So today is the last day of The Great Write-Off of 2009! I think it’s safe to say that if there was a “winner” for this challenge, it’s me. Dan kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a little while and hasn’t recovered since. Sorry you suck, Dan. :(

Nah, in all fairness, I think Dan has a lot less free time than I. Still, I’m a busy girl and I’m proud I did my absolute hardest to post every second day, on-time. It’s been fun and hopefully I’ll keep writing here.

One of the reasons I came up with this idea for a blog off was that I knew I needed to populate my website with more content and I also needed a promotion of some kind. I needed new eyeballs. Coming up with a challenge was the solution to forcing myself to create content but approaching Dan and baiting him into a blog off was my solution to getting new visitors to my site and hopefully new readers.

I’d say it worked, wouldn’t you?

In case you can’t see that very well (silly narrow content window!), traffic is up 532% over same time period last month (though it should be higher because, as you can see at the beginning of my month, I changed the layout and as a result my GA code got dropped). I have an increase of 524% in pageviews, and average time on site rose 28%.

Who doesn’t love statistics like that?

As you can see, my biggest spike in traffic was as a result of my interview with Zephyr of CollegeFashion.net. She posted a link to the review on her Twitter account, which has 3,950 followers, so of course some of them wandered their way over here.

I think my favourite post however, was the one about moving to a new city and trying to start over. It’s definitely a subject that is close to my heart (having done it in Toronto and then Sydney, Australia) so I feel I can talk to it with some conviction. Plus I do love Eric’s photo – it’s definitely one of my favourites of all of his.

In any case, it’s been fun and I’m surprised I’ve had enough to talk about, really. Some posts fell flat but some were well recieved and on the whole, I think I came out with some quality content!

Thanks for playing along, folks. It’s been grand!

For Day 17 of the Great Write Off of 2009, Dan asks us, “Is saying, ‘It’s just not the right time’ a valid argument?” He writes:

However, I had the decision to make. While I made the “it’s not the right time” argument, it was completely under my control, and I could’ve chosen to do it if I wanted to. It’s important to recognize that timing won’t always be ideal, but that alone shouldn’t rule out making a decision one way or the other. Whether it’s with your business or with your personal life, it’s important that you make what you perceive to be the best decision in your life.

As I wrote on his blog in the comments section:

I think everything happens for a reason. We just generally aren’t aware of these reasons until we can look back with the knowledge of how things have turned out… which can sometimes take years.

Timing, I find, is actually a very good reason. Think of all the people you could have dated/might have, but didn’t, because the timing wasn’t right. People use that excuse all the time.

Yes, we have control of our lives, and if you had REALLY wanted that offer, Dan, you would have made it work. I think timing can be a big part of a decision, but it always comes partnered with other reasons and factors. It’s just the easiest to explain :)

This is definitely one of those questions you could ask and end up talking about philosophy and views on life until the wee hours of the morning, and folks? I’m a little too sleepy right now to even attempt anything beyond my comment above.

However, if you have anything to share, please do so here or on Dan’s blog.

For Day 16 (is it really Day 16? It feels like it’s been nowhere near that long and and eternity all at the same time!), Dan talks about trying to cut out bread and pasta out of his diet this week.

He says:

So, what’s the result? While there aren’t likely any noticeable physical results yet (let’s face it, I am still fairly skinny), I’m feeling a LOT better. Salads and parfaits are surprisingly more satisfying than I remember, and I have more energy than I should, given that I’ve been up at 5:45 every day this week. I’ve also avoided the mid-afternoon lull…

So, yes, definitely too early to probably to see any physical difference but I’m glad Dan is feeling more upbeat and better. That’s always wonderful!

It’s funny, I was actually contemplating a write-up of my own about weight and my history of success and failures, so perhaps I will follow up with more of my own thoughts here, tomorrow.

In the meantime, Dan, keep it up and I hope to see a blog post in the future to see how much progress you’ve made in a few weeks and if you see any physical changes. I’m not a huge believer in cutting out carbs as a good way to lose weight, especially considering how much soccer I play but I’m curious to know how it goes. Good luck!

For the 2-week mark of The Great Write Off of 2009, Dan wrote about adding registration fees to events to reduce no shows. He says:

I’ll be frank; this $10 fee that TTT is charging will ensure that unless the speaker is someone absolutely spectacular, I likely will not attend any future TTT events. This isn’t a bad thing; I’m not the direct target market for these events, so maybe by not attending I’ll help them get who they’d like.However, if the purpose of your events are to bring a community together while helping to promote the individuals involved in it, I’m not sure that the nominal fee is the way to go.

