Category: Communication

Start

Hi everyone! This is a story about taking naps. What would you do if you could start your nap over again?

Day by day, she fought to stay awake. At night, facing the wall, she could see her breath come back, stirring her into place. Her gaze could only see an odd, black shadow.

The plague.

Napping feverishly on an ex-boyfriend’s mattress, my breath came to me, rousing my face. There was no odd black shadow, only the installation piece (University of Calgary, Faculty of Art, 2001) I completed about a red cross and red intersecting paint brushes. Over time, the red morphed into a black matte surface, replacing the glowing red symbols with something different…

The sound.

I gasped for air, clutching my heart staring into Kevin’s barren closet. I saw myself as a ‘doctor’, healing the world from every known pain of mankind. In that moment, my heart sung and I cried. I felt adorned, yet I was confused as to how this could have happened. How could this be a reality that I, Chona Fe, changed the world? Healed it, in fact. How could I be the charging force that put everything into place?

The only other time this happened, I was napping, this time at my aunt’s house in one of the empty rooms. (Note: Filipino homes always have empty rooms; they’re probably accommodating ghosts.) All of the 90s furniture, including a stark, reflective black master’s bedroom set, had no meaning or design in that place. That place where I slumbered and was suddenly awoken again. I think I was 13, sitting up abruptly on the right side of the bed, staring at myself. Yelling. Screaming at the top of my lungs.

Stop!

I wasn’t looking at a reflection of ours.

The reflection.

My brother (Alan Abad) and cousins (Ryan and Vanessa Skinner), ran home from the playground in the centre of the crescent (71 Maryvale Cr. N.E., Calgary, AB). They heard me scream. They were horrified to think something horrible had happened. But nothing did. I was alive. I wasn’t attacked or eaten by monsters. Vanessa grabbed my shoulders, shaking vigorously and I blinked slowly three times, “What. The. I…don’t know what just happened, but I think…I died and saw…a different person…in…” I couldn’t even continue. It was that bad.

Scared?

She Saw Him First

Hi everyone! Try to decipher the duality I refer to throughout this story. It will make complete sense…both ways!

In university, I was fervently attached to impermanence and how it spoke to love and the meaning of life. My creative process started with a blank canvas, although it did not have to be canvas, it could have been anything.

Definition: Complete; sheer.

Purpose: To feel everything; to be whole. 

And with that, I commenced. Commenced a process of removing completeness; commenced a process of covering up visibility – to reveal something different. I utilized a very special skill set that I have discovered and use fervently today.

What is this very special skill set you ask?

I’m not sure, you tell me.

Identity?

I am simple. I am me. I am beauty in everything. I am everywhere you need to be.

Pushing down non-artistic capabilities; denying intellectual understandings. It was easier to pretend that I didn’t have drive, than to begin the self-exploration required to achieve bigger and better things. I hated that I lacked moral support. I loathed that I was just an ‘artist’. If only I had been shown empathy and was equipped with real world survival skills, everything could have been so different.

Thus, laziness could be defined as such –

Everything should be unique. The space-time continuum moves forward and does not evaluate past failures, previous motivations or work.

My struggle with identity began as a young woman. I felt completely transparent and to make matters worse, my mom would try to help me by uncovering my supposed weaknesses – piano, French, public speaking, pretty much everything. I just wasn’t at the receiving end. I did not know how to define it or how to get there with her help or by myself. So, where did this laziness come from? Was it genetic? By the time it would have mattered (from high school to university) my mom did not have the energy or input abilities to output my success on top of everything she was dealing with (likely mental health issues and more severe complexities). She struggled with many things, and so I struggled with the same. So is that it? I was lazy to take care of my mom? Growing up was about resisting and playing, if safe.

We both lived in fear.

Fear of being; fear of leaving.

Fear is weakness. Be passionate. Be real. Be able to tackle everyday things with insight, knowledge and strength. Who I am today.

The past can come back to haunt us, but we choose to live in the present. We must.

Who remembers the wallpaper in their baby bedroom? Who recalls the vibrant tones of shag rugs in every ‘box’ throughout the house – intense violet, indiscernible mustard, Oscar the Grouch green, rusty red and so on and so forth. Do these memories matter? Yes and yes!

Definition: He has a green body, no visible nose, and lived in a trash can.

Purpose: To love my body, my style and the way I write. 

Outcome: Writing is code, it is a system we are creating for ourselves and more importantly, for others.

