My adult life with ADHD

I was 35 already when this brick fell on me: my doctor tells me I have ADHD. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder means I can sometimes be over-energetic and sometimes just so down I can't get myself to do anything. My brain is not able to concentrate for long periods of time and it affects me in my adult life like you wouldn't believe.

Throughout my school years, teachers would complain about my slowness and my inability to finish what I start. I'm a complete failure in practical school work, yet I can easily reach 97% in most academic fields, as long as it is theory. I never studied in my life. I didn't have to. I understood theory as I was hearing it but I wasn't able to apply it to reality. I could never understand why this was.

My parents were just so discouraged. I wasn't able to keep anything in order. Even at home, I could start many projects and not be able to finish any of them. I somehow lost motivation or concentration in the middle. They would just sit there, unfinished, for years. I have stories that I am pursueing thirty years after having abandoned their writing.

In 2001, I was hired by a consortium to create a directory of the non-profit organizations in the western part of now merged Québec City. I had five bosses, one for each of the organizations that paid for the work to be done. One of them was the supervisor; a very nice person. She caught me red-handed, downloading tunes and writing articles for Waska's newsletter at the same time I was performing work for the directory. Why wasn't I able to JUST do the directory? When I was multi-tasking, I could render a work of quality in almost no time! Well done, quickly done and very few mistakes made. If I tried concentrating on only one task, I became dyslexic, I lost my abilities and made plenty of stupid mistakes. And I was slower at production!

I tried to reform myself and, if I didn't want to lose my job, made an effort to concentrate on the one job. Maybe, I thought, it's just a matter of will power. I'm probably just too lazy or lacking of self-organization. Things got out of hand.

Even today, I still feel like that in my two jobs. At night, I am a relay operator (711 and VOIP 911) and, the rest of my working time, I am the executive secretary of Waska. Both jobs require that I keep organized and concentrated.

Distraction: I get easily distracted by absolutely everything. Even thoughts running in my head distract me. I have the hardest time focusing on just one thing.

Poor memory: I miss details, forget things and names... Absolutely not good in my jobs. I have to write down everything I don't want to forget. Otherwise, I miss my breaks at work, messing up everybody else's schedule in the process. Every time, I feel guilty and it increases my stress level.

Short concentration span: I can read a book and, five minutes later, read something on the Internet. Then, five minutes later, I switch to a crossword puzzle or something else. At work, I need multi-tasking. Otherwise, I go crazy! My brain switches from an activity to another in minutes. Focusing is a battle of every minute. It's like I get bored or something. It's mentally painful to keep thinking about one same thing for more than five minutes. Except if it is something that is reallllllly enjoyable ;)

Learning problem: My boss is teaching me something new. I understand everything and find everything easy. But I look like I'm stupid as soon as I have to apply what I've learned. I miss details, information leaks out of my mind and I find myself stuck with a holy memory.

Bizarre attention: When people speak to me, they think I'm not listening to them because I can't keep my eyes focused on theirs. I tend to look away unknowingly because I'm struggling with keeping concentrated on what is being said. I'm fighting with my brain to keep it following. It is sometimes interpreted as if I were confused.

Daydreaming: My brain is juggling with so many thoughts at once that I have to stop and pay attention to only one thought to make sense out of it. Disconnecting from reality to do so looks like I am daydreaming.

Processing information: My brain is constantly moving. Incoming information has to be properly processed. But, in my case, it feels like I have to file documents in an office where tennis balls are constantly thrown at me. I may look slow at understanding but, in fact, I am just losing so much time at keeping everything orderly that new information takes some time to be sorted out. Instructions are so painful!

Squirming: When my brain is either overloaded with mixed thoughts or when it threatens to set itself on the "energy saving mode", I start doing exercises on my chair. I have to pump some oxygen into it, otherwise I just shuts off. It pulls the plug on me!

Non-stop talking: Thoughts are zooming so fast in my head that it is hard for someone to keep up with me in a conversation. They say I'm talking so fast and so much that I make them feel dizzy! Again, I am aware of this. I understand their feelings and I struggle to do otherwise. It is not always a success and it results in another guilt stress.

Inappropriate: Being so mixed up in the head makes me say things out of context. Or, even worse, do something and realize the consequences after it's too late! How many times have I found myself taking stupid decisions that I could beat myself for! Where was my brain when I needed it?!? I don't even trust my own judgement. How can I expect someone to trust it?

Opposition: Things go too fast for me. Sometimes, in the understanding process, I may look defiant or stubborn. Deeply, I am not. On the line of fire, I don't have enough time to be analytic the way I'd like to be and it is often misinterpreted. Now, I say: I'll come back to you on this. People see I am agreeable - after enough thinking time. That's why I'm absolutely no good at arguing. I often am the losing party because of this LOL

All of this added up and my stress level sky-rocketed. Guilt feelings lead to anxiety. But there is hope! There is this medication called Methylphenidate (MPH) helping dopamine work better in the brain. It results, seemingly, in a better concentration level which allows a better organization of one's life. Just what I need because I'm just so desperate.

