You've heard how the Canadian Cancer Association raised thousands in donations on Facebook and how Zappos revolutionized customer service with Twitter. But can a B2B company really use social media to grow its business and customer base?

Web development guru Tim Lloyd and veteran marketer Pam Brain will discuss the relationship between your brand, the language associated with it and leveraging available technology to drive how your clients find you online. Learn how keywords really work on the web so that your site works harder and communicates better.

Event Details
Monday, September 21, 2009
6:00pm - 6:30 pm registration and networking
6:30pm - Presentation
YWCA Hotel
733 Beatty Street, nr BC Place
To RSVP email: rsvp@htce.org.
Cost is $15.00 if you sign up in advance. $20.00 at door if you don’t RSVP.
Cash or cheques only, payable at the door. Refreshments will be served.
No shows will be subject to charge.

About the speakers
Tim Lloyd – Co-founder, Portal 80 Multimedia inc.
Tim has over 20 years experience in the web development and hosting sectors, specifically relating to the challenges facing small- to-medium-sized businesses. Over the past ten years, he has specialized in web-based business intelligence, helping clients realize their online objectives through the use of technology. Portal 80’s client portfolio includes ICBC,  OnePercent Realty and Hanson Wirsig Mathoes. 

Want to test how the your site ranks? Try Tim’s latest creation, the “Realizr”, a FREE SEO tool at www.socialproof.biz  (currently in Beta).

Pam Brain – Principal, Brain Communications
Pam brings more than 20 years advertising and marketing experience to her role as General Manager of Brain Communications. Over her career, she has worked with many regional and national clients including ICBC, General Motors BC Dealers, MacDonald’s Restaurants and IKEA, and many tech clients including Creo Inc. (now Kodak), MDSI, WebTech Wireless and NxtGen Emission Controls to name just a few. Pam works with her clients to develop strategic marketing campaigns, and oversees creative development and execution to ensure successful results. To find out more visit: www.braincomm.ca.

Sales and marketing veteran Rodan Gopaul-Singh talked about how the relationship between marketing and sales has evolved.  He will show us how both departments can succeed by employing best practices in lead qualification.  Highlights were:

• Working with different lead sources
• Compensation, Tracking & Metrics
• Lead Gen – Should it sit in Marketing or Sales?
• InSource vs. Outsourcing Lead Qualification

About the Speaker
Rodan brings more than 14 years experience as a sales and marketing leader at tech and rapid growth organizations to his role as principal of RWG Consulting. RWG helps companies maximize potential revenue from marketing and business development efforts, build rapid growth, high performance inside sales teams and execute customer retention strategies.

Rodan’s nearly 11 year tenure at SAP/Business Objects saw the company through enormous growth from a small Vancouver software company with $15m in sales to a key division of one of the largest software companies in the world where he lead the North American Telemanagement team. In addition, Rodan was a key executive at one of Vancouver’s leading success stories, 1-800-GOT-JUNK, where he led the Client Services team, a 50-person Sales and Service Call Center.

A panel of progressive media professionals discusses ways to get noticed and stay current amidst masses of information. Find out how to harness the new wave of communications methods and gain a foothold in emerging and influential markets. From social media to radio and the printed word, this session will provide insights into the less obvious ways to reach your target audience.  Confirmed panelists are:

Gillian Shaw
Gillian Shaw is an award-winning journalist with The Vancouver Sun and Canwest.  A former business department editor who gave up editing to go back to her first love, writing, she now writes on Digital Life for the Sun and the CanWest news service.  Her specialty is technology — issues and trends online and off — that affect our life, whether at work or play. Even her dog has her own Facebook site. Gillian’s stories and her blog can be found online at www.vancouversun.com/gillianshaw and you can also find some of her social media links listed at krunchd.com/gillianshaw.

