By Leo Valiquette
The Ottawa-Gatineau economy, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s Mario Lefebvre, is one that cannot be counted down and out.
That was the sentiment he delivered last week at Forecasting Ottawa’s Economic Future, an inaugural event that featured his outlook for the local economy and a panel discussion with frank perspectives from several of Ottawa’s business leaders.
Lefebvre reviewed Ottawa’s performance through the worst of the economic downturn in 2009 and 2010, a period during which it suffered losses in employment and GDP that were often marginal compared to other major urban centres across Canada. In fact, in the darkest days of 2009, disposable income continued to rise, thanks in part to continued job growth in the federal public sector; job growth that, at this point in time, outstrips the program spending cuts since announced by the Harper government. Despite that belt tightening, Lefebvre remains bullish on the local economy’s outlook beyond 2013 thanks largely to the presence of the public service.
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By Bob Bailly
Over a year ago I wrote a blog entitled Election emotion, where I looked at an article from Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail. In it, she examined how decisions are made during elections. I’ve always been intrigued by electioneering, and must admit in my career to have managed five different communications campaigns for winning mayoral, Liberal and Conservative candidates in Alberta. As a “hired gun,” I’ve always looked at the challenge the same as I did for all my clients; it’s all about how customers — in this case the voting public — make decisions.
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By Alexandra Reid
As usual, we covered a lot of ground on our blog last month.
We explored why startups should focus on problems, not platforms, and why they shouldn’t outsource their core competencies. Francis explained why marketing involves much more than just creating a message and delivering that message with the tools of advertising and public relations. Mitch Joel supported that argument by stating that marketing is everything. Leo shared lots of great media relations advice, teaching us how to pitch to busy journalists without becoming a nuisance. Of course, these just scratch the surface of the topics we covered.
In case you missed any, here is a handy roundup of our posts last month, ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
October 16: Meet ..duo by Alexandra Reid
October 11: Montreal’s Notman House enters final funding stage by Francis Moran
October 10: Mitch Joel on why marketing is everything by Alexandra Reid
October 15: Social media gaffes: They can happen to anyone by Megan Totka
October 22: The plight of product managing myself by Peter Hanschke
October 24: ‘Put away the cozy image of the little old lady knitting a sweater for the grandkids’ by Alexandra Reid
October 9: Apple versus Samsung – Every patent owner’s dream by David French
October 2: Why I started learning code: a marketer’s perspective by Alexandra Reid
October 4: Marketing is about more than the colour of your new website by Francis Moran
October 23: Pitching to busy media figures in various media environments by Leo Valiquette
October 17: The thin line between being persistent and being a nuisance by Leo Valiquette
October 30: Make sure you’re barking up the right tree by Leo Valiquette
October 18: Canadian angel investors to gather in Halifax next week by Francis Moran
October 31: Pitch perfect: Startups should focus on problems, not platforms by Alexandra Reid
October 25: Communications planning: The principles by Caroline Kealey
October 3: Startups: Do not outsource your core competency by Leo Valiquette
October 29: The allure of building enterprise products by Jesse Rodgers
Image: 10Wallpaper.com
By Jesse Rodgers
There is no doubt that enterprise software is currently in fashion.
That’s because in enterprise software there are big problems, bigger data, and bigger budgets where you don’t need to find millions or even thousands of customers to build a business.
Take Workday, for example, that is estimated to have $500 million in ‘bookings this year’ on just 310 customers.
I see three key things that are currently driving opportunity in this space:
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By Francis Moran
The National Angel Capital Organization’s Angel Summit, an annual gathering of those critical early-stage backers of new ventures, will wing its way to my former home town of Halifax, Nova Scotia, next week for three days of professional development workshops, company pitches and networking. As has been the case for the past few years, I will be there to report on the latest news and trends out of this important investment community.
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By Leo Valiquette
