TIFF. The one acronym synonymous with arguably the best week of parties in our fair city of Toronto. The one week where A-list celebrities cram themselves into every available hotel and restaurant in Yorkville, and trendy spots of the downtown core. The one week where Toronto gets more international exposure than it does all year. The one week where networking at a party might lead you to an actual producer, not just some one who says he is. And finally, the one week where the city extends it's liquor license to 4 a.m. and we all know we have to go hard. There is no halfway when it comes to the film festival, and anyone who has done it before knows there's a strategy....unless you want to end up a waking corpse by the end of it. (I'll save you the been-there-done-that trouble: being a walking zombie is never fun.)
TIFF has a different purpose for everyone. When I was fifteen, my best friends and I ventured to Yorkville for our first fest with the sole goal of seeing as many celebrities as possible. For a young teen it seemed absolutely magical to see Nicole Kidman, Anthony Hopkins and Denzel Washington to name a few waltz by us...we even talked to some of them. (She was unearthly stunning, he was intimidating and Denzel must have been having a bad day because he was a total ass. I forgive you Denzel. Being approached by three wide-eyed tween girls sputtering incoherently wouldn't exactly thrill me, either. ) As I got older, chasing down stars lost its appeal and it was more about the partying. I'll admit that during more than a couple TIFF's I would come own each night no earlier than 7 a.m. I solely blame the annual Nikki Beach pop-up. Nothing keeps a girl out for late nights like a schmoozy St. Tropez atmosphere and an abundance of bubbly!
However, I know for many TIFF is about networking their faces off. A logical decision given the caliber of industry personnel who are in town and out and about during the fest! I've never been one to get whipped into a frenzy about the possibility of meeting a Hollywood director or whatnot, but my interests have always been in fashion and events. I do however see the value in meeting not just big time producers, but film makers of all kinds since the possibilities and opportunities are endless. Any meeting with passionate people serves you well at the end of the day, in my opinion..."it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you do it well." are wise words.
For the next ten days, the power is in the party. No matter if it's day time industry gatherings, cocktail hour receptions, evening lounges or full-on 4 a.m bangers, each and every TIFF event if over-flowing at the brim with people just waiting to provide you with interesting opportunities in the future. You can almost see the sparks of collaborative ideas as they bounce between individual to individual. As a promoter, my two partners and I will be throwing a plethora of 4 a.m. bangers of which I'm positive will reap benefits for business. (...and pleasure. I'm only human, and a party girl at that.)
When it comes down to it, networking, partying, and a love of film aside, what makes TIFF so great is the energy it brings to the city. There's a united feeling of pride in our venues, our people and our atmosphere that has provided Hollywood with refuge for a week in the Great White North. There's a reason film fest here is second only to Cannes! (And Cannes being in the stunning south of France, where exclusivity is built in and the birthplace of Diddy's all-white party...well, we're happily second) So no matter how many douche-bag faux-stars you see strutting around the city with their sunglasses on at night hoping to get mistaken for Ryan Gosling, remember that they're just excited to be part of something great. And that's what Toronto is during film fest -- nothing short of just fantastic.
x
Showing posts with label SOCIAL NETWORKING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SOCIAL NETWORKING. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Social party networking...OMFG
What are we looking for when we go out? When I was 15 it was a bouncer who I could wink at so he wouldn't know my New Brunswick ID was totally fake (thank you, sketchy "souvenir" shop on College Street) but now, nine years and countless nights out later, what is there left to do?
My group of friends are all around my age (mid-twenties), have all been out and about a ton, (in Toronto, in other cities, drunk, sober, on drugs, not on drugs, dirty underground things, upscale celebrity things, you name it and we've probably done it. Twice.) and are now we're all....well a little bored. The scene here in my darling city is a little conservative to say the least and the industry players usually don't travel outside of the safe, but overly-gentrified areas (King West, blah blah blah...I might suffocate from familiarity the next time I'm out on King West.) and usual crowd (suburban folk make up the majority). Sure, I could go venture to something entirely new and go out in, say, Ossington, where things are decidedly more hipster, but are there really no options other than mainstream ginos and not-so-indie hipsters? Surely.
Location be damned. It's not about where but who that makes a quality party now. It seems as we grow older, our mindset changes from not just the seeking out of a good time, but a good opportunity as well. The busiest parties, events, hootenannies, shindigs and what-have-you in Toronto are the ones where attendees know the mingling crowd will be one of a professional standard. And I'm not talking about the late-night girl professionals who work the King West crowds. (Ha.) Rather I'm talking about the people in this city who are creating business opportunities by pursuing their passions, and thus creating opportunities for others as well. Magazine launches, after-work corporate happy hour-esque mixers, big name charity galas and social media unveilings guarantee a like-minded crowd; if your current train of thought is business-savvy, ambitious and determined. They also happen to make the best, and even (at times) craziest, parties. Money, brains, and a young, handsome group of the city's top folk ensures that the party is not only marketed to a tee, but that it's planned to one as well.
