Small Business Summit Arrives in Toronto!

FreshGigs.ca Team

Please note: due to unforeseen circumstances, the events in Vancouver and Calgary have been cancelled. The Toronto event will proceed as scheduled.

The Globe and Mail Small Business Summit #GlobeSBS16 is a one-day conference in Toronto that will leave small-business owners and managers inspired and ready to move their businesses to the next level.

The brightest minds in Canadian and global business will offer insights into the rapidly changing marketplace and the key challenges of securing financing, competing for talent and expanding sales.

Insightful keynote speakers such as Harley Finkelstein from Shopify, Bruce Poon Tip from
G Adventures, Ryan Holmes from Hootsuite and Vikram Vij will provide new ideas and inspiration Continue reading →

You do what? A look into the trend of unusual job titles

Guest Author

Hi! I’m Claire Francis, Chief Creative Commissioner of claireshegoes.com.

How does that sound? Strange? Exciting? Could you automatically tell what I do, or were you confused? Some of today’s job titles are alternately eye-catching and corny, and I wanted dive in and explore this trend.

Martial Artists need not apply

As I began looking up these new workplace words, I was glad to learn that I’m not the only one who’s noticed a difference in how today’s professionals refer to themselves. Friends mentioned people who go by things such as Imagineer. Continue reading →

Digital Marketing Confidential with The Sociable Society’s Emily Fonda: The currency of influence

Joanne M. Brathwaite

Back for another year, the 2016 Canadian Internet Marketing Conference (CIMC) will feature a powerhouse line-up of more than 30 of the world’s top minds and movers of the digital marketing industry. FreshGigs.ca got the awesome opportunity to have a pre-conference brain-picking sesh with each of the keynote speakers and panelists. Today’s Q & A is with Emily Fonda, Director at the Sociable Society.

How did you come to be a part of The Sociable Society?

As a Public Relations consultant, I’ve worked on a number of campaigns over the years that tapped the power of influencers. Reflecting on this success, a close colleague and I got to talking about how working with influencers brought real results to brand exposure and campaign value. We then started talking with some key influencers and started to realize how archaic the approach is to working with influencers.

Influencers have spent many, MANY years building their audience, devoting their own time and money in developing their niche story Continue reading →

Creative Cultures | Uberflip: Zen and the art of H.U.S.T.L.E

Leila Pejman

Creative Cultures is powered by Chimp, bringing people and charities together.
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In our Creative Cultures series, our writers day inside companies to learn how hiring, onboarding and company culture play a role in employee happiness. From startups to design firms and all in-between, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work in inventive and productive environments. Today, writer Leila Pejman takes us through a day at Uberflip.

Zen.

It’s how I’d describe my first experience at the Uberflip’s Toronto office. With its cement floors and exposed brick and beams, the open-concept space is filled with natural light – perfect for the yoga class that starts every Friday morning. While flowing through a sun salutation, you can’t help being distracted by the giant, painted wall illustrating the company’s values. “I am H.U.S.T.L.E.” gets the most exposure.

It stands for: heart, unique, skill, tech, lean, and entrepreneurial. Yoav Schwartz, co-founder and CEO, explains that to be part of the hustle, you must be authentic. Continue reading →

Digital Marketing Confidential with Village & Co’s Justin Young: branding bits and digital bites

Joanne M. Brathwaite

Some would say that today’s tech-based marketing needs to be helpful, not invasive. How do you think brands can best achieve this?

Brands can best achieve this through:

Targeting: with paid digital media targeting options, hone in on your target and mitigate wastage.
Relevance: taking into account various targets/profiles, customize creative/messaging to ensure resonance.
Context: consider the customers’ mindset/context and work with it.
Content: add non-branded content to the mix like UGC, relevant articles, etc.

Continue reading →

The Art of Leadership for Women Conference – Vancouver

FreshGigs.ca Team

Join Fresh Gigs at Canada’s leading leadership event for women, April 1, 2016.

The Art of Leadership for Women is a conference that brings world-renowned leaders and bestselling authors together for a full day of cutting edge thinking and real world experience on today’s most critical leadership strategies. This one-day conference features five internationally renowned bestselling authors and thought leaders who will share an exciting blend of cutting-edge thinking and real world experience on today’s most critical leadership issues. Don’t miss out on your chance to gain a competitive advantage and network with over 1,200 of Vancover’s most influential women.

