Ricky Shetty's Blog, page 14
February 26, 2015
Laugh Again Cruise Conference 2015
For our wedding anniversary, Anne and I were debating where to go. Hawaii? Europe? Road Trip? After much dialogue and reflection, we both agreed that it would be awesome to go on a Cruise to Alaska! After all, I proposed at an Airport, got married on a boat, so why not an Anniversary on a cruise? So, a couple of weeks after our Canada Day Wedding, we headed to Canada Place and boarded a 8 day, 7 night trip-of-a-lifetime! Here’s a link to the Photo Album: Trip to Alaska – Pictures Since that memorable cruise, we have been big fans of the cruising world!! We have yet to take our kids but I’m sure we’ll be doing a Disney Cruise soon! What better thing to do than combine Laughter, Education, and Cruising? Thanks to Laugh Again, you can do all 3 on a Cruise Conference from March 22 – 29, 2015! Here are some more details: Come Aboard the Freedom of the Seas for Laugh Again’s 2015 Cruise Conference FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Back to the Bible Canada invites you to join us during March 22-29 for our second annual Laugh Again ministry cruise featuring special guest Phil Callaway. Join us aboard the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship for a week long cruise conference that is sure to leave you smiling, refreshed, inspired and renewed in your walk with Christ. On the cruise, you will be encouraged and challenged by renowned author, speaker and humorist Phil Callaway. The sessions will also feature biblical teaching from Ben Lowell, CEO of Back to the Bible Canada, and inspirational worship and special music from Canadian Christian artists Jay Calder and Amanda Stott. All are welcome: whether you’re married, single or want a getaway with family or friends, this will be a vacation of a lifetime. Starting in Port Canaveral, Florida, our ports of call include Coco Cay, Bahamas; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten. We’ve designed a cruise conference package with just the right balance of inspiration, entertainment and play to provide physically and spiritually refreshing personal and adventure time. It’s sure to be a spring vacation that you won’t soon forget! Tickets are going quick so make sure to book your spot before it’s too late. Call Toll-free 1 877 229 6155 to register. Prices range from $794 – $1394 (plus applicable port charges, taxes, and gratuities). The Laugh Again Cruise is the event of non-denominational Christian media ministry, Back to the Bible Canada. Established in 1957 and now located in Abbotsford, BC, it continues its transformational […]
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February 14, 2015
Social Media Mastery Conference
Excited to announce I’m organizing a massive Social Media Conference on Saturday, Feb 21, 2015 from 9 am – 5 pm at the Diamond Ballroom in Vancouver, Canada! After running years of events as well as organizing 6 workshops last year, I felt it was time for me to take it the next level and organize my own Conference! There will be 10 inspiring speakers, 10 awesome sponsors, 150+ of the top social media marketers in Vancouver, and some incredible opportunities for networking and community building! Here’s the link to register: http://www.SMMastery.com Here is some details about our 10 speakers: Ricky Shetty Ricky’s a veteran of blogging starting with his popular DaddyBlogger.com website. Ricky is also the founder of YVR Bloggers (with link to YVRBloggers.com), and he teaches aspiring bloggers how to get their first 500 daily blog visitors from scratch. Ricky will be sharing how he built up a successful brand around his blog and will be covering 10 ways to market your blog and 10 ways to monetize your blog. Ricky’s presentation’s are always content-rich and highly-practical! Matt Astifan Matt Astifan is the Founder of Web Friendly and is also a Facebook Marketing Expert, Social Media Speaker, and Director of Internet Masterminds. He runs regular workshops on building brand exposure using popular tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter. He developed the first Facebook Marketing program at Langara College and has been a guest lecturer at other schools including Capilano University, Simon Fraser University, Douglas College, and University of British Columbia. Matt is also a member of the Advisory Council at OMNI Television where he helps the station on its ethnocultural programming strategies and helps to identify sponsorship and advertising opportunities for the network. Wendy McClelland Wendy McClelland is a business pioneer; as one of the first small businesses to get online in the mid 1990’s, her first website was chosen by the NY Times as “one of the best biz sites on the ‘net”. She is an award winning entrepreneur as well as a past nominee for “Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year”. She has spoken to over 10,000 people in live audiences throughout western Canada and the U.S. Today she continues to adapt and innovate, while specializing in helping entrepreneurs find creative success strategies through her workshops, keynotes, corporate training and private consulting. Michelle Castillo Michelle is the founder and president of Castillo Media Group, an online marketing and web development company that helps growing, […]
