Delvinia was founded in 1998 by four partners who saw opportunities in the emerging digital space. They focused on digital strategy consulting, helping clients understand the potential of digital technologies. In the early years, Delvinia worked on high-profile projects and grew to 40 employees. However, the dot-com bubble burst in late 2000, plunging the digital industry into a recession. Delvinia faced an uncertain future and agonizing decisions but managed to survive the downturn by holding to their vision of the future potential of digital technologies and interactive experiences.
Visibility, Innovation & Purpose - Interview with Gordon Jenkins - the Visibl...Dallas McMillan
http://digitalinfluence.com.au/visibility-innovation-purpose-gordon-jenkins-the-visible-guy/
Visibility, Innovation & Purpose - Gordon Jenkins - the Visible Guy
Helping Invisible People and Businesses Become Visible
Gordon Jenkins - The Visible Guy talks about the power of innovation and purpose in business
Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Gordon Jenkins, the Visible Guy.
Gordon is a business consultant who specialises in helping people and businesses reach their potential through innovation, improved visibility and getting aligned with their purpose.
Gordon has a fascinating history and we talked about the passion that he brings to business, and the sense of purpose that drives him in his own business. So he's working in the digital and innovation field, but he's got a unique take on it. I think you're really going to enjoy this interview.
Gramercy Park Consulting's 'Little Book of Social Business' is an educational ebook providing a brief overview of; 'The New Social Landscape', 'What is a Social Business', 'What is Social Business Strategy', 'What are the Benefits of Social Business' and 'What are The 7 Success Factors of Social Business Strategy’?
Enjoy the read and feel free to share :-)
Contact Gramercy Park Consulting (Simon te Brinke) via email stebrinke@gramercypark.com.au or on Twitter @gramercypark.
All quotes, text, trademarks, product names, company names and logos appearing in this booklet are the property of their respective owners.
Corporates – the key to the promised landNeagoe Radu
To be successful in business, to have a career that others can only dream of, you need to
change your mindset and understand the opportunities that are there for the taking. Think
seriously about where you are now, whether you are deciding whether to study, are studying
already, or are working in a small business.
Five Years of Social Customer Care: The Pig Puts on Some Lipstick and the Fis...Guy Stephens | @guy1067
A Retrospective to Mark five years of Social Customer Care featuring some of the key players in that space such as Frank Eliason, Wendy Lea, Dave Carroll, Dr Natalie Petouhoff, Esteban Kolsky, Guy Stephens, Martin Hill-Wilson and Kate Leggett.
Five years seems like a good milestone to reflect on the impact social media has had on how brands respond to and engage their customers to deliver customer care. Guy Stephens asked some of the leading thinkers on the topic to offer their perspective on what's transpired and what frontiers are still to explore.
Chris Cardell is recognised as Britain's leading expert on Entrepreneurial Success and Advanced Thinking. All the advice you need for entrepreneurial success is right here: http://www.cardellmedia.com/
Chris Cardell is a trusted advisor to business owners across the world on Marketing, Internet Marketing and Entrepreneurial Success. He shows business owners, managers and the self-employed how to win more customers and increase their profits using Advanced Marketing, Advertising and Internet strategies.
Chris Cardell gives you access to the most effective strategies in the world to grow your business and increase your profits. Cardell Media is a leading global supplier of Marketing and Internet Marketing knowledge and training.
What gives Chris Cardell his unique edge, is his ability to combine effective Entrepreneurial success, Marketing and Internet Marketing strategies – with powerful developments in Advanced Thinking – to show any business owner how to sharpen their mind and strengthen their business.
Every week, 310,000 Entrepreneurs receive Chris Cardell’s online support and advice. Over two decades, Chris Cardell has shown thousands of business owners how to grow their business, increase their profits, free up their time, transform their Internet strategy and radically shift their Entrepreneurial thinking.
Up to 700 business owners attend Chris Cardell’s annual three day Entrepreneur Summit where Chris and leading names from the Entrepreneurial world share the latest strategies for running a successful business.
