Ian Rankin visits Ottawa

 
Ian Rankin was in Ottawa to speak at Writersfest, where he thoroughly entertained his numerous fans; he is a witty, intelligent and down-to-earth guy. He is shown here, during his book signing, with the esteemed Kim McArthur, a legend in her own right in Canadian publishing.

General Rick Hillier

 
Rick Hillier hosted a launch party November 3 at Nicholas Hoare for his book "A Soldier First". This book seems to be flying off the shelves; he told us about the hours of lineups at the various book signings he has already had. He was kept busy from the time he arrived, signing books for the long lineup of friends and colleagues. He is truly a good, honest and brave man who deserves the respect of every Canadian. One of his sons is in Afghanistan right now; he commented that our sons might run into each other at some point. This book is now signed for Dan and on its way to Afghanistan.

FYI

John W. MacDonald - Ottawa Photographer - Interview | Literary Photographer

John W. MacDonald - Ottawa Photographer - Interview | Literary Photographer

An Honourable Calling

A major snowstorm hits Ottawa December 9, causing already congested roads to become parking lots. But there was a book launch, “An Honourable Calling” by Allan Blakeney, and there was no question but that it was going ahead. So after a while sitting in the parking lot that was the Parkway, I arrived at the National Library & Archives. Of course, the weather held up a lot of people; one gentleman bounced in and exclaimed "Typical Saskatchewn weather!" ....so that explains it, eh? Even Mr. Blakeney himself had a hard time getting there; no cabs to be found, so he had had to walk a good many blocks.
However, as Allan Blakeney's interview began with the Hill Times reporter(only a little later than the planned 5:30 start), the room began to fill up, to the point that more chairs were put out; well over 70 people. Amazing community of supporters, those prairie people, and the interview was excellent. All copies of the book were sold. An impressive launch!

Mini Book Expo: The Way Ahead

Tom Brzustowski is so highly regarded that it seems impossible to contradict anything he has written. Accordingly, I will not write about my first impressions of his book “The Way Ahead: Meeting Canada’s Productivity Challenge”. Just let me state that the author claims this is written “for members of the general public”, but keep in mind that the general public the author seems most familiar with are fellow academics and a large smattering of those in politics. It reads like a university text, complete with jargon and diagrams that are designed for powerpoint presentations. It is not a text for a business manager who wishes to find something about productivity for his business.
The theme, broadly speaking, is that Canada must move from a commodity economy to a knowledge-based, value-added economy. Starting off with a look at Canada’s place in the world, using a few familiar parameters (age, population) with an added focus on science & engineering, we don’t seem to be any worse off than other countries (in spite of the author’s complaint that we do not earn enough advanced degrees). One finds all the standard charts and data, all to say government should expand its role beyond supporting research and sharing risk on some industrial R&D to helping Canadian companies bring new products to world markets. Apparently we have known this since the Porter Admonition of 2002. However hard I looked, I found Canada’s productivity challenge is no different than for any other country, insofar as this book is concerned. What we must do is what any country must do to keep abreast internationally and it appears that we are doing ok. Even where the author claims there is a problem, it seems to evaporate. Take this example, following on from the above quote:
“…substantial differences arise only when we look at the ways in which university research is connected with wealth creation” and so we do, and we find “the Canadian record for commercializing inventions resulting from basic research is good” (p107). So, in fact, what we are dealing with is not a problem, but a desire to increase what we are already doing. It is high-level, stating Canada needs more of what it already does in areas such as R&D and “the government must do something about this”. I am sure the author did not mean to leave that impression, but that statement concerned me, because we hear that all too often, and it is not a statement that inspires action. It is expecting someone else to do something, and you know, that is a productivity problem right there.

Guerrilla Marketing book review

Guerrilla Publicity did not attract me for its title (nor the camouflage design on the cover) but its contents were well worth reading. The authors had an established reputation with the publication of the original edition and this one is a great update. If you have anything to do with publicity, this book is a valuable reference. Whether you need to pitch yourself, communicate with the media, find publicity ideas, this book will help; it also includes reality checks to help the reader become more professional - and realistic. It is up-to-date, including information about e-marketing, podcasts, blogging (even blog tours, something new to me).
I definitely recommend this book as an invaluable reference.