Gone are the days where the most talked-about rager happened spontaneously in so-and-so's grimy after-hours space filled with dirty-yet-pretty rave kids, a plethora of drugs and un-posed-yet-posed Polaroid photos....we're in our mid-to-late twenties now and want to go places where we don't have to worry about scandalous pictures leaking onto Facebook. (Well, on most nights anyways.) What sells nowadays are ideas, ideas, and more ideas, and meeting with idea-producing individuals in a schmoozefest of an atmosphere is, well, ideal! Perhaps it's also because as we get older more of us are in relationships too which hampers the idea of going out and getting crazy. Just because we're in relationships doesn't mean we don't want purposeful partying as well! It's just that the purpose is making business connections instead of, um, physical ones, to phrase it politely.
So I guess the answer to what we're all looking for after a certain point when going out is to better ourselves; through social savvy and essentially selling the ideas we have to others in hopes to collaborate. Add chic martinis, out-of-office haute attire, good beats, & a beautiful venue and you have yourself the new coveted party scene for twenty-somethings: the social network event. Zuckerberg may have put it online, but the rest of us are keeping it going in person.
x
My group of friends are all around my age (mid-twenties), have all been out and about a ton, (in Toronto, in other cities, drunk, sober, on drugs, not on drugs, dirty underground things, upscale celebrity things, you name it and we've probably done it. Twice.) and are now we're all....well a little bored. The scene here in my darling city is a little conservative to say the least and the industry players usually don't travel outside of the safe, but overly-gentrified areas (King West, blah blah blah...I might suffocate from familiarity the next time I'm out on King West.) and usual crowd (suburban folk make up the majority). Sure, I could go venture to something entirely new and go out in, say, Ossington, where things are decidedly more hipster, but are there really no options other than mainstream ginos and not-so-indie hipsters? Surely.
Location be damned. It's not about where but who that makes a quality party now. It seems as we grow older, our mindset changes from not just the seeking out of a good time, but a good opportunity as well. The busiest parties, events, hootenannies, shindigs and what-have-you in Toronto are the ones where attendees know the mingling crowd will be one of a professional standard. And I'm not talking about the late-night girl professionals who work the King West crowds. (Ha.) Rather I'm talking about the people in this city who are creating business opportunities by pursuing their passions, and thus creating opportunities for others as well. Magazine launches, after-work corporate happy hour-esque mixers, big name charity galas and social media unveilings guarantee a like-minded crowd; if your current train of thought is business-savvy, ambitious and determined. They also happen to make the best, and even (at times) craziest, parties. Money, brains, and a young, handsome group of the city's top folk ensures that the party is not only marketed to a tee, but that it's planned to one as well.
Gone are the days where the most talked-about rager happened spontaneously in so-and-so's grimy after-hours space filled with dirty-yet-pretty rave kids, a plethora of drugs and un-posed-yet-posed Polaroid photos....we're in our mid-to-late twenties now and want to go places where we don't have to worry about scandalous pictures leaking onto Facebook. (Well, on most nights anyways.) What sells nowadays are ideas, ideas, and more ideas, and meeting with idea-producing individuals in a schmoozefest of an atmosphere is, well, ideal! Perhaps it's also because as we get older more of us are in relationships too which hampers the idea of going out and getting crazy. Just because we're in relationships doesn't mean we don't want purposeful partying as well! It's just that the purpose is making business connections instead of, um, physical ones, to phrase it politely.
So I guess the answer to what we're all looking for after a certain point when going out is to better ourselves; through social savvy and essentially selling the ideas we have to others in hopes to collaborate. Add chic martinis, out-of-office haute attire, good beats, & a beautiful venue and you have yourself the new coveted party scene for twenty-somethings: the social network event. Zuckerberg may have put it online, but the rest of us are keeping it going in person.
x
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Twenty-something Curse -- OMFG
Toronto summer, where art thou? I was just about to step outside in what the Weather Network promised was 20 degree weather when it started pouring. Not refreshing spring showers either, but full on Asia-style it's raining freaking fat cats and obese dogs pouring. Suffice to say I'm indoors instead nestled between a cozy blanket, my darling little blog and a mug of green tea. Patio season will just have to wait.
I've been situated in front of my laptop for most of the day now doing what I feel like I've been doing for the past lifetime -- looking for a job. Modeling and dabbling in promotions for nightlife in the city has been enough to keep my afloat since my return from Singapore, but let's be honest; neither is a steady nor very fulfilling industry and at 23 (and turning 24 in less than a month with horror slowly sinking in) I feel like, and have been feeling for a while now, that there is something more for me that is hopefully financially sustainable as well.
