 Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 2 PM – 5 PMThe number one thing we hear from people all the time is they don’t want to look stupid on video. We all want to look good, sound intelligent and present ourselves in the best way possible. At our next Social Hour event Heather Morrison, the Artistic Producer of Sum Theatre joins us. Come learn some techniques and skills to gain the confidence you need to kill video in 2019. There will be mad learns and a delicious beer break, sponsored by Black Bridge Brewery. The PresentationThanks to everyone who came out today. For those of you who didn't take notes because you were such attentive listeners, here is the slide deck! This event is hosted by T Squared Social. We are a Saskatoon based social media agency with a focus on education, content creation and management. All proceeds from the event will be donated back to Sum Theatre to support the incredible things they do in our community. Schedule2:00pm - 3:00pm Presentation and Workshop 3:00pm - 3:45pm Video Challenge and Black Bridge Beer Break 3:45pm - 4:30pm Live Screening VenueBroadway Theatre (715 Broadway Ave, Saskatoon, SK S7N 1B3) AuthorCreated by T Squared Social. We are a Saskatoon based social media agency with a focus on education, content creation and management. We love making great content and helping people with their social media.  
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 I was asked to sit down with CBC radio to chat about my favorite Saskatchewan Instagram accounts. Here are the content creators that impressed me the most and the people with the biggest lessons to share. Great social media doesn’t always mean tonnes of followers, it has to be about connection. Often times people get too caught up in WHAT they want to say. They forget HOW they need to say it, in a way that is makes sense for social media. This year’s list is all about the beauty of storytelling, social responsibility and breathtaking images. Here is my list in no specific order. 1. @hiltzandrewAndrew is an ex Saskatchewanderer and continues to create travel inspired content. One of my favorite IG moments of 2018 was watching his stories during the Queen City Marathon. The level of commitment was super impressive. His ability to entertain, combined with destination photography and that smile is a winning combo. Such a genuine guy in all of his content. 2. @sweetmoonphotoTenille is so many things. Her IG is this magical blend of creative photos, insightful poetry and hilarious personal moments. Her camera work is so beautiful and invites us to see things from a different point of view. It’s almost a bit unexpected to see her candid and comical posts in her IG stories. Her account is such a gift and representation of a whole compassionate human experience. 3. @nomadic_ninja_yxeJesse is a unique individual who has chosen the #vanlife in the middle of the cold prairies. His adventures in the van with his dog Layla are totally endearing. He is also a martial artist. He once said, “You have to start as a white belt in everything you do, it’s the only way to get better.” I think documenting that journey, especially in the early stages, is so fundamental to being relatable on social media. 4. @13piespizzaI’m going to tell you why this account is amazing, it’s because it all feels like your best friend posting about pizza. The battle 13 Pies has won is creating something that doesn’t feel corporate at all, even though they use professional photos (sometimes). I also have to seriously shout out the “pizza dress” post. There is so much you can do with so little on social media. It’s all about creativity and consistency. 5. @thewellcollabYou know when someone is a photographer because everything they capture is gold. This space came into my consciousness with such simple and playful images. Being able to capture the ordinary moments in life with such sensitivity is an art. The visual and written stories on this account are so incredibly moving. 6. @garrettkendelGarrett is the photographer behind his wife Kelsi’s blog and a fashion enthusiast. It doesn’t matter if he is capturing a true Saskatchewan scene or a lush California moment, his taste level is on point. His ability to create a storybook life is something we should all aspire to for our high-level posting. So genuinely talented and such a sensitive soul. AuthorCreated by T Squared Social. We are a Saskatoon based social media agency with a focus on education, content creation and management. We love making great content and helping people with their social media.   EvolutionThe invention of the lens changed our ability to record history. The evolution of social media opened a gateway to sharing our human experience in a way that is still unimaginable. The manifesto of socialmadelocal is our promise to explore this new world with wide eyes in a relentless search for beauty.  T Squared SocialThree years ago Tyler and I started a company called T Squared Social. With this company we manage social media for a handful of local companies here in Saskatoon. We provide them with original content, photo, videos, copywriting and lots of creative strategy. The focus we put on storytelling is something that our clients have grown to love.  About a year into our business we started to see another group of people take interest in T Squared. This was a group of content creators, photographers and videographers. It was amazing to see people connecting with the brand, but we didn't really have a way to engage with them since they would likely never be a client.  