The MostPublic Index identifies the Web’s 20 most visible individuals, those who are engaged in the world around them;

“This is the first attempt to take a group of people and say, ‘Let’s crunch the data and see when somebody says something, how many people do they reach with that message.’ “I think the list will surprise some people,” – Leonard Brody, CEO of NowPublic

Although I do “keep my head down” in many ways, I’m nothing if not prolific on the web. It’s a great honor to be a part of this list.

The Top 10 from the Vancouver MostPublic Index are:

1. Darren Barefoot         http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/
2. Tim Bray        http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/
3. Boris Mann        http://blog.bootuplabs.com/
4. Kris Krüg       http://kriskrug.com/
5. Roland Tanglao  http://rolandtanglao.com/
6. Tom Williams    http://www.givemeaning.com/blog/index.html
7. Megan Cole      http://www.megancole.org/
8. Rebecca Bollwitt         http://www.miss604.com/
9. Arieanna Schweber       http://www.blogaholics.ca/
10. Tod Maffin      http://todmaffin.com/

Check out the full Top 20 here. And have a look around the NowPublic site – if you haven’t seen it since the re-design, it’s well worth some of your time. The header is constantly changing too, which is great fun.

And yes, I’m aware the Vancouver Sun mis-spelled my name :(

I’ve been with b5media since the day they launched – on September 19, 2005 my two blogs with b5 were Cooking-Gadgets (which I still write) and SheKnowsBest (no longer writing).

A lot has changed since the blog network launched – both from a b5media perspective and from my perspective as part of the company.

Over the years, there was a progression for more of my time to be devoted to work at b5. After being the first person to work “full time” on my blogs there, things progressed. I became the first Channel Editor (CE) in the first channel, which was then a combo of Entertainment & Celebrities. The channels eventually split, then were managed separately, and now are (mostly) back together. The current Entertainment channel has over 50 blogs.

Within b5, I still write Cooking-Gadgets, but also write on Gilmore Girls News, Mischa News, Hilary News and Lohan Groupie. There have been times when I’ve written more sites, and likely I will move towards writing fewer sites.

The work I enjoy the most at b5 is about community – about fostering community on my sites, but more importantly fostering community within the Entertainment channel. I love working with each and every one of my writers – they do some amazing work! I have also fallen in love with the Entertainment industry – I love the pace of it, the style of it, and the community that flocks to it.

Jonathan Tippett also talked about creativity being created out of necessity. You create a necessity and some idea will be born of that. The Mondo Spider was created out of the necessity he and his friends created to challenge themselves; the "necessity" was to create a walking machine. To Tippett, creativity is not just the spark of an idea, since many people have amazing ideas all the time, but the ability to actualize that idea.

Tags: vidfest, vancouver, digital festival, consulting, jonathan tippett, tippett, mondo spider, engineering, creativity

This store has been a major pet peeve of ours. We moved to North Vancouver about a year and a half ago, and thought very little of the Sleepers store on 3rd & Lonsdale and it’s Store Closing signs. Sucks, but stores close all the time.

But that was a year and a half ago. And the signs are still there. Since they are not nice signs, even, and they are this glaring yellow, it’s beyond annoying. I would never will a store to close, but if they are not going to close, could they please take down those damn signs?

This incident is just about as bad as the store where we bought our sofa. It had a "sale" sign so big that it was one letter per window. And their "sale" was on for at least a year.

Some basic business lessons to learn from this:

• You are not on sale if the sale is on every day for more than a year
• You are not closing if you stay open for at least a year and a half past since when you put up the signs

Both practices are misleading and dishonest. And really really annoying.

Tags: sleepers, marketing, misleading marketing, business, business practices, sale, sales

This is a pretty big step in the industry – not just the blog network industry, but also the Entertainment industry.

b5 is known for amazing niche blogs. Giving readers the freedom to read about exactly the topic they want. And we’ve built amazing communities around that. Spekked is a step towards solidifying that – making that content available to browse in one place. We highlight top posts from our blogs, as well as all the latest news.

Some readers want the "at a glance" picture of the industry. Others just want new ways to find interesting posts. Spekked is that place. And will build to be one of the top Entertainment destinations on the web.

Why Spekked? This is a name I am very proud of. My goal was to establish a new brand – so the choice of the name had to be a word that did not have previous branding ties, or strong word associations. It also had to appeal to the readers – short, catchy, fun – and the Entertainment industry leaders – professional, crisp.

Flipping through my dictionary, I came across the word "spec" – to speculate. That’s pretty much what Entertainment blogging is all about – what’s going to happen, and why stuff happened. It kept coming back at me over and over while I tried other names, so I worked on it. Specced – hard to say. Specked – dictionary spelling, being squatted, kind of boring. Speked – looks funny. Spekked – different, graphically appealing, strong.

So, that’s the story behind the name. And it’s only the beginning of the story about the brand. Stay tuned.

Oh, and did I mention a contest? Yeah. Big prizes – like the new iPod Nano Video. Check it out here.

I have to prepost for certain blogs (anywhere from 15-30 posts per site), and have been trying to tie up a lot of open projects as channel editor. From new blogs to training to contests. I have temporary bloggers for the remaining blogs, and will set them up with appropriate sources.