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January 29, 2015
[GIVEAWAY] Family Pack of 4 Tickets to Mike the Knight
Our kids Rianne and Ryan are big fans of watching Mike the Knight on Treehouse TV so when we heard Mike the Knight was doing his first ever cross-country Theatrical Debut in a show called “Mike the Knight in the Great Scavenger Hunt”, we had to take the kids along to the show and of course let our readers know about the event! And…WIN TICKETS! We are giving one lucky Daddy Blogger reader a family pack of 4 tickets to see Mike the Knight on Sunday, Feb 15, 2015 at 1 pm at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver! Here are the details to win! a Rafflecopter giveaway Looking forward to seeing you at the show! Here are more details about the upcoming show: About Mike the Knight in the Great Scavenger Hunt! Koba Entertainment’s newest theatrical production, Mike the Knight in the Great Scavenger Hunt!, is among the producer’s long list of original stage shows, including Toopy and Binoo: Fun and Games, Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City Of Lost Toys and Max & Ruby in the Nutcracker Suite. Production of Mike the Knight in the Great Scavenger Hunt is led by award-winning choreographer and director Patti Caplette and writer Jennifer Beasley. Mike the Knight in the Great Scavenger Hunt! is based on the brand new CGI-animated series bringing the excitement and enchantment of medieval times into the life of the modern pre-schooler. Mike the Knight is a co-production between HIT Entertainment and Nelvana Studio, and airs internationally on Treehouse TV (Canada), Nick Jr. (USA), and CBeebies/BBC (UK). You can watch the video about the show here: Mike the Knight – National Tour Here’s the link to get tickets to the show: Mike the Knight in the Great Scavenger Hunt We look forward to seeing you there!
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[GIVEAWAY] 1 Free Ticket to Canadian Internet Marketing Conference
I first got into internet marketing through launching my Daddy Blogger website in 2012! I had no idea I was going to build up such a big following and create multiple streams of income through my blog! I am so glad that I started in digital marketing and love inspiring others in their internet marketing journeys. Since then, I have launched several websites, online products, kindle books, and will be launching my own Blog Mastery Academy Membership Site this February! Doing blogging, social media marketing, and internet marketing has been a huge blessing as I have been able to invest quality time in the lives of my two young kids Rianne and Ryan! Since internet marketing is always changing, it’s important to regularly go to conferences, workshops, and events to train yourself on what’s the latest in the world of digital marketing!! For the last few years, I have been attending Internet Masterminds every Monday to sharpen my skills on all the different areas of internet marketing and I even ran my own Blog Mastery Workshops 6 times last year in addition to my monthly YVR Bloggers events. Not only do I want to keep teaching, I need to keep learning – that’s why I get super excited to connect with other internet marketers (especially when it’s all in the same place)! I have the honour of being one of the speakers at the upcoming Canada Internet Marketing Conference from Saturday – Sunday, March 28 – 29, 2015 in beautiful Squamish (only one hour drive from Downtown Vancouver)! It’s a great chance to get away from the big city for a few days to learn from and connect with some of the best internet marketers in Canada and beyond! My good friends Darian Kovacs from Jelly Marketing and Christian Thomson from Marwick Marketing are the masterminds behind this incredible 2 day conference! Having worked with them over the past few years, I know they will over-deliver and leave you in awe! We are blessed to give away one lucky Daddy Blogger ticket a FREE ticket to the Canadian Internet Marketing Conference worth $449! Yes, $449! Looking forward to seeing you there! a Rafflecopter giveaway Details: On March 28-29, 2015, the Canadian Internet Marketing Conference will be your chance to leave the city behind and learn from 12 world-class speakers at the two-day internet marketing conference in the beautiful mountain area […]
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January 26, 2015
Frida’s Villa on Salt Spring Island
During our family travels, we are always on the lookout for unique and creative places to see and visit (and stay at)! When researching a good place to stay on Salt Spring Island, we came across Frida’s Villa. I’m sure most of you know the famous Academy-Award Winning movie Frida starring Salma Hayak. Plus, I’m sure some of you are familiar with the amazing work of Frida Kahlo. When we looked at all the pictures on the website, we knew we had to stay at Frida’s Villa!!
