I’d also like to personally thank Vic Fedeli, Jen McNutt Bywater, Harriet Madigan, and Jeffrey Hawkins for volunteering to be the first storytellers. Vic shared a touching story about how he met his wife, Patty. Jen spoke about her experiences in Bali, and the families she has met there. Harriet discussed the Community Waterfront Friends Pergola initiative, and how her mother helped to shape and inspire that concept. Finally, Jeffrey told a story about the lasting impact his mother has left on him.

I shared a story too. Listen in to find out how my family helped me start my first business, and how they helped ignite my entrepreneurial spark. Please visit www.yourfamilystory.ca to listen to these stories, and keep checking back to see more.

“We are very pleased to partner with a local firm for this project. We feel it is important to work with a group that understands tourism in the North, and we feel we have found the perfect match” – Bunny Tucker, President of Ontario’s Near North Travel Association.

The current site will be completely redesigned and redeveloped to engage potential visitors and to offer better ease of access. The site will be of tremendous value to local businesses in the Near North travel area, as tourism generates upwards of $125 million in revenue for the region. The website is intended to launch mid-to-late September, just in time for ONN’s Annual General Meeting.

An increasing number of people rely on the internet to plan their travel. Canadians who travel to Ontario are somewhat above-average users of the internet for planning (66.4%) and booking travel (45.2%). This research, conducted by TAMS (Travel Activity and Motivation Survey 2007) only solidifies the need to invest in a website to reach potential consumers.

“We’re very excited to be working with Ontario’s Near North. We’re passionate about tourism, and about the region, so it’s a pleasure to be able to work on a project so close to home” – Ben Farella, President of The Ben Farella Group.

BFG has partnered with Toronto agency Cundari to create an advertising campaign for Northern Ontario Tourism (RTO13a). Here are the results of the print advertisements, with more to be published in the near future.

BFG has partnered with Toronto agency Cundari to create an advertising campaign for Northern Ontario Tourism (RTO13a), that includes social media integration. We are delighted to show off the results of the Facebook page.

Click here to visit the Facebook page

That was when I was only doing traditional marketing communications but see how that applies to everything anyone is involved in whether it is contemporary digital communications strategies or writing a funding application or cleaning the office.

Our work is our art and if we do it uniquely with the objective of Wanting it to be seen and connected with, then are there always the few who “haven’t seen the floors so clean before and ask what was wrong with dirty floors”

Change evokes a reaction… whatever you are doing today, maybe you shouldn’t worry about the mess it makes for a few but rather the good it creates for the many.

What happened to trigger this blog posting?

We were launching a new joint venture business via a decidedly one-time mass email blast to a very large list of contacts, through a third party provider. The data was fragmented and stored in multiple versions.  Upon merging them we found there were numerous duplicate entries. The third party provider assured us that they would remove duplicate entries, and filter the information. In the end, this didn’t happen and some people received numerous emails and were understandably annoyed.

When good plans go awry

To err is human, but is not exclusive to humans. Sometimes the tools we use, and technical services we buy have flaws as well. What do you do when a third party service provider causes an error that affects your corporate or business image?  What’s your best course of action to handle it?

Take responsibility.

It’s your company.  It was your decision to choose that service provider.  Be both sincere and transparent with your audience and take responsibility for what’s transpired.  Respond to emails and phone calls with personalized responses; let your audience know you’re real. If you’ve caused any damage, take steps to mend and heal.

Find the root of the problem.

Review your user agreement, speak with the company you’re dealing with and try to understand what’s happened on their end and yours. Move past the visible symptoms, and determine the cause. Don’t attempt to assign blame, but try to determine which party can make improvements. Correct, or have your service provider correct the root of the problem. If nothing else, perhaps this is the writing on the wall that you picked the wrong service provider from the beginning and should make a move.

Resolve to make sure the problem doesn’t repeat itself.

In the end, one of the best things you can do is share your experience with others.  Do so not as a mechanism for directing blame or carrying on any negative sentiments, but instead to share what you’ve just learned the hard way.  Preventing someone else’s misfortune is always a good way to restore your karma points.

Lessons learned.

Be aware that the data in your database will almost never be without some error or duplication.  Data ages and changes, often making de-duplication processes arduous and imperfect, and can result in having multiple active pieces of data (such as email addresses) for a single person.  Always de-duplicate your information before sending, ensuring you are only sending to one email address per contact.  Be aware of spam regulations.  Make sure you always include your full company name and contact information at the bottom of any mass communication, and ALWAYS include an email “opt-out” feature in every piece of correspondence.

And finally, as we are attempting to do with this blog, be transparent and truthful about your situation as quickly as you can.  You’d be surprised how understanding and forgiving people can be.