The Olympics Have Come and Gone In Vancouver, But Networking Contiues On

Canada’s Olympic host city Vancouver is once again on the networking agenda this month. In keeping with the trend in writing stories about Western Canada, this month’s column focuses on Vancouver and the Vancouver Business Network Forum. The Vancouver Business Network Forum (VBNF) is a dynamic, fast growing multi-cultural Business Networking Group based in Burnaby, B.C.

Its primary goal is to enable business people to benefit from the mutual sharing of valuable information and experience, gained through VBNF connections, working together to achieve the maximum degree of success possible, and at the same time to provide shared, and effective, cost-saving services.

Since its inception in January 2005, the VBNF has expanded its membership to three active chapters, namely: VBNF - Vancouver, VBNF – Burnaby and the VBNF – Chinese which focuses exclusively on Vancouver’s Chinese business community

The VBNF is also in the process of exploring and developing potential business connections with world-wide trading partners, enabling the organization to create new commerce and employment opportunities in B.C. and Canada

The purpose of the forum is to provide an equal opportunity for all participants of the network to promote their products and services regardless of their origin and race. This is truly reflective of the new attitude in Canada where many of Canada’s newest business people are from throughout the world and the far east and have gravitated to Canada to open shop in one of the world’s truly great democracies.

In Canada we have a cultural melting pot where business people of all backgrounds try to work together. This multicultural approach is truly reflected with the VBNF. The VBNF sees itself as the most effective and fun focused business networking group in Vancouver. Members and guests can attend free business seminars, networking meetings and a variety of community and business building and networking events. Meetings are held monthly and rotate throughout the three chapters.

Member services include business consultation, web development, web hosting, and assistance with payment systems, advertising in online and printed member’s directories, networking and business building both locally and internationally. For those interested in starting a business in Vancouver or moving your business there this may be a great networking group to get started with.

If you would like more information on the Vancouver Business Network Forum you can reach them virtually at http://www.vbnf.com.

Kensel Tracy is a Senior Partner and the Marketing Coach at the Corporate Coachworkz Inc. located in Chelsea, Quebec and is President of Business Over Breakfast Clubs of North America opening up Networking Clubs in every City in Canada and the USA. If you have a story of interest please contact him at kenselt@sympatico.ca

Non Profits Find New Path with New Networking Group

Formed by Alex Sirota, NewPath is a virtual consultancy based in Toronto, Canada comprised of a geographically disperse network of highly qualified information and knowledge consultants.

The group’s outward focus and marketing efforts are directed toward the Not-For-Profit and Social Enterprise sectors, and a significant proportion of its members have extensive experience with these client segments. The goal is to conceive, develop and implement technology initiatives that empower these organizations to reach their social mission objectives in a completely self-sustaining manner.

The group believes that highly effective, sustainable technology strategies can deliver high returns to the Not-for-Profit client to keep the social mission moving forward. The organization consist of a group of consultants that have wide ranging experience with a deep understanding of Not-for-Profit technology mandates.

New Path’s talent pool of freelance professionals ranges from hard core programmers, web developers and project managers to graphic designers, communication specialists, fund raising strategists, product managers and business development specialists. As a highly networked virtual consultancy, they can deploy projects with extreme flexibility and deliver affordable solutions.

New Path has a structured framework for each meeting consisting of a “Welcome and new business”, round-table 60 second introductions, a Professional Development Segment and a free-form networking session at the end of each meeting with light food and cocktails. For the Professional Development segments, the group invites speakers from both inside and outside the NewPath network to present on real issues that touch its members as freelance and independent business people. On occasion, the group brings in business celebrities and leading authorities.

Meet them virtually at our LinkedIn group or at www.newpathconsulting.com

Kensel Tracy is the Marketing Coach at the Corporate Coachworkz Inc. in Chelsea, Quebec and the President of Business Over Breakfast ( BoB Clubs) Clubs in North America. If you have an interesting networking story about anyone or anything in Canada, he can be contacted at kenselt@bobclubs.com.

Welcome to a World of Extremely Wired Woman

It’s a crazy tough world out there and women networkers in the technology field in Canada now have a new group to network with. Called Wired Women, the organization is a new networking group that focuses in on helping women in the technology field grow their business, their networks or their careers and it has now has branches open now in Toronto and Vancouver.

