Defying expectations
I had the opportunity to attend a conference in South Surrey featuring female guest speakers who have “defied expectations” in their personal and professional lives.
Speaking were Mayor Dianne Watts, Olympic medalist Joannie Rochette, Vancouver Sun editor-in-chief Patricia Graham and former governor general Michaelle Jean.
The style of the event was fairly typical, with a huge emphasis on networking and mingling. The speeches were phenominal and anything but ordinary.
Each woman shared with the audience her story, and how she came to achieve her goals. They were all unique, but shared many similar qualities: Each was a leader in her own field whether it was athletics, politics, journalism or volunteerism.
It was inspiring, sitting in the second row, just feet away from people who are excellent role models. The biggest thing I took away from the conference was the realization of how genuine, grounded, relatable and human each woman is. They talked about mistakes and challenges and overcoming adversity. None of them were born with a silver spoon in their mouth: They worked hard and didn’t let their circumstances define them.
I learned a lot, and had a great time with my fellow PAT member.
But the highlight of my day didn’t come until the end of the eight-hour conference, after all of the speeches were over.
Michaelle Jean had been the last guest to go on stage. Right before her speech, the audience had had a quick five-minute dance session to stretch our legs before the final presentation.
Still on stage after speaking, Michaelle Jean joked about dancing, explaining that when she was in Africa, she danced with people to overcome language barriers: Instead of communicating verbally, they expressed themselves with their bodies.
So the sound guys put on a song, and the former governor general proceeded to dance on stage with one of the event coordinators. The entire audience was on their feet, grooving to the music. A couple more organizers went on on stage, as did two attendees.
I saw my opportunity, and I seized it.
I told my friend that I was going on stage to dance with Michaelle Jean. So she stepped aside and I rushed over and started dancing. And I inched closer and closer to her until we were both rocking out, shoulder-to-shoulder, in front of several hundred people.
More women came up on stage, and the energy in the auditorium exploded. After dancing with Michaelle Jean for several minutes, we hugged, and parted ways.
The event wrapped-up shortly afterwards, but I was in a daze for a good hour after the experience ended: This afternoon, I busted a move with the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, former Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.
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@HayleyWoodin
DIVERSEcity awards
Last night was my first formal opportunity to practice my continental-style eating habits.
The DIVERSEcity awards, held at the Executive Airport Plaza hotel in Richmond, honoured businesses and organizations of different sizes that value multiculturalism and incorporate ethnic diversity into their business plans.
I was there on behalf of Kwantlen as a PAT member. My friend for the evening was a sociology and criminology professor from the school.
The evening was long, and featured interesting music and keynote speaker Roy Henry Vickers, a First Nations artist and recipient of the Order of Canada, among other achievements.
One of the highlights was the food. It was a buffet, with selections from Italy, Greece, India and Japan. Dessert included tiramisu and, my personal favourite, baclava.
I didn’t slurp my coffee, nor did I chew with my mouth open. But there was no way I was getting the flaky and crumbly Greek dessert on the back of my fork.
So I cheated the continental rules a little bit, but no one noticed. In the end, I think it’s better to be focused on enjoying the food and the company around you than focusing on how to eat while ignoring everyone else.
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@HayleyWoodin
Radio documentary
I just had my last day of classes at school: All of my assignments are now complete, and I have one exam left before my second year is officially over.
I had a radio broadcast class this semester, and my final project was to create a five to seven minute radio documentary.
The title of the feature is “My Addiction,” and you can listen to it here. Here’s a brief intro:
By day, she’s a businesswoman, a wife and a mom. By night, she gives in to her addiction, and escapes her regular life by becoming someone else.
Enjoy!
@HayleyWoodin
Keep calm and carry on
I spent my evening enjoying a lovely four-course meal at the Four Points Sheraton in Richmond with several Kwantlen business students and fellow PAT (President’s Ambassador Team) members.
The dinner set the scene for a business etiquette session with Cheryl Samusevich, a corporate etiquette and international protocol consultant (according to her business card) from Nebraska.
Over the course of two and half hours, we learned how to properly and professionally indulge in our tomato soup, chicken and potatoes, garden salad and chocolate cake, in accordance with the continental style of dining.
I’m no stranger to eating in formal settings, and I am generally overly conscious of how I eat in public. But I found that there were so many little details that I was unaware of, and that slowed down the eating process considerably.
Now I am full and well-learned in the art of (fine) dining, a skill which is apparently an important one to have when dealing with executives and well-learned individuals.
Here are some of the lessons I learned this evening:
1. A diner sits down on the right side of their chair, and stands up from the same side.
2. Salads are served after the entrée as a palate-cleanser. They are also more enjoyable to eat when you are not starving for actual food.
3. Sherry is served with soup, white wine with chicken or fish, red with red meat and champagne with desserts. Champagne also accompanies toasts (as in speeches and not the charred bread variety).
