Celebrating 2013 #ArchiveFavs

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Eek! 2013 has been a terrible year for me in terms of blogging. I’ve had good intentions, including a bunch of half-written posts sitting in my drafts, but somehow, other projects have gotten in the way.

Truth be told, I enjoy blogging, but sometimes find it a bit deflating that blog posts seem to have such a short shelf life, not only on this blog – but on those of many brilliant bloggers that I follow regularly. So, today I’m celebrating some of my favourite posts from some of the blogs that I love to read regularly.

Listed below (in no particular order) are some of my favourite blog posts from this year. Most are from the #Eventprofs community, but I’ve also been following some in the sustainability and content marketing fields.

• Shawna McKinley‘s posts Do Events Have the Power to Heal and Meeting Mythbusters: Bioplastic Fantastic? on her blog Eventcellany. Shawna is a gifted writer who is both thoughtful, and thought-provoking. What I most enjoy about Shawna’s posts is the rich analysis she brings to her writing, which she infuses with personal stories. (Reaching back a bit more – I love reading her 2011 The Jackass Whisperer from her previous blog, Sustainable Destinations.)
• Tahira Endean‘s post How Would You Sign Your Day is a touching tribute to women influencers. Towards the end of the post, building on the words of Marilyn Carlson Nelson, she asks “If you imagined your life as a great masterpiece, and today was a painting, would you put your signature on it?” – something I’m going to try to myself more in 2014. I love following Tahira’s blog Events, Life and Impact Points – she keeps me up to date on the latest industry trends, and is always sharing the spotlight with others.
• Nancy Zavada‘s post Stop Traffick! brings light to the important issue of helping to end child trafficking. She provides links to resources for event professionals to help us to get involved in this human rights issue. Nancy’s blog, Pretentious Musings of a Meet Green Martyr is great to follow for her on the ground reports of sustainable events, and she is one of the people that inspires me the most in this field.
• Dennis Shiao‘s How to Do Product Marketing Without Marketing Your Product was a great start to the year – a good blend of tried and true marketing concepts with newer elements of content marketing brought to the forefront. His blog, It’s All Virtual it’s a great source of information on social media, content marketing and personal branding.
• Jenise Fryatt‘s post Are You Practicing Ethical Content Marketing? transcribes a timely #ContentChat discussion on issues ranging from plagiarism to reputation management. She blogs regularly with Mitchell Beer on the SmarterShift’s The Content Roundtable blog. I also recommend Mitchell’s post A Low Carbon Future Depends on Economic Conversion.
• Julie Urlaub‘s post Sustainable Supply Chain 101 is a great piece on the business case for promoting sustainability outside your organization’s walls. I highly recommend her Taiga Company blog for sustainable business content.
• Jeff Hurt‘s post It Is Time To Reinvent the Meetings Industry and the Meeting Professional is a great call to action. My favourite quote “We have more silos for our major conferences than the traditional farm. Unfortunately, the conference silos are not used to store nourishment that leads to outstanding education and networking.” Velvet Chainsaw’s Midcourse Corrections, where Jeff blogs along with Dave Lutz, Sarah Michel and Donna Kastner is a fantastic resource for event professionals.
• Jonathan Bloom‘s Wasted Food blog is one of my favourites. He includes great infographics, resources, and funny anecdotes and photos that keep things lighthearted. I particularly enjoyed his solution to a rotten spot an apple and his collection of alphabet shaped veggies.

I encourage you to spend a bit of time rummaging through your favourite bloggers’ archives looking for treasure to share.