Network, educate and mentor are three words that have guided the volunteer networking group Wired Woman since its inception and symbolize and remain the pillars of the organization.

Wired Woman’s mission is to create an environment that encourages women to explore opportunities in technology, science and new media and to build successful careers that will allow them to become a driving force in these expanding sectors.

If you are finding it a challenge to meet people in the technology, science and new media sector then Wired Women helps you network. The group’s intention is to attract as many talented, interesting women in technology as possible, to grow our community and to provide forums for everyone to interact without the barrier of an annual fee.

At regular events, seminars and social functions Wired Women provides members and volunteers with real opportunities to gain exposure to an industry that otherwise can seem intimidating and confusing. It helps women to grow their network, meet interesting people and make lifelong connections.

Wired Woman also runs regular workshops, seminars and events to educate and empower women in the technology sector. We also provide training, support and resources to help our members learn more about the many opportunities available. Volunteering for Wired Woman also provides an opportunity for members to gain hands on experience, add to their resumes and to learn more about their industry.

The mentoring comes in when you need help crafting your career path or for someone to talk to who is in the industry? Wired Woman members are invited to apply to join a 6-month mentorship program. Aimed at women entering or re-entering the work-force, it is designed to help women who need career guidance.

Mentors meet with mentees at least one hour, monthly, for the duration of the mentoring relationship. This career mentorship experience is enhanced with networking events and education workshops.

You can follow Wired Women on Twitter, and join the Wired Woman groups on Facebook (Wired Woman Society) and LinkedIn (Wired Woman).For more information on Wired Women check out their website at www.wiredwomen.com
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Kensel Tracy is the Marketing Coach with the Corporate Coachworkz Inc. in Chelsea Quebec and is President of Business Over Breakfast Clubs (BoB Clubs) of North America. If you have an interesting story contact him at Kenselt@sympatico.ca

Is Traditional Media In Canada Dead?

My topic this month is something that is being hotly debated by almost every media outlet in the country and all across North America. Its a question that is on everyone's mind. Is traditional media dying an untimely death?

I personally don’t think so. Just like the telegraph and the morning newspaper media is always in a state of change and the impact of new media on traditional advertising and communications is no different. Let’s just say the amount of attention that new media is getting is making us feel as if traditional media can no longer compete. So in some ways there may be a collective thinking that traditional media is dead. Lets look a some of the facts.

In Canada is safe to say that ad revenues from traditional media are down across the board and online media is definitely on the increase. Newspapers are having the biggest problem securing advertisers since their daily news is reported well in advance on any of the major websites like Canada.com, Sympatico.ca. MSN Canada, Yahoo Canada and Google. For instance as a dedicated newspaper reader, I now only buy the weekend papers and no long subscribe at the office.

The key area that seems to really be taking a hit is the classified ad sections of most newspapers. With free ad sites like Craig’s List, Kijji and any number of local online and employment sites offering free ads and amazing search options, traditional classified and employment ads are also generating the lowest revenues in years.

National television is also suffering not only from the loss of local ad revenues but from the ever changing role played by cable and satellite in Canada. The two national commercial networks are fighting it out with the cable companies promoting the value of local television as cable and satellite companies now want to charge subscribers extra for the right to watch local news in their areas on their local cable or satellite station. The local news represents the largest number of concentrated local viewers and the most revenues since these local stations retain the rights to sell local advertisers into a well watched local program with a highly consistent and dedicated audience.

The main media that seems to remain stable through all of this is radio. With the advent of television in the 1950’s there was much discussion that the radio was dead or would over time die out. As we can see this did not happen. Every local radio station has a bevy of local listeners who continue to support them regardless of the role new media plays. Everyone has a local favourite radio station for local news and sports and local activities. Satellite radio continues to gain popularity; however local news and weather can only be garnered from stations in the local market. So radio's demise is not going to happen anytime soon. However the Ipod is having a major impact on what individuals listen too and when so the jury is still out.

So what does this mean for the individual or the business organization that has a mission to promote an event, sell a product, promote a new service and meet new customers? In my last column I felt that new media such as Facebook, Tweeting, My Space and blogging all help to build profile and help to create new contacts and some new business opportunities as well.