Visibility, Innovation & Purpose - Interview with Gordon Jenkins - the Visibl...Dallas McMillan
http://digitalinfluence.com.au/visibility-innovation-purpose-gordon-jenkins-the-visible-guy/
Visibility, Innovation & Purpose - Gordon Jenkins - the Visible Guy
Helping Invisible People and Businesses Become Visible
Gordon Jenkins - The Visible Guy talks about the power of innovation and purpose in business
Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Gordon Jenkins, the Visible Guy.
Gordon is a business consultant who specialises in helping people and businesses reach their potential through innovation, improved visibility and getting aligned with their purpose.
Gordon has a fascinating history and we talked about the passion that he brings to business, and the sense of purpose that drives him in his own business. So he's working in the digital and innovation field, but he's got a unique take on it. I think you're really going to enjoy this interview.
Gramercy Park Consulting's 'Little Book of Social Business' is an educational ebook providing a brief overview of; 'The New Social Landscape', 'What is a Social Business', 'What is Social Business Strategy', 'What are the Benefits of Social Business' and 'What are The 7 Success Factors of Social Business Strategy’?
Enjoy the read and feel free to share :-)
Contact Gramercy Park Consulting (Simon te Brinke) via email stebrinke@gramercypark.com.au or on Twitter @gramercypark.
All quotes, text, trademarks, product names, company names and logos appearing in this booklet are the property of their respective owners.
Corporates – the key to the promised landNeagoe Radu
To be successful in business, to have a career that others can only dream of, you need to
change your mindset and understand the opportunities that are there for the taking. Think
seriously about where you are now, whether you are deciding whether to study, are studying
already, or are working in a small business.
Five Years of Social Customer Care: The Pig Puts on Some Lipstick and the Fis...Guy Stephens | @guy1067
A Retrospective to Mark five years of Social Customer Care featuring some of the key players in that space such as Frank Eliason, Wendy Lea, Dave Carroll, Dr Natalie Petouhoff, Esteban Kolsky, Guy Stephens, Martin Hill-Wilson and Kate Leggett.
Five years seems like a good milestone to reflect on the impact social media has had on how brands respond to and engage their customers to deliver customer care. Guy Stephens asked some of the leading thinkers on the topic to offer their perspective on what's transpired and what frontiers are still to explore.
Chris Cardell is recognised as Britain's leading expert on Entrepreneurial Success and Advanced Thinking. All the advice you need for entrepreneurial success is right here: http://www.cardellmedia.com/
Chris Cardell is a trusted advisor to business owners across the world on Marketing, Internet Marketing and Entrepreneurial Success. He shows business owners, managers and the self-employed how to win more customers and increase their profits using Advanced Marketing, Advertising and Internet strategies.
Chris Cardell gives you access to the most effective strategies in the world to grow your business and increase your profits. Cardell Media is a leading global supplier of Marketing and Internet Marketing knowledge and training.
What gives Chris Cardell his unique edge, is his ability to combine effective Entrepreneurial success, Marketing and Internet Marketing strategies – with powerful developments in Advanced Thinking – to show any business owner how to sharpen their mind and strengthen their business.
Every week, 310,000 Entrepreneurs receive Chris Cardell’s online support and advice. Over two decades, Chris Cardell has shown thousands of business owners how to grow their business, increase their profits, free up their time, transform their Internet strategy and radically shift their Entrepreneurial thinking.
Up to 700 business owners attend Chris Cardell’s annual three day Entrepreneur Summit where Chris and leading names from the Entrepreneurial world share the latest strategies for running a successful business.
With experience spanning 30 years, 40 countries, and 50 brands, Alexei Orlov has made life his business and business his life as a seasoned leader in Global Marketing. A proven specialist in global brand strategy, marketing deployment, and operational change management, Alexei’s passionate and dynamic leadership has been a driving force throughout his career. Alexei Orlov is Founder and Global CEO of mtm choice worldwide, a boutique network of skilled practitioners specialising in high-precision brand activation and media optimisation. Bolstered by market-enabling technologies, mtm agencies seek to help brands excel at the “moments that matter” for their customers and consumers. Take a look at his interview with IdeaMensch here!
