All of these are available for pickup in the greater Vancouver area. I’d prefer to not ship.

SOLD Nikon 70-300mm (f/4-5.6G) auto-focus lens — $70

This is a great lens to have in your kit.  I’m selling my great Nikon 70-300mm (f/4-5.6G) auto-focus lens. It’s in fantastic condition. Only selling it because I’m using a 18-200mm lens a lot more these days.  This is a superb lens for shooting portrait/single faces from a distance to get beautiful depth-of-field behind them.

This is one of the lightest distance lenses you’ll ever have.  Comes with mount cap, lens cap (with tether), and lens hood. $70 firm. You can pick it up any time and start using it right away!

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Nikon 52mm Prime Lens — $40

52mm prime lens takes outstanding shots with soft depth-of-field.  This is a manual lens, giving you fast and complete control over the focus — no need to wait for the auto-focus to spin and whir until it locks in.  Super light-weight and small. You’ll never notice it in your camera bag. Easily fits in your pants pockets for quick change.  Comes with mount cap, lens cap (with tether), and UV filter which protects the lens glass.  $40 firm.

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SOLD Nikon SB-600 Speedlight/External Flash — $150

Best price you’ll find on a SB-600 flash. ONLY USED ONCE! Sells new for twice as much [see Bestbuy price]. Uses regular AA batteries, so you can replace on the fly without waiting hours for a lithium ion battery to charge. This can be used as a slave remote flash to extend your lighting area. $150 firm. Pick it up any time and start using it right away.

BONUSES:
– Comes with small, light-weight stand.
– Comes with light diffuser.
– Comes with batteries.

Tod Maffin and Malcom Gladwell have been selected as the two keynote speakers at the upcoming F5 Expo in Vancouver. Hear Tod’s story of how he went from being an always-on multi-millionaire dotcom executive to crashing into depression and addiction. A story of hope and recovery, with a lesson to everyone in the tech industry; Tod will outline his five key tools to surviving in the techno-busy lifestyle.

More about Tod’s keynote • Register Now

Here’s how a local TV station covered my half-day workshop, Leading the Facebook Generation, in Medicine Hat last week.

What the Meeting Planner Said

“This event more than doubled any other event we have ever had so we were very pleased. The feedback from the evaluations provided was very positive… Everyone enjoyed Tod’s sense of humor and the way he gave the presentation. On a more personal level I enjoyed working with Tod thoroughly from the beginning with calls and emails as I was getting prepared for the event and when I met him. Tod was very accommodating and helpful. I have organized events for many years and I can honestly say that Tod has been one of the most accommodating and friendliest speakers I have ever had the pleasure to deal with.”
– Vickie Keeley, Medicine Hat HR Association

What The Audience Said

“I just wanted to let you know that I was at the Leading the Facebook Generation seminar [in Medicine Hat], and being 22, I thought you were hilarious and pretty much right on the money. I look forward to seeing another seminar should you ever come back to town!”
– Julia Jordan, Medicine Hat AB

“I really enjoyed the presentation. It was one of the best presentations I have ever been to, the information was great and you have an amazing ability in keeping the audiences attention. I have already taken a lot of what you said in your presentation and used it in my day to day communication with the older generations in my life. You are awesome. Thanks for making the stop in small town Medicine Hat!!!!”
– Lacey Amen, Medicine Hat AB

• “Very funny”

• “Look forward to more in the future”
• “Awesome!”
• “Great presentation!”
• “Excellent speaker!!!”
• “Awesome presentation; very informative; thanks”
• “Bring him back”

In my ongoing quest to morph into Steve Jobs, I now have my own iPhone app. (It also works hella fine on iPod Touches.)

It’s got my latest blog postings, tweets, and YouTube videos. You can even “favourite” items you’d like to read later. I’d have put more info into it, but, sadly, the iPhone’s tiny screen didn’t accommodate the size of my enormous ego.

It’s very useful for killing time in airport lineups, showing to your kids as an example of how to not grow up, and opening once then deleting.

You can download it at http://iphone.todmaffin.com [link opens in iTunes].

VANCOUVER, Sept. 16 /CNW/ – Social media expert Tod Maffin says companies are about to face a mass exodus of employees due to a kind of perfect storm brewing within two key generations of employees.

“With the Baby Boomers set to retire en masse, companies are going to have to find ways to replace them with younger employees,” says Maffin. “But that particular crop of employees – the ‘Facebook Generation’ – is as likely to walk out the back door as easily as they came in the front.”

“The first wave of employers to experience that kind of laissez-faire attitude was the service-driven industries – such as fast food restaurants – who were literally having to close their facilities at times because they couldn’t find and retain enough young workers to flip burgers and serve customers,” said Maffin.

Maffin says these twenty-something employees present an entirely new set of challenges for employers – and that companies need to take an entirely new approach to managing their needs and retaining their services.

