Jenn Writes

Tag: Influencer

  • Word Wednesday: A rewarding experience

    Word Wednesday: A rewarding experience

    It’s been a few busy weeks and sadly, my beloved Word Wednesday posts have paid the price. Today I deliberately sought out some time because I wanted to post about an amazing experience I had in the summer that led directly to an amazing experience I had last week – and I wanted to do it while the memory was still fresh in my mind.

    In August, I was invited to participate in an amazing influencer retreat – #LetsGoRama by the lovely ladies at SJ Consulting. I learned a lot but also had an amazing time just chilling by the pool with friends. The magic of that retreat still hasn’t worn off. I loved going to Casino Rama for concerts before the retreat – for me it’s the same amount of driving to go up to Rama or to go into Toronto, but one is a much more relaxing drive (and has free parking and only 5000 seats in the venue!) and the retreat introduced me to new experiences within the casino. I didn’t realize there was a saltwater pool, steam room, sauna, hot tub, or amazing exercise facility that is available to anyone who stays in the hotel or customers of the spa that is also located in the hotel.

    4 pictures of Casino Rama Resort:Clockwise from top left: the hotel lobby, a guest room, the pool, the amazing sculpture above the main lobby - a school of tin fish in a spiral
    Clockwise from top left: the hotel lobby, a guest room, the pool, the amazing sculpture above the main lobby

    I signed up for a Player’s Passport Card while at the conference – it’s a rewards card for the Casino and it’s free. You can earn points with it when playing on the electronic gaming machines (like slots or video poker), and you can earn free food, concert tickets, or even a night’s stay at the hotel.  I managed to earn a free night at the hotel that I could use on a non-weekend night, and the amazing PR person for the Casino offered all of the influencers at the retreat a pair of tickets to any concert in 2016. I’d already bought tickets for a few events that I was interested in, so I asked if the tickets could be for the Radio for Cardiology benefit concert featuring the Trews and 54-40. Not only was the concert featuring two bands I love, it benefited a cause close to my heart: getting a cardiac catheterization lab for Barrie’s Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) so that everyone in Simcoe-Muskoka would be able to receive lifesaving treatment within the 90 minute standard. (I made a donation to the cause since I didn’t actually pay for the concert tickets.) I had already been tweeting and posting about this amazing concert and it was amazing when I was told that yes, I could use my free tickets for that event.

    I messaged my friend Crys and asked if she wanted to come with me and stay over the night before the concert. Crys agreed and we had a lovely 28 hour stay. We ate amazing food and neither Crys who has Celiac disease and is gluten free nor me who has multiple food allergies felt there was a lack of choice while eating in any of the 3 restaurants we ate at. I had also earned some dining credits so some of my food was covered. We spent some time at the casino itself, and the afternoon was spent relaxing (and talking shop) by the pool. Then it was time for dinner and the concert.

    2 guitarists, a bass player, a piano player, and a drummer on stage with multi coloured lights
    54-40 rocking out

    The concert was amazing. It started at 8pm with a local band – Code Blue – made up of doctors from RVH and they played a selection of cover songs that delighted the audience. Then came 54-40 and I was instantly transported back to my teenage years when I listened to a lot of Canadian music, particularly 54-40 and Great Big Sea. They played all of their hits, and the audience sang along to most of them. After a short break, the Trews took the stage. If you haven’t seen the Trews play live, you’re missing out. There are some bands that are just so amazing to listen to live and the Trews are one of those bands. Between the 3 bands and the two short intermissions, the concert lasted 3.5 hours! It was far better than I had imagined it would be.

    The Trews - 2 guitarists a bass player and a drummer, during Highway of Heroes. There is a projection behind them with the band name
    The Trews, during Highway of Heroes.

    All in all it was a great getaway and sorely needed for me. The fact that my hotel stay was covered as a guerdon – icing on the cake. Full confession, I’ve been trying to figure out how to use guerdon in a post for awhile now – it’s not a common word and although the definition is pretty easy to understand, it doesn’t fit easily into conversation. However, I like the way the word sounds. Guerdon means a reward or payment, and was first used in literature by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th Century. It is vastly underused today but was brought back to my mind when it was the Word of the Day on Merriam-Webster at the beginning of October.

    The derivation of guerdon is – wait for it – Latin, however there is Old French and old High German mixed in there for effect. The root words of the word are: Old French guerredon – reward or recompense, Old High German widarlon – recompense, and Medieval Latin donum – gift. So the word has a really neat etymology and I felt like I should share it.

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    Guerdon guer·don noun

    1. A reward, recompense, or requital.

  • Word Wednesday – Escape

    Word Wednesday – Escape

    Even though I work (at least partially) alongside the education system, I don’t really go “back to school”. Still, it’s a new beginning – and as the song says “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”. So Labour Day has just passed, and summer is coming to a close and every store has Hallowe’en decorations up, except Costco who has decided to go one better (worse?) by having Christmas trees for sale since July. Pens and pencils and pretty books to write in are going on sale which makes me very happy and also means I should actually brave one of the stores sooner rather than later so that I don’t miss out on pretty things to write with or in being on sale. Still, I’m always a little sad at the end of summer, and wish it would hang on for a little longer before the leaves change.  The crisp, cool, morning air on the other hand, could start any time now. It currently feels like a sauna when I step out of my doorway, hot and very humid – another in a string of hot and humid days that seem to have characterized this summer here.