Who recalls bubblegum pink mohair, fresh brand T-shirts from The Body Shop or Le Chateau. Things have changed so much in fashion; things have changed so much in our world.

We are united, we are technological. We are happy and we are digital. 

Really?

Yup, listen to me. I still need to figure out how to convert everything! How do I realistically explain our digital way of being? Not there yet. It will come.

Rewind.

In university, I obsessed over process to the point where I think it became my source of envy. I didn’t understand how he (Bradley Harms, artist, Calgary, AB) could make prints nothingly-ly.

How did he do that?!

I do not know; I am so worried.

Are you sure?

Listen, at the time, my inner artist screamed. It didn’t matter that I was making things with my own hands or that I was taking things that were already whole, erasing them and reconstructing a sort of murder scene using Exs and Ohs. It didn’t matter that I was mapping. Or napping even. What mattered is that I could have turned out. What mattered is that my mom loved my art. But it wasn’t enough. It will never be enough until I succeed!

I was meditating, frowning worries and heartaches away from medicated pens and BIC Wite-Out. In my mind, I was substantiating Gilles Deleuze…and I quote:

“Writing has nothing to do with meaning. It has to do with land surveying and cartography, including the mapping of countries yet to come.” ― Gilles Deleuze

Definition: The technique, profession, and science of determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them.

Purpose: There is already a movie about language saving the world. It’s called Arrival. Can we really still cure cancer with letters? Bubble letters at that (Blocks speaking of Bubble + Blocks, Calgary, AB, 2005)? This was my original thesis, you see.

Outcome: Today, I do not know the answer or I am tired. That is the thing with Global Comprehension. It involves too many things. The only sure thing I’m certain of is, I will be the one to figure it out and communicate it to the masses. Just wait and see! 

Mapping the continuum can spark regret; so better focus on real world debacles.

This is already occurring.

I am something out there.

As per Greenpeace.

My trek is long and arduous.

Bold and filled with assumption.

What matters however, is living continually knowing that I am loved and spectacular.

And must I reiterate. No thanks.

All of this work transmutes the power of love and the power of regression through ignorance.  Still, we get tired of things. Always.

They all say: she is trying to objectify life; she is avoiding subjectivity.

The beauty is in interpretation!

Thanks to you, Chonie (my mom with depths greater than the sea).

❤

The Homeless Men

Hi everyone! Sometimes you just have to use  an expert’s voice!

I shall embark on this challenge to pull myself out of slumber…yet again, my God I know.

(Seth Godin’s challenge consisted of 100 blog posts a day – this story is a post about x amount of homeless men having one conversation with me the expert. Can you identify them?)

TODAY

My vigor is lost and it must be reinstated. So, here goes two months-ish of creative and technical credit. Perhaps some continuation of Daisy’s adventures in. Or should I say, at Elevententeen? Some free photos, you know. For days when I’m feeling too lazy. And what about samples of graphic art? Is there anything else worth more? I’ve been developing at the rate of a rabbit, gosh darn it!

I’ve been introduced to a multitude of applications, which seem to be more about bunnies reproducing. Interesting? Practice. And concepts (of principles and ideations). It’s effective. This is the glory of creation! Making things to build things; systems to make duties simpler (they do that though). I will also be throwing in my work (templates, sales documents and the sort), which I may add, are becoming more and more succinct every day. La la. So keep working, they’re supposed to evolve and eventually become fit!

2 DAYS PRIOR

I am still testing things out and I’m not really sure insight selling is working. Or maybe it’s eating eggs Benedict and strawberry covered waffles 4 x per week. But maybe it is? I will give it another year or so to see. Theoretically, it should take minutes to develop. Sort of like walking away. If you are telling me you’re in, that’s what I’m saying! And, I’m sorry if I come across negatively, it’s my army suit and optimism. Let’s start one thing, here goes something! It all dissolved as soon as I weighed myself and saw the dreaded number I was ever so in denial about.

MAKE SOMETHING EVERYDAY does not equal to EAT WHATEVER YOU PLEASE. Seriously though, it’s funny but it’s not.

The outcome of this assignment will be –

  • Improved voice in messaging
  • Happier disposition
  • Greater appreciation of my worth

PS – My intention with this post was to work on said skills above, but it is now (August 15, 2019) to express the right in the right should the right come through. What I mean to say is: Universe, you sure throw a lot of coincidences and happy lookin’ faces my way. Is there a proprietary patent pending that I’ve developed, developing? Sunshine and 80s music all the way? Ya expert, that’s the outcome/result of you going on a diet!