In 2001, I went to see my doctor with this disorganization problem. At the time, he wasn't favouring the chemical solution because, he said, I was able to cope with alternate mechanisms. It means I was able to multi-task and seemed to work around the problem in a satisfying way. Maybe it was true then but it's not working anymore. My life is crumbling around me because I cannot get organized appropriately. So, at 43, I went to see another doctor and spoke of the problem once more. This time, I have children to take care of - I am not alone in this turmoil. And genetics seem to transmit this fault to following generations: my kids are stuck with that too.

Along with the medication, a good organizational coaching is a useful complementary way towards succes. Have a look at Chantal Beaupré's site and let me tell you that she is a big part in my being hopeful.

Jean-François "Tuxdequebec" Néron
Tuxdequebec's blog
Tuxdequebec on Twitter

Waska's relaunch business plan and four jobs created

For the past 27 years, Waska has been operated mostly by volunteer workers. Some were paid by contract but for a very short period of time. The organization now engages in a major structural reform and prepares to hire four employees: three full-time and one part-time jobs will thus be created.

Aside from the job creation, Waska's relaunch business plan includes the opening of a new office somewhere in Quebec City's west end (boroughs of Haute-St. Charles, des Rivières and St. Foy-Sillery).

Waska continues to provide the same good services: empowerment workshops, learning workshops (computer learning and business language), office software technical support, web 2.0 conception and management, community dialogue, and the cybercafé. The new social economy business will revive its Theatre on Video (1983 to 1995) and add the new technical support service for computer repair and maintenance.

What makes Waska different is its welcoming atmosphere, its unique traditions and the way its office is decorated. Also, a major part of it is the social network of friends and mutual help that contributes to increase the positive thinking of Quebec City's people in need, help them regain dignity, empower them so they can become a pillar of the community.

You can read a summary of Waska's relaunch business plan (in French only for now) at http://waska.communautequebec.org/planderelance.html. You can also express your support to the cause by becoming a fan of Waska's page on Facebook.

Waska will submit the plan to the CLD towards the end of August or the beginning of September. Your support is welcome! Write to us at waskaquebec@gmail.com or phone us at (418) 407-3230.

Leveraging Social Media? Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and podcasts - what are all these internet forums and are they really applicable to non-p

Interestingly, it is the internet’s depth and vastness that mystifies many association executives. Sadly, I hear many associations express veiled excuses for not involving social media in their outreach efforts. Commonly thought of as the domain of Gen-Yers, and twenty-somethings, social media and internet viral marketing offer practical and sensible applications for all audiences. Social media strategy depends from case to case and will require an investment of time. Used correctly, social media can:

· Build networks and community, connect and mobilize members on the key issues confronting your association
· Build a donor base and gather emails
· Tell your story –Put a face and a personality to your organization
· Share information and resources quickly
· Promote brand and cause

If carried out correctly, viral web marketing techniques can be very effective in boosting your member list and getting your organization’s name and message out. Many non-profits are using “Tell a friend” buttons or links on their websites and email newsletters. Whether used for connecting or recruiting members and donors, and developing advocacy can take different channels through the various goals sought.

Recruiting members and soliciting donations:
The very essence of making online “friends” and developing a base of followers through social media extends this ability far beyond the reach of the amount of people or prospects you could physically reach in one day. With one of my charitable clients, the Success Factory, we have just begun an online campaign through Facebook to raise money and build word-of-mouth awareness for its employment training programs. Using the “Causes” application, Facebook is allowing board members and staff of this brand new organization in one full sweep to: 1.) Demonstrate the mission of the Success Factory, 2.) Engage other Facebook members to recruit their friends as supporters of the cause, and 4.) Allow a forum of communication for Success Factory supporters, thereby spawning the creation of new innovative ideas.

Facilitating communication between association staff, members, supporters and the board
The concept of sharing ongoing association business with the entire world on Facebook is less than appealing. To answer this situation, there are social media options such as Ning.com and Google Friend Connect that can create either a separate network for an association or integrate social networking elements right within an association’s website. The Canadian Table Soccer Association is one association that has effectively utilized Ning (http://tablesoccerca.ning.com) as an opportunity for members to connect, share ideas, and announce events.

Within an association website, there are means a communications team can take to ensure that it remains current and relevant for members. Using Google Friend Connect, a free set of customizable tools offered by Google, associations can embed html code within their website that easily invites friends from social networks and contact lists to visit and join your site.

If associations are not blogging, they need to begin. Integrating a blog into your web presence provides regular information for members and board to follow. For those associations less inclined towards a full blog, Twitter comes to the rescue offering a micro-blog option. Creating an account is free and each blog entry is limited to 140 characters. As a result, your association’s ability to be found in search engines is increased.

