Evolving Shift

Search Marketing Manager - Walmart.ca

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:33:00 +0000

We are continuing to expand the team. If you want to run one of the largest search campaigns in Canada this is the role for you.

Search Marketing Manager: Responsible for strategic planning, implementation and ongoing management of highly complex paid search campaigns (desktop and mobile) developing sophisticated post-marketing contribution modeling to enhance PPC performance. Search manager will direct one of Canada’s largest search marketing initiatives with high ROI targets tied to online and in-store sales and traffic. They will work closely with the digital and store marketing teams as well as vendor partners to educate, plan and execute these campaigns. This is a highly strategic and technical role and requires proficiency in SEM and analytics tools.

We are hiring at Walmart.ca

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:18:00 +0000

We are hiring at +Walmart Canada for Walmart.ca. If you are looking to be part of one of the most dynamic, fun and fastest growing eCommerce businesses in Canada you want to check out the below:

Site Promotions Specialist: The Site Promotions Specialist is responsible for a portfolio of categories and experiences on Walmart's digital properties, whereby they seek to merchandise and promote the assortment within that category. Using a combination of graphical, product based, and experience driven digital tools, their objective is to maximize customer satisfaction and ultimately revenue from the visitors shopping on the site.

Senior Manager, Analytics and Site Optimization: The Sr. Manager Analytics and Site Optimization leads the strategic development and execution for the site optimization, analytics and testing roadmaps and plans for Walmart Canada's sites. Possessing a true passion for continous improvement this person has a deep understanding of analytics tied with useabilty best practices to quickly be able to define and excute on a testing roadmap that drives improvement into the business. A leader in understanding analytics elements and how they tie together to create a rich data ecosystem that can help the business make better and faster decisions.

Senior Manager Site Promotions: The Sr. Manager Site Promotions is responsible for the onsite merchandising and promotional strategy such that customers are presented with the best mix of products and services for them. This role is the key integration point into corporate marketing and store operations to ensure that Walmart.ca is fully reflective of the strategies and positioning of the overall Walmart brand, while giving the online shopper a unique and engaging experience. Further, it is the responsibility of this role to ensure that category level promotional and seasonal strategies are developed and delivered in order to achieve the vision of each individual SBU.
Product Manager Online: The Product Manager is a critical member of the Walmart.ca Product Management team that drives the overall roadmap for a specific set of cross site functionalities. The Product Manager will specialize and oversee a set of site functionalities that could encompass Entry / Landing Pages, Site Content, Navigation, Search, Social Commerce, Personalization / Relevance, Promotional Pages, Media Integration, Localization, Checkout, Mobile and Backend System as well as other content sites. This person will also have a strong understanding of eCommerce best practices to ensure the site is aligned with and optimized for the best possible customer experience.

Replenishment Analyst, Ecommerce: This role is to coordinate the flow of all inventory for a Merchandise department with the objective to optimize DC inventory and support Replenishment Mgr on overall inventory control of a merchandising department. This role is to coordinate with buyers and merchandising assistants to monitor and execute promotion orders creation, DC demand placement from vendors to DC, and orders from DC to stores.

Senior Online Graphic Designer : The Sr. Online Graphic Designer will be responsible for managing / developing the creation of custom design concepts for Walmart.ca including core website look & feel, marketing promotional campaigns, corporate messaging and other internal or customer facing messaging. They will also coach, and be the primary point of contact for our 3rd party agencies and vendors to ensure consistency in style guide and design.

Account Manager, Digital Advertising: The Account Manager, Digital Advertising role is responsible for working closely with our vendor community to plan, sell and execute strategic digital advertising campaigns across the digital landscape on behalf of Walmart Vendors. This role will collaborate with Walmart.ca’s site experience, marketing, merchandising and studio teams to deliver strategic solutions for the digital components of Walmart’s multi-channel marketing campaigns. This candidate must have a strong working knowledge of the digital space, specifically online advertising, search engine marketing and analytics and be able to apply that knowledge to the online retail world. This role is an exciting opportunity for those who enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, are inquisitive and passionate for all things digital.

