graduates get hired after they leave the institution. After the job market was crippled in 2008 after the great recession hit, institutions are still reeling from getting their students placed in “good” jobs that their university programs trained them for. The University of Regina has gone so far as to offer students that don’t get hired within the first six months after graduating in their chosen field, they get a free year of tuition to go back to school.

Before I get into my opinion on whether or not this is a good or terrible idea for our post-secondary institutions to launch programs such as UofR’s Free Tuition program, I thought I would share with you my own experience as a student.

I was one of those keeners in high school that was already planning for university when I was in grade 10. Yes, I attended the university fair from grades 10 – OAC (mostly for the swag) but also to figure out a whole array of academic choices put in front of me. When I finally made my decision after sifting through countless university brochures, I shipped off my applications and felt a huge weight fall off my shoulders.

That weight was to come back not three years later when I entered my program at Ivey. This time, the weight was something called “Getting a job” – that was everyone’s focus…get a great summer internship in finance or consulting. If you can’t cut it there, go for accounting, they’ll hire anyone. Failing that, go for the marketing jobs. And if you really suck, perhaps a summer being an “entrepreneur” (cough…unemployed) will help you reflect.

To make a long story short, my internship hunt went poorly. I did everything our Career Management department told us not to do – I applied for everything, sent out templated cover letters and resumes and memorized the standard interview questions to ask a perspective employer during an interview. Fuck, I was dumb. So I disguised my failure well by running for student government and ended up working for the school that summer (thankfully, the election worked out, otherwise, I would have had to “entrepreneur” it for that summer).

It didn’t get any better during my last year at Ivey either. Recruiting started even earlier, and by October 15^th (of all days, my birthday), all the good paying 75K+ jobs were gone – offers went out and those people were able to strut their stuff like their shit didn’t stink and go for an academic wank for the rest of the year. Then the 2^nd round came where accounting firms and marketing companies came in to swoop up the remainder. By the time that round finished, I’d say 75% of our graduating class had an offer in their hands.

Then there was me. The only offer I had was an internship opportunity with Export Development Canada in Ottawa after I won a scholarship by writing an essay about how trade was important for Canada’s future (seriously, I won a scholarship for writing an essay with that broad of a topic) and why this scholarship will help me pursue my aspirations of international business. Besides that, I had nothing. I repeated all the mistakes from the year before and then just kind of gave up. I was deflated, angry and embarrassed. Having had several student council predecessors land great gigs when they held the role, I was certainly the black sheep, and that May, I packed my bags for Ottawa for the internship.

While I did well at my internship, it was clear, it wasn’t for me. I came back to Toronto in September and became a gentleman of leisure. Clearly, at this time, my educational institution wanted nothing to do with me. I was pulling down their graduate stats. Then I did something even more outrageous – I got ANOTHER internship, this time in Advertising. Advertising wasn’t even a path up for consideration in my business program. We had one elective on it and well, let’s just say out of my 2006 graduating class, there’s one other person in advertising with me now. Big shoutouts to Rebecca Ho. Why was it not up for consideration? The pay sucks when you start, certainly nowhere close to what the school pumped up your salary expectations when I was there. While some of my friends in banking their first year cleared well over six figures after bonus, I made about $4000 during my four-month internship and when I was promoted to an Account Executive, I swore to myself everyday that I would get to the next level ASAP in order to make an actual return on my educational investment.

This story does have a happy ending. Heading into my five year anniversary after graduation, I’ve gotten myself to a place in my career where I’m doing well, I’m happy and I like what I do. Not to say there were bumps along the way, but I’d say less bumps than some of the big hurdles some of my other classmates had to jump over when they found out their career choice wasn’t right for them. Overall, I think if my university education was to be judged upon how well it prepared me to get a job immediately after I graduated, it did poorly. But in the long run, I'm doing okay.

Now that I’ve bored you to tears with my own personal trials and tribulations with the job hunt, back to the point of the article. Should universities and colleges measure their success on how well their students do in their job hunt? In my opinion, while getting a job is important, this shift towards focusing on getting and guaranteeing grads jobs is dangerous. The strain it’s putting on graduates these days to focus on job hunting while they are still there to learn is unbelievably cruel and actually does a disservice to the student’s academic development.

There are three reasons why this outlook is dangerous:

1) The pressure of finding a job leads graduates to pick a career they had no interest to begin with.

I go back to my experiences and see how some of my fellow classmates struggled a year or two after they were in the workplace. Many were unhappy and disenchanted because they thought this career would be different than in reality. In some cases, people had to stop their career, and pick a completely different discipline and start at the bottom again. They gave up on pursuing what they really wanted to do by bending to the pressures of getting that top paying job. It’s a terrible lesson to learn.

2) Job-focused academic institutions prioritizes job finding over academics.

I remember that in the year that followed our class, they were given an extra week of break in order to recruit for jobs, much to the chagrin of my classmates. We complained how these “kids” had it so much easier than we did (very “when I went to school, I walked barefoot over a mile on broken glass” kind of mentality). What we failed to even talk about was the fact that these “kids” paid the same amount we did, for one less week of education. Academics really took a back seat in my last year of university. Once people secured that job offer, less cases were read, more people showed up hungover or didn’t bother showing up at all, and the hands up to answer questions sat firmly planed on their laptop keyboards, playing games or picking out what to buy for the new condo downtown.

3) What every happened to enjoying life after graduating?

Remember those stories of people going to “find themselves” after university? They are as rare as people in Ivey and working in advertising. While people travelled during the summer between graduation and September when they started their jobs, perhaps one person went and took a full year off to really travel or do volunteer work and take a break for themselves. What I would pay to go back in time to tell my stupid self to go and blow my little to no savings on a round the world adventure and experience life as people had done decades ago after they finished a degree. Nope, I too conformed to the pressures and decided to work. Now, I struggle to get in vacations (my last having been well over a year ago).

All the while, university programs (in particular commerce or business programs) have succumbed to salary/hiring-rate hysteria, reflective of how publicly traded companies will do whatever it takes to deliver a good quarterly investors report. I often get reports from my school on how well our graduates are doing with a 90%+ hiring success rate…blah, blah, blah. Job placement should not be the top Key Performance Indicator of any educational institution.

These universities are short-changing their students of the experiences they actually deserve - learning and developing critical thinking skills that are actually required in the workplace. Their focus now on getting them resume and interview ready in order to make themselves look successful too. Some might compare it to the crazy parent that forces their child to go through 16 levels of piano, and meanwhile, the kid has little to no desire to play that piano.

The UofR program of “we’ll get you a job or your money back” reeks of so much desperation that it was actually sad to read when I came across the article. A money back guarantee doesn’t instill any confidence in me that this is the type of education I want from an institution.

It’s time for our educators to really reflect upon what post-secondary institutions were meant to do. They should not be factory-churning out grads to replace aging baby boomers and checking their percentage of students hired box at the end of the day. They should be focused on creating an environment where students get stimulated to explore academia, think critically and absorb as many new experiences as possible.

March Challenge - Day 2: Feeling Connected

So I've started on a book called Connected - How your friends' friends' friends affect everything you feel, think and do. I'm about 2 chapters in and really enjoy it. As a Facebook addict, the first couple of chapters talk about the formulation of social networks (now, to note, when I'm talking about social networks, I mean how you relate to other people, not social networking platforms like Facebook). According to the authors, Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, there are rules to a network:

1) We shape our network - we choose the structure by deciding how many people we connect with, how interconnected each of our contacts are with one another and how central we are to our networks (do we like to be the centre of attention or live at the peripheries?)

2) Our network shapes up - where you're position in that network (ie: first borns have on average a higher IQ than second borns who have higher IQs than third borns), how interconnected your contacts are with one another, and again, the number of people will mould us into what we are.

3) Our friends affect us - studious people make others more studious, people who drink a lot influence others to drink more.

4) Our friends' friends' friends affect us - there's a rule called the Three Degrees of Influence (similar to the Six Degrees of Separation) where it states that between one to three degrees of connections, attitudes and behaviours (like political views, smoking) are passed along from originator to friend to friend. But beyond three levels, that influence diminishes rapidly. Think of it as a big broken telephone game - while the message stays consistent with the first two or three people, after that, "I eat at the restaurant" quickly turns into "Purple monkey dishwasher." There's also the possibility that your connections have severed along the way - people stop being friends. Or another theory is that our evolutionary path hasn't taken us to the point where we trust anything beyond three levels of connectivity - that it's only been in the last 200 - 300 years where we've in large urban centres, and that humanity is used to living in smaller groups where influence doesn't go beyond three levels.

5) Networks have a life of its own - you cannot isolate it to one person. This point is totally valid when one looks at the unrest in the Middle East. While Tunisia's fight to remove it's dictator started with the actions of a street vendor setting himself on fire, the wave of unrest in the Middle East has started to morph into different opposition networks from Egypt to Libya to Bahrain to Yemen. All different networks, moving, growing and changing everyday without one person to attribute it to.

Points four and five were provoking points to read - and I reflected on how my interactions with Facebook (which surprisingly has not been talked about once in this book) live up to these points. While we cannot ever tell if our influence reaches our friends' friends' friends, we can certainly see if our posts are reposted or shared by our friends to their networks (a term us advertisers love to call social amplification). And point five has been validated time and time again that networks are organic - any brand with a facebook fanpage can tell you now that they are no longer in control of the conversations of consumers about their brand - the network of fans control the conversation, the brand can only participate and contribute (as all other individuals in the network do) but the network steers the conversation (either good or bad).

I'm excited to read on. I'll report back with more soon.

March Challenge - Day 1: Terribly behind...

So I've started March off with a terrible start. Having supposed to start my 28-Day challenge of reading one interesting article and writing an opinion piece per day on March 3, I have failed to keep up due to a busy weekend. A Lady Gaga concert, a day of recovering from that said concert, a friend's bachelor's party yesterday and a day of cleaning and baking cookies for a charity drive, have all prevented me from reading and writing.