It commenced on December 4, 2019. I had crashed. Tired and done with my STEEZ. I just wanted to change absolutely everything about my life. It had felt like everything that could have possibly went wrong did. And everything about myself and my surroundings was suffering. Failing relationships. Wandering marriage. So, on that fateful day I told my husband of said suffering and he booked an appointment with my doctor and specialist. In the specialist appointment I was instructed to start a chart, so he built one for me in Excel and put it on my phone. The next step was the one I had been dreading for the past year – you have to weigh yourself Chon. And that was it. The end of it. The end of my demise. The end of my ignorance and futility. So, since then I am now on a lifelong mission, to actually commit to the most important thing anyone can do – to be happy and healthy.

This is, creative writing. Delving into the unknown, because you know it like the back of your hand. It’s confusing, but works well for developing a screenplay!

Ta-ta for now!

Networking

Hi everyone! Dualities are the best. You keep passing them – right/left. In a similar sort of way, networking plays on the ball and catcher theme. What do you think?

Life can be unfair.

If you’re like me, you always want to know the perspective of others. I try to emulate it using my ‘super sensory assumptions’, but that  doesn’t give perspective any justice. I just cannot circumvent the topic enough. I even wrote an elaborate letter to a stranger, expecting some sort of comeuppance for the amount of energy I divulged throughout. I think that’s when I discovered my passion for technical writing, ironically by asking about technical writing. So, returning to the main topic, I wrote a letter to Duncan Kent.

Mr. Kent is my good friend’s uncle and the firm founder/senior project manager at Duncan Kent & Associates Ltd., a technical documentation company based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. For the past 27 years, his company has guided and developed more than 300 manuals and technical publications. His team’s work and client list span many industries, from construction and project management to law enforcement and security.

I was inspired to write to him because of his company’s success. Or perhaps, more realistically, I wrote to him to feed my desire for positive constructive criticism…from anyone…someone…please.

My apologies for continuing to fall off of our topic. As I started planning (this elaborate letter you see), I wondered to myself, “Imagine if my client list was in the thousands?” I thought, I’m prepared to ride this wave, although, I do not surf. This is much more important – to change the course of history vs learning how to write effectively. Alas, I tend to jump the gun, but that is only my proactive personality. The unfortunate thing is – when things don’t turn out, and especially because I rely so heavily on fate – I get extremely disappointed, saddened to say the least. I suppose I will be able to save the documents for a record of my process. Egad!

Let’s have a read –

Good morning Duncan,

Thank you for your time. I am excited to share a bit of my background with you and hope that this will be the beginning of a new adventure! (Edit Jan. 4, 2020 – and holy f what a crazy ride it has been!)

I have spent the past 8 years managing corporate accounts for the medium and enterprise-sized business market segments of Canada’s #1 telecommunications brand and wireless service provider, Bell Mobility. I write about 50 emails a day, corresponding with important decision-makers like billing analysts, IT coordinators, managers and/or executives.

Writing business emails has taught me how to approach language in a linear and logical manner, so that the complexities of the technologies and services we implement can be communicated to our clients with clarity and ease.

My passion for writing was originally theoretical (art school approach), but my role at Bell Mobility changed that. Now, making words make sense in a technical fashion has me completely converted, if not entirely fascinated by the precision of writing in and of itself.

I have achieved positive results in account management by way of technical writing:

  • Optimizing processes
  • Maximizing workplace efficiencies
  • Minimizing client expenditures through routine jargon
  • Organizing & streamlining daily communications
  • Thinking critically
  • Taking proactive approaches to solving problems in writing
  • Building dependable & long lasting relationships with my team & clients

So here I am, graciously connecting to you thanks to your nephew, Chris Kent. I understand you must be very busy, but if possible, could I ask you some questions about technical writing? My goal is to determine if it is the right career for me and what steps I would need to take to get there.

Cheers,

Chona Fe Canlas

There is always a way to make things simpler.

*Note: I ended with that sentence and amazingly, I can see now that it is the beginning of my brand! (Edit Jan. 4, 2020 – Simpler & Larger guys!)

The success of your pursuits can be measured infinitely. (Edit Jan. 4, 2020 – OMG, did Simon Sinek steal that?) What will you cherish once your work is done? For myself, it is truly gaining the perspective of someone else ego holds a different holistic experience. I am continually examining this philosophy, why not!