Looking for Some Great Product Managers

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 02:50:00 +0000

In case you haven't figure it out yet we are really serious about eCommerce at Walmart.ca. We have some of the best talent around and as we continue to build out the #1 team in Canada we are looking for some superstar product managers to join us. If you have a passion for the space and are looking to make an impact on the largest retailer in the world we want to chat with you. It is going to be a ton of work but you will have fun each and ever day.

Here is what we are looking for:

Sr Manager Product Management: The Sr Manager of Product Management is a critical player in the Walmart.ca Site Experience team driving functional product level strategy and execution across the business. The Sr Manager of Product Management owns the product development map for Walmart Canada’s web properties and through their team ensures that Walmart.ca drives a compelling and engaging experience on each and every interaction. The product portfolio includes Entry / Landing Pages, Site Content, Navigation, Search, Social Commerce, Personalization / Relevance, Promotional Pages, Media Integration, Localization, Checkout, Mobile and Backend System as well as other content sites. The Sr Manager of Product Management is always looking to improve the customer experience thought partnerships both internally and externally.

Online Product Managers: The Product Manager is a critical member of the Walmart.ca Product Management team that drives the overall roadmap for a specific set of cross site functionalities. The Product Manager will specialize and oversee a set of site functionalities that could encompass Entry / Landing Pages, Site Content, Navigation, Search, Social Commerce, Personalization / Relevance, Promotional Pages, Media Integration, Localization, Checkout, Mobile and Backend System as well as other content sites. This person will also have a strong understanding of eCommerce best practices to ensure the site is aligned with and optimized for the best possible customer experience.

Is Marketing Dead - No but the way we look at it is...

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 15:59:00 +0000

I love what this article is saying (HBR - Is Marketing Dead) Although I still believe there is value in traditional marketing we all need to spend more time and focus on engaging in conversation with the consumer. Even today, when it comes to planning, digital (and the key components in engagement - social commerce/media & search) are carve outs of the "this is the way we did last year" budgeting process.

If we want to win we need find ways to engage our customers and, ultimately, turn them into evangelists. This starts with connecting with them when they put their hand up for help (the search) then giving them the information and tools so they can make the decision and share it out to their world (big or small).

This isn't easy nor is there a proven map to success but by focusing on being remarkable on everything you do (do not waste yours or the customers time ala +Seth Godin ) and partnering with people who under the social commerce tool set ( +Bazaarvoice ) you can get there much faster.

In the end this is not about having the most friends on Facebook or having the highest share of voice in the market but having honest, helpful conversations with your customers and if you treat them right and meet (or even better exceed) their needs you will have the pleasure of serving them again in the future. If you are lucky enough and you delight them at every step they may even bring their friends with them.

Three Words that Should Never be Spoken in Business

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:16:00 +0000

Can't, Impossible and No - three words that will kill a business yet you hear them around you everyday no matter where you work. It is these words, that when they are part of your business's vocabulary, cause it to slow down, lose that leadership position and never get to that game changing innovation.

I am sure people told Google it would be impossible to index and rank the web, that Amazon was told that no you won't be able to change how retail works and that Facebook was told it will be impossible to connect the world but luckily they pushed through this.

So catch yourself, and your teams, going forward not to crush ideas before they have a chance, removing these three words doesn't mean increased risk or lack of controls but it means that you will try and figure things out before making the decision.

Starting tomorrow replace these three words with five others when presented with a challenge or something new: We will figure it out.

This one is for you Bruce

Why Google+ is so Important for your Business

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:15:00 +0000

As everyone knows Google+ launched the long awaited business pages last week. It was interesting to watch everyone test the waters where almost everyone raced to get their page live but really only the content based (TV, Radio and other news) business have leverage it heavily.

Sure it is another social channel and yes it is going to require some additional effort but if you need proof on why this is important take a look at the search results below

Google is greatly advantaging the businesses that consumers are connecting with the additional call out. Couple this with the fact that your ads will now also show your Google +1 from your page and you can quickly see that you need to engage your customer base now. So if you don't have a page yet go get it build.

