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Spark Sessions

With Marketing Director Jenny Jovanovic (Crazy Style Love)

Spark Sessions Marketing Director Jenny Jovanovic (Crazy Style Love)

The blogging world has become very saturated, so it was worthwhile spending the weekend at the second annual Spark Sessions conference to learn how to differentiate myself.

The opening keynotes by Andrew Sardone, Editor at Globe Style Advisor and Vanessa Craft, Beauty Director at ELLE Canada launched the event by describing bloggers as entrepreneurs. Vanessa inspired bloggers to become idea entrepreneurs and leverage our blogs to influence how readers think and behave. “Blogging is storytelling with a megaphone,” she said. Think about the power that comes with being a blogger and consider your future legacy.

Winnie Chan explored various legal issues that are relevant to blogging like CASL, disclaimer policies and copyright infringement. Though it was interesting to hear a lawyer’s perspective about what we do on WordPress, I would’ve preferred to see more visual examples of do’s and don’ts. Likewise, Maxine McDonald from Langton PR helped us understand which information is fundamental to include in media kits, but she didn’t show any examples of media kits she likes.

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Memory Monday: Fashion Week

Hot On The Street - World MasterCard Fashion Week Toronto - Disney Minnie Style - IMG_8173

Fashion is a spectator sport and it’s my favourite kind. Between the release of Refinery29’s Style Stalking book and World MasterCard Fashion Week, October was filled with fashion-forward inspiration. October marked my first fashion week experience and it was a privilege to be part of the action.

Until this fall, my fashion show experience was limited to student-run charity fundraisers like OHM at Western. Volunteers invest a lot of time to ensure these shows look professional, so I was curious to see how internationally known artists showcase their collections.

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Red, White and Blue

Hot On The Street - Sarah Prince - Canada Day 2014

If you’re American, Happy 4th of July!

If you’re Canadian, then Happy Belated Canada Day! Hit “Like” if you had a relaxing long weekend! Just kidding.

As the girl in the red jeans, a holiday that encourages you to wear red jeans is my kind of holiday. One of the reasons that I like Canada Day more than Valentine’s Day or Christmas is that it’s more inclusive. Year after year, Canadians can all celebrate Canada’s birthday together, with the same amount of enthusiasm, regardless of our relationship status or religion.

My iPhoto collection includes many shots of me wearing red, white and blue. The complementary colours are fun, bold and clean. I’ve worn red, white and blue in Las Vegas, New York, Orlando and Washington, D.C. and I’m confident this pattern will continue on future vacations.

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What’s HOTS On Facebook

Hot On The Street Facebook Page Profile Photo

As Hot On The Street approaches its 4th anniversary, it’s time to ramp up the blog’s social media presence. I am proud to announce the launch of Hot On The Street’s new Facebook page!

Having a Facebook page means it’ll be easier to share timely, funny and intriguing content faster than I could if I wrote a blog post about each topic. So in addition to sharing links to Hot On The Street interviews, reviews and event recaps, I’ll share more article links from Wired, Fast Company, Entertainment Weekly and the like. This also means that I can follow brands’ Facebook pages through my blog’s Facebook account, rather than my own. I suspect this will be a positive way to curate my Facebook experience because my friends’ content will appear higher in my News Feed if I start following fewer brands through my personal account.

Facebook Trending Topics (JPEG)

Trending Topics on Facebook

No matter how much Twitter and Facebook copy each other to attract and retain active users, I think one of the smartest features Facebook adopted is the new list of trending topics. If nothing else, MIT emphasized how easy it is for social media to be an echo chamber. In other words, even though news articles are so accessible, it’s easy to have a limited perspective on current events and remain oblivious about local or world news. Therefore, even though the trending topics list offers only a brief synopsis about why a person or event is trending, at least it can prompt users to research it more. It’s the thought that counts and every small step counts.

Please show your support for Hot On The Street and “Like” the new Facebook page to ensure you’re in the loop about trending topics that Facebook doesn’t highlight.

Connect Online For A Better Bottom Line

Establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is a necessary step in promoting new productions, but it is not enough. Effective social media marketing is complex and posting a few links on Facebook or fun facts on Twitter each week is just the beginning.

Using social media management tools to monitor relevant online chatter and respond to patrons’ feedback is very important. For instance, if there has been more buzz about rude front of house staff than the cast’s acting abilities, but that’s unbeknownst to management, then that’s a serious cause for concern.

To stand out amongst the noise, which characterizes social media, stay up to date about industry-wide best practices and assess competitors’ social media activity. If you want to improve your Facebook page, then find brand pages that frequently share interesting content that has high-quality visual elements and understand the approximate 80/20 split between being conversational and promotional. Viral videos like Will It Blend? demonstrate how easy it is to produce engaging content at minimal cost.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko’]

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