Technical Writing

Hi everyone! How technical can you be with creative content? This is a good question. Let’s start by looking at how we can define a technical writer.

A technical writer is an organized communicator for a company. They present the company in specific ways and focus on areas that require clear and succinct communication. They also work on creating and formatting material effectively to increase overall communication efficacy.

A technical writer for a communications company would be responsible for the below (and later on can assist with other areas like research, project management and customer advocacy):

  • Creating/formatting proprietary documents (i.e.: emails, meeting minutes, customer welcome packages, social media posts, blog and website content etc.)
  • Developing instructions, guidelines, training material, strategies and plans
  • Creating templates, marketing collateral, brochures, promotional materials, ad copy and presentations

Higher-level roles:

  • Writing contracts, proposals, RFPs, white papers, reports, feasibility studies and reviews
  • Acting as an interviewer, trainer, organizer, facilitator or mediator
  • Designing visual communication strategy, information graphics and/or data interpretation

Another advanced role is analytics (excerpt from Wikipedia):

The use of computer skills, mathematics and statistics, combined with descriptive techniques and predictive models to GAIN valuable knowledge from data. The discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data; and the process of applying those patterns towards effective decision-making.

In other words, analytics can be understood as the connective tissue between data and effective decision-making, within an organization. A technical writer also observes and collects data from customers that suggests the product and/or customer experience can be changed or improved in a way that customers would prefer or benefit from.

So, technical writing can be used to enhance communication to a specific audience and can create simplicity from abstract or conceptual ideas. These specifications can improve user experience, time management, levels of customer satisfaction and other customer-centered metrics. 

Desirable traits of a technical writer: 

  • organized and able to optimize process
  • detailed and extremely focused
  • able to portray different styles and perspectives 
  • a leader and team motivator
  • easygoing and confident personality
  • insightful, intelligent and innovative
  • transparent, accurate and responsible

Blox. Communications would like to define technical writing as it specifically relates to creative entities. What traits (quality) and aspects (quantity) do you think would be important to operating a technical creative company?

Sales Specialist

Hi everyone! As VanWhistle Media’s Lead Sales Specialist, I have been building the foundations for a new digital marketing brand. How will we stand apart from others? How do we get customers to commit?

In my mind, it’s a combination of creative direction (standing apart) and content (establishing commitment). Also, a strong brand is everything. It is about locality plus some other concept I haven’t figured out yet (internationalism?). Meet your neighbors and start building connections any way.

I wanted to design some storefront posters and presentation slides (with animation) and this is what I came up with in the discovery stage –

Header: VANWHISTLE MEDIA IS HERE TO HELP! (large, black + white)

Sub-header: Social Media (rainbow)

Done correctly, you can tell everyone that your brand is ACTIVE and that you are FOCUSED on promoting ongoing and thriving communication with your customers. We will show you where your efforts have worked and where they are falling short! DO SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT with VANWHISTLE MEDIA today!

Sub-header: SEO (blue)

Progress to the next level with a definite increase in traffic by organizing your content by keywords; this will ensure your brand appears HIGH on Google’s list of results. Your business will need a powerful strategy as search tactics are always evolving. Let’s get you to the top of the list! DO SEO with VANWHISTLE MEDIA today!

Sub-header: Web Design (orange)

Everything about your website (content, appearance, functionality) is determined by the QUALITY of its design. Aim to establish expertise & credibility. We can manage this process from start to finish! DO WEB DEVELOPMENT with VANWHISTLE MEDIA today!

(include at bottom in smaller typeface, maybe white on gray?)

Small print: We can also help with – Email Marketing, Pay Per Click Management, Blog/Content Creation, Designing, Auto Dealership Package, Storefront Signage, Business Cards, Branding, Creative Direction & Idea Development. Contact us, we’re flexible and talented!

(contact info)

Background tip – I repeat ‘DO…with VANWHISTLE MEDIA today’, because repetition has been shown to be an effective selling tool. Scientists have found that repetition increases processing fluency. In other words, our brains find repeated words easier to process and remember. I really want to establish a focus in my message (do = doing = done). What will drive people to stop and read/look at our poster? The word DO repeated equals the word DOING repeated equals the word DONE repeating in their heads, thereby increasing desire and attracting demand. It’s always about thoughtful language, usage and placement!
Coming back to this project, I question the use of ‘talented’. For whatever reason, people hate that word. Like, a talented person couldn’t have an honest mandate. Or, to say one’s talented is to say, I’m egotistical. It really makes me wonder. What do you guys think?
I suppose at the end of the day, people are going to think how they want. So…if you’re going to do it differently, find trustworthy research to support your ideas!