Building recognition with the Media and Influential Bloggers

The internet is crawling with bloggers on issues as vast as the internet itself. Social media also changes the presence of how non-profits present information to journalists. With the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), I have been working their media relations and internet teams to promote collaboration between these two fields. Journalists will also be kept up to date with every story development of via an RSS subscribe option. Even the delivery of traditional press releases changes with social media. Instead of the typical boiler plate press release, a photo was embedded along with clickable links over to the organization’s website. To best ensure the internet is leveraged as a communications vehicle, make sure the message you devise is clear, well presented, and easy-to-follow. This includes replying to personal messages and posting constant updates. Online profiles can be time-consuming, but their targeted visibility is unparalleled.
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Mark Buzan is Principal and Chief Magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service Strategic Communications, Public Relations and Public Affairs Consultancy for non-profits and associations. His blog can be found at: http://actionstrategies.blogspot.com

Become a Strategist - Learn Chess!

by Laura Sherman

Ever sat there with your head in your hands wondering what went wrong in your business? Could it be that you just missed “the right move”?

When you play many games of chess you learn to look ahead into the future and plan several moves deep. You learn to predict outcomes. Yes, the over-the-board lessons do translate to life.

I learned to play chess when I was a little girl. I loved the game, but hated losing. I was usually the youngest person at any tournament or club event I entered and was often the only girl there. As a result other participants would gather around my table and watch my games, interested to see what I could do.

Because of the added attention I played every game to the best of my ability, treating each battle as if everything was on the line. I spent a lot of energy on each move, making sure it was the best possible move I could make in the time allotted. And if I made a mistake in one game you’d better believe that I did everything I could to learn from that error, making sure I didn’t make it again.

I developed intricate plans and strategies, which had back-up plans in case I had missed something. Each move I made had more than one idea behind it, more than one tactic to ensure success and ultimately victory.

Now you might think with all this caution that I was a timid player. Not so! I was actually very aggressive and attacked my opponent’s king with gusto each game. I wasn’t afraid to sacrifice a couple of pawns or even a piece to get a glorious attack. I learned which sacrifices worked and which did not lead to a win, but I enjoyed the living-on-the-edge type games the most.

When you become experienced at chess and you care about the outcome, you develop good habits in life. Today I love a challenge and will take on mammoth tasks, but will think through every step carefully. I create back-up plans for my back-up plans and even some of those will have back-up plans. When it comes to business and marketing you can’t be shy. Put yourself out there - live on the edge. And it isn’t that I never make mistakes, but when I do, you’d better believe that I learn from them!

Laura Sherman founded Your Chess Coach (www.YourChessCoach.com) with her husband, Dan Sherman. Together they teach children to play chess through various schools in Pinellas County, Florida, as well as privately in students’ homes and online.

Tips for building a non-profit's email campaign list

I recently came across a great article non-profits abound need to consider in building their email outreach efforts. Take a look and let me know your thoughts:

A Little Something Extra
Mailing list incentives can be used by all organizations
by Ron Cates, Constant Contact Development Director, Southwest Region

We'd all like to think that all it takes to get someone interested in learning more about a nonprofit or another organization is a charitable nature. But sometimes it takes more than that to entice someone to join your mailing list or become a supporter.

Of course, when you don't sell something tangible -- products or food, for example -- you can't offer a two-for-one special or a percentage off. The good news is that even if you're a service business, there are ways to build your mailing list by offering something extra to a potential subscriber.

In the nonprofit world

For many nonprofits, the idea of giving something away for free runs counter to the mission of the organization, especially if someone hasn't yet made a donation. But so few nonprofits use an incentive to reach people that an organization that takes this route could easily differentiate itself.

One suggestion is to offer an item with your organization's logo on it for anyone who signs up for your mailing list -- a t-shirt, tote bag, hat, or something similar. This allows your organization's cause to be exposed to more people, and offers relatively low-cost promotion in places you may not be. After all, a nonprofit's goal is to raise money, and you can't do that without first raising awareness.

Another way to differentiate yourself is to offer a benefit to signing up. For example, hosting an event and only allowing email list members to get in, or finding a partner to match donations and saying you have to be on the mailing list for that to happen. If you're a membership-driven organization, like a YMCA, you could offer a free month or a discounted rate when people also supply their email address. You may find that these subscribers will waive the discount anyway because they want to support the group's mission.

Whatever you do, you don't want to dilute the mission of your organization, so you always want to bring it back to that. You also don't want to sound overtly commercial. In the messaging itself, talk about your mission: yes, you're going to send fundraising requests, but all the proceeds will go toward helping people with arthritis, for example.