Remote Work Is Here To Stay. How to find the best companies.Cristina Imre
Imagine a world where you work from home, a coffee shop, a coworking space, next to a beach or wherever you want, and the only ‘must’ is a stable internet connection. The percentage of fully remote employees is rapidly growing and it won't stop. Remote work is the future and it’s here to stay.
Don't Start a Business. Start a Revolution. 12 Tips On What NOT to Do to When...PME 360
Don't Start a Business. Start a Revolution. Brian Sites of Clay Dog Enterprises shares his "12 Tips On What NOT to Do to When Trying to Build a Business" on the PME 360 Powering Business Growth Show. Your hosts, Ron Rodi, Jr and Ryan Paul Adams interview Brian and can help you discover some powerful tips on how to build a business the right way and common mistakes to avoid.
Getting Mileage Out of Your Dashboard: Confirmit Community Conference 2013Delvinia
Dashboards present an exciting and compelling proposition. But, dashboards alone are not the solution to harnessing Big Data. The trouble is, too many organizations make the mistake of taking a data or technology approach to dashboards.
In August 2012, AskingCanadians and Pelmorex Media, owners of The Weather Network, embarked on an exciting research initiative to see if they could harness multi-platform, multi-source data to create a user-centric dashboard that would provide a single Brand Health Index designed to enable decision makers at The Weather Network to make better business decisions.
In a presentation at the 2013 Confirmit Community Conference in Las Vegas, Adam Froman, CEO of Delvinia & AskingCanadians, and Carol Pilas, Director, Market Research for Pelmorex Media, shared the learnings from this project—built using Confirmit as a key data collection component¬¬—and their journey of harnessing the power of Big Data.
MIR Interview with Adam Froman, CEO of Delvinia and AskingCanadians™
Is the social media hype about being cool or about making money?
For Adam Froman, the answer is easy: Marketers need to be very clear about how social media activity supports overall business strategy. Only if the digital experience fi ts into the whole customer journey will consumers become engaged and add value to the company … and only then will the social brand become cool.
In this presentation, part of Multiplicity's ongoing speaker series about Launching and Growing: Your First 100 Customers, AskingCanadians Vice President Raj Manocha focuses on how insights can help companies better understand their customers and what’s important to them. The presentation highlights the role insights can play in innovation, cost effective ways for start-ups to collect insights and how research can make you a thought leader.
Mapping Manulife's Direct to Consumer Path-to-PurchaseDelvinia
In his presentation at the CMA's 2013 National Convention, Delvinia President Steve Mast shared examples from Delvinia's work with Manulife Financial, Steve will illustrate how the firm used customer journey mapping within its direct to consumer business to identify opportunities to innovate and improve the customer experience.
Our goal is to inspire an international movement of millennials to follow their ambitions and break out the bad habits they may have been trained their entire life.
The Truth About Startups: What I wish someone had told me about entrepreneurs...Yevgeniy Brikman
This is the talk I gave at MIT's Martin Center for Entrepreneurship. It's a talk I wish someone gave me when I was in college to help me think about the role of entrepreneurship and startups in my career.
You can find the video of the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rus32iR_Ag0
Building and Scaling a Fintech Startup by Trusting your GutAltar.io
We see iconic entrepreneurs use their intuition to succeed every day – Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey.
But knowing when to trust your gut is, I believe, something every entrepreneur struggles with from time to time.
If this is you, I think you’re going to like this conversation with fintech founder, Jan-Philipp Kruip, founder of FitSense, a B2B health and fitness fintech startup.