Acceptance Letter

Hi everyone! Here is an example of an acceptance letter I wrote for a sales job. Try not to copy it, just have a read and write one for yourself.

Dear hiring manager (or team),

Thank you for your offer of employment.

Q: What question does every CEO have when hiring a new business team member?

A: What makes you the BEST for my business?

I have an arsenal of answers, a few I will describe below. Let’s begin.

Q: What will you contribute?

A: I will empower you to be YOUR best. I will put my best talent forward understanding that there may be a learning curve, I can and will keep up.

Q: Every project will have a PROCESS to reach a targeted end. What’s your plan?

A: I aim to –

  1. Increase your profit margin by refining your sales purchasing funnel
  2. Raise overall awareness & interest in your company, products and services
  3. Generate more flexibility for the team, so that your company can further succeed

Q: What main attribute will you bring to the table?

A: Integrity. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles or moral uprightness. It is a personal choice to hold one’s self to consistent standards.

Q: What’s your goal?

A: I will bring forth growth by focusing on the following –

CLIENT RELATIONS

  • Documenting the customer onboarding process
  • Developing welcome care packages
  • Articulating in-house processes & access to resources to the team and our clients
  • Writing case studies about the team, clients and our products/services
  • Creating client profiles
  • Performing client interviews over the phone and/or in person
  • Creating a Q+A document (5-8 questions) for customer stories to promote new business and to retain existing clientele
  • Promoting customer stories to expand our networking community via applicable social channels and platforms
  • Assisting with creative and technical content in other formats (blog, video etc.)

I can also help with copywriting, idea development, advertising, creative/art direction, account management and project coordination.

Q: How do you conclude?

A: I am insightful, intelligent and innovative. I intend to find ways to make things simpler and larger for you. I’m eager to learn. I am genuine. I am constantly inspired. I am enthusiastic and will take care of the company and our clients’ needs. I will proactively listen to my team. I will be dependable & I will deliver!

Thank you and best regards,

Chona Fe Canlas (your new Sales Specialist)

Finding creative + effective ways to communicate can be a challenge. How will your audience receive your message? Will they be pleasantly surprised or immediately repulsed? It’s always worth the risk to edit things down to their simplest context. So, take a different approach!

A Wicked Rant

Hi everyone! We have the right to write and speak as we desire. This is a rant, have fun reading it!

I know. I have a lot of opinions and you may not like what you hear. I have a lot of creativity stirring up inside of me that you might find offensive. But you know what? I care.

We can define it. The artist’s grace. For example, look at the letters and sentences in this post, as if they were abstract soldiers from a symbolic world, marching along together or apart, in infinite permutations or combinations. They are terms and teams of ideas, but together, they have not yet been defined. Destinations are cut short, not by the words, but by the soldiers themselves. They have become controllers and they control everything, not just the outcome of the battle, but of the very meaning of what they are battling for. So, how many controllers do we need? And again, who is the controller on this team? Why is there a need for control? What? Why would the impact be the action? Would the sentences be marching? Heading towards…? Now do you see what I mean?

A slice of my day looks like this…

…just a slice…

🙂

Pursuing Success

Hi everyone! The lessons we learn make us responsible for our own success. Apply this bit towards your own positive journey! Some examples of ‘success journeys’ are: running a social media campaign, adopting digital minimalism or losing weight.

Our environment is filled with endless possibilities. It presents us with moments to launch investigations of choice. This power to choose is success and by pursuing it, we become enthusiasts, gatherers of insight and ambassadors for change.

The journeys we choose can nurture the soul. They can change who we are, deep down to our core. They can also provide a broad spectrum of individuals with the inspiration to make life-changing decisions, and they can allow us to reap more frequent and practical rewards.

When an individual becomes a manager of their own success, the implementation of innovative technologies and the free-flowing birth of concepts derived from our surroundings can actually help us. This surge precipitates newer and brighter outcomes.

We may not be experts in measuring success, but we can be experts, motivated by understanding. Let us be well-versed and capable of finding new ways to conceptualize and overcome old theories. If you can adapt an established decision-making process, you are essentially creating a new philosophy!

So many people, from all walks of life, pursue success. What sets you apart from others? For myself, I can make everything sound awesome! Language knows no boundaries!