    I like to try to spend time at my cottage during the summer – but this year I also wanted to explore some of the areas around my cottage that I haven’t before. We take highway 11 to the cottage, starting at the bottom and continuing up to Bracebridge where we turn off and head east towards Haliburton. I’ve driven through Barrie and Orillia hundreds of times, and have even been to a dozen or so concerts at Casino Rama but had never really explored the venue beyond a quick bite to eat before a concert. When the lovely ladies behind SJ Consulting announced that there would be a retreat for Bloggers and Influencers at Casino Rama in August, I was excited.  Not only have I been curious about the casino, the hotel, and some of the other restaurants, but the ladies putting on the conference are some of my favourite people so I knew I had to apply.  I was fortunate enough to be chosen to attend, and have an amazing experience.

    A welcome board with the words Welcome to Let's Go Rama on a sign.
    Photo courtesy of Stacey Martin.

    I’m going to write a full on review of the amazing time I had at the #LetsGoRama retreat in another post (or maybe two) but the biggest takeaway I had from the retreat – and there were a lot of amazing things that I learned during the 3 days I was there, is that we all need a little escape every so often. The retreat was almost an un-conference – we did some deep dives into topics ranging from the future of influencer marketing to how to make a media kit in the mornings, but the afternoons and evenings were completely free. Some of us caught up on work, some of us networked, some of us went to the spa or pool, and some of us did all of the above. It was amazing and gave me a chance to recharge my batteries as needed instead of my usual conference protocol of coming home completely exhausted and not wanting to speak to anyone for at least 48 hours. As a social-introvert, I love being with people in small groups (and 40-50 is about my maximum so the conference was perfect for that), and for short bursts of time. I can do a whole day but I’d really rather not because I’m just so *done* by the end of it. Having the mornings be all about learning with everyone and the afternoons and evenings being time that I could spend as I chose was PERFECTION.  I need to escape groups of people – not because there’s anything inherently wrong with the group but because otherwise I become overwhelmed and stressed out and generally don’t enjoy myself.

    There were so many chances to escape and connect at the retreat. I’m going to have to dedicate a whole post to the amazing ways Casino Rama pampers their guests, and how I conquered a buffet despite my allergies, but for now I want to focus on my favourite place to escape – the pool.  The pool area of the hotel is free for the guests of the hotel, but anyone who books a spa treatment can also use the pool for the day. The pool itself is salt water – which I loved because it’s so much easier on my skin and bathing suit than a chlorine pool – and has a wall of windows on one side to the outdoor patio. Now, being fair skinned and not a fan of the heat, I didn’t spend a lot of time out on the patio for fear of turning into a tomato, however I noticed a lot of my compatriots quite enjoyed it. I’m part fish. I love swimming and pools so I spent my downtime in the water. I also spent some time in the eucalyptus steam room – which was heavenly. There is also a hot tub over by the pool but I’m not big on hot tubs so I didn’t test that out either. All told I spent about 2 hours in the pool and another 20 minutes in the steam room – split into 2 visits.  It’s worth going to the hotel at Casino Rama just for the pool.

     

    A swimming pool with loungers beside it and a wall of windows
    The pool – with the windows to the rooftop patio. Credit Ann Bacciaglia

    My favourite part of the whole pool experience though wasn’t the swimming with friends and floating leisurely in the pool, or even the mad giggles in the steam room with Sherri and Christine (I wish I could remember what was so funny, though it probably wouldn’t be as funny without the company or the setting). No, what made my inner swimming nerd incredibly happy was seeing this in the changing room.

    A swimsuit dryer -which is a box on a wall with a metal lid and a poster that has instructions for using it.
    Image Courtesy of Casino Rama Resort

     

    For those who don’t know what this is or why I was so excited – it’s a swimsuit dryer. For me, nothing ruins my zen like realizing I haven’t brought a plastic bag to put my wet swimsuit in, and having said wet swimsuit drip all over my other stuff going back to my room (or home or wherever I’m going). I also wanted to go back in the pool later, and anyone who has tried to put on a wet bathing suit knows how much of a struggle that can be. With this magical little gadget, you just open up the lid, place the swimsuit inside (one at a time) and press the lid down firmly for about half a minute. The Suitmate spins all the water out of your swimsuit and poof – almost completely dry swimsuit in under a minute. Yeah, it’s not a big thing in the grand scheme of things, but it was just one more thing that signalled to me that the people at Casino Rama Resort got me. It made my escape that much better knowing I could have a swim on my last day and not have to take a wet swimsuit back with me. Sometimes the little things really do matter.

    There’s so much more I want to say about my escape at Casino Rama for the #LetsGoRama retreat, but I’m already running long and off on tangents so I’ll end here with a little history of the word escape. It’s another one with a Latin root (I know… I’m a creature of habit) – and dates from the 13th century. The root words are ex – meaning out, and cappa – meaning a head covering or cloak.  So to escape something is literally to get out from under it. I think that’s pretty cool.

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    Escape (es·cape)

    Verb

    1.  To break free from confinement or control.
    2.  To elude or get free from someone or something.
    3. To succeed in avoiding or eluding something dangerous, unpleasant, or undesirable. {Escaping serious harm}
    4. To fail to be noticed or remembered by (someone). {The word escapes me …}

    Noun

    1. An act of breaking free from confinement or control.
    2. A form of temporary distraction from reality or routine.

     

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