Cursive Communications

The Afghanistan Challenge

2009-05-15T15:20:00.006-04:00

The Afghanistan Challenge is a partnership between CARE Canada, MEDA, Rotary International, WUSC and the Government of Canada. Together, these organizations are challenging Canadians who want to personally help to get involved in efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.

I have been working on this website since I began my contract with CIDA in late January 2009. We officially launched the site yesterday morning, with a nice press event at TELUS's headquarters in Ottawa. You can read the press release to learn more.

What I love about this project is the fact that for the first time, the average person can directly help the people of Afghanistan, by directing money to a development project they believe in or towards an organization that they feel will do the most good. Plus the Government of Canada is matching 100% of that donation, so whatever amount you can manage to give, it's like you gave twice as much. Plus for people who are really keen to act, to do more for a situation that often seems hopeless, there are tips and tools to help them start their own fundraisers.

I feel very proud to be part of such an effort. I have met a lot of interesting people through the Afghanistan Challenge: the communications teams of our partners (Care, WUSC, MEDA and Rotary International) plus more of the ATF staff. I am keen to see how the country reacts to this initiative and how their engagement can change the landscape of development, the policies and projects, and how it will get people to think about the way they interact with their government.

Here is the video our team developed to tell people about the Afghanistan Challenge and encourage them to visit the site. I hope you will too - www.afghanistanchallenge.ca. Please feel free to share this post.

Plans change, priorities shift

2009-02-09T22:44:00.002-05:00

Cursive's course has shifted slightly, and we'll be continuing on contract with the Canadian International Development Agency's Afghanistan Task Force (CIDA ATF) until the summer of 2009 instead of rejoining DFAIT's eCommunication group, for a marketing communications project management role.

Concurrently, the smaller project for DFAIT's Legal division is underway, contracts signed. The first draft is underway and should be ready for client approval at the end of the week.

The writing is a welcome change, it is always nice to return to crafting content.

Here's hoping you have been enjoying a creative and successful year so far!

Economic crunch, budget blues and the power of positivity

2009-01-15T08:39:00.002-05:00

The economic environment and pending recession are playing havoc with the job market. Drastic deadlines, especially in the case of the CLF 2.0 deadline for the Treasury Board Secretariat, called for some drastic budget expenditure - not without fall-out. Cursive Communications and nearly a dozen other contractors had contracts cut short due to a budget over-spend in Quarters 2 & 3; prudent planning and spending are the theme for Q4 and beyond.

Despite the unexpected change, as soon as word got around that Cursive was free again, four new contracts materialized. It is easy to become pessimistic about a small company's future when bleak words like "budget cuts", "lay offs", and "bankruptcy protection" are in the headlines constantly.

I had a strong belief that in all the crises there would be some opportunties with Cursive's name on them. This simple positivity paid off. In fact, due to time constraints we will only be taking up three of the four contracts. They should all prove to be interesting learning opportunities. On Monday, Cursive's services will be used by the new media shop at the Canadian International Development Agency's Afghanistan Task Force (CIDA ATF) which builds nicely on top of the 2008 contract with DFAIT's Afghanistan Task Force. A concurrent, smaller project will help create a legal information portal for another Department's website. Before the end of fiscal, Cursive will shift gears with a slightly longer contract back at DFAIT's eCommunication group, dealing with marketing communications and products as well as project management.

2009 is proving to be an eventful year - may all of you enjoy even greater successes in the coming months. Happy New Year!

Staying the course

2008-08-16T02:15:00.002-04:00

So it looks like I'll be staying on with the Interwoven team at DFAIT until next year, as the contract with Cursive has been extended into 2009, which could translate to mid-February depending on how many late nights lay ahead.

My content migration project deadline is December 31, 2008 and so far my team is doing an amazing job at hitting targets. As my first foray into people management on this scale, I have learnt a great deal from my peers and experienced colleagues. I have enjoyed the challenge of juggling 15 people between any number of concurrent site launches, ensuring that the team is working to capacity and that no site is under-serviced during our launch cycles.

There will be a two-week hiatus at the start of September, as we take a break and visit family on the other side of the world. Until the next post, enjoy your summer and make the most out of the sunshine.

Contracts, Clients and the spaces in between

2008-05-01T21:59:00.005-04:00

My current contract, as Web Advisor for the Rebuilding Afghanistan website -- a whole of government site host by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) -- ends in two weeks.