So I have a couple of day's worth of posts to catch up on, let's get started. I mentioned earlier in this post that I've had a very busy weekend - it was also super expensive. All in all, between the concert, the party and the grocery shopping, I dropped at least $600 in the last four days. If I had a budget for entertainment, I would be way, way over.

Budgets, savings, spending have been on everyone's minds since the 2008 Great Recession that saw several millions of people around the world declare personal bankruptcy, face foreclosure on their homes and lose all of their personal savings. Some of the behaviours that led up to that mess were things like taking on too much debt and overspending (like I did this weekend).

It's no surprise then that there's now a great deal of concern from the Bank of Canada that Canadians are now starting to edge closer and closer to taking on ridiculous amounts of debt similar to what Americans were before the recession. According to a Globe and Mail article back in May of last year, Canadians had $1.44 of debt for every $1 they earned. Of course, most of that is attributed to mortgage due to low interest rates, but credit card and short-term debt has also climbed, to the warning of many government officials like BoC Governor Mark Carney.

So, what's happened to make Canadians act this way? One key factor is that interest rates are down so people are borrowing more at the cheaper rates in order to save more money in the long run on paying interest. The other is that Canada, unlike other G8 countries, was not affected as badly during the meltdown - while consumer spending did take a dip, it rose back up quickly compared to our neighbours to the south. People bought more, all on credit cards. And speaking of those cards, people used more credit cards due to loyalty programs - the perceived value of earning points while using your cards makes people spend more on their plastic, not actually keeping a track of that spending until the bill comes at the end of the month to serve a swift kick to the gut.

MacLean's magazine this week featured articles about Canadians and finances. One article called, "Nevermind the facts of life, talk to your children about money," highlights what the province of Ontario plans on doing to educate youth and building their financial intelligence. Grades 4 - 12 students will now have financial literacy classes starting next year, Manitoba and Alberta are planning similar changes to their curricula.

About time, I say. I think back to my classes in grade school, junior high and high school and the only time I remember ever being taught anything close to financial literacy was in Home Ec when we spent one class on how to do a personal budget. Then we moved onto sewing for about 10 classes, 'cause, you know, that was more important.

It is never too early to get people to think and learn about taking care of their own personal finances, but it can't be just up to schools to teach this - parents shoulder the main responsibility. I am pretty grateful that my mom (who I credit for engraining in my brain my sense of financial responsibility) started me out at a young age - age 6 was when I first opened my savings account at National Bank. Age 7 was when I bought my first Canada savings bond. Age 10 was when I first opened up an ING Savings account (to which I still have). When she passed in early 2000, I had learned enough at that point to help manage a personal budget which tracked my wages from my part-time jobs and my expenses, which included a car, and then saving for my future education.

While being mostly financially responsible, I've had a few moments of irresponsibility that, thankfully, were minor and taught me valuable lessons like overdrafting on my accounts, paying credit cards late, and nearly missing a mortgage payment. Small issues - but enough to give you small heart palpations and sleepless nights.

So I can't even imagine another stunning fact in the same MacLean's issue, where it stated that $32,499 was the minimum income a family of four needs to get buy. This number is shocking - for me, having an income that's over twice this amount, I often find myself frustrated with the money I have remaining once I pay my mortgage, maintenance fees, monthly expenses and then set aside an amount for my savings and RRSPs - and this is all to support ONE person. I can't imagine that four people can survive on half of that amount.

Then there was the other mind-boggling fact that in a recent Angus Reid poll, 32 percent of Canadians are hoping that a lottery windfall will help fund their retirement. Have we taken crazy pills? What are the chances of winning a lottery - one in a kabillion? How did Canadians all of a sudden become so financially retarded?

For people of my age, it's not to late to start thinking about how one will fund their retirement. When I discuss RRSPs or TFSAs with people who didn't go to a business or commerce school program, I often get responses like, "I don't know what that is," or "it's too early to think about that, I have to pay off my student debt first." While the latter point is valid, the former point is nothing short of ignorance. I even find my friends who did business or commerce school programs don't know exactly what the benefits of contributing to an RRSP or TFSA are. Take a few hours, read about them!

And it's never too early to ask for help - that's what financial planners are there to help you do! Every bank branch has one - go to your bank and set up an appointment (now that the RRSP rush is over, they have all the time in the world). They are there to help get you out of your student debt faster by finding ways of consolidating that debt into more managable ways of repaying it back, so that you can start saving for the future.

It often angered me in 2008/09 to see that many people put the sole blame on big corporations for the financial meltdown. True, they did a lot of damage, but the finger pointing should have also been put on the ignorant public that signed on dotted lines when they knew they couldn't afford to or spent their savings thinking that money would magically reappear someday in their accounts. Financial literacy starts with each and every one of us. Pick up a book, google or wiki that term you're not understanding - with all the information we have at our fingertips these days, you're a fool not to read up before you make a major financial decision.

So, I say all of this whilst I plan for how I will be scrimping and saving for the next couple of months to balance out all the spending I've done since January. And just when I thought not drinking and eating healthy was supposed to save me money...