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Mark Buzan is Principal and Chief Magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service Strategic Communications, Public Relations and Public Affairs Consultancy for non-profits and associations. Make sure to contact him for advice on reaching audiences you may or may not have yet considered in your marketing communications and PR campaigns. Drop him a line if you are looking for help in developing a public relations campaign. You can view his website at www.actionstrategies.ca.

Last SWAFF meeting of the season, May 14

It is already the last SWAFF meeting of the season before summer break. Already! Back in September and so on.

What/where is SWAFF?

It stands for "Soirées Web & Affaires" which means "Web & Business Evenings" which gathers people who want to talk about the web and business in the very casual atmosphere of "Mo Tavern" in Quebec City. It is held May 14, starts around 5:30 PM and lasts until 8:30 PM. It's free; you only pay for what you eat or drink. Click here for the map.

"Mo Tavern" is at 810 Charest Boulevard East, Quebec City (near the intersection of Dufferin Overpass and Charest Boulevard East, where the St. Roch Mall once existed). You can reach Stephane Guerin at 418-575-5424 or contact him by email at sguerin@percute.com. He's the sympathetic host of this gathering.

Who is SWAFF for?

It is for anyone interested - directly or indirectly - in e-business, in other words who is working with the Internet. From the newbie to the expert, employee, IT manager or comm's, contractor, entrepreneur, etc. Everyone is welcome!

The value of e-newsletters in a Web 2.0 age

I've been taking the last number of weeks and months to conduct my own social media experiment with clear tactics that deliver results for non-profits. Through my research, I've clearly found that the process starts with good content on a website that reflects the message you are wishing to convey. As such, I've been spending the last couple of weeks investigating ways to completely revamp and optomize both this blog and my website: www.actionstrategies.ca.

But this only explains one aspect of being effective on the internet. Social media for non-profits is undoubtedly a powerful tool. Reviewing what works most for non-profits, my experience tells me that when starting out, they rarely have a large following on the internet. In my mind, when starting our in Web 2.0 world, associations & charities need to consider as part of their strategy how they will build the "build up". This means also reviewing how they deliver e-newsletters because for non-profits there needs to be a strategy of "push & pull"

Once enough of a following can be build online, social media and internet optimization builds the pull-in of fans for a cause. The "push" however remains the e-newsletter. Gathering email lists and maintaining contact with supporters as I do with my own business' lists is what drives initial traffic to online presences. For a number of years, my current service of Constant Contact has been what I have relied on to get out the word (via "push") on what I've been up to and to drive traffic to even this blog.

However, in a time when I am reviewing both the look and design of this blog and my website, it's fitting that I would also at least look at the means I have of delivering the e-newsletters of the Magnifier & Corridors. I've come to an important conclusion that I'd like to impart upon non-profits looking to improve their online public relations and drive social media presence. Namely, I believe that e-newsletters, RSS feeds and blogging/ social media strategy need to come together.

In my humble view, Constant Contact does do enough to bring these services together. I'm making an important change. I'm moving the Magnifier & Corridors over to a new service will feed the RSS feed from this blog over to email. The service that allows this is MailChimp. Through the templates for the newer versions of my newsletters to you, every entry to this blog can incite an update being sent to your inbox of you are a subscriber. For NPOs who have time and cash strapped staff, I feel this feature will not only provide an importance efficiency, it will also magnify how you can pull it all together.

Going through this process of learning, I've also learned that with the appropriate e-newsletter system in place, you can even integrate social media tagging abilities within the emails you send. This means that you can have a much higher potential possibility of someone posting your articles within their social media profiles. Traditionally, most e-zines make you go to a website and from there, the visitor would need to tag the article in Facebook, YouTube, Delicious, etc. With the attentoin spans being as short as they are on the internet, the attrition rates of losing the valuable asset of visitors doing this are very high when they have to click through more than 2 pages.

But in my learning it's been more than just features that have attracted me to making a change. As I have often preached, content is king! In delivering a more effective e-zine, I have also been experimenting with richer & more effective means of content. Instead of going for initial lengthiness of newsletters, I'm going for emails that are SCANNED not read! I recommend the same crucial lesson for NPOs. This means that e-newsletters need to have article blocks that are shorter and PUNCHIER. In my discussions I have monitored amongst non-profit execs the common theme talked about was member info fatigue. Keeping emails short, I believe, improves open rates and improves the chances that links you place in the ezine will be opened as well.

While I still have some work to do, I hope to provide everyone here insight into how I progress in this great experiment for you. :) Let me know your thoughts!
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Mark Buzan is Principal and Chief Magnifier in Action Strategies, a full service Strategic Communications, Public Relations and Public Affairs Consultancy for non-profits and associations. Make sure to contact him for advice on reaching audiences you may or may not have yet considered in your marketing communications and PR campaigns. Drop him a line if you are looking for help in developing a public relations campaign. You can view his website at www.actionstrategies.ca.