J.T. Foxx started investing with nothing more than a rusted out Ford pick-up truck, $974 dollars and 1 cheap suit. Now just 6 years later, he has acquired and sold over 500 properties, closed over $40 million in real estate deals. He then turned into a serial entrepreneur and started several multi-million dollar companies all over the world, became one the most sought after motivational speakers and recognized as one of the top wealth coaches in the world all by mastering the Art of partnering, branding, networking, and marketing.J.T. is the syndicated weekend radio personality of the “J.T. Foxx Show” in the US and Canada. His radio program features celebrity guests as Senator McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Gene Simmons, Rev Jesse Jackson, Trump, George Ross, Kevin O’Leary, Politicians like Speaker Gingrich & Hastert, Governor Pataki and celebrated authors like Robert Kiyosaki, Jack Canfield, David Bach.Even though his recognition and success in business, real estate and radio continues to rise, J.T.’s true passion is coaching and reaching out to those who dream of achieving their goals by creating differentiation and thinking differently. J.T. teaches the same practical applications he utilizes daily that actually get results in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. The bottom line is his wealth techniques work.J.T. is also the founder of Mega Partnering, the world’s # 1 Wealth Networking Conference which takes place all over the world and features celebrities, industry leaders, millionaires, and ordinary people looking to do extraordinary things in today’s market. It is the ultimate WOW of conferences; as people from all walks of life get together, network and try and do business together.
For more details visit:-http://www.toponesuccess.com/
With experience spanning 30 years, 40 countries, and 50 brands, Alexei Orlov has made life his business and business his life as a seasoned leader in Global Marketing. A proven specialist in global brand strategy, marketing deployment, and operational change management, Alexei’s passionate and dynamic leadership has been a driving force throughout his career. Alexei Orlov is Founder and Global CEO of mtm choice worldwide, a boutique network of skilled practitioners specialising in high-precision brand activation and media optimisation. Bolstered by market-enabling technologies, mtm agencies seek to help brands excel at the “moments that matter” for their customers and consumers. Take a look at his interview with IdeaMensch here!
Remote Work Is Here To Stay. How to find the best companies.Cristina Imre
Imagine a world where you work from home, a coffee shop, a coworking space, next to a beach or wherever you want, and the only ‘must’ is a stable internet connection. The percentage of fully remote employees is rapidly growing and it won't stop. Remote work is the future and it’s here to stay.
Don't Start a Business. Start a Revolution. 12 Tips On What NOT to Do to When...PME 360
Don't Start a Business. Start a Revolution. Brian Sites of Clay Dog Enterprises shares his "12 Tips On What NOT to Do to When Trying to Build a Business" on the PME 360 Powering Business Growth Show. Your hosts, Ron Rodi, Jr and Ryan Paul Adams interview Brian and can help you discover some powerful tips on how to build a business the right way and common mistakes to avoid.
Getting Mileage Out of Your Dashboard: Confirmit Community Conference 2013Delvinia
Dashboards present an exciting and compelling proposition. But, dashboards alone are not the solution to harnessing Big Data. The trouble is, too many organizations make the mistake of taking a data or technology approach to dashboards.
In August 2012, AskingCanadians and Pelmorex Media, owners of The Weather Network, embarked on an exciting research initiative to see if they could harness multi-platform, multi-source data to create a user-centric dashboard that would provide a single Brand Health Index designed to enable decision makers at The Weather Network to make better business decisions.
In a presentation at the 2013 Confirmit Community Conference in Las Vegas, Adam Froman, CEO of Delvinia & AskingCanadians, and Carol Pilas, Director, Market Research for Pelmorex Media, shared the learnings from this project—built using Confirmit as a key data collection component¬¬—and their journey of harnessing the power of Big Data.
MIR Interview with Adam Froman, CEO of Delvinia and AskingCanadians™
Is the social media hype about being cool or about making money?
For Adam Froman, the answer is easy: Marketers need to be very clear about how social media activity supports overall business strategy. Only if the digital experience fi ts into the whole customer journey will consumers become engaged and add value to the company … and only then will the social brand become cool.
In this presentation, part of Multiplicity's ongoing speaker series about Launching and Growing: Your First 100 Customers, AskingCanadians Vice President Raj Manocha focuses on how insights can help companies better understand their customers and what’s important to them. The presentation highlights the role insights can play in innovation, cost effective ways for start-ups to collect insights and how research can make you a thought leader.
Mapping Manulife's Direct to Consumer Path-to-PurchaseDelvinia
In his presentation at the CMA's 2013 National Convention, Delvinia President Steve Mast shared examples from Delvinia's work with Manulife Financial, Steve will illustrate how the firm used customer journey mapping within its direct to consumer business to identify opportunities to innovate and improve the customer experience.
Our goal is to inspire an international movement of millennials to follow their ambitions and break out the bad habits they may have been trained their entire life.
The Truth About Startups: What I wish someone had told me about entrepreneurs...Yevgeniy Brikman
This is the talk I gave at MIT's Martin Center for Entrepreneurship. It's a talk I wish someone gave me when I was in college to help me think about the role of entrepreneurship and startups in my career.
You can find the video of the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rus32iR_Ag0
Building and Scaling a Fintech Startup by Trusting your GutAltar.io
We see iconic entrepreneurs use their intuition to succeed every day – Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey.
But knowing when to trust your gut is, I believe, something every entrepreneur struggles with from time to time.
If this is you, I think you’re going to like this conversation with fintech founder, Jan-Philipp Kruip, founder of FitSense, a B2B health and fitness fintech startup.
J.T. Foxx started investing with nothing more than a rusted out Ford pick-up truck, $974 dollars and 1 cheap suit. Now just 6 years later, he has acquired and sold over 500 properties, closed over $40 million in real estate deals. He then turned into a serial entrepreneur and started several multi-million dollar companies all over the world, became one the most sought after motivational speakers and recognized as one of the top wealth coaches in the world all by mastering the Art of partnering, branding, networking, and marketing.J.T. is the syndicated weekend radio personality of the “J.T. Foxx Show” in the US and Canada. His radio program features celebrity guests as Senator McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Gene Simmons, Rev Jesse Jackson, Trump, George Ross, Kevin O’Leary, Politicians like Speaker Gingrich & Hastert, Governor Pataki and celebrated authors like Robert Kiyosaki, Jack Canfield, David Bach.Even though his recognition and success in business, real estate and radio continues to rise, J.T.’s true passion is coaching and reaching out to those who dream of achieving their goals by creating differentiation and thinking differently. J.T. teaches the same practical applications he utilizes daily that actually get results in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. The bottom line is his wealth techniques work.J.T. is also the founder of Mega Partnering, the world’s # 1 Wealth Networking Conference which takes place all over the world and features celebrities, industry leaders, millionaires, and ordinary people looking to do extraordinary things in today’s market. It is the ultimate WOW of conferences; as people from all walks of life get together, network and try and do business together.
For more details visit:-http://www.toponesuccess.com/
J.T. Foxx started investing with nothing more than a rusted out Ford pick-up truck, $974 dollars and 1 cheap suit. Now just 6 years later, he has acquired and sold over 500 properties, closed over $40 million in real estate deals. He then turned into a serial entrepreneur and started several multi-million dollar companies all over the world, became one the most sought after motivational speakers and recognized as one of the top wealth coaches in the world all by mastering the Art of partnering, branding, networking, and marketing.J.T. is the syndicated weekend radio personality of the “J.T. Foxx Show” in the US and Canada. His radio program features celebrity guests as Senator McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Gene Simmons, Rev Jesse Jackson, Trump, George Ross, Kevin O’Leary, Politicians like Speaker Gingrich & Hastert, Governor Pataki and celebrated authors like Robert Kiyosaki, Jack Canfield, David Bach.Even though his recognition and success in business, real estate and radio continues to rise, J.T.’s true passion is coaching and reaching out to those who dream of achieving their goals by creating differentiation and thinking differently. J.T. teaches the same practical applications he utilizes daily that actually get results in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. The bottom line is his wealth techniques work.J.T. is also the founder of Mega Partnering, the world’s # 1 Wealth Networking Conference which takes place all over the world and features celebrities, industry leaders, millionaires, and ordinary people looking to do extraordinary things in today’s market. It is the ultimate WOW of conferences; as people from all walks of life get together, network and try and do business together.
For motr info visit:-http://www.toponesuccess.com/
Stephanie Sammons Interview with the Journal of Financial PlanningStephanie Sammons
I was interviewed for the October 2014 edition of the Journal of Financial Planning magazine in their "10 Questions With Noteworthy People" section on the topic of how financial advisors can "Build Digital Influence and Succeed in a Wired World". I share my thought and insights on how to re-think your client acquisition and retention strategy, creating a digital and social media marketing strategy, blogging and driving traffic to your website, LinkedIn, and digital marketing mistakes to avoid.
Five years of Social Media Customer Service - The PioneersRich Baker
Produced by Guy Stevens, this retrospective asks the pioneers of social media customer service about their reflections on the past five years, and what the future holds. It includes an article written by me about the work I did whilst at Virgin, in and around 2009.
Recommended reading for anyone with an interest in business, social media and the future of work.
I've been teaching entrepreneurship to designers for just over a year now, but I've been amazed at swift and powerful the results are. Designers feel able to participate in hard product discussions, uncover and promote insights to improve the business model and even make better decisions about their personal life, from salary negotiation to budget making. That's bc entrepreneurship is a microcosm of business, simple yet complete. Along with technology and user research, business must be a common core in design education. Entrepreneurship is the best way to do it.
What If PR Stood for People and Relationships By Brian SolisCision
In partnership with Vocus and Cision, Brian Solis released his new e-book, “What If PR Stood for People and Relationships?,” illustrated by world-renowned cartoonist Gapingvoid.
A principal analyst at Altimeter Group, Solis is an award-winning author, prominent blogger and frequent keynote speaker. In the free e-book, he challenges PR pros to use technology to strengthen stakeholder relations to deliver business outcomes. Solis says relationships must be the guiding force for the modern communicator’s actions.
Check out the e-book to learn:
• A vision for the PR industry in the digital era
• A PR-centric approach to adapting new technologies
• The means to avoid “shiny object” syndrome
What If PR Stood for People and Relationships By Brian SolisCision
In partnership with Vocus and Cision, Brian Solis released his new e-book, “What If PR Stood for People and Relationships?,” illustrated by world-renowned cartoonist Gapingvoid.
A principal analyst at Altimeter Group, Solis is an award-winning author, prominent blogger and frequent keynote speaker. In the free e-book, he challenges PR pros to use technology to strengthen stakeholder relations to deliver business outcomes. Solis says relationships must be the guiding force for the modern communicator’s actions.
Check out the e-book to learn:
• A vision for the PR industry in the digital era
• A PR-centric approach to adapting new technologies
• The means to avoid “shiny object” syndrome
The term 'differentiate or die' is obsolete. Why? Because there's too much choice and not enough differentiation to go round. That's why marketers today need to stop trying to convince us they're different but instead should focus on activity that's
Getting Mileage Out of Your Dashboard - Net Gain 7.0Delvinia
AskingCanadians CEO Adam Froman shared his perspective on the real opportunity for harnessing the power of Big Data in this presentation at the MRIA's Net Gain 7.0 Conference on January 31st. The firm has just spent the past six months conducting R&D on a user-centric dashboard project for one of its clients and in his session, Adam shared this experience and outlined the importance of understanding the kind of information decision makers need; understanding how data should be correlated to quickly derive insights, and the need to present the data in a manner that is relevant to decision makers.
Digital Metrics - Presentation to Schulich School of BusinessDelvinia
Digital Metrics lecture slides providing an overview of digital measure landscape and best practices. The lecture was for MBA Marketing Students at the Schulich School of Business by Rosalina Lin Allen
Strategies for Increasing Online Survey ParticipationDelvinia
Earlier this year, Delvinia partnered with Dr. Mary Foster, Professor of Marketing at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, to understand the underlying motivation for consumers to participate in market research in the digital age. Dr. Foster recently presented the findings of the research study at the 2012 Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference, hosted by the American Marketing Association in Orlando.
