Location Profile: Working Remotely in Moncton, New Brunswick

Heading down to speak at BlogJam Atlantic wasn’t my first trip to Moncton, and it won’t be my last. In fact, in visiting for the weekend, my only thought was that I should be going there more often!

Moncton was the perfect city for a working holiday in the Maritimes.

BlogJam is Atlantic Canada’s premiere event for bloggers. 2018 marked the first time it was held in New Brunswick and the Delta Hotels by Marriott Beausejour played host. While there, I joined my friend and frequent collaborator, Jennifer Gyuricska of Prairie Telegraph Digital Marketing, up on stage for our first ever BlogJam presentation.

Location summary

As I mentioned, it wasn’t my first weekend in Moncton, I used to go there back in 2009 and 2010 when I was new to the East Coast. My best friend lived in Fredericton, which made Moncton the perfect halfway point between there and Halifax. Every couple months we’d meet in the middle and stay at the Delta. Staying there again reminded me how much I love this hotel for both the memories and for their fantastic spaces! It’s a very social hotel, with lots of nooks and crannies on the main level, making it the perfect hotel for social occasions and networking!

Moncton has an easy downtown core to navigate. It’s very walkable with wonderful stores along the main thoroughfare. I have loved attending their Farmers Market, held right downtown, in the past, though I have it on good authority that Dieppe’s market rivals it!

Jenn and I enjoyed a healthy supper at Freshii on Friday night, just across the street. We headed down the block in one direction for drinks at an Irish pub, the Old Triangle, for a networking event. Even though Canada’s got nothing on pubs in comparison to Ireland, we still enjoyed the live music, atmosphere, and the friendly bartenders who introduced us to Pickleback shots.

We drank beer from the Pump House, a popular local brewery and ate Sunday brunch at the Tide and Boar, feature on You Gotta Eat Here!

Why it was great for working remotely

My number one need when working remotely is a wifi connection. The Delta provided some of the best internet service I’ve had and didn’t falter as I moved throughout the hotel.

In the lobby, the Delta offers comfortable working areas, excellent for meetings with clients and co-workers. Our room also had a workstation with plenty of USB plugins for our devices.

Across the street from the hotel is Venn Innovation, an economic driver that helps New Brunswick tech companies get to market, sustain and grow their business, and scale their operations. They hold events throughout the year to benefit business owners.

A block from Venn, you’ll find Workspace.  They’re an innovative co-working space with full-service amenities. They actually have three locations in Atlantic Canada and provide both workspace and meeting space for businesses.

How we spent our time

I was pretty happy that Jennifer and I got up on stage early in the weekend. Our message was reiterated throughout the conference by many of the other speakers, all from different niches and fields.

And yes, it’s been a long time since I stood up on a stage so I was a touch nervous, but nothing like I’ve been in the past. I was really satisfied with the way our speech went and our message was so authentic to me, that by the end I was really comfortable up there!

We presented on Marketing and Mindset for Blog Success. In a nutshell, your idea of success isn’t the same as others. So define what it is that you want to achieve and market authentically and strategically toward achieving it.

One of my new friends Dr. Chris Cloney is a great example of authentic marketing. He is blogging about combustible dust explosions as well as creating a business showing other PhD graduates how to make a living blogging. He talked about niching down and suggested looking up your topic on Amazon. If there are more than five books on your topic, you’re not niched down enough! He said when you are niched down, it’s so much easier to write content, build community, and create change.

I’ve turned off all my phone notifications because Mike Tanner of One Red Cat shocked me at how much time we lose when distractions interrupt our flow. I’m pretty stoked to order Two Awesome Hours and Deep Work – Mike suggested both in his map to bring our best self to our blog and business.

And Julie Cole of Mabel’s Labels talked about making your audience feel important (because they are!). She shared how, as their business was growing, they’d reach out to bloggers with gifts, created conversations online and gave shout-outs to folks they worked with. I also loved her idea of gamification and partnering with brands to create fun giveaways.

Terrence Taylor had us diving deep into the negative stories that we tell ourselves. We did a bit of group work, too. He pointed out that these negative stories may be holding us back from sharing our own authentic stories. It was fascinating to go around my table with bloggers I’d just met to ‘fess up’ on our negative stories and identify our strengths together.

Mine? I’m awesome at project management, which is why I’m so great at getting things organized. I like taking big pictures, breaking them down into bite size pieces so that projects become accessible. All of this helps me create calm and build confidence for business owners.

BlogJam Atlantic is definitely Eastern Canada’s premiere conference for digital content creators. I left overloaded with inspiration on how I can better help you create a lifestyle-driven business. It’s on my list of must-attend for 2019.

Favourite places & spaces

Besides the conference rooms, I spent much time at the Delta’s Triio Restaurant and Lounge. Not only did their lobby bar have great service, tasty food, and sips…

It was also a handy location to wait for Jenn every time I locked myself out of our hotel room.

  … And when we were parched while co-working.

  … And when we wanted to rehash the conference sessions with our observations, takeaways and inspiration.

 

As I mentioned, we’re already planning our adventures for next autumn and we’re open to suggestions. Where should we go next?

 

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If you’d like to work remotely and travel the world, I can help you prepare your business. Your lifestyle should drive your business, not vice versa! Ready to make a change? Book a complimentary consultation and I’ll help you make it happen.