As (soon to be) seen on TV

Greetings faithful readers - it's been a busy past couple of days, but as my machine is currently otherwise preoccupied this evening cranking out final renders for Craig Shouldice (of Shouldice Media), now is as good a time as any to update you on my one-man guerrilla marketing campaign:

Monday saw Stalking the Job once again hitting the streets, having finally shrugged off the worst of last weeks' late-winter cold. It was a real doozy, I should add; not only did it sideline me for the better part of a week, I also managed to transmit it to my wife Elizabeth (who seemed to get it even worse than I - sorry about that, Liz). But what really fuelled my fire Monday morning was receiving a phone call from a reporter from Radio-Canada, a fellow by the name of Stéphane who I'd met a few weeks back while canvassing the area around the CBC building downtown. He wanted to know whether I could be available for an interview for Le Téléjournal, the french-language six o'clock news broadcast.

What's that? Did I want to be interviewed on television? Well, sure... of course, the only slight hitch was that over the course of living in Toronto for the last thirty years, my spoken french had atrophied a fair amount, but I nonetheless set out for our meetup outside the Mothercorp (albeit with some hand-written crib notes that I committed to memory along the way). But really, it wasn't altogether necessary; Stéphane could sense when I was grasping for a noun or verb and he very helpfully supplied the needed verbiage. We took an extra few minutes filming some interactions with passersby up along King West, just across from the Bell Lightbox. All in all, I think I acquitted myself quite well.

Before we parted ways, Stéphane mentioned that the interview would be shown on Tuesday's edition of Le Téléjournal, and I spent the next few minutes excitedly calling around to various friends and family members to tell them the good news. It was, therefore a little disappointing the next evening to discover that my interview had actually been bumped by the big news item of the day (budget day in Ontario), but according to Stéphane it will air sometime soon - and he'll send me an email letting me know when to expect to see it.

Merci encore Stéphane - Je serai heureux de le voir!

I'm Not Down

Tuesday saw a definite uptick in the weather, although it was still chilled to freezing through the overnight periods. I was a little concerned for my lilies - I'm an avid gardener, and I've been a little awestruck at just how well they've been coming back so far this spring (which is why the overnight freezes had slightly set my teeth on edge). In another week or so I'll remove the plastic mesh I've been using the thwart the local squirrels, as they seem not to enjoy chewing on the lily-bulbs once they're fully in mid-sprout.

I took a spin up into Chinatown, heading southward from there via Spadina, across Queen to Portland, and finally down to Wellington. Upon arrival there, many happy faces appeared in the windows of TAXI, waving and blowing kisses - and you know, there's nothing quite like a warm welcome to brighten the day. I lingered for a while in the hopes that the sunny skies would prompt some patio action, but it was still just a little too chilly (even for we hearty Torontonians). I did however come upon a pair of videographers who were filming a puff piece on spring cleaning, and I happily answered a few questions for them on-camera.

Maybe it was the good weather, maybe it was just that I was feeling better, but the world seemed a happier place - and in spite of some derogatory remarks I overheard (hello? I'm right here folks... I might be unemployed, but I'm not deaf!) I was able to laugh along. Why not? After all, there is an almost absurd quality to this campaign... I'll be the first to admit that. If (as some would have us believe) we're all living our lives as though we're the subject of our own personal reality shows, we frankly owe it to ourselves to recognize that life - and how we cope with it - is more often comedy than anything else. It's healthy to see the humour in ones' own life, even if it does occasionally veer into slapstick. The trouble with taking oneself too seriously is that there's nothing to fall back on should life suddenly start throwing you curveballs.

Insurmountable integrity

How we cope with life (and all its' ups and downs) goes a long way to defining our character, both professionally and personally. Ultimately, it's those who've lead a self-examined life who are perhaps better-suited to rolling with the punches. I've known people who, when confronted with unpleasant circumstance, choose to shut themselves down or otherwise opt-out - playing ostrich in the hopes that things will change for the better. And of course, sometimes things do change for the better - but usually not before first playing havoc with their hearts and souls.

And if you've allowed yourself the luxury of becoming complacent in your successes, that same cleverness can eventually prove your downfall. A certain measured amount of guile can take you far, a penchant for flair or showmanship can work to your advantage - but neither of those can surmount integrity.

When you own the consequences of your actions (for good or bad), when you take responsibility not just for your triumphs but for your failures as well, you show your integrity. I'm not suggesting nailing yourself to a cross should things suddenly go pear-shaped; but it never goes well trying to wriggle oneself out from a bad situation. Worse, you run the risk of losing the respect of clients, co-workers or even your employers should you try that approach. Like the old saying goes, honesty really is the best policy... and not just in the working world, but in your personal life as well.

Well, I seem to have side-tracked myself a little in writing this post, but I'm happy enough to let it slide. No doubt there'll be more adventures to come in the days and weeks ahead, and I'm glad to have you all along for the ride! Truth be told, I've been somewhat stunned by the reception to date for my webcomic, The Adventures of That QR Code Guy - all I'd really set out to do was to continue telling my story, albeit humorously - but I've been tickled pink by the response (and yes, there will indeed be another installment forthcoming). Oh, and before I go, I'd like to thank Vince Vaitekunas for delivering some terrific photos and videos he took last month! I've been thinking of using them as part of a musical video montage... we'll just have to see what I can come up with, I suppose...

As ever folks, this is John Currie for Stalking the Job, and I'll be seeing you - !

Have you seen That QR Code Guy?

taken by Vince Vaitekunas, February 2012.

If you have any photos of That QR Code Guy that you'd like to share, I'd like hearing from you. I'll make every effort to provide attribution (unless you'd prefer to remain anonymous), so don't be shy!

