A Blog of Her Own

OK, so on my way to work today, I noticed a flock of pink flamingos hanging out in a snow bank at Grant McEwan. I just figured someone there was unfortunate enough to have kooky friends who put them up for a birthday prank. That is, until I discovered a smaller flock hanging out in a snow bank in Winston Churchill Square.  I also noticed that people were taking some of these flamingos.

Well, since I figured there wouldn’t be any left later in the day, I wandered over to learn more. I was thinking “hey, cool art installation/project - put out birds and see how far they migrate.” Alas, I was disappointed. It was just a Telus marketing ploy. Something about their latest campaign that allows you to win stuff if you check their website. So, I didn’t take a flamingo home as a pet - if it had been the cool art installation, I was so going to participate.

For the record - all flamingos were gone from Churchill Square by 10am break time. So it was a good thing I checked them out on my way in to work.

Oh, and while I would have loved to take a photo, I had to pick today to leave it at home recharging. Sigh.

Thanks to my Books 24×7 notification, I discovered a book about improving Powerpoint presentations. I’ve been dissatisfied with my own presentations for years–I view Powerpoint as a necessary evil rather than a dynamic aid for presentations. But, of course, I don’t know how to improve.

After a conversation with a friend before Christmas, I started thinking about using storytelling to replace ‘presenting.’ However, since I’m a mathematician, not a storyteller, I’m pretty weak on the whole theory of how to tell a story. Enter today’s book find: “Beyond Bullet Points” by Cliff Atkinson. I’ve been viewing it through the University library’s Books 24×7 subscription but I’m clearly going to have to buy it this week. Atkinson actually helps you learn how to create a story and then how to develop your story into a powerful, persuasive, PowerPoint presentation (without bullets).

In exploring the book and it’s companion site, Sociable Media, I found Atkinson’s blog beyond bullets. And from a comment buried somewhere, I found this wonderful little document/presentation that probably appeals most to gamers and game developers.
theoryoffun.pdf (application/pdf Object)