Le.Yort

 “I want Papa’s job! I want Papas job, because all he does all day is sit at his computer and play games, and swipe his card!”

Last December, my grandfather was inducted into the SAMSSA Hall of Fame. And I had the honour of speaking about my true inspiration, my grandfather. 

Over the years, my Papa has been defined by many different characteristics, in my opinion, being a visionary has been the most accurate. My Papa had a vision, and with this vision he created an innovative solution to what many people in Northern Ontario were struggling with. March 31st 1995 marked a great moment in Northern Ontario history. My Papa founded the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, NORCAT. Many people within the Sudbury area saw a problem; the youth population was migrating elsewhere to find employment. My Papa was among the individuals who recognized this problem, but instead he came up with a solution. NORCAT was created with every intention of creating jobs through innovation, bringing the youth back to Northern Ontario, and giving them meaningful jobs. Having attended and graduated from the same university as my papa, which seemingly was located outside of Northern Ontario, NORCAT was the exact reason that brought me back to Sudbury.

My Papa recognized that Sudbury had the potential to become a leader in Health and Safety, not just regionally, but globally. This leadership would work towards implementation of new health and safety training programs across industries. He helped spearhead new delivery methods of training that would become extremely influential throughout the Northern Ontario region. Within the first few years of operation, NORCAT was able to deliver the first eLearning programs in the mining industry and in the following years, they had also created an extremely successful and recognized brand across industries.

From the basement of Cambrian College, to not just one building but two, and almost 20 years later, NORCAT has grown its facilities to over 70,000 square feet. The centre has been utilized by clients, long-term residents, training and development services, incubator and event space. NORCAT also has one of the first operating mines dedicated to training. This unique facility has helped over 1000s of workers prepare to enter the workforce, create their own path through business, or gain the experience they need to become successful.

Throughout his career, not only did my Papa put his heart and soul into his work, he also actively participated in committees. A few of them being, the Premiers Council Jobs and Prosperity (alongside Mr. McGinty), the Conference Board of Canada, Innovation Committee, Mining Services and Supply committee, the Ontario Science and Innovation Council (alongside Mr. Harris), and currently sits on the Board of Regents for the University of Sudbury. He has also received the Community Builders Award for Economic Development, and in 2012 the prestigious Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Spring of 2012, my Papa retired. Not only had NORCAT been his career for over the past fifteen years, it had also been his passion, his baby, and his life. But luckily enough, that vision he first shared about the direction he wanted to take his organization, has successfully been carried on. Not only, did my papa showcase his vision to Northern Ontario, he shared it with his employees.

Welcome!  Curious about the face behind LeYort? I'm Hailey Short - 22 year old with a coffee, social media, and music obsession. A recent graduate from Carleton University, and currently the Communications Specialist for Sudbury's non-profit, NORCAT.

Over the past few months I've come to many realizations... (as any other 20 something would). But one of the most important revelations has been my passion for communicating with others. After a year of working with a variety of eccentric, intelligent people I've grown to appreciate the importance of good communication (both on a personal and business level).  After an entire year of working within the communications field, I decided to start my own blog showcasing the knowledge I've acquired within the last few years. 

By Hailey Short

This spring I experienced the most eye-opening aspect of my career - event planning (from inception). 

On Thursday, May 1st 2014 four Sudbury early- stage entrepreneurs took the stage at the inaugural Sudbury PITCH 2014. The four companies pitched their ground-breaking business ideas to a well versed panel of entrepreneurs, community leaders and an audience of angel investors in hopes of receiving investment capital to help launch and accelerate the growth of their business. Here at the Innovation Mill we truly believe each venture demonstrates very interesting opportunities and that’s exactly what Sudbury PITCH 2014 brought to the audience.

After months of preparation and countless renditions of PITCH decks and meetings, the four entrepreneurs were ready to showcase and tell their story designed to appeal to investors. NORCAT CEO, Don Duval graciously hosted the evening ensuring each venture stayed between the 10 minute PITCH time-frame, followed by Q&A from the three panelists, Peter Evans (founder and CEO of Expertfile), Tom Fortin (CEO Ontrak Controls), and Michael Atkins (President of Laurentian Media Group).

Each audience member was given a standard Angel Dealbook which consisted of summaries for each of the four ventures and the capital they are seeking to raise.

