The Real Growth Retreat

Last weekend I had the honor of emceeing an event for a dear friend of mine. My friend Shelley Streit is an author  (Beyond the Rear View Mirror) and has run her own business for over 8 years. Last fall she shared with me her frustration with high end business conferences that while are really flashy and high profile, did not really meet the needs of the attendees. She shared that most of the speakers are usually American and are sure to end their keynote with a sell or pitch.

So the Real Growth Retreat was an "un-conference" for women small business owners IN ALBERTA. The speakers were all Canadian and the cool thing was that they spent the whole weekend participating in each of the sessions and hanging out with all of the attendees. We got to get to know the speakers, pick their brains and just be inspired in one of the most beautiful locations in all of Canada. (Nakoda on the Lake). Ali Pain helped us to better understand ourselves and our weaknesses to help us grow and Jennifer Belanger did an intro to social media .... (she knew things about facebook that I had no idea of). Kim Page Gluckie helped our ladies do Marketing Mapping and putting all of those brilliant marketing ideas into a plan of attack. Patricia Simoneau talked on Branding and the importance of knowing who you are as part of your brand. These are only a few of the speakers that inspired me over the weekend.

The best part of the retreat for me was meeting and getting to know 25 ladies who are just like me...highly motivated, Type A personalities who are driven and are trying to make a difference through their businesses.

The Real Growth Retreat is not just for small business owners. Women who have jobs can also benefit from the personal development and sessions around branding and marketing. I HIGHLY recommend this unique event to any lady that wants to take her business to the next level but isn't quite sure how to do it. You will come away with a clear picture of what needs to happen next and grow your network with quality women who want you to succeed as much as you  do. I feel connected with all the ladies that attended the retreat and am hoping to be invited back again next year.

So save the dates!! April 18-20 2013. Keep checking www.realgrowthretreat.com for pre registration info. The details should be up in the next few weeks. Hope to see you there

Community Gardens

Today was a big day. And by big I mean tiring. Today a dream of mine became reality thanks to the City of Red Deer and a group of dedicated and extremely hard working volunteers from Alberta Transportation.

A many of you know I get pretty excited about things that help create a more sustainable community. So parking my car for the summer and riding the only object I have ever named (my dear Townie bike named Eleanor) is one of those things... the other is local food. We love to say that we have our own massage therapists, or realtors, or lawyers or even our own personal trainers but we don't consider or care enough to think about what is in our food or where it came from. That needs to change. I believe we are doing our children a HUGE disservice by not correcting our kids thinking that cucumbers come on Styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic wrap or that potatoes come in bags already to clean... or that lettuce just magically appears cut, washed and ready to use. What we put into our bodies determines what we get out of them. (end rant)

Back to the gardens.... When I think about living in Red Deer I think about the kind of Red Deer I want my kids and maybe even grand kids to live in. We live in such an individualistic society and we have to try to create "a sense of" community because it no longer exists on its own as a societal norm. Well I'm trying to change that. I want to leave a legacy in my neighborhood.

With the help of Rene Michalak I discovered that my pipe dream of having community gardens could not only be a reality but that there was seed money through the city to pay for all the supplies... SAY WHAT!!?? So awesome. I applied as soon as I could and within a few weeks I had heard that our project was approved! Very cool. But now what?

I started to advertise the beds immediately and before construction even started we already had 10 of 12 beds spoken for by our neighbors. I should mention that I have reserved 2 beds to grow vegetables to be used in food hampers that are given out on an almost daily basis at my work.

So it was at 8 am today that a truck load of supplies showed up and the volunteers showed up and made the magic happen. Today would not have happened if not for the generous help of the 11 engineers from Alberta Transportation, Our facility maintenance manager Omar, Volunteers from Living Stones Church (Milt & Kevin) and The City of Red Deer! I am so full of gratitude and appreciation for so many that caught my vision and ran with it! THANK YOU!!

If anyone else is interested in starting a community garden I would love to share what I have learned with you... you can contact me via twitter @centralabbeth or email beth.anthony@telus.net

Education in Alberta

The more I deal with my kids education, the more I see how broken the system is. I can't complain about the quality of education my kids get in the Catholic system in Red Deer, however I do have an issue with the relevance of curriculum and the methods that many older teachers embrace. This post is not about my kids school but that of another school that I visited today.

We went to a local public school in an older neighborhood for a basketball game and what I saw and smelt totally appalled me. This school was probably built in the 60's and has not had much attention since. The school was dingy and had a very old smell... but the icing on the cake was the smell of urine in the gym. The gym surface was so worn you could hardly see the lines in places and was dirty. An overwhelming feeling of pity came over me as I tried to imagine myself being a student in a school like this.

It is very difficult to embrace learning and take pride in your community when the walls around you are dirty, dingy and smelly.

We need to instill pride of ownership in our kids and an environment like this I would find it hard to be excited about my school and my community. Our provincial government is creating ghetto's in our older neighborhoods with decrepit schools. There is no pride of ownership and the money is not there apparently to do minor upgrades like paint. What a difference even a coat of paint would make.

