Make the Most of MeFest

Tips To Make MeFest Memorable

• Bring a reusable shopping bag! Much more enviro-friendly, plus stronger to hold all your freebies!
• Take a look at who's on your Holiday Shopping list!  I bet your can find something for everyone on your list
• Address labels are handy to have to fill out draw prize ballots
• Make sure you're camera/smart phone has fresh batteries/fully charged for all the fun photos you'll capture
• Clear out your cupboards! Food Bank donations will save you $2 on admission
• Tell a friend to meet you there! We're all about making new friends & reconnecting with pals at the event
• Bring your positivity! You'll be contributing to the great energy in the room
• Round up the family! We have something for everyone
• Not sure about all the stairs? We have an elevator that enters right into our event area!
• Build your connections! We always love hearing all the great connections created at MeFest
• Stay dry & comfortable! Even when the weather does not cooperate we don't worry, we're an INDOOR event
• Look for the TIARAS!!! We want to meet you!

For more info on MeFest check out our event page
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220393731318776
& watch the video below

#140confONT Speaker vids

I'll do my best to keep them in the order that they appeard. 
Each video is about 10 mins, so although you might not be able to watch this all at once, remember this happened all in one day, in one room, filled with passionate, inquisitive & intellegent people.  Although the energy of that day can not be re-created, it can be re-lived.

Warning it goes from Pole Dancing Fitness Beginning to A Comedy Skit (That I'm betting will soon by Viral) Ending.  It's about Business & it's about Charity.  It's about celebrating the Seasons of Life & the Challenge of moving forward after a Death.  Be prepared to be inspired, rejuvenated, emotional and full of joy and laughter.


























The above one w/Craig also included Jeanette Joy













































So now that you've made it through the list, what has changed in you?  Did it spark something? Will you do something differently? Are you motivated in a new way?

What Happened @ #140confONT

SO MUCH HAPPENED!!!!

I can't even begin.  I just keep saying OVERwhelmed is an UNDERstatment!
I know eventually I'll get it all down, but I keep being more & more inspired by reading all the comments & posts about it.
We want the Spirit of the #140 Characters Conference to continue on.  So just like the summer, we'll be organizing tweetups for it!
In the meantime I want to tell you about all the awesome stuff I've been reading, but I can't keep track of it all, so I'm asking for your HELP!
If you have a Post (feel free to link more than one), a Picture or even a Tweet that lets people know about your personal #140confONT experience please link it below.

#140confONT The Power of Now AND THEN

I'm a waterfall, I can't stop crying lately.  I don't mean that I'm suddenly always sad, it's the exact opposite.  I'm constantly overwhelmed.  I'd like to say I don't know when I became this over-emotional person, but I've always been her.  She's just been tucked away for a few years. I refer to them as the ICE QUEEN era (a nickname I was given).  When did that era end?  A few months ago when Jeff Pulver said "I believe you can do this"

Fast Forward to Sept 15th 2011

Here I am standing in the Tannery listening to everyone speak about the Power of Now, but for me it's bringing me memories of the recent past.

Now this didn't happen the whole day, just certain things made me realize how quickly your new acquaintances can become some of the most important people in your life.

Here's a glimspse of what was going on in my head yesterday (read on if you dare).

On walks Julia, she's dressed in big black hat, over coat & sparkly shoes to match.  It makes me instantly think of her purple cowboy hat, sundress & cowboy boots telling the world about the plan to bring the 140 Characters Conference to Canada.

Next I see Jeff take the stage.  I'm suddenly I think of that day in Burlington when he told me we weren't thinking Big enough.  We weren't just a Local #140conf we were the VERY FIRST CANADIAN #140conf.

I see Kevin coming down the middle of the audience & I find myself wondering if he wants Diane & I to jump in as his groupies, like we did in Tweetstock.

Next I hear Dee talking about her new house, which makes me think how different Boobfest will be next time around.

Then Jodi comes on.
I guess you can imagine what happened then.  Sobbing Lisa in the Green Room.
In walks Ben he immediately sees I am in need of a hug.  I start going on about how much it's killing me to know that she was homeless, & how if I was in that group of  friends then, I wouldn't have abandoned her like the others did.  While stammering this out I realize Ben has now been exposed to other bouts of my watery eyes.  The night our group 1st met Jeff, the Wine & Cheese at Gibson's & now this.  Remembering that didn't help the cause of getting myself to stop blubbering.

After that I'm not sure what order it all happened in as I buzzed around the building. 

So now I'm back in the moment & on comes Neil with his Poster Boy T-shirt.  I'm back in "oh this is Fun" mode except that I'm still thinking of the past. How the billboard he became known for has been torn down (as I was informed that morning).  How this building we were in wasn't really anything for decades.  Wow things really do change.

On comes Craig.  I see he's nervous.  I'm thinking he's going to blame me.  I'm wondering what he's thinking right now.  I can see something's wrong.  I want to rush out of the green room, jump on the stage & hold his hand & say what if we just talk. We're pals.  We'll just pretend the others aren't around.
There's Tricia to the rescue.  She did something magical in those few seconds.  He's back on track, telling the story I knew he had to tell.
No one tells it like Big Daddy does! I knew he was meant for that stage.

