Canada Rules Gold!

Crosby thanking Olympic Hockey Fans after scoring the Golden Goal

As Canadians we are often self critical that we have less patriotic passion as our bold friends to the south. After watching and hearing Stephen Brunt’s olympic video essay on the pride of Canadians that welled up as the Olympic Games proceeded, it was clear to me just how accurate the Globe and Mail’s columnist is.

After we missed a few podium placements early on in the games I found myself allowing cynicism to creep into my mindset. But after watching local heroes Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir win ice dancing gold and Alex Bilodeau hugging his brother after his gold medal mogels run I realised that the Spirit of the Olympics is far more then medal placements or headlines.

And as Sid the Kid relieved all Canadians of a collective holding of their breath tonight it became crystal clear. 

Being Canadian is about the collective inner confidence we all share as citizens of the greatest, humblest and truest nation on the globe. No other country has the same freedom, tolerance, diversity and quality of a secure way of life that Canadians quietly celebrate. We know it – we just don’t feel the need to brag about it everyday.

For 17 days now the rest of the world has gotten a taste of just what we have always known. It is great to be a Canadian! That’s why so many come here hoping to be part of the winning team.

Go Canada!

A Boomers Foray into Social Media

The Journey begins with this… my first blog!

I’ve been a business owner for most of my life and I have seen new technology and applications change the way we live and do business but never has something come along so quickly, with so many aspects and left my head spinning as the Social Media stuff. In a word Unbelievable.

When graduating college in 1985 we were early adopters of the Mac computers. Late in the same decade you could see me driving around with one of those hairdryer size cell phones. And who could live without my iPod and BlackBerry.

Today, as I realize my business is now 5 years old, I also realize I had better get caught up on this Social Media stuff before I loose too much more ground and my clients start asking me questions I can’t answer. Awkward…

It first hit me when Susan Boyle’s name launched across the internet on YouTube based almost completely on the Twitter messages from Demi Moore and Aston Kutcher. The second sign that I needed to catch up was when we were asked to respond to an RFQ for an entertainment venue and include how we would market to their younger audience using social media and the internet.

Now I’ve been fairly up to date on SEO and other web methodology to build site traffic but when it comes to Social Media I know enough to be dangerous.

I am determined to be as familiar with Social Media as I am with Branding, Sales and Marketing.

The last straw was when my 17 year old son is talking to fellow gamers on various chat groups and fixing my laptop with advice he got from other geeks on his Facebook page. Sigh…

So after an online visit to Amazon.ca and $150 later I am the proud owner of a bunch of books and guide through the social media jungle.

I felt this blog was the perfect place to start seeing as I have a spot for it on our new website and I promised content to it by the end of January; yes I’m late, but not by much. Ok, to be honest, I also got inspiration from the movie Julie and Julia which, though a chic flick my wife wanted to rent, does show the potential of even a simple blog.

The book I’m reading presently is Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith who I really like because they are disciples of David Maister the author of one of my favourite books; The Trusted Advisor (2000). To take the Trust Agents advice I am getting started and looking forward to seeing where the trip takes me. Hope you are to.

More in a month. Mike