So now what to do next (after your Google+ Business page is built):

1. First you need to start contributing content on your Google+ page, at this point it can be the same content strategy as your Facebook and/or twitter page but you need to get a flow going. Conversation is going to be different (and using ripples you will have better visibility into it reach) but consumers are going to want to see some form of communication not just a blank page.

2. Get your company behind it. This is a great way to start the network growing, ask your team / company to add the page to a circle and share it with their friends and family. If you have a group of pages make sure they are adding each other and sharing their content in the early days.

3. Add the Google+ buttons to your site. This needs to be both the Google+ page button as well as the +1 button. The +1 button should be page specific across your site, very similar to what you are doing with the Facebook Like button. The goal is to make it easy for customers to share your content. This is critical for SEO as you want the individual pages shared not just the overall site.

4. Engage your other social networks. Push people from your Facebook pages and Twitter account to the Google+ page. You have an audience that has already expressed interest in your content/brand/company so make sure that you letting these people know you are active on Google+

5. Experiment with content. Google+ is still an evolving platform but with the photo, video and broadcast (hangout) capabilities this is a chance to establish a Google+ brand for yourself. If your company is in a weak position in Facebook or Twitter vs your competitor this is the time to redouble your efforts and cement your position in the new social network.

Now to the question that everyone is asking: should I wait to see if Google+ is going to be a success? The problem with this question is that if you wait by the time you determine success or failure for Google+ it will be too late. I think the best way to look at this question is how Google is integrating Google+ into all of it products. To me Google+ will naturally evolve and grow with Google. Google's goal is not to build another Facebook but to add a social layer onto Google. From this perspective I think they have achieved or, at least, are very close to making it a success. Unlike Wave or Buzz I believe that Google+ is here to stay.

So no matter if you are a big brand or small local business (I think that for small business Google+ is even more important to get on board now) you need to spend some time building your presence out. The 5 above steps could easily be accomplished in a few days so the only thing holding you back is yourself.

Good luck and have fun with Google+!

Building Customer Stories with Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:36:00 +0000

A very interesting use of social media that shows how to drive unexpected customer delight. Engagement with a brand is all about building stories with them and although they talk about the impressions as if it was a campaign at the end of the video the real win here is the long term emotional connection they built at an individual level. What they did with this is create brand advocates that should continue to tell stories (and build the brand) for years to come.

Shopping Cart Improvements

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:23:00 +0000

I am going to shamelessly steal a great video / ad from Google Analytics to prove a point and that is that we, as an industry, still suck at taking money from people when they really want to give it to us.

Simply put we focus on the wrong things, we look to cross sell, get email sign-ups, additional customer data and sell insurance and then we pat ourselves on the back when 25% of the people leave while trying to buy.

I think this video talks to a couple of key points A. That you really need to have a deep analytical understanding of your checkout and B. Put your process through a different lens, if this was a brick and mortar store (or another site) would it make sense.

Here are some tips that have always worked (for me) in improving the checkout experience (translation: make it easier for people to give money to you):

1. 0% abandonment is your goal: this part of your site is the easiest to increase conversion, people starting the checkout process are looking to buy so don't settle when people leave. This means you have to have a very solid understanding of cart performance and this is more than just clickstream analysis, you need to understand the why (VOC tools like Foresee can help with abandonment surveying) and session replay (Clicktale or Tealeaf) to show what is happening from different view points.

2. Have an anonymous checkout: I know how this conversation goes, if we can get everyone to sign in we can target better, onsite and off, so we will force (and the key word here is force) our customers to setup an account to buy. Think about how you would react every time you went to buy something they wanted to know everything about you...it simply wouldn't work. So why do we believe it is acceptable online? Give your customers the ability to checkout anomoyously and if you delight them they will be more than happy to take the relationship to the next level

3. Save everything: Make it easy for people to check out in the future, save their address, credit cards and anything else that would help them out (think reoccurring orders). This also means that you need to store the security number on the credit card. No need storing the rest of the credit card info if you are going to make them go back to get that little 3 or 4 digit number.

4. Support as many browsers as possible: This goes back to that simple rule "make it easy to take money from people when they want to give it to you", nothing drives me madder (and at the same time shocks me) when I can't check out of a site on chrome. Make sure that your cart, of all places, can support the top browsers and I would strongly suggest you go deeper here than the rest of your site.