Hey it's Scott Stratten!  Phew this is going to be great!.  Scott always ensures fun is had by all, but then I start thinking about the first day I met Scott was also the first day I met So Many Of The People That Are In This Building With Me Today

Okay it's lunch-Just Breathe

After lunch Matt is acting like he's kind of nervous & he needs me to be in the room while he's speaking.  Off I go to be their for him to have a friendly face in the audience.  Wait a minute he's cool as a cucumber & he's not even looking my way. Then it comes.  What may have been the most accurate description of me ever  "probably the best height to noise ratio of anyone on the planet"
So funny! Except now he's got me thinking about how we met. 

Next comes Taylor.
He's on the stage telling the story of how his life changed so quickly.  Dear Internet, you've changed my life.
I hear that!
Then I start thinking about when I was convincing him to apply to speak (convincing might be more like harrassing, but that's not here nor there).  He spent his Birthday with us launching our #140 idea & ended up in a huddle of Moms telling him how much his blog means to people & that he better apply to speak!
(you might want to go back to Matt's noise to height ratio & I'm sure you'll get the picture).
Then I think about how much has happened for him since then & how he could already be in California, but stayed to speak for the 140 (sniff sniff).

This is the big one.  I warned everyone I would be mess during this.
Heather is telling her story of Zack's dream.
You would have to have a heart of stone to not have that affect you.
While Heather is saying that she was tweeting about Zack walking, I'm thinking about our 1st real convo we had the day she tweeted that.  Then I'm recalling Jeff telling me that 140 needs to have stories of love & I told him this one.  I knew it would touch everyone.
It did.
Heather received a standing ovation.  I don't know if I know anyone else as strong & brave as her.
Jeff walks by & say "yup that was a good story"

I walk back to the green room & see the Kitestring gang & try to act like my eyes are not red & swollen, but it doesn't work.  Thankfully they are all so nice & made me laugh the rest of the day!  All the way to their finale act!

Again the blur starts. We rush to the after party at McCabe's & see so many people that I admire so much.  All I can say is "did you enjoy it?" & "thank-you"
Somehow we leave there end up in the sketchiest bar I've ever been to KW, but we're having a fantastic time!
Chris says to me, how do you feel now that it's done.  I told him I didn't want the day to end.

I'm sorry I didn't do the gazillion tags that everyone does deserve in the post, but my eyes are really sore.

Now this won't be my only post about the 140. I definately have to thank all my fellow organizers, speakers, sponsors & volunteers, but that's for another day.
When I can think about what everyone did to pull together for the event.
Oh no, pass the tissue.

Most Are Remembering Sept 11th but why I'll remember Sept 10th

I was married Sept 11th 1993 (that status has since changed).  We chose that date because Sept was a great time to travel.  We always went away for our anniversary in the years following.

10 years ago we flew into St. John's NFLD on Sept 10th and stayed with (my then) husband's family.  After a long flight with a two year old we headed to bed early (remember NFLD time is ahead of Ontario).

We we awoke the next day there were already reports of the 1st tower being hit by a plane.  At that point most suspected it was some sort of plane malfunction.  I was watching the updates about it & as they went live to the spot to show the damage.  As they were showing a live spot of the smoke coming from the first tower the second tower was hit.

I froze

I couldn't believe it.  

and then I freaked.  I went running through the house tellling everyone what just happened.

That's when our vacation became so different.  No longer a holiday, no longer celebrating our anniversary,but a place of worry far away from home.

You see the planes were diverted from airspace to Newfoundland.

All the phone lines were jammed.  If you picked up a phone there was no dial tone just dead air.

We were to go visit the St. John's Arena as the Maple Leafs were to hold a practice there in preseason.  That's when learned that the arena was now being used as a shelter for those who were stranded.

I mean stranded!

Then it hit me.  What if we had flown in one day later.  Where would we be?  We couldn't land in St John's because their airport was full.
It it hit me like a ton of bricks.  What if I had to stay in an arena with a toddler.  What would have happened?  All the crazy things that run through your mind.

Thankfully the people of St. John's opened up their homes to the people who had been on the diverted planes.  Everywhere we went people were asking us if we had a place to stay (because we didn't have an East Coast accent).  It was overwhelming the kindness that I saw.

Then we learned we too were stranded on the island.

A monsoon hit the area when we were there.  With the planes' wings hitting each other the City of St. John's annouced that no planes would be leaving until all the USA diverted planes leave.

Thankfully I'm a prepared Mom & brought an extra medication that my son requires daily.

Every morning for days I had to call into the airport, be put on hold for hours to figure out if we could be on a standby list.

I can't even remember how many extra days we were there. Most of what took place during that time is a blur.
Thankfully we were staying with family. 

So while everyone else remembers Sept 11th I'm always thankfull that we had flown on Sept 10

Why MeFest Means So Much To Me

This October we are hosting our 7th MeFest. 
Seven different times we will have created something special for the community we love so much.

We've had many challenges along the way.

Questioning of our marketing, copy cat versions of our shows, and the use of our pics to promote a totally separate event that we are not affiliated with at all. Yes all of these have happened.

But guess what?

It won't stop us.  The accomplishments out weigh the challenges every time.

We choose how we run our event.  We don't listen to the critics and we steer clear of those who can't see why we would want to invest so much of our time into a KW project.

Instead we focus on the fun that the day brings.  We create an event we are proud of each time.  We fill our hearts with the positive vibes inside our venue. That's what sets us apart.

We create something we love.