I have been very privileged to work with such diverse and talented people at DFAIT, as well as my new Afghanistan Task Force peers at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department of National Defence (DND), and the Privy Council Office (PCO).

I will be sad to leave an amazing team at the Afghanistan Task Force that hired Cursive Communications for the five week gap between contracts, but I will continue to work with the department doing some large scale project management for the enterprise solution content management system, Interwoven.

As of August 30, 2008 Cursive will be looking for new clients. If you are interested in becoming a fan of Cursive Communications, check out our page on Facebook®.

Booked until April 1, 2008

2008-02-03T16:34:00.000-05:00

Happy, slightly belated, New Years! 2008 started in high gear. Many plane rides, flying from the Pacific coastline, over the Rockies and back to the capital within six days, put me in the right mindset. The day after my Christmas vacation ended, my next contract began.

I have been hired again by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as a project manager until the end of fiscal. The work is interesting - spanning presentations, large site mergers, information architecture, client liaising, an annual report and people management.

It is always nice to be busy.

There is a possibility of moving into another role within the department on April 1st, but I would like to keep my options open. Before accepting the current contract, I was offered three other roles within DFAIT. There is plenty of work to be done, it is really just a matter of finding the most challenging role in the best working environment.

I hope to have some sample URLs to highlight when I post again. Until then, may all your endeavours be creative and successful.

From contract to contractions and back again

2007-11-29T19:21:00.000-05:00

I feel like it was just a few weeks ago that the summer was starting, and I was completing my DFAIT projects, ready to embark on a new phase of life.

My big project for the summer went very well. We successfully brought a new life into the world with the help of the staff at the Queensway Carleton Hospital in May. Young infant with an old soul is a good description for him, that, and giant.

Now I have the challenge of moonlighting in 2008, tearing myself away from a full-time job of caring for my baby boy, while providing editorial services to clients. Truth be told, motherhood is the contract with no end in sight but perks like you wouldn't believe!

So it's official: Cursive Communications is actively looking for contracts starting January 10, 2008 both in the National Capital Region and telecommuting . Spread the word, and if I don't post again before the new year - Happy Holidays!

Extensions and changes

2007-03-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

The Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada project is going well. I'm very pleased with the progress we've been making with internal clients, and the team is pleased with me. My contract has been extended until May 9th.

After this contract, Cursive Communications will be taking a six-month hiatus. With the exception of small projects, of course, my time will be dedicated to nurturing the newest member
of our team. Motherhood is not a bad segue to mention today is International Women's Day.

Read what Amnesty International is doing to celebrate the cause. More information is also available on the United Nations website.

Happy creativity, one and all.

New year, new clients

2007-01-02T17:54:00.000-05:00

Soon after my last post, Cursive Communications was hired by an Ottawa agency to work for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) until end of fiscal (March 31, 2007). The work itself is very interesting, and on a personal note, it is a dream come true to work for Foreign Affairs. When I was younger, I fancied a career as a diplomat - probably because of all my friends who were daughters of diplomats in India.

We were blessed with mild weather both in Edmonton and Windsor, which made the vacation all the more agreeable. I've had a fantastic holiday but I am also very glad to be back in Ottawa.

In other news, I also have a buyer for one of my larger paintings, currently housed in Burlington. Another company called to ask about my availability this afternoon, and this could turn into a freelancing opportunity for April. Needless to say, 2007 is proving to be very interesting already and we're only two days into it.

Here's wishing all the visitors of the Cursive Communications blog a very prosperous 2007 filled with joy and good health.

Winter plans

2006-12-01T03:43:00.000-05:00

The year is now deliriously close to the end. Everyone around me has the holidays on the brain. The news reports say more and more people call in sick at this time of year just to catch up on shopping and getting ready to deck their halls.

Cursive Communications will be taking a small break too; I will be travelling around within the country, but still easy to contact by email, etc. This isn't until mid-December though. In the meantime, I will still continue to network locally and liaise with agencies in the hope of lining up work for 2007.

The project with the Canadian Television Fund is on hold until January 2007. November proved to be a curious month, with many projects dangled before me - more than the entire year combined - but sadly none came to fruition. The upside of all this is that many government clients will start a slurry of contract hires, between now and January, that will all end on March 31, 2007. I remain confident that Cursive Communications will find new clients during this hiring frenzy.

