This is the second article in a continuing monthly series chronicling the growth path of CommentAir Technologies, a startup based in Ottawa, Canada. CommentAir is developing a wireless technology fans can use at sports venues to receive the same real-time commentary as fans watching from their televisions, a wireless technology that also creates a platform for targeted consumer interaction. We invite your feedback.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
For a pre-revenue startup that is bootstrapping its way to market, incurring the cost to travel to another city to attend an industry trade conference with an admission price of $1,000 may appear to be an expensive endeavour. For Katie and Luke Hrycak, sibling co-founders of CommentAir Technologies, it’s the kind of opportunity they can’t afford to let slip by.
The 2011 Sports Management Conference and Trade Show, taking place in Toronto on Nov. 14 and 15, features dozens of speakers from the senior ranks of professional sports from across North America, from team owners and league commissioners, to broadcasters and professional services which cater to the industry. It is the very sort of high-profile event they need to draw attention to CommentAir’s programmable earpiece technology.
“I‘m raising the money to attend at least one day and track down the people that I want to talk to,” said Katie. “This also requires a lot of research for knowing faces of those individuals so that I have a game plan walking in.”
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By Alexandra Reid
I sat down with Delaney Turner, IBM’s social business strategist, editor and engagement lead, to expand on some of the subjects he presented to the Social Media Breakfast Ottawa crowd yesterday morning.
According to Turner, our world is becoming smarter as it becomes more interconnected. Businesses must acknowledge that social media is at least partly responsible for bridging new connections and adapt their communications strategies to utilize these new channels to their best effect.
Turner said IBM employees are encouraged to participate on social media channels on behalf of the company, and take personal responsibility for their work. “Social media is like the phone,” said Turner. “Rather than restrict access, we’re going to treat people like adults and trust that they’re going to use it right for business.”
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This is a guest post from investment coach Martin Soorjoo. We welcome your comments.
By Martin Soorjoo
During the course of writing a book on pitching, I reminded myself of the magical presentation skills of Steve Jobs. I watched his mesmerizing Macworld presentations from start to finish, and read and re-read the text of his insightful and inspirational 2005 Stanford commencement address.
It therefore came as a deep shock to me to find out that, within hours of sending the completed manuscript to my publishers, Jobs had passed away. Having watched his presentations so many times on video recently, he was, in my mind, very much alive.
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This is the second article in a continuing monthly series that will chronicle the growth path of Screenreach Interactive, a startup based in Newcastle upon Tyne in England’s North East. Screenreach’s flagship product, Screach, is an interactive digital media platform that allows users to create real-time, two-way interactive experiences between a smart device (through the Screach app) and any content, on any screen or just within the mobile device itself. We invite your feedback.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
When we caught up with Screenreach Interactive founder and CEO Paul Rawlings last week, he was in the midst of packing for a trip to New York, where he was booked as a panellist for the Digital Signage Investor Conference.
Digital signage, a so-called form of “out-of-home advertising,” delivers video content, advertisements and messages to specific locations at specific times on static or touch screens, often in combination with movement detection and image capture technology. According to one recent industry forecast, the market is growing at a compound annual rate of 40 percent, with 22 million digital signs expected to be deployed world-wide by 2015.
For Screenreach, it’s an industry ripe for the Screach app.
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By Francis Moran
When a product fails miserably in the marketplace, why is the customer blamed for not wanting to buy it?
Hang on, you say; that doesn’t happen, does it? Well, it did, and in spades, just last week.
Three well-established brands competed openly for the custom of a large pool of potential buyers. Their marketing campaigns used every media format available — television, radio, billboards and other outdoor, print, social media, telemarketing, direct mail, media relations, events and much, much more. Key spokespersons and local brand representatives travelled constantly throughout the marketplace bringing brand messaging directly to potential buyers. There has never been, perhaps, a more intensive, expensive and well-coordinated an effort to woo customers than was exhibited by these three brands.
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By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