Rebecca Bollwitt
Although she coded her first website in 1997, Rebecca Bollwitt has been blogging about Vancouver since 2004 on Miss604.com, and podcasting since 2005. In 2008 she was listed as one of the top "Web influencers in Vancouver" by NowPublic and the Vancouver Sun, within the top ten "Most influential in Canadian social media" by Profectio.com, and has a weekly segment on-air with Talk 1410am discussing the latest in the Vancouver webosphere. She is the co-founder of sixty4media, offering social media consulting services, custom WordPress themes as well as event liveblogging, tutorials, and content creation. In 2008 Rebecca organized Blogathon Vancouver, the Best of 604 awards, WordCamp Whistler, and Twestival Vancouver. She is @miss604 on twitter.

Steve Pratt
Steve Pratt is the Director of CBC Radio 3, the music service that created of one of the world’s first and most popular legal music podcasts, a Sirius radio station described by a U.S. web magazine as "possibly the world’s best station", and a web radio station that’s been nominated two years in a row for a Webby. Since the launch of these services, it has grown into what the National Post calls "a noteworthy ambassador of Canadian culture to the world." Radio 3 has become a leader in multi-platform content distribution and is helping Canada’s public broadcaster attract younger audiences and increase its relevance in a digital age.
 
Prior to Radio 3, Steve had over 10 years of network television experience, working in everything from news to comedy and from music to children’s programming. He was also oversaw AOL Canada’s entertainment, youth, and gaming channels.
 
Steve is a regular speaker about social media, the future of the music industry, and the future of the media.

Presenter: Deborah Folka, APR

Click here to view Deborah’s article.

When you have difficult news to communicate, do it like removing a bandage: swiftly and completely.

How you and your business cope in tough times is a reflection of true character.  How you communicate during those tough times reflects your values.  It may be instinctive to duck and run for cover when things look bad, but just like your mother told you, it’s best to stand up and face the music.

This session will prepare you and your organization with practical information about ‘telling tough news,’ including:

• Avoiding staff feeling blind-sided
• Planning the distribution of the news
• Preparing for the announcement and the potential fall-out
• Crafting messages and documents
• How to ‘tell it like it is’
• Providing follow-up
• Planning for the unexpected result
• Case studies

Principal of DLF Communications Ltd., Deborah Folka helps organizations in crises or sensitive situations.  Contact her at 604/517-1339 or deborah@dlfcommunications.com or see www.dlfcommunications.com.  
 

In the world of social media marketing, Twitter is being touted as the new hot tool to add to your marketing mix. At the next HTCE event Twitter guru Stephen Jagger will educate us on what Twitter is and how you can use it to increase profits.  He’ll share examples of how some of his customers are using Twitter and other social media tools to enhance market share and increase traffic to their website. Join us on January 19 to learn about using Twitter to gain exposure and market your business. 

Stephen Jagger is an entrepreneur that has been starting businesses since high school.  He is currently involved in 2 companies. Combustion Labs Media Inc, which operates as Ubertor.com, is a real estate software company that provides websites and online marketing tools to thousands of real estate agents across North America.  His other business, Reachd.com is a training company that focuses on marketing professionals and businesses that are interested in learning more about search engine optimization, blogging, online video, Google Adwords and social media.

Visit StephenJagger.com for more information on our speaker.

Social media often blurs the lines between consumer and producer; "Crowdsourcing" is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Coined by Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine to describe “the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people”, Crowdsourcing is attracting controversy and kudos from those who have experienced the phenomenon. Join us to hear Monica Hamburg, a Vancouver-based writer and social media consultant/evangelist, deliver a lively presentation with real-life, intriguing examples of Crowdsourcing in action.

According to Monica, no one business can employ staff who, even collectively, possess every possible skill or experience. The public, however, is filled with experts in all fields and disciplines. Businesses who recognize this fact are asking people outside their organization to provide input and work with their company in some fashion. This type of collaboration has produced innovative ideas, inventive solutions, and increased profit for many businesses. Monica will share with us the benefits and concerns about Crowdsourcing. Come prepared for an interactive discussion at the end of the presentation.