The owner Tracy Harrison was super accommodating. When our first dates we wanted didn’t work out, she made sure that we were able to find another date that worked for both us and them! It was perfect because we were able to start the New Year on a trip to Salt Spring Island staying at the beautiful Frida’s Villa for 3 nights! A lot of the time was simply relaxing, playing with the kids, watching movies, reading books, planning the New Year, exploring the island, driving to the tourist spots, and enjoying our home away from home!
There are 3 different places you can stay at:
i) Frida’s Villa (this is where we stayed)
ii) Frida’s Cottage (this is where we did the interview below with Tracy!)
iii) Frida’s Casita (a smaller more economical option)
Some of the highlights from Frida’s Villa:
1) The incredible attention to detail
2) The Frida ambience (it was almost like Frida herself decorated the villa!)
3) The feeling of being in Mexico!
4) The welcome Margaritas
5) The freezer full of breakfast items for the first few days
6) The amazing entertainment centre (lots to keep our kids busy!)
7) The outdoor Garden Hot Tub & incredible Ocean View
8) The proximity to Beddis Beach and Ganges (the main town in Salt Spring Island)
9) Family-friendly, kid-friendly, and pet friendly
10) The warm welcome and hospitality of Tracy and Carl
We did several videos during our stay here:
1) Frida’s Villa – Video Tour
2) Interview with Tracy Harrison
3) Frida’s Villa – Video Highlights
Here’s the link to get more info and book your stay:
Frida’s Villa on Salt Spring Island
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Trip to Salt Spring Island
Every year, around the Christmas and New Year break, we go on a Family Trip to get away, relax, and plan for the new year!
In 2011, it was Harrison Hot Springs.
In 2012, it was Whistler.
In 2013, it was Abbotsford.
Finally, in 2014, it was Salt Spring Island.
We stayed at the beautiful Frida’s Villa:
A lot of the time was just spent relaxing, playing with the kids, talking, and having fun! We also did some sightseeing going to all the corners of the island, drove to the top of Mt Maxwell to see the view, walked around Downtown Ganges (the main town in Salt Spring Island), and visited the Salt Spring Island Cheese Factory! My wife runs YVR Artisans so she loved visiting all the arts and crafts stores – she wants to come back and do the island tour visiting as many artisan workshops and shops she can!
Since it was overcast and raining off and on, we didn’t get to do and see as much as we wanted so we’ll definitely be back in the summer to check out more of this beautiful island! Salt Spring Island is famous for its’ Saturday Market which brings in hundreds of people from all the surrounding islands. We have heard a lot about it so this gives a big reason to come back and visit again! Plus, seeing a place in the summer and winter is an entirely different experiences. Perhaps, next time, we’ll go island hopping and explore a few of the Gulf Islands on the same trip!
Here are some of the highlights from our trip:
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January 25, 2015
Family Travel – 15 Trips in 3.5 Years!!
One of our passions is to do as much family travel as much!!
Since getting married, here are some of the places we have visited:
(2011-2012)
1) Honeymoon to Alaska (July 2011)
2) Harrison Hot Springs (Dec 2011)
4) Whistler (5x already, Dec 2012 - Cabin, Oct 2013 – Intrawest, Oct 2013 – Helicopter, July 2014 – Children’s Festival, Oct 2014 – Tech Show)
(2013)
*5) Aruba (Feb 2013)
7) Manila & Palawan, Philippines (May 2013)
8) Sunshine Coast (August 2013) &
Vancouver Island (August 2013 and May 2014)
*10) Winnipeg to Alberta Road Trip (Oct 2013)
11) Abbotsford (Dec 2013)
12) San Francisco (April 2014)
*13) Nashville (July 2014)
*14) Toronto (Sept 2014)
15) Salt Spring Island (Jan 2015)
* = Ricky went alone on Business Trips or Media/PR Trips
It’s amazing because we have gone on 12 Family Trips in only 4 years of marriage (roughly 3/year) plus 3 business trips so altogether 15+ trips!
Stay tuned for more family trips by subscribing to our email list!