Walking the

Hello again, faithful readers (and for those of you logging in hoping to see another webcomic adventure of "That QR Code Guy", you'll be pleased to hear that yes indeed, another installment is forthcoming in the next few days, so - keep checking back).

If you'll recall, waaay back when I first got started with Stalking the Job, I mentioned that when attempting a one-man guerrilla-marketing initiative, it's best to keep things on as even a keel as possible - smile, walk tall, be ready, willing & able to engage people constructively - and to avoid any and all hassles as regards private property. Simply put, this means that should the security guards on duty in a particular building come to have a chat with you about where you may or may not stand, walk or be seen it's always the best policy to cheerfully comply. After all, they're only doing their jobs; chances are there's someone situated higher up the chain putting the squeeze on them.

In order to avoid this situation cropping up too often, I've made a point of keeping my QR code campaign outdoors and at street-level to as great an extent as I can. My intent is to try connecting with interested parties - not to make a nuisance of myself. That being said, walking around the city in the blustering cold of February can be a truly punishing experience, and on occasion, it's been necessary to duck indoors to warm up and/or to locate (and make use of) toilet facilities. Trouble is, to do that requires either the purchase of a cup of coffee or a foray into Toronto's underground PATH system of interconnected shopping concourses and food courts, hidden away beneath the central banking towers of the downtown core.

On a day like today, however... a dark winter's day (the sort of day that can't make up its' mind whether to snow or rain so instead it manages both, with a gale-force wind thrown for good measure), it seemed appropriate to throw caution to the wind and bend my own rules a little. Yes, faithful readers - I walked the PATH.

It's bewildering down there, I don't mind telling you. Like a shopping mall, there are no clocks on the walls to let you know what time it is; the passageways twist and turn and with nothing of the streetscape visible from two or three stories below ground, it's easy to lose your bearings. More than once I found myself having to retrace my steps after finding my way to a dead-end service corridor.

It's also crowded! Now I know why King & Bay isn't nearly as much a sea of humanity at lunchtime as it might otherwise be. There must be (literally) tens of thousands of office workers in the downtown core who bypass the elements entirely by remaining inside the PATH system from the moment they exit the subway or GO train in the morning until it's time to head home. I must have been a mildly bewildering presence down there amongst these subterranean people, as I caught many heads turning (and at least a few people fishing in their pockets for their Blackberries).

Truth be told, I am somewhat uncomfortable in environments like shopping malls or movie theatres. It's not that I'm claustrophobic, or even agoraphobic - it's just that I have come to be somewhat wary of crowds, especially in emergency situations. You can't predict how a given agglomeration of human beings will react in the case of say, a fire. And if the exit points from a pedestrian maze aren't clearly marked, well...  let's just say that my slightly exaggerated sense of personal safety will always trump a willingness on my part to move happily along with the herd. There's only so much time I'm willing to spend inside before a keenly-felt need to return outside takes hold. Irrational? Perhaps... but as my grandmother always said, "better safe than sorry".

Returning to the surface world, my journeying once again took me west, through the Entertainment District and onwards to Bathurst Street. I some fun waving back to the people peering out their windows at TAXI, on Wellington - chatted with a few minions outside the CBC building on John Street - and was able to provide some snappy comebacks to more than a few cold and wet passersby. Somewhere along the line, however, a telltale moistness between the toes of my right foot told me my third pair of shoes this month might be on the threshold of failure. I'll have to keep an eye (or maybe a foot) on that! Also, the wind shear on certain streets was so great that it tore one of the adhesive velcro tabs on my sandwich board right off the underlying canvasboard (not to worry, I have plenty of spare velcro at  home and have already effected repairs). So, with the wind pulling crazily at the sandwich board, the prospect of returning partway home via the PATH had a definite appeal.

Don't mess with Metro Hall.

After re-entering the PATH via Metro Hall, however, I was accosted by a security guard, an earnest young man who demanded I remove my sandwich board as he felt that I was "soliciting" on private premises. I explained politely that I was not selling anything, had no interest in remaining on the premises, and asked courteously for him to direct me to the closest underground exit that would take me eastward. With that, he seemed more relieved than anything - though I've made a mental note not to return to that portion of the PATH in future. The rest of the trip back was uneventful, but I tried remaining cognizant of my surroundings with relation to the size of my footprint (the dimensions of the sandwich board can sometimes make for awkward situations, particularly in doorways and on escalators). By the time I found myself beneath First Canadian Place, I'd managed to once again get myself completely lost. With the experience at Metro Hall still fresh, I was loathe to find myself in the same situation and so, spying a group of security guards standing together on the edge of a cluster of shops, I decided to brazen it out a bit. Rather than shying away from them for fear of being asked to leave, I fairly bounded up to them (full of cheer and goodwill) and asked them how to get to the King Street subway station.

And you know? It worked like a charm! Not only were they helpful, they actually started whipping out their phones to give me a scan. I'm not entirely sure, but I think I might've inadvertently discovered how to side-step issues with building security guards - the key being to simply (and as always, politely) tap them for information. After all, a man asking for directions out is not a man looking to linger. And as good as their word, I was able to use their instructions to find my way to Yonge & King, where I exited to make my way home - footsore, sure - but not nearly quite so chilled to the bone as most days.

For Stalking the Job, this is John Currie (That QR Code Guy) signing off. As ever, faithful readers - I'll be seeing you.

Have you seen That QR Code Guy?

If you're one of the many who've snapped a photo of me while I've been out Stalking the Job, I'd love to hear from you! Send in your photos - I'll make a point of featuring them here. Here's one from earlier today:

Taken on Wellington Street February 29th 2012 @iamryanbooth