About our speaker

Monica Hamburg is a writer and social media consultant/evangelist. She is a researcher, investigator, and observer of imagery in today’s multi-media world, helping clients use online media to communicate their message (and her "Me Like the Interweb" blog serves as a repository for some of her research and observations). She’s also a contributor to the popular digital marketing magazine "One Degree” well as a former actor who uses her dry humor and entertaining skills for speaking engagements and in her humor blog "Your Dose of Lunacy".
Social Media/Marketing: monicahamburg.wordpress.com
Humour: monicahamburg.blogspot.com
 

The Baby Boomers are delaying retirement, Generation X is sandwiched between Baby Boomers and Millennials, waiting their turn at formal leadership and the gale force of the Millennial generation is here to stay.  And through the occurring clashes of generational differences the need for effective communication has never been more important.  Spend an hour exploring the uniqueness of each of the generations and enhance your capacity to engage all generations in your organization. This session will be facilitied by:Kathi Irvine, BGS, MA, Principal KLI Associates and Core Consultant: Sundance Consulting Inc.

About our Speaker
Kathi Irvine has been helping organizations in the public, private and not for profit sectors since 2003.  With over 20 years of previous corporate leadership and training experience she provides extensive knowledge on leadership and management skills, change leadership, and performance management practices. Kathi is involved in three current research projects; the intergenerational workforce, effective knowledge transfer for sustainable business and integration of behavioral competencies into performance management discussions. 

Kathi is on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, volunteers with Volunteer Vancouver consulting on effective Board Governance practices, and is completing a diploma in Dialogue and Negotiation at Simon Fraser University. She is a member of   BC HRMA, the International Organizational Development Association, and Women’s Executive Network. She teaches at Langara College and the Justice Institute of British Columbia.
You can find out more information at www.kliassociates.ca or www.sundance.ca

 “Journalism is changing right alongside the technology that brings it to us, and a
whole new style of reporting has emerged.” 

 Orato’s editor-in-chief Paul Sullivan

Citizen journalism is changing the news – right from who makes the decisions (on what is news), who controls the media and general public involvement in news creation and participation. The gatekeepers may be changing, and this inclusion will, and frankly already has, had an impact on traditional news media. As marketers, communicators and PR professionals who rely on the media to get our messages to our audiences, understanding this shifting landscape will be key to how we shape our strategies. Join us for the next HTCE session on September 29th when Paul Sullivan, a veteran Journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Orato.com will speak to this whole new style of reporting. Orato.com is a Canada-based news site and pioneer in grassroots citizen journalism through first-person reports of global news and lifestyle stories.

About our speaker: Mr. Sullivan has over 30 years experience in journalism. Formerly, Mr. Sullivan was Western Editor of The Globe and Mail, Canada’s National Newspaper. He was also Managing Editor of The Vancouver Sun, Editor-in-Chief of the Winnipeg Sun, host of CBC Radio’s Vancouver morning show and Senior News Editor at The Journal, the highly-rated CBC-TV news program. Most recently, he successfully established Sullivan Media, a communications consultancy with corporate and non-profit clients.

HTCE Video Presentation:

A big thank you to Dale McGladdery, an active member of the local social media community and co-manger of the local Drupal users group, who volunteered to tape this session and make it available through blip.tv.

From a no junkmail campaign that became a national media story, a brand so strong that cutting the advertising budget was justified to a website re-design that reduced business risks and increased conversions, the next HTCE case study session has something for everybody.

How a “No Junk Mail Campaign” became a national media story
The Red Dot Campaign, a social marketing venture founded by EcoEco, was designed to raise awareness about advertising’s environmental impact. After appearing on CBC on January 31st, the campaign has received over 7 million impressions through national coverage on radio, TV, and newspapers. With over 110,000 unique visitors the Canadian public is obviously engaged in this discussion. Our experience suggests that the transition from traditional mass advertising can be profitable, engaging and an integral component in corporate social responsibility. We welcome your input as we share our vision of inspiring change in these extraordinary times.

This case study will be presented by Beth Ringdahl, President of  EcoEco, a marketing consulting company that delivers high value customer centric marketing strategies.

