Due to scheduling conflicts, our September 2nd event on Internet Privacy will now take place on Thursday, October 7th.

Stay tuned – we’ll post information about the time and location as it becomes available.

Thank you for your interest and we apologize for the inconvenience.

And watch this space – in the next few days we’ll be announcing a new, exciting event slated for September 16th that’s guaranteed to appeal to the geek (and gourmet) in all of us!

Photo: bejealousofme

Hardly a couple of months seem to go by without Facebook introducing a new privacy setting. Case in point: yesterday, the social network introduced its “Places” feature, which allows us to “check-in” at venues (à la Foursquare and Gowalla).

However, all this sharing of information means that your Internet privacy is more vulnerable than ever. How can you protect yourself? How do you stop ID thieves and criminals from stealing your private data?

In this presentation on September 2nd, Social Media Club Vancouver will share tips and tricks for keeping your data safe.

The event will happen from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Tickets: $10 to cover the cost of the venue.

Location and more details will soon be announced. Stay tuned for more details!

Summer in Vancouver isn’t the only thing that’s sizzling. Geotagging and mobile location services are hot!

On August 5th, Social Media Club Vancouver, in association with Nokia Canada, is taking social media out of the office and into the great outdoors for its first Digital Scavenger Hunt. More specifically, to Trout Lake Beach, in an event that everyone will enjoy.

Bring your mobile phones and cameras, and get ready to scour neighbouring spots for clues. The digital scavenger hunt is family-friendly and there’s no cost to attend. Mobile media mavens from Social Media Club Vancouver and Nokia Canada will be on site to guide participants on how to use mobile location tools to win prizes.

The event will run from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Trout Lake Park is easily accessible via Skytrain, and Nokia Canada will be on site demonstrating their latest phones. Some of them are so user-friendly that even a five-year old could operate them!

And the last one to check in on Foursquare is out! (Just kidding…)

Yes, it’s a bad 70′s song but everybody likes it, so there!

A Brazilian, an American, and a Mexican walk into a bar...

and walk out two hours later as friends

That’s how it went, folks. Sure, it was nice having the government declare Tech Karaoke night a national holiday (fireworks? really? you shouldn’t have!) although it did leave attendees a little thin on the ground. It was great to see the usual suspects displaying some unusual aural talents, in particular Kemp Edmonds, who apparently knows the lyrics to every song ever written and CANNOT BE RESTRAINED in the presence of a karaoke machine. That alone makes it a cinch we’ll be doing this again.

Heather Watson sings the grand finale at Tech Karaoke YVR

We also have to give a shout-out to the lovely and talented Miss Heather Watson, who is known up and down the East Side as the queen of Vangroover’s most competitive karaoke-fests, and for good reason. Where Kemp got the party started, Heather sang our grand finale, leaving the crowd somewhat speechless in appreciation; nobody expected real pipes on karaoke night!

I think Dennis (Tuffy) said it best: that’s the thing about Canada. You see people from all different backgrounds, all different races getting together and just having fun. Dennis joined us from the toasty environs of Phoenix, Arizona, while I think the next farthest-traveller only came from Steveston, but all were welcome, and a good time was had by all, except maybe the few who had to read their lyrics in white six point Times New Roman against a purple and black background of a crowd at a disco. Yeah, maybe not so much fun for them.

Till the next time! Tech Karoke: be there, or be…bi-laterally congruently rectilinear!

STOP! in the name of love!

pix courtesy Guacira Naves of OnlineStrategy and Cathy Browne

Photo credit: ldandersen (through Flickr)

Now you have a valid excuse for singing in the shower: start rehearsing for Social Media Club Vancouver’s Tech-Inspired Karaoke!

Join us at On The Edge Pub on July 1st from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm and release the Sinatra or Beyoncé within. After 9:00 pm, it’s open-mic at On The Edge. Canada Day, karaoke and social media. It doesn’t get much better than that!

To get you inspired, our friend Rob Jones has compiled a list with some of the best tech-themed tunes of all times:

Mr. Roboto – Styx
Video Killed The Radio Star – The Buggles
Turn It On Again – Genesis
Cars – Gary Numan
Paranoid Android – Radiohead
Pocket Calculator – Kraftwerk
Radio Gaga – Queen
Radio Sweetheart – Elvis Costello
Listen to the Radio – Pukka Orchestra
Space Oddity – David Bowie
Cooling the Medium – Martha & the Muffins
Red Barchetta – Rush
Hanging on the Telephone – Blondie
Kodachrome – Paul Simon
IGY – Donald Fagen
Airwaves – Thomas Dolby
The Passenger – Iggy Pop
I Don’t Like Mondays – Boomtown Rats

Those are just some suggestion, but fear not – you’ll also be able to sing the karaoke classics that we have all come to know and love.

RSVP and spread the word about the event through Facebook.

On The Edge Pub is located at 303 Columbia Street. There is NO COST for this event, so let’s have some fun!

Tweetup @policemuseum June 2. 6:00 to 9:00pm Special Guests, Social Media Club Founders @chrisheuer Chris Heuer and @kritiewells Krisite Wells. http://j.mp/aZkGJ8

Read it as it happens live! Feel free to comment!

Clear your calendars for Social Media Club Vancouver’s second event, on May 27th (Thursday)!

The topic: Social Media 101 – strategy, Business Intelligence & Metrics
The venue: The Coworking Gallery at Building Opportunities with Business – 163 East Pender Street, Vancouver, BC
The time: 6:00 pm
The speakers: Guacira Naves (@OnlineStrategy), Tris Hussey (@Tris Hussey) and Kemp Edmonds (@kempedmonds).

Admission is $15 and helps to cover the cost of the venue, food and refreshments.

RSVP and book your ticket through Eventbrite, below. Space is limited, so don’t wait until the last minute!

John Biehler, "Rings of Memory"

Who: The Social Media Club of Vancouver in partnership with the Vancouver Blogger’s Meetup

What: Olympic Lessons: a panel discussion of social and antisocial media lessons from the Olympics

When: 7pm – 9pm Thursday, March 18th

Where: BOB Coworking Space, 163 East Pender Street, ground floor

Why: To review expectations vs outcomes in the context of social and traditional media coverage of a large, high-profile, complex, and geographically dispersed event.

TOPIC: Lessons of the Olympics: What Social Media Taught Us

A panel of social media and media experts will discuss the lessons social media taught us during the Olympics, and offer some takeaways to help you and your organization deal comfortably with the next huge, complex event to come our way (and you KNOW there will be another).

Our panel features:

• Kirk LaPointe, Managing Editor of the Vancouver Sun, journalism professor, and blogger
• John Biehler, citizen journalist, photographer, blogger and True North Media House member
• Laurent Piche, co-founder of Improv Everywhere Vancouver, flashmob impresario
• Colin Horgan, columnist at the Guardian and Olympic beat blogger for True/Slant
• Jonathan Narvey, freelance journalist, copywriter, blogger, co-host of the Vancouver Blogger’s Meetup
• Shane Birley, author of Blogging for Dummies, blogger, co-host of the Vancouver Blogger’s Meetup
• Moderator Colleen Coplick, founder of Type-A PR and the MissManifesto network

REGISTRATION AND TICKETS TO THIS FREE EVENT HERE

If you cannot attend, you can watch our panel on our livestream channel.