For me personally however, being active in your local community be it online or offline is still one of most important things a person or a company can do. An online community is great to make contacts if you have product that is national in scope and can be sold over great distances. A local community made up of local businesses, events and organizations are still valuable if you get personal service referrals, provide a local service or need to deal with individuals that in your own back yard.

The key point is traditional media is just changing and as they say on Monty Python it’s not time to "bring out yer dead yet".

The local media revolution is no different than any other media revolution that came along throughout history. These included the printing press changing town hall meetings, the telegraph was replaced by the telephone, couriers were replaced by fax machines and typewriters were replaced by computers and radio was changed immensely by the advent of television. So media and communications is always evolving

The key ingredient for change however is that information will always be required and requested by human beings and will be required in selective ways that still include a great deal of personal activity.

People still buy from people and personal relationships are still the most important thing. Regardless of what happens with traditional ways of communicating there will always be something that is just around the corner that will make it easier and more efficient to get the information you require. So traditional media my be dying as we know it, however most organizations are scrambling to reinvent themselves just like my grand father did when upon graduating from telegraph school he found that the telegraph was about to not exist anymore. Just like him, media and advertising will also make shifts that will include reinventing and becoming more resiliant to change.

Does Face to Face Networking Still Work in the Modern Era of Tweeting and Twittering?

A few weeks ago, this question was asked by a Canadian Business coach at a recent event I attended in Ottawa. I was going on about the value of business referral clubs and how they can help small and medium sized businesses to build business through one to one referrals. This coach suggested that the business club was dead and that in the modern era all one needed to do was reach out through any of the local online networks and he or she could have all the contacts they wanted.

I posed that question to members of my Likened group a few weeks back only to get a barrage of answers that supported the question and a lot more that didn’t. Most of the respondents said that it was still important to have personal contact with customers or prospective customers in order to build that personal contact. Most felt that it was all right after the fact to contact people online but the initial contact should be in person.

At that point, I started researching business clubs in Canada. I came upon the usual suspects. The Chambers, Rotary, Kinsmen and Kinettes, BNI, BoB Clubs, and quite a few smaller lesser known local breakfast clubs. There were a number of online networking clubs mostly of regional nature and a number of business clubs that were part of other organizations. I realized that business referral or networking clubs are still alive, are well, and thriving in Canada.

There are also a large number of business networking websites, many which I have written about over the past year in this column, actually are growing and so are the lists of local meetings dedicated to the art of business and business networking. Based on my rough survey, I could say that in Canada the art of Face to Face networking is still a going and growing business. I can also say that in the era of tweets, Face book, Likened, Eecademy and number of other online sites, that both still have merit for promoting one’s business and making business contacts.

As the century unfolds, online networking will get bigger and more active and offline face to face networking will still be needed to build the relationship. It’s a much closer world today and as the online world continues to get stronger, the world will become even a smaller place. So in my mind, tweeting, and tweets are only the beginning of a good solid networking relationship. Its still up to two human beings regardless of where they live to find something in common, reach out, communicate and then see what happens.

Kensel Tracy is the Marketing Coach with the Corporate Coachworkz Inc. in Chelsea, Quebec and is the Presidents of Business over Breakfast (BoB Clubs) of North America.

Nortel and the Canadian Government

There was an interesting debate happening this morning on CFRA the Talk Radio station in Ottawa on whether or not that governments at all levels should have bailed out Nortel. A Canadian icon and Canada's sympbol of technology to the world was left to the wolves of big business in the telecommunications industry. Like the auto industry they were seeking bail out money to keep the company from going into bankruptcy.

The debate focused on whether the various levels of government, city,provincial,federal should have helped Nortel with loans and funding to keep the company in Ottawa and keep it Canadian.

Its an interesting debate. First of all, Ottawa City Council does not have the intelligence to consider this a debate. They are all too worried about their own personal egos and really have little or no understanding about business or the business community in Ottawa. Nortel was a significant employer and the city should have been lobbying the province and the feds to keep a major employer alive in this city. Instead we waisted valuable time at the council table debating Shannon Tweed day. Graeat move City of Ottawa! This is the level of intelligence that comes from the City of Ottawa and its elected officials. Employment or Shannon Tweed Day? What would you choose?

