Chris Morales

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Where have you run?

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Where have you run?

I've been very fortunate. Over the years on both business and personal travel, I've been able to run in some fabulous places. These are some of my favourite runs:

It's been very cold in Toronto since the start of the year. I mean frigid! Even with the -20 C windchill factors, it's not the coldest run I've ever been on. That distinction goes to an early morning run in Regina in February. The air temperature was -40 C. There was wind...it blew in from the Rockies one province over and got the effective temperature down to -60 C (that's what I heard on the radio when I got back in). It wasn't a long run...I made the rookie error of going out with the wind against my back and turned to run into the wind on my return...I barely made it back to the hotel!
There are not a lot of open spaces in Hong Kong. Correction: there are no open spaces in Hong Kong on either the Island or Kowloon Side. Kowloon Park was right outside our hotel. It's a small rectangle tucked amongst roads and high rise buildings. It's crowded and noisy even early in the morning. And humid! I had to run multiple laps to get in any real workouts. I loved it!
Everyone in Sydney, Australia loves physical activity. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration but on Coogie Beach (next beach down the coast from Bondi Beach) I had lots of company running along the beach front and trails that extend north and south of the main beach area. And what a route: from the sandy beach up rugged cliff trails, the pounding surf was never far away. I loved the sunrises!

I've had other great and memorable runs in Paris, France; London, England; Waikiki, Hawaii;Negril, Jamaica and cities and towns throughout Canada and the US too numerous to mention. I still have a few destinations to check off the running bucket list including Central Park, Himalayas, Death Valley...

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Twitter drives Endurance Event Registration

The best way to reach potential registrants to an Endurance Event (Marathon Running, Triathalons, etc) is via Twitter: 71% of the Twitter Chatter occurs before the event...this is the key to growing registrations. Especially for Destination Events where participants have to travel to attend (Reaching the $6,000 Runner through Social Media) The conversation revolves around anticipation of attending the event and preparing for it.

For a deeper look at this, the following Infographic provides a good overview:

This Infographic was published originally in this blog post from Eventbrite and Mashwork. Here is the link to the original article: Endurance Event Twitter Chatter.

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Chris M Morales
MarCommTO

chris.morales@bell.net

647 393 3855

Linkedin: Chris M Morales

The opinions expressed on this blog are my own and are not associated with any other group or organization

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The Toothache that stopped the Running

Yeow!

@#$%!!!

It started on December 30 with a toothache. Then developed into a Tsunami of Pain that stopped ThatRunninGuy in his tracks. And with no end in sight until next week, he's one cranky guy! The story.

On Tuesday, December 30, I experienced a mild pain below one of the molars in my lower jaw. I figured it was nothing special and didn't think to go to the dentist that day. "Heck...it was a day before New Year's Eve...I can wait until the new year".

By Tuesday evening I had graduated to Ora gel and Extra Strength Ibuprofen to manage the pain. Even though the pain was more intense I still figured I could manage it with over-the-counter pain medication.

I had a rough night Tuesday evening with getting up every every 4 hours to pop a couple more painkillers. By Wednesday I was taking them like candy! Still I figured I could manage until after New Year Eve...We had New Year's Eve party plans with friends and the kids were coming over New Year's Day for brunch.

Through all this I stopped running. Bouncing up and down in the severe cold weather didn't seem a smart idea...the only smart one I had displayed since delaying a trip to the dentist.

By Wednesday evening, New Year's Eve I was in constant pain. I had one beer at dinner with our friends and barely ate supper...a delicious combination of Chinese and Indian. I hoped to hold out until midnight but that was not to be. By 10:30 pm we said good by and headed home.

January 1, 2015 dawned brightly but that did not match my mood. It was clearly apparent that I had more than a tooth ache. I struggled through the day barely conscious of brunch with the kids. I think I had a glass of wine and some soup but the rest of the meal was a blur. The pain peaked that evening and by them I was chewing Tylenol 3's like Smarties.

Fortunately Friday morning my desperate call to the Dentist yielded an emergency appointment. I have never been happier to visit a Dentist that I was that morning. The news wasn't good: I had a broken tooth, a really big abscess and a dead tooth! The dentist prescribed Antibiotics first then a root canal and filling. OMG!

Today should be the end of the toothache that stopped my running...Root Canal later today. With that behind me, I have planned my official start to 2015 for January 14. Even though that means we'll be 14 days behind for the rest of the year, starting the year right with a bottle of bubbly and playing Auld Lang Syne will do the trick. Then it's back running.

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Thursday, January 8, 2015

How to engage more effectively with Social Influencers

The heart of Social Media Marketing is getting Influencers to 'spread the word'. Establishing and improving Social Media Engagement requires work but is fairly straightforward as laid out in the chart below: