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Owl Strix WingsFor Immediate Release – June 3, 2009

Vancouver, B.C. – Art and metal come together in an exciting and dramatic showcase at the first Rare Birds Art Exhibition. Metal sculptures and furniture designed by female artists and fabricators from B.C. will be on display from June 22 – July 4, 2009 at the Pendulum Gallery in the HSBC Building at 885 West Georgia Street in Vancouver. Open daily (except Sundays), the art show is free to the public, will showcase works of 11 women and celebrate the evolution of women’s roles and status. The artists featured are: Sandra Bilawich, Fia Cooper, Stefanie Dueck, Tam Harrington, Corrine Hunt, Mimi Law, Amber Lyn, Sage MacGillivray, Lori Mairs, Claire Murgatroyd, and Nancy Smith.

Along with showcasing exceptional works of art, an important goal for the Rare Birds Art Exhibition is to demystify the relationship between women and metal. This event will offer insight, knowledge and inspiration to all women who may be considering metal work as a trade, as a design material or as a skill to further their creative pursuits. Women are major contributors to the economy and culture of our society, and through this event, the artists want to stretch the boundaries of how women participate in using metal. The women featured in the exhibition are from diverse backgrounds in conceptual art, design, and the trades. Never before in B.C.’s history has a group of women metal workers come together for such a show. For more information on the exhibit and the artists please visit www.rarebirds.ca.

The Rare Birds Art Exhibition is proudly sponsored by companies such as Advance Bending, Dickies, Fasteel Industries Ltd., FlexyShop Inc., IMW Industries, Manly Marine, Marine Workers & Boilermakers Industrial Union, MBM Metal Fabricators Inc., North Star Metal Recycling, Rustan Metals Ltd., Sea Breeze Power Corp., Sigma Phi Design Metal Fabricators Ltd., and Viking Profiles Inc. Their sponsorship is a true reflection of how much support and appreciation there is in the community for the advancement of women’s roles and status.

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For more information or an interview of one of the artists, please contact Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies Inc. at paul@ahacreative.com or 604-303-1052.

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There was an interesting article in BusinessWeek last week about Web 2.0 and managing corporate reputations. I am often asked about the challenges that come with the open conversations created by social media. It’s a valid concern for organizations and one that should be taken seriously.

Some organizations choose to block employee access to social networking sites. That seems to be old paradigm thinking to me and it is a bit like locking the barn door after the horse has already walked out. There are all sorts of ways around being blocked. Think about how many staff members have an iPhone or a BlackBerry and can get online that way (and that number is only growing) or they can use an Internet stick (we use one quite often when we give presentations to organizations). And – there is always time away from the office.

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There is an interesting article in the New York Times about one of the “hot new jobs” – the social media specialist. Social media, emerging media, interactive media or online communication is becoming more and more mainstream. Communication has changed and organizations that want to engage with their stakeholders and community need to understand that and include social media in their strategic planning.

One of the key points that isn’t included in this article is where the social media specialist “lives” in an organization. Is he/she in the communications department, marketing, or sales? And how is social media being integrated throughout the organization? Is it being done in isolation, as an add-on, or “over there” kind of approach?

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Post by: Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies

It seems the head of communications for the Vatican has embraced social media. In a news release issued yesterday by the Catholics Communications Network, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, Director of the Holy See’s press office, encouraged communicators to meet the challenge of using the Internet to engage positively to further the Gospel message of the Church.

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Apparently there is an issue brewing on Twitter about Mother’s Day. It seems that some moms didn’t receive the flowers that their loving children ordered from FTD.

The smart people at TechCrunch are all over this and have a great blog post about the issue. They also did a sentiment analysis of the issue using twendz. According to the TechCrunch post, FTD has sent emails to people affected by this and offered them a discount on their purchase.

1800flowers also appears to have had an issue with delivering last weekend. The difference is that 1800flowers is engaging with disgruntled customers via Twitter. I searched and couldn’t find any response from FTD on Twitter and, according to the sentiment analysis by TechCrunch, 1800Flowers is benefiting from connecting directly with unhappy people on Twitter.

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