I think Dan has a very good point about all this: I’m not sure this is going to help TTT events. However, I suppose it really does depend on their objectives. If it’s to ensure a high-quality events, maybe the $10 registration fee will weed out the not-so-interested-attendees and ensure only the die-hard fans show up. The $10 could also go towards recruiting better speakers or improving the event in some other way.

Just like any product or service, people have no problem using it if it’s free, but only the real customers stay behind once price is introduced into the mix. And maybe that’s not a bad thing, now is it?

Dan has some more varied thoughts on this topic and you should definitely go check him out to see what else he has to say about this issue. The comments on this post are also quite insightful too and worth a read. Thanks Dan.

For Day 12, Dan wrote about his experiences with CityChase, an Amazing Race-type of event with various challenges around the city of Toronto. Contestants are allowed to run, walk, or take public transit, but no wheels or private transit are allowed.

Dan writes about his experiences:

It strongly exceeded anything I had ever thought of the event, and we bettered what our personal goal was, it being our first CityChase and all. I think it also helped us bond a little more; perhaps for better or worse. Figured I’d share what our personal experience was and how the day unfolded.

It sounds like a really great event to take part in. Dan goes on to expalin the ten challenges he had to participate with his teammate Jason. Thanks for explaining what you had to do – not sure I’d really chug a glass of water with 4 crickets in it but then again, my sense of competition is pretty strong so who knows. Maybe I’ll sign up for the next event – I’d definitely be up for the challenge just to see how I do.

Great way to spend a Saturday! Thanks for sharing, Dan.

For Day 10 of the Great Write Off of 2009, Dan of DanHocking.com writes about how social media aggregated uninformed opinions really well. He says:

Creating this strong movement of uninformed opinions and groupthink really leads to some interesting interactions. It also acts to turn me off of social media. I’m not really interested to listen to the same message over and over again; let alone the same incorrect message.

OK. Sure, I suppose that social media does push these kinds of uninformed opinions on you, whether you want it or not thanks to Twitter or your Facebook news feed. Before the push of social media to you, one could avoid this kind of ignorance by simply avoiding certain spaces online. However, I wouldn’t say that social media is really to blame for pushing this in your face. Wander down to the nearest watering hole, and if you get enough (sorry, stereotyping) guys, in their 20s or 30s, who have been drinking for a while, soon enough you can find the exact same thing being yelled at the top of these guy’s lungs. Stupidity and a feeling of having a right to any opinion – right or wrong – is hard to avoid, sadly.

However, I like the points brought up by Dan and think that it is true – social media has this really great (and awful) way of repeating incorrect information at lightning speed. Think of all the rumours that fly around when any kind of accident or tragedy occurs. The social media-sphere is more concerned with getting the information right now but not the right information now.

I remember a case study on the Toronto Propane Explosion that happened last year. It concluded that while Twitter, Facebook and blogs had information on the incident over two hours before any reliable news site had a mention of it, at the end of the day, the news sites were by far more accurate in the information they reported. This is one of social media’s great failings.

Great blog post, Dan and some great discussion happening in the comments! Everyone should head on over and check it out.

As my generation moves from schooling to starting out careers, it’s important to remember to still take time to give back in whatever ways your skill-sets enable you to. Yes, we have the highest personal debt load of any demographic, and it’s important to work to pay that off as quickly as possible, but many of us have been able to build our successes based off of our involvement outside of the classroom

I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this lately.  During high school and university, I was very much involved with volunteering and lately I’ve been painfully aware how long it’s been since I’ve done something to give back.

At the end of his post, Dan asks us what are we doing outside of our work and donations and whether or not we are satisfied with our level of involvement.

I’ll be answering these questions in a blog post in the near future, as I been mentally writing the post in my head for some time. There may be an announcement of some kind. Just sayin’.

Thanks Dan, for being our social concience and nudging us in the right direction. Great post!

PUNISHMENT
1. It is up to the punishee to pick their final punishment.
2. Punishment options can be picked from either the punisher’s suggestions, or if any commenters have suggestions.
3. Must be blog-related (i.e. will be in post form, though can be any of the aforementioned acceptable formats) and please, nothing too illegal, TMI or dirty. We are “professionals” here, after all.
4. Punishment must be done within 48 hours of missing a deadline.

STARTING
Tomorrow, June 9, 2009 with yours truly!

ENDING
Tuesday, July 9, 200. The day of freedom. The day I celebrate my momentous victory. The day I will allow myself to run out of ideas.

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Let the write-off begin! (Well, tomorrow.)