5. Help: Don't assume anyone understands anything about your cart, checkout or business, make it easy to get help or find out more information, have hover-overs that clearly explains what is needed and where it makes sense make it graphical (security codes). Reassure throughout the process. If you have free returns or anything else that makes hitting that confirm button easier call it out every step of the way.

6. Say Thanks: Not part of the checkout but remember to thank the customer on the confirmation page. This is also the time to capture that email address or convert the anonymous shopper to an account.

Some random thoughts but these have all worked for me, if you have any of your own please share and lets all try and make what should be a really smooth process a better process than it is today.

Thanks Steve

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:51:00 +0000

The true legacy of ones life is not told by the millions of dollars you have but the millions of lives you have touched. I never knew the man personally but can say that his passion for life, excellence and perfection helped shape the leader I am today. The world lost today not because we lost someone who made great products but because we lost someone who knew how to make it a better place with everything we do.

The Ultimate Google Analytics Study Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:20:00 +0000

For those of you that have worked with me, heard me speak or have read the blog you know I am a big believer in open analytics within the organization. The concept of open analytics is simple: instead of having a small group controlling the tools, as well as, the analysis and reports you ensure that your tools and training are available across the org so that as many people as possible are empowered to leverage data in their decisions. This frees up the analytics teams to do deep analysis while everyone else has access to find the data they need. Once executed you have multiple eyes, often looking at the data through a different lens, discovering insights about the business.

We are using Google Analytics to help with this transformation (along with many other tools) and with an incredible hand from the Google team we have many more people deep in the data from all functional areas. A smaller subset of this group is also working towards their Google Analytics Individual Qualification. Google has a great set of videos to help you along but one of our superstar IAs ((Francis (Hank) Henry) pulled this together from the video content and made, in my opinion, the best study guide around for Google Analytics. Even if you are not going for the qualification this is a great resource to have around to to help learn the tool so you can get deep in the numbers. Happy hunting!

Finding an Extra Week a Year - What will you do with it?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 03:24:00 +0000

What would you do if all of a sudden you had a extra week to get those high value projects done. We all have those meetings where we wonder why we are there and, often, these "regular" meetings happen just because they always have with no real value. This is where it gets crazy, an hour a week is 52 hours over the year which well over a solid week of effort. Imagine what you could accomplish with this extra week.

Now the trick is that you need to apply the following test to every meeting you schedule with your team or you are part of: Is this meeting creating the same value that all the participants could achieve if they had a week to work on something else?

I am sure when you look at your schedule tomorrow you can find that one (maybe two or three) hour(s) of meetings that you would rather have to yourself, I know what I will do with that extra week...

Driving User Experience Through Content Creation

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:09:00 +0000

I was reading a business plan the other day that I had helped build for a telecom company in India ten years back and it amazed me how much that we had come in our connected lives. Ten years back TV was still the major media and we used cell phones to call people not interact with the greater world.

Today online, and through our mobile devices, we are fully connected 24 hours a day and more than that we all have the potential to contribute to this connected world. Seth Godin had a great post yesterday talking about how the ratio of Consumers and Creators has greatly changed recently.

What this all boils down to, from an eCommerce perspective, is how are you leveraging this trend (although trend implies it will move away from this one day which I don't agree) or your overall community to help enhance your online and shopping experience.

First off if you are not doing enhanced reviews (videos, pictures, etc) you are already way behind the game. You need to be looking for ways to further enhance your interaction with your customers. Sephora does a great job of this through a question and answer type product that allows Sephora and their customers to interact with each other driving away the obstacles to conversion not only for that customer asking the question but many others that are consuming the data. If you look at the example and how much it is leveraged by consumers across the site you can see what extra this brings to the user's experience. You can then take this to the next level by having your customer contribute additional content, interact with their social graphs to help in buying decisions and leveraging their abilities to drive your product and brands.

The plain and simple websites of even a few years back no longer engage customers as they did in the past, you need to be evolving along with the consumers creation patterns and finding points in the pre and post purchase process to engage them.