4. Each meal has a guest of honour and a host. The guest is always served first and has their plate cleared first, but the host, served last, takes the first and last bite of each course.
5. When being toasted, you never drink to yourself.
6. When passing bread or butter or coffee cream, you pass it around the table in a counter-clockwise manner, beginning with the guest.
7. Salt and pepper are always passed as a pair.
8. To eat your dessert, you have a fork and a spoon. The spoon acts as a knife.
9. The utensils are never put down on the plate, unless you are taking a drink. You don’t switch your fork from hand to hand either: You simply shovel food onto the back of the fork and put it in your mouth upside down.
10. If the waiter gives you poor service, you may choose to tip him five or 10 per cent, but you must explain to him why you did so.
Finally, and most importantly, when the waiter drops the coffee cream all over your designer purse and a pair of your favourite designer shoes, just keep calm, and carry on.
(For the fashionistas, fashionistos and label-lovers out there, no accessories were permanently harmed over the course of the night. My giraffe heels were salvaged in all of their glory.)
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@HayleyWoodin
Week two with Breakfast Television
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.”
— Auguste Rodin
After interning for two weeks with Citytv, I’ve finally completed my work experience, and am heading towards the end of my semester.
It was a great last week. I did everything from research, to watching the live show from the floor, to going out with a reporter and cameraman to my first crime scene.
Unlike my experience with 24 Hours, I wasn’t put to work right away, and most days I felt like dead weight because there weren’t any opportunities to contribute. But by the end of my two weeks, I had put together two weeks worth of celebrity birthday questions and answers for the entertainment segment, I had researched the names, ridings and photos of the current MPs in the lower mainland and I had spent hours and hours researching archival footage and photos relating to the history of Vancouver.
I had also met my goal of somehow getting on TV. In fact, I did it thrice.
The first time was by accident: I was at a live-eye shoot, completely distracted by my horse allergies, and was too slow to move out of the shot. All that was seen was me, in my bright red coat, running out of the frame.
My second appearance was on Thursday. I was downtown at the Burrard skytrain station, waiting for an annoucement about the new transit fare card. It was just me and a camera, so I was filmed holding up a card replica, and was in the background of an interview holding a giant sign. Apparently, one of the hosts congratulated me on air afterwards, saying something along the lines of: “Give it up for our intern Hayley, she did a great job of holding that sign…”
My final appearance as an intern was on April Fool’s.
JackFM’s Larry and Willie have a contest going on, where 50 or so people have been given big cutouts of them, and have a list of things they need to do with the cardboard radio hosts for a chance to win $10,000. For example, they needed to get on TV.
During my two weeks, the station was bombarded with requests. I was asked to take a photo of a contestant with Dawn, and someone took a photo of me taking the photo. As a prank, Dawn rushed the JackFM station on Friday with an almost life-size cutout of her and Riaz. Leading up to the “attack,” BT showed clips and photos of the hosts posing with various contestants: My back was in one of them as the photo of me taking a photo was shown on air.
All in all, I learned a lot from watching professionals at work. I picked up interviewing techniques, and more subtler things like how to carry yourself on air, and how to emphasize your read.
Apart from being on camera, the closest I came to actually reporting was when I went out with two cameramen to get streeters. After watching for a bit, I was given the mic and allowed to ask people questions. I had done streeters before for classes, but the experience with BT was far better: People are much more willing to talk to you when you’re standing beside a Citytv van with a camera in tow.
I have five days of school left plus a final exam and then I’m done my second year of journalism studies. And in 22 days, I fly off to Alberta for my three-week military practicum.
Oh how time flies…
“It’s time to start living the life you’ve imagined.”
— Henry James
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@HayleyWoodin
First week at Citytv, part two
This week will be my last at Breakfast Television, as I am now just over two weeks away from finishing my second year at Kwantlen.
Last week was great: I went to two live-eye events, meaning I was on location and away from the station for two of the shows. I spent Wednesday morning with Dawn, who reported from Florence Nightingale elementary school in Vancouver where mayor Gregor Robertson was flipping pancakes for the KidSafe Project Society “Heroes Among us” breakfast.
On Thursday, I went to Kwantlen’s Cloverdale campus with Greg to learn about the school’s farrier program.
I learned a lot from being on location. Not only are you constantly faced with the challenges of broadcasting live (timing, changes, etc.), but you also have to make each segment different, visually and content-wise.
After three hours in a barn on Thursday (dying of allergies), I headed off to Cavalia for a pre-tape. Again, it was good to see how much planning and effort goes into making each clip unique and interesting.
Friday was a calmer day, and I was given an election project to work on.
I spent this weekend catching up on sleep, working on school projects and packing away my life. Having lived in a house with no tables and only two patio chairs, an air mattress and a baby grand piano on the main floor for what seems like ages, I’m looking forward to getting the move over with.
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@HayleyWoodin