Here are Maffin’s top five tips on how to do that:

1. Give Them Your Trust: Young people born between 1980 and 1990 were raised by Generation X parents who gave them unprecedented levels of trust. Misguided attempts at increasing productivity, like blocking Facebook and instant-messenger programs, scream “We don’t trust you!” to this group of workers (it’s like blocking telephone calls).
2. Focus on Team-Based Solutions: That’s the way they were taught all through school – it was all about group projects, not individual reports. Engage them in group projects and let them play an active role in that process. Consider giving them a box of their own personalized business cards on day one.
3. Skip the Annual Review: Generation Y requires instant feedback – don’t worry, they can take criticism, as long as it’s justified, immediate, and gives them an opportunity to work on correcting bad habits or misguided efforts.
4. Nix the Coffee Breaks: Eliminate scheduled breaks entirely. Let them take breaks when they feel they need it. Given this level of trust, most generation-Y workers will return the favor in spades by devoting extra time at work, often unpaid.
5. Invest in Technology: Your technology must at least keep pace with what this generation uses at home. That doesn’t necessarily mean the latest bleeding-edge turbo-machines, but a patched-up computer from the secretary pool won’t cut it.

For further information: Tod Maffin, tod@todmaffin.com, (604) 618-2861

Managing the Facebook Generation

How to Lead, Inspire, and Retain the Generation-Y Millennials

In this follow-up to Tod’s massively popular presentation Recruiting the Facebook Generation, Tod will show your delegates the eight key ways your business must change if you want to engage and retain this new, young, and energetic workforce.

From developing creative benefits packages to learning an entirely new leadership model, the presentation walks you through, in plain language, the specific areas you need to focus on. You’ll see real-world case studies of what works (and examples where attempts to manage this generation went spectacularly wrong) and will walk away with an online kit of resources and notes of the presentation.

• Integrating the Generations
• Living a New Leadership and Management Style
• Rethinking Benefits and Evaluations
• Developing On-Demand Workplace Education
• Creating a Safe Space Where Innovation ‘Just Happens’
• Structuring a Team by Removing Its Structure
• Fostering Loyalty by Training Them to Leave
• The Six Reasons Millennials/Generation Y Leave Their Employer

It’s a 60- to 90-minute keynote presentation (flexible, depending on conference agenda) aimed at human resources professionals, small-business managers, and anyone else who works with people aged 20-35. What you learn may prevent a workforce exodus.

“Tod packed the house in both sessions and he delivered! He has an enormous wealth of expertise on the whole gamut related to social media and the Web 2.0. But content aside, he was also so incredibly engaging and inspiring as a presenter that you couldn’t help but have a fabulous time along the way. What was clear to me was that this guy is authentic. He’s passionate about what he does….and does a terrific job in engaging his audiences.” — TGIM Work Life

Media and Reviews

“Tod Maffin was a runaway successful speaker. All [survey] respondents rated him a 3 out of 3 and comments were extraordinarily positive. Following are verbatim comments from our comment cards:

• Excellent – the best speaker I have ever heard!
• Great speaker for after lunch! Woke me up, made me laugh, and made me think!
• Tod alone was worth the price of the conference!
• Great message. Enjoyed the balance of humour in the context of some very serious messages.
• Terrific! Tod was enlightening & genuine. He would have been an even better opening speaker to this conference.
• Absolutely excellent! Excellent speaker, PowerPoint presentation, etc.
• Tod is a fantastic passionate speaker! An unexpected highlight!
• Excellent well-paced speech.

“Hi Tod, Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the presentations I attended yesterday and today. Fabulous ideas/info/life story/videos/delivery!!! After I got back to Brandon, MB (where I’m from) I immediately showed my son the Gmail video! Will you be coming to Manitoba again any time soon?”
– Erin Brown, Brandon First

“Tod’s refreshing presentation on Recruiting the Facebook Generation was relevant, timely, and witty — a rare combination. A remarkable presenter, he had the audience engaged and chuckling first thing in the morning! The feedback received from our attendees was very positive; many agreed that Tod was the highlight of the day — a 9.5 out of 10!”
– Darcy Rezac, Vancouver Board of Trade

“The path to recruiting and retaining the so-called Facebook Generation is not through fancy gimmicks and traditional advertising –- it’s through meaning, spirit and tech-savvy company promotion, says Tod Maffin. The broadcaster, blogger and social media strategist was the keynote speaker at EBNC and IFEBP’s recent sold-out Canadian Benefits Conference.”
– Employee Benefit News

“Maffin’s address was liberally spotted with light-hearted stories, but it was also thought-provoking. More than a few of the association’s membership were making notes for future reference.”
– Calgary Herald

“Tod packed the house in both sessions and he delivered! He has an enormous wealth of expertise on the whole gamut related to social media and the Web 2.0. But content aside, he was also so incredibly engaging and inspiring as a presenter that you couldn’t help but have a fabulous time along the way. What was clear to me was that this guy is authentic. He’s passionate about what he does….and does a terrific job in engaging his audiences.”
– TGIM Work Life

“Tod,

I was one of the 2,000-plus human resources professionals who heard your keynote speech ["Recruiting the Facebook Generation"] yesterday!

Fabulous, motivating and so current!

I run a small recruitment firm in west GTA and gained a great deal from your message. My challenge, is actually marketing to the Gen X & Gen Y HR Professionals who have never heard of staffing agencies and do everything on-line through websites and other medias! Thanks for the great ideas.”

– Sue Strickland
The Selection Group Recruitment Specialists