April 1st, 2016
8:00AM – 5:00PM
Vancouver Convention Centre
East Building – Ballroom ABC

Gain valuable insights from each of our dynamic speakers:

Geena Davis: Academy Award-winner and Founder and Chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Amy Cuddy: New York Times Bestselling Author, Associate Professor at Harvard and 2nd most-viewed TED Talk with over 30 million views
Diana Nyad: Record-breaking endurance athlete and best-selling author of Find A Way
Danielle Laporte: Best-selling author of The Firestarter Sessions and creator of The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul
Dr. Seonaid Charlesworth: Vice President, Executive Assessment & Succession, Lee Hecht Harrison Knightsbridge

Take advantage of our preferred member rate! Use promo-code FRESHVAN27 and save up to $100 when registering! ($100 off each ticket when three or more register together; otherwise receive $50 off)

Click here to REGISTER

Comments? Questions? Please feel free to leave them below.

Digital Marketing Confidential with Vicki McLeod of Main Street Communications: It’s all in the mind

Joanne M. Brathwaite

What would you say to a fellow professional who is obviously stressed?

Slow down. Breathe. Take a nap. I’m not saying that to be flippant. There’s a wonderful story about Gandhi where he tells his compatriots that he needs to set aside one hour a day to do meditation. They exclaim, “Oh no, you can’t do that! You are too busy, Gandhi!” They were, after all, trying to free a nation. Ghandi replies, “Well, then. I now need to set aside two hours a day to do meditation.”

When we get really stressed we can’t see the forest for the trees. Slowing down, stillness, brings us back to a center point where we can get some perspective. It’s where we’re most creative – and where solutions become obvious. Continue reading →

Creative Cultures: Ideon thinks inside the box

Crystal Henrickson

Creative Cultures is powered by Chimp, bringing people and charities together.
— — —

In our Creative Cultures series, our writers day inside companies to learn how hiring, onboarding and company culture play a role in employee happiness. From startups to design firms and all in-between, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work in inventive and productive environments. Today, writer Crystal Henrickson takes us through a day at Ideon.

What if you were told to think inside the box? In this case, it’s more like thinking from inside the box company. Based out of Richmond, British Columbia, Ideon Packaging makes attractive and effective packaging, while building a strong and supporting internal community. I was invited to lift the proverbial lid on this company and experience a day in the work life at Ideon.

For a company that puts packaging around products for a living, one of the first things that struck me about Ideon’s office space was its lack of walls. In fact, there isn’t one person in the entire company with an office. Even the CEO and president, Rick Van Poele, prefers to roam, shifting from desk to desk. An approachable environment, for team members and customers alike, most meetings are held with the door open. Continue reading →

Digital Marketing Confidential with Raven’s Nate Baker: Crunching the numbers

Joanne M. Brathwaite

Back for another year, the 2016 Canadian Internet Marketing Conference (CIMC) will feature a powerhouse line-up of more than 30 of the world’s top minds and movers of the digital marketing industry. FreshGigs.ca got the awesome opportunity to have a pre-conference brain-picking sesh with each of the keynote speakers and panelists. Today’s Q & A is with Nate Baker, content marketing specialist at Raven.

What exactly does reporting digital marketing entail? Why should the public be interested in it?

The public won’t be interested in digital marketing reporting unless they are creating or receiving a report. A marketing report uses text, numbers and graphs to show someone what they are getting for their money. A great report isn’t just information, it’s analysis. It explains what’s going right or wrong with a marketing campaign and what’s being done about it.

Reporting digital marketing sounds very mathematical and analytical. What aspects of it would you say are fun and user-friendly?

If you’re a metrics nerd, all reporting is fun. If this is you, analyzing graphs and segmenting data in different ways is like looking for buried treasure. Though, some people find reporting cumbersome. Generally tracking things like sales, email subscribers, and follower counts are most fun Continue reading →

Millions have watched her famous TED talk – Meet her in person in Toronto on March 3rd

FreshGigs.ca Team

Social Psychologist and Harvard Business Professor Amy Cuddy has galvanized tens of millions of viewers around the world with her TED Talk “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are” in which she discusses how “power posing” – standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident – can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.

Dr. Cuddy wasn’t supposed to become a scientist. Early in her career she suffered a head injury from which doctors said her mental capacity would never recover. She persevered, proved them wrong, and now her research on how people judge and influence others and themselves has been covered by top academic journals and news sources Continue reading →