Six Degrees of Social Innovation

Once again, a fantastic time was had at CSI Annex. Each time I go, it feels like home and I never want to leave. Six Degrees of Social Innovation is one of their signature events that I hear takes place monthly. Part a networking social and part social experiment, it's an opportunity for people in the social change sector to connect with each other in a casual setting over some food and drinks. CSI gives 6 tickets each to people they know, who then keep one to themselves and pass on the rest to someone they know who has a connection to the social change sector, and so on. The evening is free to attend but you must have a ticket.

The minute I heard about this event, I desperately wanted to go. Unfortunately, I didn't know anyone with access to tickets. Once again, Twitter came through big time and I met a random guy who had a spare ticket to give away, which he graciously shared with me (we connected at the event and plan to keep in touch). Just like that, I was in. The power of social media truly is incredible.

The evening was essentially a social mixer, with a quick icebreaker game to help people chat up their neighbours (we had stickers placed on our back and needed to figure out what the word was and find our match). Once again, I found that the crowd broke up into chatty clusters very quickly but this time I was better prepared and didn't get quite as intimidated (it really isn't an intimidating crowd at all, but as an outsider, you do tend to get jitters). I met some wonderful people doing great work and had a few very interesting conversations. CSI truly is a hub of inspiration.

To round off the night, I went on a tour of the working space at SCI, which only made me want to work there. Desperately. What a beautiful space and a fantastic concept! As if that weren't enough, when I came back down, I ran into some people from my current office with whom I never have a chance to socialize. As I'm in the last days of my contract, this was a wonderfully unexpected opportunity to catch up and actually get to know each other, and we discovered that we get along incredibly well and have many things in common. We stayed well past the official end and I hope to repeat the experience again next month. In the meantime, I will spend as much time as I can at SCI and hopefully find a way to be a part of this amazing community. Highly recommended!

WHAT: Six Degrees of Social Innovation

WHERE: SCI Annex, 720 Bathurst St.

WHEN: April 4 - 6:00-8:00 pm

COST: Free

INSIDER DETAILS: Check with your network to see if anyone you know knows anyone who has a ticket to this event. If not, try getting in touch with CSI (in person, through Facebook, or Twitter) to try and score an invite. If all else fails, I hear you can show up fashionably late and walk into the party without having to present a ticket. If you really want to be part of this community, you can find a way to get in.

Getting Down to Business - The Promotional Side, That Is

I am going through another career transition and a sleepless night a couple of weeks ago saw me propped up in bed ordering business cards online at 3am. When these arrived in the mail, included in the package was a discount coupon for other products on the site. That is how I came upon the idea of ordering postcards for my blog.

While I initially started the blog for myself and my friends to help us remember the awesome things we get up to, I now get a lot of questions about it. So when the idea of limited promotion presented itself and took hold in my brain, I hopped back online and started browsing card designs to see if there was one I could make work without too much effort. The postcards (along with envelopes and matching return address labels) arrived today and I couldn't be happier. I have a feeling I will be returning to this site many more times in the future.

For those looking for personal or business promotional materials, or personalized stationery and gifts, VistaPrint offers a wide rage of affordable options. With hundreds and even thousands of customizable templates, it has never been easier to get creative on a budget. My box of shiny new business cards set me back less than $10 (cards were free; I just paid for shipping) and the set of postcards, envelopes and address labels came in at under $30. And playing around with the designs online was just about the most fun I've had all week. Highly recommended!

WHAT: VistaPrint - promotional materials

WHERE: Online

WHEN: 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year

COST: Incredibly affordable

INSIDER DETAILS: I know more than one person who has used their services (and were very happy with their experience), so you probably do to. Most of the shipments come with discount codes to be used for future orders, so ask around and you might be able to save even more money.