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Vision Board Party at Westside Grand
Over the last few years, I have become a passionate advocate of Vision Boarding!! I helped organized Vision Boarding Parties for the past 3 years in 2012, 2013, and 2014 and this year, I was invited to speak at a Vision Boarding Party at Westside Grand organized by Genicca Whitney!
For those of you who missed last Sunday’s Vision Board Party with Genicca Whitney, here’ a link to all the Videos of the Presentations and Interviews!!
1) Diane Rolston Coaching from Dynamic Women in Action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45YRCkicWEc
2) Ricky Shetty from Daddy Blogger & YVR Bloggers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwGAbdbNoQE
3) Alanna Fero from Copia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zcvN_Jfgs4
4) Steely Springham from Active Body Nutrition Yaletown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMFAt3z_H_w
5) Aileen De La Torre from Spark Creations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBZ0UUdS3r0
Looking forward to seeing you at the next Vision Board Party!!
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January 10, 2015
Edward Lai Photography
When looking for a good Family Photographer, we consider a few different qualities:
1) Personalibility – how well does the Photographer connect with us and with our kids?
2) Creativity - how creative a photographer is he or she…in terms of posing, shots, and final results?
3) Experience & Expertise – how much experience and expertise does the photographer have in capturing families, couples, and kids?
With Edward Lai, we found that he met and exceeded our expectations.
First, Edward came over to our place to meet with us and immediately connected with us and our kids wanting to know our story and about Rianne and Ryan. It was family first, business second (people first, photography second)…just the way we like it! Having two young kids, he came to us instead of asking us to go to him – he definitely knew our needs as parents of young kids! You can also see how much fun he is having taking pictures of our kids in the video below!
Secondly, we found Edward to be highly creative and super professional – he even gave us a printed version of his portfolio. Most photographers would say “Look at my website” or “Look at my Facebook Fan Page.” However, Edward took the next step by giving us a personalized portfolio – it shows that he highly values his business and he highly values us and his other clients! Edward is also highly skilled at multiple types of photography including Daily Life, Engagement, Wedding, Family, Maternity, Children, Event, Fashion, Portrait, and more!
Check out some of his work on his website:
Thirdly, Edward stands out among other photographers by his numerous awards and recognitions by industry leaders and experts! There are hundreds of photographers in Vancouver but how many of them have the awards that Edward does? I’m impressed!
So, now, onto the Photo Shoot….how did it go and what did we do?
Since it was winter, it was hard to pick a good day to do an outdoor shoot because Vancouver has such unpredictable weather. We have never done a shoot at Stanley Park, so we opted to meet up at the Totem Poles and then capture some shots in and around the area. Since it was quite cold and windy, Edward was very patient with us taking off and putting on our kids’ jackets between different settings. Also, when Rianne was hungry, he came with us to the Coffee Shop and even got some good natural shots of her exploring the Souvenir Shop! I really liked his documentary style capture of the 1 hour photo shoot. After a quick bite to eat, we took some awesome shots of the kids playing with the leaves in front of the beautiful backdrop of Downtown Vancouver! We even let the kids ride Rianne’ tricycle together on the Seawall. We were amazed at how much they loved the leaves instead of the beautiful city view behind them!!
Within a week, Edward send us 50+ high resolution, fully edited pictures for us to use on our website, blog, social media, and print out as lifelong memories! For Christmas, we wanted to get a Canvas Print to give to our kids for their room and again, Edward send us the perfect picture for us to print out! The final gallery wrap looks incredible! In our digital age, it’s important to still print out pictures that you can touch and feel rather than just look at from a computer screen. When people come over that’s one of the first things they comment on – what an amazing picture and a great way to capture an incredible day!
We had an awesome experience working with Edward from our first meeting, to the photo shoot, to getting the final pictures. We would gladly work with Edward again and recommend him to our family, friends, social media network, and blog readers!
Edward is even giving a special “Daddy Blogger Discount” to any of our readers who book with him saying “Daddy Blogger sent me!”
Here are some of the final pictures from the photo shoot!!
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January 7, 2015
Get Set Go Entrepreneur Summit
My first major speaking engagement of the year will be on Sat, Jan 31, 2015 from 9 am – 5 pm at the Jewel Ballroom!
I’ll be sharing about how you can leverage a blog to build community!
You can get 30% of the regular price by using promo code “DaddyBlogger”:
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