Equipped with a double major in Urban Geography from what I think is the best school in Canada (U of T repping!) hasn't been as reassuring as one might think...I realized not too long after graduation that a life of soil samples and demographic statistics wasn't one I was, or ever would be, passionate about. The idea of being chained to the helm of an office desk working nine to five and clocking in and out literally makes me uncomfortable and modeling and nightlife just isn't intellectually stimulating enough for me. So where to start?
I feel like I've written more than a few blog posts about being twenty-something, dazed, confused, yet somehow unrelentingly motivated to be doing....something. And, the truth is, I'm still stuck in that in-between gray area of being young enough to not freak out, yet old enough to start feeling a little purposeless. Case and point? I woke up the other day and my to-do list consisted of doing laundry and picking up a check. Yup. Those two things and that was it. A little purposeless may of been the nice way of putting it; I felt about as useful as a used stamp.
I am strangely optimistic though (as I charmingly find most others I know in similar situations) and probably a tad overly confident in my skills, whatever they are (Being uber-social? Constant blogger? Active social networker? Pretty when dolled-up? More valuable than you may think!) when it comes to the job-hunt. For now, I'm applying to temporary office jobs (partially to feel useful, partially because I want a new purse and it will need to be Balenciaga) while still searching for....well whatever it seems all twenty-somethings are searching for. The perfect job, that allows me to be creative, travel, be paid well and contribute to this world in a big way. Sounds ridiculous? Maybe. But the more I focus on it, the more I know that eventually, in time, it will manifest itself.
Call it the curse of the twenty-something; we're naively optimistic, blatantly confident and have blind faith in a perfect something-or-the-other that's bound to happen. I wouldn't have it any other way.
x
I've been situated in front of my laptop for most of the day now doing what I feel like I've been doing for the past lifetime -- looking for a job. Modeling and dabbling in promotions for nightlife in the city has been enough to keep my afloat since my return from Singapore, but let's be honest; neither is a steady nor very fulfilling industry and at 23 (and turning 24 in less than a month with horror slowly sinking in) I feel like, and have been feeling for a while now, that there is something more for me that is hopefully financially sustainable as well.
Equipped with a double major in Urban Geography from what I think is the best school in Canada (U of T repping!) hasn't been as reassuring as one might think...I realized not too long after graduation that a life of soil samples and demographic statistics wasn't one I was, or ever would be, passionate about. The idea of being chained to the helm of an office desk working nine to five and clocking in and out literally makes me uncomfortable and modeling and nightlife just isn't intellectually stimulating enough for me. So where to start?
I feel like I've written more than a few blog posts about being twenty-something, dazed, confused, yet somehow unrelentingly motivated to be doing....something. And, the truth is, I'm still stuck in that in-between gray area of being young enough to not freak out, yet old enough to start feeling a little purposeless. Case and point? I woke up the other day and my to-do list consisted of doing laundry and picking up a check. Yup. Those two things and that was it. A little purposeless may of been the nice way of putting it; I felt about as useful as a used stamp.
I am strangely optimistic though (as I charmingly find most others I know in similar situations) and probably a tad overly confident in my skills, whatever they are (Being uber-social? Constant blogger? Active social networker? Pretty when dolled-up? More valuable than you may think!) when it comes to the job-hunt. For now, I'm applying to temporary office jobs (partially to feel useful, partially because I want a new purse and it will need to be Balenciaga) while still searching for....well whatever it seems all twenty-somethings are searching for. The perfect job, that allows me to be creative, travel, be paid well and contribute to this world in a big way. Sounds ridiculous? Maybe. But the more I focus on it, the more I know that eventually, in time, it will manifest itself.
Call it the curse of the twenty-something; we're naively optimistic, blatantly confident and have blind faith in a perfect something-or-the-other that's bound to happen. I wouldn't have it any other way.
x
Saturday, January 15, 2011
OMFG -- Promo-whoring 101
Between the posting, tweeting, blogging and bbming, I'm surprised any of us have time for breathing! Social media has allowed anyone with half an ego and a little bit of talent to become their own self-promotional media sensation. I'm a self-admitted Facebook fanatic and Crackberry addict (my Blackberry battery lasts a half-day on average. I travel with the charger in my purse....seriously.), and have learned with time how easily connections made online can equal real life opportunities. So, how does one balance personal with promotional? There's a fine line between keeping the interest of your followers (Twitter-speak, not cult-speak for those of you out of the loop) and having the online personality of cardboard.