All of this, as well as trying to manage my already very full work schedule and all the stuff that had to get done for the trip. Quite exhausted. I guess it’s a good thing that a vacation includes rest ;)

I am not sure everything I set out to do will get done. Actually, I’m fairly sure it won’t. It’s just about prioritizing the "must do" projects at this point.

My goal: to finish work at 1:30 on Wendesday. I do not want to do more than check my email that afternoon or Thursday morning. I want to retain the benefit of my massage on Wednesday for as long as possible, and that means avoiding work. Going to be hard to be home and know how much work needs to be done, and yet know I can’t do it. I’m leaving my packing until the last minute to occupy at least some of my time.

Tags: vacation, self employed

You can check out my profile here. We get a lovely little link over to our 4400 site, which suits me just fine ;)

Definitely think that over 500 posts (myself and Alexandra) about The 4400 qualify me as a fan.

Tags: the 4400, the4400guide, usa network, fan of the week

Sometimes moments in time stand out for you where you have the opportunity to assess where you are and where you want to be. This was one of those moments.

The moment had as much to do with my view of myself as well as my goals in the industry. I have stepped aside from calling myself a journalist or a writer in the past. This has been purposeful in some ways, but also perhaps a mistake.

b5media is still recognized more as a ‘blog’ network than a ‘new media’ network. That is one part of the perception issue. The other part has to do with purposeful grassroots strategy. We put the community first. Understanding that the community is best served by not just information, but dialogue, immediately strips away much of the formality in journalism today. We take on the role of the blogger, which is much more approachable. We talk as if in conversation. We gossip. We go for niche posts with depth instead of sparser, more comprehensive posts. It is a different style, which has its merits.

However, I wonder if by doing so, do we in some ways underestimate our audience, as well as ourselves? Does removing the formality of language necessarily mean removing the formality of topic?

I think this is more applicable to our tv sites than our celebrity ones. In the case of The 4400, I think Alexandra (my co-writer) and I have taken to task the analysis portion far more than on any other site. We dig down into the nuances of episodes as well as the overarching themes and the social commentary therein. But it’s more the exception than the rule, and due credit goes to the writers of the show for making this key.

This struck me today as an odd balance. On the one hand, I think our decision to strip away formality has been a great one, even if it can mean "dumbing down" sometimes. On the other hand, it might be something we want to consider as the network grows. As we try to get more professional recognition as journalists by "old media" standards there will need to be some give. With communities of scale, there is the expectation that we will have the inside information privy to journalists, and we have a responsibility to meet these expectations.

I have some very exciting ideas in this area to add to the big pile of ideas that I’ve been sitting on for a while now. The spotlight is shifting our way and I feel the pressure to innovate. To pull things together, create a brand that sells not just to advertisers but to media, and give our hard working writers the due credit – and opportunities – they deserve. 

I feel the urgency to grow our network not just in size, but also in reputation. To use our skills as writers, with the aid of technology and innovative ideas, to be recognized by communities and industry alike.

We are all the experts in our topics, far more than old media yet recognizes. And, as a network, I think we have much more to offer as well as prove.

Tags: journalism vs. blogging, blogging, journalism, old media, new media

I can’t complain over much about my work. I do love what I do and enjoy it every day. But I admit I’ve been doing too much of it, too many hours, and extending it into my weekend. Bad me.

Very rarely do my particular entertainment sites overlap in their waves of information flow. This month they have all been spiking up, requiring a significant increase in my post frequency. Hilary Duff, for example, takes about 10 posts per day right now. That’s a fair amount. I get very frustrated, but also have immense respect for her amazing marketing skills. The payback is worth it – a community that thrives and appreciates the work is satisfying.

My health is a rollercoaster. There are ups – like a reduction in my medication for my arm as a result of successful Nucca chiropractic treatments – and the downs. I suffer more from neck weakness and back pain and a significant increase in migraines. I have lost a lot of muscle tone in this past year of my health problems. It will be a slow road to recovery. It’s been quite frustrating to be on so many ups and downs, which are for the most part out of my control.

We have been planning a good deal for our home. We are settling in quite nicely – though still have no couch – and are happy here. We also just planned our anniversary – can you believe we’ve been married a year already? We plan to go for a romantic weekend away to the Sunshine Coast. Getting "off the grid" will be a welcome treat.

With our dedication to our work, our attempts to spend time together, the work on our home, and my ongoing health care, there seems very little time to relax and enjoy things – like our blogs – and create interesting projects of our own. You might be thinking, why do we want to do more work? Well, it’s not work. Things that bubble in your head are exciting and enticing and fun to work on. But we come last in our list of things to do.

Oh and taxes. I hate taxes. And I’m sure Ianiv will concur with that, since he’s the one with the accounting software ;)

Now, I think I have "checked my email" for long enough now and should call it a night.

Tags: work life balance

It was an interesting experience to re-evaluate questions I have been asked before. I am much happier as a "pro blogger" now than I ever have been, but the answer as to why might surprise you.

Go check it out  :)

Tags: 901am, duncan riley, professional blogger, professional blogging, blogging, business, business title, job satisfaction, arieanna, arieanna schweber