Cutting advertising but continuing to increase awareness
North Shore Credit Union is a progressive credit union with 13 branches. A powerful brand and integrated marketing strategy that extended into unexpected corners of the organization ensured that brand awareness continued to grow, even after all advertising was cut.

Sharon Habib (then Brand and Promotions Manager) and Yves Rouselle (Creative Director, Stimuli Creative – previously BauWow) were integral parts of the team that led the development and execution of a brand with a local focus, but a reputation that stretched beyond BC’s borders. Their presentation will give you a sneak preview into what made it successful.

This case study will be presented by Sharon Habib, a partner and co-founder of Outsidein Communications, a brand and communications company and Yves Rouselle, President and Creative Director of Stimuli Creative.

Reducing the Business Risks of a Website Redesign While Increasing Conversions by 270%
Learn how Safe Software achieved a wildly successful website redesign through a Conversion Optimization strategy

You know how this goes: Your company’s website is key to your business model and your company spends large sums driving traffic to it so people take action. But only a small percentage of this anonymous traffic actually takes the action you want them to take (i.e., “converts”). So once you decide you need a new website, how do you ensure you not only don’t reduce the conversion rate you now have but actually ensure the new site improves your business results?

When the time came for Safe Software, a global leader in spatial ETL technology solutions, to redesign its website, Safe worked with WiderFunnel on a Conversion Optimization strategy that actually *guaranteed* improved conversions after the redesign. Here is your chance to learn firsthand how Safe deployed a Conversion Optimization strategy.

This case study will be presented by Raquel Hirsch, co-founder of WiderFunnnel Marketing. a Vancouver-based a niche player in a new and fast growing industry: Conversion Optimization.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Beth Ringdahl,  President, EcoEco
EcoEco is a marketing consulting company that delivers high value customer centric marketing strategies. EcoEco’s mission statement is ecology, economy, community which is reflected in their triple bottom line approach to strategy. Beth’s unique background combines strategic marketing, IT, analysis and a scientific background Her career includes management positions at Ernex Moneris and Best Buy Canada. Her passion for ecology stems from 12 years experience in life sciences research and product commercialization. Beth has an MBA from University of Laurier and an MSc from the University of Manitoba. Her clients include Best Buy Canada, a&b Sound, Norterra and other technology and natural products companies.

Sharon Habib, Partner and co-founder Outsidein Communications
Sharon has over 20 years’ experience in branding and strategic marketing and communications in a variety of sectors. She is able to developing holistic brands that integrate the organization and employer brand, and leverage every touch point to build its brand. Among the branding and communications initiatives she has successfully led are North Shore Credit Union, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen pension funds in South Africa, BC Cancer Agency, and many more. Sharon is a mentor for New Ventures BC, guiding and advising new organizations on brand and marketing strategies. Sharon sits on the advisory boards of PhiScreen Inc. and Education Without Borders.

Yves Rouselle, President, Stimuli Creative (formerly BauWow Design)
With over 20 years of creative management, Yves has led brand development and creative design implementation for both national and international organizations. Yves’ years of communication design experience have enabled him to strategically direct and guide the creative development process of the visual brand for many organizations in a variety of sectors. Under his direction, North Shore Credit Union won a MACU award in 2006. Yves is experienced in creating brand strategies that serve to express the brand in a variety of executions from print, to online, outdoor media, signage, environmental graphics and multimedia. He currently serves on the board of the member-driven Society of Graphic Designers of Canada and is the BC Chapter past-president.

Raquel Hirsch, Co-founder of WiderFunnel
Raquel has an impressive traditional marketing, direct marketing, eMarketing and CRM background and her key ability is her skill at developing and implementing effective integrated strategies, incorporating traditional as well as interactive marketing.  Before co-founding WiderFunnel Marketing Inc., Raquel held senior executive positions at Proximity Canada (Senior VP and Managing Director), Pivotal Corp. (Director, eMarketing Solutions), Rogers Video (VP Marketing), Intrawest (Director, Database Marketing), and BCAA. Armed with an MBA, Raquel is also a sought after speaker.  More info about her at Widerfunnel.com