To preface, I am by no means a media mogul when it comes to social networking. I try and keep Facebook to modeling and party pictures, because let's face it, no one's interested in seeing uploads of me, say waking up in the morning or anything else routine. However, being the emotionally exploding person that I am (it's touching on the best of days and downright neurotic with a dab of maudlin on the worst) I tend to catch myself emotionally binging on the site via cryptic statuses and whatnot every now and then. Usually such trivial posts get deleted once I come to my senses, but if some one were to creep my account constantly, I'm sure they could put together a nice little timeline of my emotional episodes. (That, by the way, is by no means encouragement. Girls are moody bitches. Get used to it.) That being said, I am observant of those who have perfectly poised yet endlessly entertaining and most importantly genuinely expressed profiles which in today's world can be powerful tools of opportunity.
First things first: nobody cares about your personal life. Until you reach levels of popularity that those fame-whoring Kardashian sisters will envy, it's safe to say that the general online public, excluding friends (if that...let's be honest.) does not give a darn about who you're dating or why you're cutting up pictures and sniffling to Bruno Mars. If you're anything like me, or worse, and just cannot help emotional vomiting all over that little blue and white screen, it's best to keep Facebook for personal friends and another online account for professional matters.
Whether you're a DJ, model, PR rep or other persona where personal promotion is an asset, thinking successful is undoubtedly part of the journey to being successful. In other words, every action you participate in that deals with your job is something worth posting. Whether it be a behind-the-scenes shot of you getting your make-up done, or a rough demo recording of an upcoming track, if it's of interest to your product, it's of interest to your online image. The busier you are the better -- the most interesting news-feeds to me are the ones where there is a constant momentum towards new ideas. Or, to put it bluntly, the news-feeds of those who get shit done and get it done fast.
Last of all, share what makes you happy. If you're in the right field, this should overlap with your passion anyways and thus make it easy to promote your professional self. But random things, like hilarious moments you've somehow captured with the click of your Torch or a snap of anything else that triggers a smile or thought are ways to inflict personality in your posts. Obvious as this sounds, there are countless of self-promoting individuals out there who have remarkably boring updates despite being immensely talented at what they do. No one wants to follow Promoter Cardboard of the online world because chances are his parties are just as droll.
My own Twitter account has been dormant for almost a year now --- I'm about the take my own advice and prep for a relaunch! You'll be seeing me in your virtual worlds darling bloggees...and if you're promo-savvy I'll see you in mine!
x
To preface, I am by no means a media mogul when it comes to social networking. I try and keep Facebook to modeling and party pictures, because let's face it, no one's interested in seeing uploads of me, say waking up in the morning or anything else routine. However, being the emotionally exploding person that I am (it's touching on the best of days and downright neurotic with a dab of maudlin on the worst) I tend to catch myself emotionally binging on the site via cryptic statuses and whatnot every now and then. Usually such trivial posts get deleted once I come to my senses, but if some one were to creep my account constantly, I'm sure they could put together a nice little timeline of my emotional episodes. (That, by the way, is by no means encouragement. Girls are moody bitches. Get used to it.) That being said, I am observant of those who have perfectly poised yet endlessly entertaining and most importantly genuinely expressed profiles which in today's world can be powerful tools of opportunity.
First things first: nobody cares about your personal life. Until you reach levels of popularity that those fame-whoring Kardashian sisters will envy, it's safe to say that the general online public, excluding friends (if that...let's be honest.) does not give a darn about who you're dating or why you're cutting up pictures and sniffling to Bruno Mars. If you're anything like me, or worse, and just cannot help emotional vomiting all over that little blue and white screen, it's best to keep Facebook for personal friends and another online account for professional matters.
Whether you're a DJ, model, PR rep or other persona where personal promotion is an asset, thinking successful is undoubtedly part of the journey to being successful. In other words, every action you participate in that deals with your job is something worth posting. Whether it be a behind-the-scenes shot of you getting your make-up done, or a rough demo recording of an upcoming track, if it's of interest to your product, it's of interest to your online image. The busier you are the better -- the most interesting news-feeds to me are the ones where there is a constant momentum towards new ideas. Or, to put it bluntly, the news-feeds of those who get shit done and get it done fast.
Last of all, share what makes you happy. If you're in the right field, this should overlap with your passion anyways and thus make it easy to promote your professional self. But random things, like hilarious moments you've somehow captured with the click of your Torch or a snap of anything else that triggers a smile or thought are ways to inflict personality in your posts. Obvious as this sounds, there are countless of self-promoting individuals out there who have remarkably boring updates despite being immensely talented at what they do. No one wants to follow Promoter Cardboard of the online world because chances are his parties are just as droll.
My own Twitter account has been dormant for almost a year now --- I'm about the take my own advice and prep for a relaunch! You'll be seeing me in your virtual worlds darling bloggees...and if you're promo-savvy I'll see you in mine!
x
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