The room was strategically setup so each of the companies had their own table at the back of the room and after each PITCH the entrepreneurs were encouraged to migrate over to their respective tables. During the breaks we encouraged those who were interested to learn more, to introduce themselves, exchange business cards and hopefully get business started!

Along with each Angel Dealbook, every audience member received a voting card for the People’s Choice Award. After all the ventures finished their PITCH, the audience was encouraged to put their Angel Investor hat on, if you had $25,000 to invest in one of these companies, which one would it be? The winner of the People’s Choice Award received a bundle of services / amenities from organizations including DiBrina Sure Group, Freelandt Caldwell Reilly, MaRS Discovery District, NORCAT Innovation Mill, Norton Rose Fulbright and Personal Energy Coaching.

The first venture to take the stage was Leak Prevention Ltd. The presentation was done by the Chair of Board, Jeff Fuller. Leak Prevention Ltd is an advanced manufacturing / sensor technology that could potentially save billions of dollars in identifying pipeline leaks before they even happen. As an experienced entrepreneur Jeff Fuller showcased his knowledge of the mining industry and how they plan to grow and expand within the market.

The second venture to take the stage was Verv. Presented by CEO and founder, Jeff Sutton, Verv is a medical device that will enable you to take more control of your health in your home and on your own time. With many years of experience in both the medical and entrepreneurial sector, Jeff demonstrated extensive knowledge of Verv’s technology and how the company plans to license the technology.

After a short break, panelists, audience members and companies reconvened to finish the evening off with two more companies. Next to take the stage was Sheri Tomchick and her business venture, Plan A Scheduling Solutions. Plan A is a proven mobile IT platform that could revolutionize how “last minute” staffing is done across multiple industries. Sheri certainly demonstrated a great passion for the healthcare industry, and how she has embraced the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Last, but certainly not least, the fourth venture to take the stage was Rna Diagnostics. The presentation was delivered by Vice President, John Connolly. Rna Diagnostics is a ground breaking diagnostic that will let cancer patients know sooner if the chemotherapy they have been prescribed is working. With a clear validation of the market, John demonstrated the need for this new diagnostic testing.

Following the ending of all PITCH’s it was time for networking, connecting, exchanging information and voting! After tallying nearly 200 voting cards, we announced the winner of the People’s Choice Award, Plan A Scheduling Solutions – a big congratulations to the Sheri and her team!

Additionally, we would like to take the time to thank each of our sponsors. Without your support this event would not have been as successful as it was!

June 26

By Hailey Short

“Social media is not going away, choose wisely” – Karen Schulman Dupuis

Using social media to build your brand, your business, your life – can be chaotic and overwhelming. Understanding the latest trends in social media and knowing what works for you and your business can be a difficult task. 

Karen Schulman Dupuis joined the Sudbury community at the NORCAT Centre on June 24th for a riveting, inspiring presentation on the digital revolution: social media.  Karen is the Manager, Business Development, ICT Venture Services Group at the MaRS Discovery District. Prior, she was the Manager, Digital Communications at MaRS, and while she led in that role for two years she helped to grow their social media audience more than threefold and increase the social media reach by approximately 1500% in that same time.

With an audience full of Sudburian community leaders, marketing gurus and social media enthusiasts, Karen demonstrated the importance of knowing your business and who your social media audience is (or will be). As traditional media has slowly subsided, social media has grown substantially; not only are most mediums completely free to an organization, they have the capability to reach (the right) mass audiences. Social media encourages two-way communication, more of a personal experience rather than a pushy, in-your-face marketing strategy. With the growing numbers and influence of social media it becomes increasingly important to learn how to manage and utilize these mediums ‘properly’ to benefit you and your business.

Jumping right into, Karen gave us homework. As an organization, start-up, corporation (whatever you may be!) you need to know what your goals are. Are they measureable? Do you want to achieve higher sales? Does your business want network growth? Do you want to be considered a thought leader within your industry? These are the questions you need to ask yourself before you sit down and try to maneuver your way around the ‘social interwebz’.