NaNoWriMo was not the smash success I thought it would be. Once again, I did not reach the desired 50K word count but I also lost my focus very early on this year. Character and plot development require such vivid imagination. I found myself questioning the believability of all my characters; they started to sound like me after awhile, at least when I read back scenes to myself. I did not want to write a story that could not pull readers in. That being said, I still believe in the story idea's strength, I just think that this is not the right time to be writing it. I applaud all the Ottawa NaNoWriMo participants who won this year, and everyone who tried. I think I'll have to Wri-te Mo-re" next year, if I decide to participate again.

Happy holidays one and all, may you be surrounded by loved ones and good cheer to see through into the New Year!

October updates & NaNoWriMo

2006-10-13T23:18:00.000-04:00

I have decided to take part in NaNoWriMo again this year. For those of you unfamiliar with the acronym, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. The competition has grown from the first NaNoWriMo that took place in San Francisco (July 1999) with a mere 21 aspiring novelists, into a global competition. It's really wonderful what they are doing, and the level of participation and dedication NaNoWriMo-ers have.

Last year I did not complete the goal of a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. My contract with the Independent Living Centre Kingston took me off course. I admire all the people who completed their 50,000 word count while juggling work and home.

In last years effort, I attempted to convert a screenplay idea my friends and I had outlined into a novel. This year I will focus on resuscitating a novel I started in 2002/2003. The legal issues surrounding the subject matter require a large amount of research for true authenticity. To meet timelines, I will be setting the story in the near-future and create a world where I am the Supreme Court of Canada.

At the end of October, I will also be starting a new project with the Canadian Television Fund. I am looking forward to the opportunity. In the meantime, local agencies have forwarded my CV to their clients so I am hopeful Cursive Communication will secure a government contract soon.

People who write novels

2006-09-06T23:05:00.000-04:00

I am privileged to know many people with strong storytelling skills. Some of these writers I call friends, or at the very least friends of friends. I have also thrown in a couple of teachers. We are all connected in some way or another. This post's express purpose is to plug their books and pry pennies from your pockets.

Buy these books. Support new writers. Support good writing.

Shiromi Pinto: friend and fellow writer from London, recently published Trussed.

Mizanur Rahman: award-winning journalist, poet, friend, and author of Exposé.

Christina Brown: former colleague, friend, and yoga queen who wrote the Yoga Bible (and other books).

Meera Nair: falls into the friend of a friend category, actually she's my friend's wife and the author of Video.

Ruth Keyso-Vail: friend and former classmate who had a book deal before attending journalism school.

Jack Doppelt: lawyer-turned-journalist prof who wrote about America's non-voters.

Abe Peck: another prof, friend and magazine industry legend who wrote Uncovering the Sixties.

Suzanne Male: former colleague, gal pal, writer and entrepreneur with websites for her children's books, and new authors.

Some families, like the Seths, are full of creatives. My former boss, a peace activist, Shantum Seth is son of Leila Seth (On Balance) and brother of one of my literary heroes, Vikram Seth.

Other writers to watch for:

Natascha Chadha - Look for her book's intimate look at the corporate history of the family business.

Michelle Persaud - Last time I spoke to her she was revising her novel and had an agent.

Alex Shand - This award-winning physician has said his column for The Telegraph is being turned into a book - a gay E.R.

If I have overlooked anyone, and you want in on this list. Just email me. I also hope to finish my novel and add myself to the above list someday soon.

New endeavours, old connections

2006-07-24T16:03:00.000-04:00

The dust hasn't settled yet, but Ottawa is slowly beginning to feel like home. In the last two weeks, I have reconnected with long lost friends and fellow small business owners. It is nice to have company on the path of incorporation.

Networking is an simple process once you get started but difficult to sustain by cold calling alone. Building new relationships is one thing, but renewing old ones can also unearth new leads.

Something as immutable as geography can spawn serendipity as I discovered last week with friends in New York City. Two people I know from different points in time, meet through someone else who knows both parties. Another local business owner and school friend I reconnected with today has a close contact in the publishing industry. School is definitely an important source of contacts for me, and that includes new schools. I am in the process of upgrading my French at École secondaire Le Carrefour des adultes.

I hope to offer bilingual services through Cursive Communications by the end of 2006. In the meantime, I am also displaying art online in this very rudimentary website. I have not gone so far as to watermark all the images, but I hope to augment my editorial services with fine art and digital art sales.