I feel sorry for these kids, I really do. We live in one of the most prosperous provinces in the best country in the world and I have seen 3rd world countries with better schools then the one I saw today. This is seriously messed up. Where is the forward thinking to see that if we do not invest in our kids now we will be paying later when these kids are behind bars or drop outs? We need to invest in education... into schools and not just when it's convenient to do so...... It needs to be a priority for our provincial government. The system is so broken... who is going to step up to the plate and put their money where their mouth is and actually fix it?? Lots of people talk... I have yet to see very few that walk that talk.

Gifts for Grandparents

I have just gotten back from driving around in the dark with my friend Kristi delivering some gifts for grandparents with Family Services of Central Alberta. For the last 4 years Family Services of Central Alberta (FSCA) has collected donations for gift hampers for those people in our community that may not otherwise get a Christmas gift. Some are grandparents yes, others are disabled or unable to work and shut in. Tonight we delivered 5 hampers to some deserving people. Last year FSCA had only 6 volunteers to deliver hampers and tonight there was 65 volunteers. WOW! This is a great experience for anyone. Take a couple of hours and be reminded of how blessed you really are. There are so many people that are lonely and hurting right here in Red Deer. Not just at Christmas but all year round. Although it can be difficult, it is important to be reminded that although we all have challenges, there are those close by that are not so well off.

Merry Christmas!!

What's your score?

A few weeks back I got an invite from someone to find out what my "Klout" score was. My first thought was "What the heck is a klout?" It didn't sound good. Was it an illness? Klout sounds like Gout and my grandpa almost lost his foot to that so klout, no thanks. Was it to score my sanity? Goodness knows that would be a bad idea. (sorry for the foolish rabbit trail)

Back to klout. Klout turns out to be an answer to my prayers. I am forever being harassed, teased and picked on by my family and friends because I spend so much "wasted time" on things like twitter, linkedin and (not so much anymore) facebook. I have pleaded my case trying to explain the importance of credibility and reputation on these sites and the benefits but sadly it gets me no where.

Now I have some backing. I have linked all of my social media accounts to klout and it has given me a score. This score measures how effective I am with social media and how much of an influence I am with my network of people. The score can be easy to increase at first (like from a 20 - 25 score) but it is a lot harder to move up (say from a 70-75 score) The Klout website says that the score is based on a 1-100 point system and that the average score is about 20.

So that my friends is Kout in a nutshell. I encourage you to use this tool to increase your credibility even if only to get you loved ones off your back for wasting time online.

Stay warm out there!

I'm No Artist

My job has taken me all over Central Alberta the past few weeks. I've been to Stettler, Lacombe (3 times), Sylvan Lake, Olds and somewhere between Olds & Didsbury at a sulphur plant. With all this driving I have seen many trains and lots and lots of graffiti. Every time I see graffiti I am in complete awe at the talent of these artists. I get totally inspired. Weird right? It makes me want to buy an expensive camera and go out and shoot all these trains and graffiti and make some sort of gallery display exploring graffiti... and I'm not even an artist.

Now the majority of people (local citizens, council, businesses, police) HATE graffiti. "It's vandalism" they say.

Graffiti is an art form. The people that create these amazing tags on buildings are artists and don't get any recognition for their art. Now I need to clarify here, I do not in any way support anyone spray painting other people's property. But what I would say is that there is a time and place for everything.

Let's look at this a different way for a moment.

WHAT IF? We as a community set boundaries and gave a venue for graffiti? Do you think it would still happen everywhere else?

WHAT IF? We allowed the street culture to express themselves at the local skate park with spray cans?

WHAT IF? By doing these things we were able to engage a segment of the population that is seen as negative and delinquent and gave them a sense of belonging to the community?

WHAT IF? Some downtown businesses that were all located beside each other allowed people to tag the back of their buildings and every month would repaint over it all so they could start again?

WHAT IF? This became an accepted art medium that the community could come together and enjoy and photograph?

What I am trying to get at is that if we want to be proactive about crime prevention, crime reduction, community engagement and the like, we have to start thinking differently about how we get to the end result.

Change is much more likely to happen with positive reinforcement than with negative criticism.

Just a thought.

Thanks Matthew

I have just come back from my 3rd funeral in 3 months. That's a whole lot of perspective in a short period of time. From each funeral there was a theme. Intentional of not, a theme emerged.I shared with you in a previous post about the first.

This most recent passing was a very dear friends' brother. Matthew was the youngest of 5 children and the only boy. He was killed by an erratic driver in the Crowsnest Pass last Saturday. He was 27.

Matthew's life was not easy by any means. He suffered with chronic pain and migraines from a previous car accident. In spite of that he lived his life in a way as to have no regrets. He loved the people around him whole heartedly. He forgave immediately. Everyone in his life didn't have to guess his feelings because he told them all. Even his young nephews spoke at his funeral because in their words "Uncle Matthew would want me to tell people how I feel." His young nephews told me "We know that uncle Matthew loved us more than anything" WOW. It is unfortunate that it usually takes a tragic event for people to have their "wake up call".

I have been called many things in my life... including lame and cheesy because I have affirmed and told people how I feel about them. I also have lived my life making friends and family my top priority before work, volunteering or any thing else. The bottom line is that I would rather you know how I feel about you now while you are alive then say nice things as you lay in a casket. If that makes me cheesy then so be it.

So to Matthew's family, thanks for raising a son that was such an example to so many. As spoken at the service, his legacy will go on with each person that knew him that outwardly show more love and feeling to those in their lives.

A life taken too soon. Rest in Peace Matthew!