If you don't think your product and service will work with this think again, people are creating everywhere and are willing to share on a much more regular basis. If you still don't believe me take a look at this - a few days back there was an incredible glacier calving in Alaska (now you know the real reason for the post - I wanted to share these videos), from this there are now three videos angles showing this event that have been shared on youtube.com, what is amazing is that there were just a handful of people that could have witnessed this...crazy to think how far we have come.

Motivating Teams in eCommerce

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:04:00 +0000

I have had the chance to build some great teams in the eCommerce world and have talked a few times that winning in eCommerce is all about talent. (This I Believe) eCommerce isn't about building great technology it is about building great teams that know how to leverage the technology to new levels.

I ran across this video a few days back (and posted it to Google+) but felt that it was too important to not share with a greater group. Take a few minutes to watch the video and share it around with anyone who manages teams. We often default to the answer (or problem) of keeping people happy is money which is wrong for all involved. In the end we and our teams including many of the people who are stars in the eCom world, are doing this for the excitement of advancing a product, moving the conversion needle or getting something done that was once thought to be impossible. Remember this when you are trying to motivate your teams, give them the space to do what they do great, empower them to make the decisions, right or wrong and then coach them to greater success.

How are you using Google+

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:51:00 +0000

Interesting in how Google+ is fitting into my online life. I am using it to get out micro bits of info I used to save up for my blog and finding that it is a great way to discover new information (it would be even better with a search function but I bet that is what social search will be for). How is it fitting into your online life? How are you using it? If you have a blog is this changing how you use it?

Why Sometimes You Need to be Different

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 01:52:00 +0000

There is nothing wrong with bench-marking, comparing and trying to keep up with your competitors but you also need to make sure you are taking time to do something different once in a while. Be the leader and have someone follow you for once!

This isn't the secret sauce or the golden ticket but if all you do is follow you will never lead, your teams will settle for second and your customers will get excited elsewhere. To be always following means a life of being that other site, product or firm. Now that doesn't sound like anything fun.

The Idea of Incremental Development

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:32:00 +0000

Why is it that we often think it has to be different to be a winner, you can be very successful in eCommerce product management by taking an incremental approach. I am not suggesting that you need to slowly improve your product but everything doesn't have to be different to win. Build things that make your core better vs moving away your core and distracting the business.

Look at what Google is doing with Google+, this isn't about a fancy new social platform but about making your experience with Google better. It ties everything neatly together and makes search, their core product, better. In addition, Google knows they will get users on Google+ as if you use their core today (Google Search, Android, Youtube, blogger etc) you can make the experience better with Google+, hence the name.

So figure out what your core is and start making it better...being incremental doesn't mean be boring.

Do what you love and love what you do

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:53:00 +0000

Life is too short to not love what you do, find something you can embrace and don`t let go. You will know you are in the right spot when what you do doesn`t seem like work, it inspires you to push further and harder. In the end money can`t be the reason you do what you do, it needs to be about the enjoyment you get from day to day life of which your calling is a big part of. This doesn`t mean work will be perfect (nothing ever is) but if all you see is a job that you dread going into everyday you need to find something that will make you happy. Trust me, it is worth it.

Why Waste Time With Social Media?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:50:00 +0000

More and more we are being asked what is the ROI of social media and how we can drive sales from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Insert Newest Social Media Site Here? I truly believe this is driving the wrong behavior as companies build out their social commerce strategies. It can not be about driving instant in-session sales - it needs to be about how you use social media channels to engage with and enhance the overall customer experience. If you do this right you are taking your brand, content and platform and extending it into customers day to day lives - their social graph.

If you are not doing this first, making it easy for customers to leverage and embed your site you will be fighting a loosing battle, winning in this space is not just about one time conversions but building long term relationships.

Here is a great video that really gives you an idea of where this space is - it is the third version of Social Media Revolution (you can see #2 in the post about great brainstorming videos). Take this video and show it to anyone who is asking the "What is the ROI?" question...

Hat tip to Victoria Hughes on the video

What is a Win When Building a World Class Website?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 01:46:00 +0000

We often talk about wins but what really is a win? To be a successful online business a win just can't be a big one, especially in the agile world we live in. Celebrate the little things that move your business forward - finding a bug that is hurting the customer experience and fixing it, improving a page on your site or that test, that even though it didn't show positive results, gives a greater understanding of where to go in the future.