Digital Resume

Although there is not a blanket that all organizations and businesses fall under, there are particular social media mediums that have been more successful with individual businesses. Certain things work for certain people. The social media platform LinkedIn acts as a digital resume for professionals, however company pages give you the ability to showcase your products / services, recommendations (similar to testimonials), and analytics (who’s visiting your page, what age group, what profession, etc.). Personally, I think the most beneficial feature on LinkedIn are the hundreds of groups that exist. LinkedIn groups allow for sector-specific engagement.  Businesses have the ability to engage with an audience directly related to your market. For example, here at NORCAT we have a NORCAT Entrepreneurship 101 group that allows us to share information among students of our program. We have the capability to request engagement from our “followers”, which has been successful. We have students connecting and networking amongst themselves, questions being asked, and information being translated to a sector-specific group (with a private membership). Similarly, Karen stressed the importance of finding groups that directly relate to your business. These groups exist with the full intention of engaging amongst peers. If you can take away one piece of information about LinkedIn, take the time to research groups and how your business / personal account can contribute to.

The Power of the #Hashtag and Lists

With over 600 million total active Twitter users in 2014, you can’t help but feel the need to get on Twitter and start creating and tweeting a presence for your business. Twitter allows you to “Follow” organizations, individuals, thought leaders, businesses, and celebrities. Many individuals are turning to Twitter for their news, sports updates, keeping up with their peers, finding out about events / concerts. This 140 character platform encompasses a wide-range of purposes. Like the other platforms, Twitter allows for engagement. Not only does it connect individuals through “follows” and “followers”, it allows you to get your message out, however it’s short and simple (but effective!) Not being familiar with the platform can seem overwhelming in the beginning. With over 600 million accounts it becomes difficult to narrow down who you need to target. However, as Karen stated one of the most important and useful tools on Twitter are the ability to make “lists” – sounds simple enough. Once you’ve found those select accounts you can carefully organize them into different categories to make targeting easier. For example, NORCAT has 6 different lists, Mining, Entrepreneurs/Businesses, Media, Sudbury Community, Innovation, and Health and Safety. Having these lists makes it easier to target specific accounts when we have information regarding those sectors (example: An article regarding a new advancement in mining technology would be tweeted out to those within our Mining and Innovation sectors.).

Believe it or not, but these platforms were not created to make your life more hectic and difficult. As overwhelming as it may seem there are many tools and websites dedicated to assisting you manage your profiles and accounts. As Karen mentioned, HootSuite (a Canadian company) helps you manage multiple accounts from one webpage. With HootSuite you have the ability to post content across different platforms with the click of a few buttons! This becomes extremely helpful when you have to manage more than one account (personal, business, etc.) Another tool we use here at NORCAT is TweetDeck. TweetDeck allows you to see real-time tweets from accounts you’re following, schedule tweets (with photos now!) to later dates, and manage multiple accounts. At NORCAT we’ve found this tool to be extremely useful.

Staying Connected Made Convenient

Similar to the other platforms, Facebook offers a medium to share, post and like content.  Karen stressed the importance of creating a business profile as a ‘Page’ rather than an individual (the account you have now where you must add and accept ‘Friends’). Although this is falls under the Facebook rules and regulations, not all businesses abide by it; if you want to be taken seriously (and not risk any violations). These pages exist for businesses, so it’s in your best interest to utilize them! Karen also spoke about some of the perks Facebook can have for a business:

Creating Events. These events can be shared, liked, and tickets can be purchased on the page (they make it simple for us users!) They can also be exported into someone’s calendar.

Like and Follow groups / associations that are relevant to you.

Develop a Campaign. Creating a campaign on your platforms engages your audiences and creates excitement for followers. At NORCAT we’ve recently launched #safetytiptuesday – each Tuesday morning we post a different safety tip for our followers (both on Twitter and Facebook). So far we’ve received nothing but positive feedback!

Keep your posts to a minimum – there’s no need to post multiple times on Facebook! Twitter works better for this type of interaction (because it’s constantly being updated)

The moral of the story is to do your homework. Experiment with the different platforms, not every platform will work for you and your business. These mediums might seem overwhelming and intimidating at first, but they’re not meant to scare you. Once you learn the basics you’ll be able to master them in no time! Be sure to ask yourself the right questions – what are my goals? What do I want to accomplish with these media initiatives? Answer these questions and you’ll be able to narrow down the right path your company should take. Plan ahead, create marketing plans, and create campaigns in advance. Planning is your best friend, and will only help you in the future!  Remember to have an open mind and you’ll be able to rock those social interwebz!

Helpful Resources / Articles:

When to Consider Twitter Ads and the Different Between Promoted Accounts and Promoted Tweets

How to Humanize Your Social Media Content 

Essential LinkedIn Marketing Resources: A Complete Guide

5 Reasons Your Business Should be Blogging