Bon soir d'Ottawa.

Capital time!

2006-06-08T08:35:00.000-04:00

On July 11, 2006 Cursive Communications' relocation to the Canadian capital of Ottawa will be complete.

When I'm not working from a park bench in the Andrew Haydon Park, you'll probably be able to find me in the By Ward Market sipping something warm from Moulin de Provence. Another find is i deal coffee (176 Dalhousie Street) - their website leaves much to be desired, but what a great coffee shop in a decidely funky neighborhood. If you want more proof, read a review in the Ottawa Xpress about this provider of perfect perc. i deal coffee in Toronto's Kensington Market has a loyal following too, little wonder.

Drove past the new house and neighborhood last night. The anticipation is dizzying while the visible ethnic diversity is comforting. It will be a welcome change from Kingston. Within a couple of kilometres of the new home of Cursive Communications are dozens of restaurants and specialty grocers ranging from Mongolian to Middle Eastern. I learnt this from Foodpages - a neat search engine for restaurants and food stores. Unfortunately the interface isn't very polished but it can be more targeted than searching with Google Maps.

Moving again

2006-03-12T23:04:00.000-05:00

It's been nearly nine months since I've update the world on the comings and goings of Cursive Communications. Kingston though home to wonderful, interesting people and services (like the Independent Living Centre KINGSTON and the Kingston Software Factory) has not yielded enough opportunity for Cursive Communications to sustain itself. Clearly, it's time to move on. Having already left behind the financial capital, Cursive is moving to the official capital of Canada. We will be calling Ottawa home very soon.

Swinging doors

2005-08-03T15:21:00.000-04:00

August is here but this feels like the beginning of a new year. The holiday planned for the Mayan Riviera, was called off thanks to Hurricane Dennis. I will have to wait a little longer to learn Spanish.

While researching the trip I never took, I discovered the truth about that handy hot sauce, the dog made for purses, and the movie about Viggo on a horse. Tabasco, Chihuahua, and Hidalgo are all states in Mexico.

Amsterdam and The Hague became the alternate holiday destinations. We discovered the gem of Scheveningen at The Steigenberger Kurhaus Hotel - it is a delight I would recommend to anyone. Stay there and make day trips into The Hague and Delft.

Cursive Communications has officially moved to Kingston, Ontario. The new home office is under development. I want to build a site for Cursive, with an online gallery. I will take the time to learn more about Flickr and create some strong visuals for the site, and upload what images I already have.

Swimming upstream

2005-05-31T21:58:00.000-04:00

Guilty on all counts. I have taken far too long to blog again.

//LIFE//

The first half of 2005 has slipped by so fast and my time in Toronto is winding down. What lies ahead, beyond the upcoming honeymoon in Cuba is anyone's guess. I have my bet placed for 'Happily Ever After'. Clearly, my partner's optimism is rubbing off on me.

I discovered some dormant German on my recent trip to Bavaria. Muenchen is a wonderful city, Glockenspiel and all. To everyone who helped us, chauffeured us, befriended us, or tolerated us - thank you/danke.

The Bavarian Alps were walking distance from the NATO school in Oberammergau. It seemed a very odd choice to locate that kind of facility in the only village to be spared from the Plague in the 1600s. Though this wasn't a Passion Play year, I could sense how important the tradition was to the community of 5,000.

I will post some pictures once I get them.

//WORK//

All is well between my current client and me. They (one of Canada's big banks) are happy with the service Cursive Communications provides. More news, Cursive Communications will be changing headquarters to Kingston, Ontario for Q3 2005.

I ran into Christos Grivas from The Rights Factory, yesterday on the street after work. Once I finish my novel, I hope they will represent me as my literary agents. I met them last summer at a Media Bistro get together.

All-Media Party in Toronto, a cocktail party for all types of media professionals, from editors to writers to designers to PR/Marketing folks! An event intended for full-time media professionals only.

Date: June 14, 2005, 6:00PM to 8:00PM
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas West (2 blocks west of Dufferin)

In the beginning...

2004-10-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

...there was but one blog. This blog. At least for me and my nascent company, Cursive Communications.

My name is turning into a one-word solution for identity. Reshmi. That is really all anyone needs to know.

I want to use this space to create, to showcase, to elucidate. Here goes nothing.