So I looked to this new community and decided to create Social Made Local. At the core of the brand there would be apparel for sale, but the goal was to create community. I wanted to create physical spaces for people to learn, online challenges for people to grow and opportunities to inspire social responsibility.  Fashion, eh?Some people have asked, why fashion? I have my formal education and a degree in Fashion Design + Marketing from my time in Montreal. It was something I felt passionate about pursuing especially since fashion is a critical form of self representation, especially with such a highly visual platform. The brand is about those people who find their personal expression through social media and find joy in the process. On our first photo shoot it was really important to me that we had a reflection of the inclusive values of the brand. I had explained to the young models on the set, You are aliens from another planet. On your planet there is no racism, homophobia, transphobia, violence or hate. Your existence is dedicated to art, beauty and celebration. So in this scene you find yourself crash landed on Earth (in a diner of all places) and you have just discovered the tool of social media. It was incredible to see how easily they understood the concept. It was a great shoot and so the Social Made Local brand was born. We were also lucky to have Logan from Eleven03 design our Connection Hoodie + Tee and continue to support local artists with collaborations.  Micro InfluencersWe launched the brand with a 5 Day Photo Challenge where we talked all about the importance of micro influencers or customers. This topic was important to explore since it validated the self-expression of content creators when they post about their favourite local businesses. It was also great to expand the awareness for business owners to realize the potential they have to encourage social media moments with their followers. Read more about this photo challenge.  The winner of the challenge was a young man named Jaxon. It was really fun to have him win the challenge, then move on to help judge another competition and finally get hired by us to create a summer campaign. The idea of helping each others grow and providing opportunities to do so is huge for us. If you want to see more of what Jaxon is doing you can follow him at @jaxons.photos  City of RainbowsThe spring of 2018 we launched our City of Rainbows Campaign in support of Pride Home and OUT Saskatoon. This new design was intended to create awareness around coming out stories and stories of ally support. It was an incredible response that landed me on CBC radio twice talking about how businesses can connect to the LGBTQ community in an authentic way. We featured Amy and Connor who are the co-chairs of Saskatoon Pride in the campaign.  The community response was really heart warming and we saw many people share their stories about coming out. The campaign focused on the LGTBQ community, but was also in alignment with the core values of the brand supporting the idea that, Everyone has a story and the power to tell it.  Real Life CommunityDuring the summer I looked for a way to bring people together, do something fun and challenge their skills. I decided to host a Photo Scavenger Hunt. The promotion for the event drew from my high school experience, I remember before cell phones if people wanted to send messages, you did it with these little origami style notes that would get passed around the classroom. This old school idea became the only marketing we did for the event. 20 notes were left at both Joyne and Uno Printing Co. for people to collect. For the two weeks leading up to the event is was pretty cool to hear buzz about the secret note.  This event has held during the Fringe and was the first physical event we hosted for Social Made Local. It was a total success, but I also felt it might have been a bit complicated. Some people said the idea of a challenge or a contest was only meant for people who were already good at their craft. Yes, competition is good, but we all start at the beginning. It's so key that people know all levels are welcome.  Insta MeetupsThe next event we hosted was a super friendly Insta Meetup. We met up and wandered the Nuit Blanche YXE nighttime arts festival. It was incredible. People engaged, got creative and shared ideas. On top of meeting a tonne of new people I was also able to showcase everyone's work from the night on our social media. Our next Insta Meetup was pretty amped up. I invited @the_curvy_canuck to join us as a model. We wandered downtown Saskatoon and grabbed some really amazing shots.  Since Social Made Local started we have been able to meet so many incredible people, work on some very cool projects, teach in the public schools, speak about the project professionally and sell a few tee shirts. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey. We invite anyone to join in who has a desire to grow, learn from each other, contribute and make this crazy world of social media a friendlier universe. The ManifestoWe believe that everyone has a story and the power to tell it. We know if we feel something that others have felt it too. We want to create content that connects more people.  AuthorCreated by T Squared Social. We love making great content and helping people with their social media. Enjoy!  |