Second, Premier McGinty is also focused on the other things in Ontario like creating more tax dollars and the HST. He managed to take a postion on the auto industry because its important for votes but Ottawa. A major employer a high technology firm in Ottawa is not high on the priority list even though he is from the region. The feds, well, my friends after watching our government at work for the past 8 years I have decided that they have no plan ( even though I am a conservative) and would not show any leadership anyway unless " Stevie Boy" calls in the troops. " Stevie Boy" seems to have no interest in this at the moment. In fact no one really knows what " Stevie Boy" is interested in since he is floundering around like a fish out of water. This guy our leader is more interested in travel ( afterall it is summer, the government jet still has money left in the budget, better get it spent) than in keeping jobs in Canada. I guess a reformist can never really be called a true conservative. A true conservative has a focus for big business, employement and helping to build business inside a true democracy. "Stevie Boy" is a dictator with limited vision and well big business just does not go with the territory. What's 50,000 high tech jobs anyway and how many votes will I get from that and besides Ottawa is not even in that red part of the map central Ontario.

So the debate continues, was Nortel a good candidate for a bailout or should it's years of missmangement be seen as a reason for letting it go.

It should be mentioned here that at one time our Federal government had a agreement to support Nortel's research and development for reciporal taxes. So our government has already invested millions already in the technology and Nortel so why let it go.

The debate continues and now we are without a current employer and we have lost another Canadian icon. Short sighted governments and busiess people with limited management skills mean this country has a long way to go before it will be a major player on the world stage. So, so long Nortel, its been good to know ya. Its only too bad that we did not do something about this company earlier.

Sold and Emotionally Violated

Over the years, much has been said about advertising and its ability to get consumers and businesses to make emotional buying decisions.

These decisions are based on supplying the right kind of truthful information and then getting the potential customer or client to respond to the information supplied.
The other day, as a consumer, I, too, was confronted with such a decision.
This decision called for me to buy, and, for a moment, I was ready. I was sold, sold emotionally, and violated in the process.

Some of you have most likely had your trust violated as well: by the mystery man "J."

"J" shows up in a typewritten envelope with a Philadelphia postmark. "J" encourages you to read an article by Leah Thayer, a book review on the guide The American Speaker.

Enclosed is a page that looks as if it has been torn from a magazine and folded to look familiar. "J" sticks his initial on a "post-it" note telling me personally, "Try this, it works."

I read the article top to bottom because it seems to have been sent by a friend of mine. I feel confident someone that knows me is truly trying to help me out.

I feel good that some friend knows and cares enough to send me information. I am truly blessed to have friends and business associates who truly care about me. Right? Or wrong.

Who is "J"? John my best man, Jim my high school buddy, Janis from sales, or James the vice-president?

I spend the better part of an evening and early morning trying to figure out who mysterious "J" is.

The next day, as I enter my office, a colleague bemoans direct mail and the lowest form of direct mail he got this week. The direct mail from "J."

How could "J" deceive me, and send this same advice to hundreds or thousands of other friends. It can't be, I'm special. "J" only sent this advice to me.

Disappointed, I realize that a bond of trust has been violated by "J." So, I investigate.

"J" turns out to be The George Town Publishing House in Washington, d.c., and when I contact it to get more information, I was told this was the method commonly used to sell various publications.

The American Speaker, at US$297 plus US$30 for shipping and handling, was the book being thrust upon me by my new concerned friend "J."

"J" had marked the document at the appropriate spot with which to order using tick marks and circles as would a true friend or business associate.

The whole piece was a scam. "J" was not a true friend, but an imposter: I felt betrayed.

How could "J" say he was a real friend when all he wanted me to do was buy a book? How could he assume it would work for me when he didn't know me?

"J" was crossing the boundary ever so slightly, but enough to make me feel cheap, used and mad.

Our industry has spent years trying to get consumers to buy. Over these years, there have been a number of questionable calls.

Yet, we have never callously pretended to be a caring, concerned friend or business associate.

For a second, I, a senior ad executive, had let my guard down. I trusted my friend "J," and I had been misled.

"J" is a cheap imitation, a misleading piece of direct mail, a fraudulent piece of paper made to look like help from someone trusted.

I took two steps back and realized that in a business I love and care about, one always needs to be on the lookout for the "J"s of the advertising and direct mail world.

Kensel Tracy is the Marketing Coach and is a Senior Partner with The Corporate Coachworkz Inc. located in Chelsea, Quebec.