A few months back we stole an idea from Bazaarvoice and installed a big gong in the middle of the Site Experience team at Travelocity. The rules are simple - when you think you have a win go hit it and share with everyone what the win was. Today when we hear the gong everyone gathers around to share in the success, we no longer are just focusing on the home run but the little things that make a difference, our culture has changed, is more agile and focused on improvements and all because we focused and celebrated all of the wins - big or small.

A Testing Tool for Your Online Tool Chest

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:41:00 +0000

We always talk about leveraging the customer more in our day to day development of the user experience and, often, we spend big dollars putting together panels or usability sessions that often leave us with more questions than answers.

Bryan Eisenberg introduced me (thanks!) to a great tool - Usertesting.com and I think that everyone - big, small, transactional, lead gen, info based and everything in-between needs to be using this tool.

The big difference with Usertesting.com over many of the other tools in the usability space is that it will give you and your team incredible flexibility - we are often using it to test out a new feature or idea so that we can focus on micro conversions or experiences vs site wide interactions. The other big advantage is that you can use this to understand upper funnel behavior as well as very specific interactions with media (for example Google search) as you are limited only by the story and where you want to start the tester (which can also be a blank screen).

Pricing starts at $39 for a test so you have no excuses tomorrow when you are talking about improving the user experience and don`t know where to start. There is no better way to get to a level of understanding what their needs are and the roadblocks they are experiencing than actually watching them interact. So get testing!

Blogger has Major Changes Coming in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Blogger has been one of those quiet products for Google but has continued to grow and is still the #1 blogging platform in the world. Seems that in 2011 they are going to make some major changes to advance the product.

Should be interesting to watch as these roll out.

Google TV in Canada Update #2

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 04:23:00 +0000

So interest seems higher than ever for Google TV in Canada, at least according to traffic on my blog, yet no news on when it is officially coming to Canada (Which really means when it will be integrated with traditional TV content providers and when some additional apps will become available).

Since the last update (Google TV in Canada Update #1) there is nothing really new with the technology, Google hasn't even updated their YouTube channel in the last two months, and I really believe that everything is hinging on the launch of the Google TV app store that was supposed to happen around CES.

On the usage front we are liking it more than every. We cut our Bell TV bill in more than half and end up watching most of our regular TV online. Another win is that we are not worrying about DVRing the regular watched shows, when we want to watch them we just go on the TV channels website and watch it from there. Most are close to HDTV quality and we never miss a show.

Another piece of advice from talking to people who also own Google TV is that the Logitech version seems to be preferred over Sony's as the full size keyboard that comes with the Logitech Revue is much better than Sony's controller like version. If you want a full overview check out Google TV in Canada - A Primer.

I will keep you up to date as we continue to reduce our TV bills and as the product evolves / launches in Canada.

Should we pay more for Internet in Canada?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 05:05:00 +0000

The CRTC has made a decision that allows for (and in some cases will force the smaller players that buy in bulk from the major carriers to use) metered Internet usage. While this doesn't mean that we will see higher charges tomorrow it does hurt competition which is never a good thing for the consumer. As I am spending more time in the US of late I see the different in pricing between the two market and you have to believe that this is slowing access to the evolution of the Internet in Canada.

So make your voice heard and hopefully if enough join in this decision can be reviewed. Full info on the petition, and more information on this issue can be found at http://openmedia.ca/meter

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Fast Failure - Why we all need to embrace it

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:11:00 +0000

I talk about fast failure a lot and how important it is to be failing regularly to be successful.

Here is a great example of how Honda looks at failure at and, I believe that, it shows how their culture of embracing failure is a key part of their success.

Remember:

When you fail, fail fast. Do not become attached to the project or product.
Learn from your failures and build the learnings into the future success of your business
Fear of failure in your culture or organization freezes it from moving forward
If you are not failing you are not taking the chances to win
Failure does not define you, it is how you response to it that does.

Great Video for a Monday Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Rodrigue) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:52:00 +0000

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

from Derek Dikdik