At PlantingSeeds.ca, you’ll learn how to extend your web presence, connect with people on their turf, develop relationships and be proactive in responding to customer needs.

At SocialMediaMonitoring.ca, you’ll learn why monitoring online conversations is becoming the go-to service for companies looking to collect marketing intelligence straight from the source – your potential customers.

What’s the problem? It’s the upcoming launch of the iPhone through our country’s only GSM carriers �?? Rogers and Fido. (Fido is owned by Rogers).

On Friday afternoon, the two companies issued their respective price plans (they’re the same) for their iPhone offers. The plans are expensive and there are no unlimited data options available. In fact, the four plans tie voice and data together, which means, If you’re already with one of the companies, you have to give up your current plan, sign for a new package and commit for three years.

As a Fido subscriber intent on getting the iPhone, I was seriously disappointed by the plans and curious to see the reaction to them.

And that’s where things got interesting. First, I checked out Summize. Simply by searching “iPhone Canada”, I was quick to learn that people are freaked out. Really freaked out. From there, I linked over to Mac Forums thread titled, “Rogers Announces iPhone Plans in Canada”, which, as I write this, is 29 pages long. For the most part, the participants over there are livid, really letting it all out. That’s when I hit the motherload �?? a link to a site named, “fuckyourogers.com“, since redirected to “ruinediphone.com“, done to help the press link to the site.

The site intro simply says:

“Everyone would like to say “NO THANKS” to Rogers/Fido for screwing our iPhone Canadian dream with poor data/voice plans. If you consider these plans not suitable, please sign this petition. On July 11th 2008, we will send a printed copy of all these messages to Rogers HQ to demonstrate our indignation toward them. We would like to say “Thank You, You” for signing this petition and helping the iPhone cause in Canada.”

The petition that has already gained 8,193 signatures in a little over 24 hours. The goal is 25,000 signatures before July 11, the launch date of the iPhone in Canada. Combined, the two URLS have been submitted to Digg over 5,000 times. There’s an open letter to Steve Jobs on the site, plus email addresses for key contacts at Rogers and Apple.

People are angry. Really angry. And they’re letting it be known. This is real feedback from people who are telling Rogers that they will not buy the iPhone. Not until the plans become reasonable. I’ve read feedback from several people, in fact, who were planning on buying three or more phones and now will not buy any.

That’s a problem.

Now, here’s the $1,000,000 question �?? is Rogers listening? Do they care? From what I’m reading, these plans are among the worst in the world for the iPhone. Will Rogers respond positively to the feedback or will they stand pat and arrogantly ignore what’s going on?

Whether they reach 25,000 signatures or not, it goes to show just how quickly things can happen online and how powerful the internet can be.

Will this power, though, translate to action? One can only hope.

Tags: iPhoneCanada, Rogers, Fido, Apple, Steve Jobs, RuinediPhone.com, fuckyourogers.com, unlimited data, price plans, cellular, wireless, petition,

I’ve very happy to report that I’ve been invited to deliver a workshop at an upcoming conference. From September 15 to 18, I’ll be in Ottawa attending and actively participating at: “SOCIAL MEDIA For GOVERNMENT: How To Engage Your Employees And Citizens By Using BLOGGING, PODCASTING And The Latest WEB 2.0 Technologies To Drive Communication Results”.

The workshop, titled, “Using Social Media To Engage More Canadians – Planting Seeds Online” will look at the following (from the abstract):

“Having a website as your online hub is no doubt important, but establishing a web presence to reach more Canadians on their terms is becoming just as significant too. Today, it’s no longer sufficient to wait for key interest groups to find your website, you have to connect with them on their terms and give them a reason to visit. By “planting seeds” online, you can help people discover you, get to know you and find common interests – all so they can form a solid relationship with your department.”

The conference itself looks to be great, with an amazing lineup of presenters and government case studies. There are some really exciting social media initiatives being taken by government agencies and departments, so there’s no doubt that you can learn quite a bit at this conference, whether you’re a government client or not.

If you’re interested in attending, you can also now score some major discounts if you register soon. Here’s how:

1.  Register by August 1 to save $400

2.  Team Discount: Train 4 for the price of 3

3.  Past Attendee Discount:  Save $200 off your next conference

3. Mention “SPK” when registering to get an extra $200 discount.

Here’s everything you need to know about the event:

• SOCIAL MEDIA For GOVERNMENT: How To Engage Your Employees And Citizens By Using BLOGGING, PODCASTING And The Latest WEB 2.0 Technologies To Drive Communication Results

• September 15-18, 2008 – Ottawa, ON

• Detailed conference agenda

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to help you out. I’m very excited about this opportunity and hope to see you there!

Tags: SocialMedia, Government, Marketing, Advanced Learning Institute, Planting Seeds, Transmission Content + Creative, Mark Goren

When dealing with different companies, have you ever been told one thing by one department only to learn that what you were told isn’t true by another? Check out my latest post over at MPDailyFix and ask yourself, “Does Your Left Hand Know What the Right Hand Is Doing?”

Join the discussion and let me know!

Tags: MarketingProfsDailyFix, MPDailyFix, Branding, Consistency, Silos