The Future of Respondent Engagement: Motivating Respondents to Participate in...Delvinia
While digital technologies have fundamentally changed the way companies can capture the voice of the customer, the challenge is to understand the underlying motivation for consumers to participate in market research in the digital age. Given this changing environment, Delvinia wanted to understand how to motivate Canadians to share their opinions. We partnered with Ryerson University and secured funding from the Canadian Federal Economic Development Agency to undertake a study using AskingCanadians, our proprietary online research community, to fundamentally understand the motivational drivers to engage consumers to participate in research. Delvinia CEO Adam Froman worked with Dr. Mary Foster, Professor of Marketing at the Ted Rogers School of Management, to look at why people participate in market research from the participant’s perspective. In this presentation, Adam shares the findings of this groundbreaking research and examples of how this knowledge can be applied to increase participation rates.
Raj Manocha, Vice President of AskingCanadians, delivered the following presentation at the Mobile Research Roadshow, held in Toronto on June 21 and presented by Confirmit in partnership with Delvinia and AskingCanadians.
Best Practices in Building a Successful VoC ProgramDelvinia
Karine Del Moro, Senior Director, Confirmit delivered the following presentation at the organization's Voice of the Customer Roadshow, held in Toronto on June 21 and presented in partnership with Delvinia and AskingCanadians.
Voices of Business: Our Journey and Lessons LearnedDelvinia
Rick Bedard, Director of Training Operations at FlightSafety International, delivered the following presentation at the Voice of the Customer Roadshow, held in Toronto on June 21 and presented by Confirmit in partnership with Delvinia and AskingCanadians.
Steve Mast, President, Delvinia, delivered the following presentation at the the company's Voice of the Customer Roadshow, held in Toronto on June 21 and presented in partnership with Confirmit and AskingCanadians.
Presented at the 2012 CMA Social Media Conference by Delvinia's Amy Sullivan, Vice President of Insight, and Randy Matheson, Director of Emerging Media + Trends.
This 'State of the Social Media Nation' covers social media usage in Canada. Drawing on freshly minted data from the AskingCanadians research community, the presentation shares the latest stats on consumer engagement with social platforms.
Learn what Canadians are doing, why, and how often, and gain valuable insights into how social media is changing Canadians’ purchasing behaviour and their relationships with brands.
Delvinia CEO Adam Froman was among the speakers at the Canadian Marketing Association's CMA Summit 2012, held at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel on May 16 and 17.
Adam shared how Delvinia is marrying real time feedback from customers with deep profiling data on their digital behaviours to help organizations capture and act on the Voice of the Customer to create better customer experiences.
ESOMAR Best of Canada -- Shifting Customer Behaviour OnlineDelvinia
Delvinia CEO Adam Froman was among the speakers at ESOMAR's Best Of - Canada 2012 breakfast at the Hilton Toronto Hotel on May 9th. His presentation, Shifting Customer Behaviour Online, focused on our work with the Canadian Opera Company.
Through the use of data and analytics, the COC adopted a customer-centric approach towards the creation of a digital experience designed to showcase the richness of the opera, to connect with its client base and to drive online sales and donations.
For more information about Delvinia's work with the COC, please visit www.delvinia.com/work.
Social networks have experienced explosive growth in the last few years. Today, social networking is the number one activity on the Internet, accounting for 23 per cent of user’s time spent online (Nielsen, September 2011). Consumers are using social networking sites and features in all aspects of their lives, including shopping.
This presentation includes:
- How Canadian shoppers are using social networks in the shopping process.
- What expectations Canadian social shoppers have of retailers and brands.
- How innovative retailers and brands are engaging social shoppers.
- How retailers and brands can meet the needs of Canadian mobile shoppers.
Consumers no longer just shop at the retail store. With an abundance of product information and ability to gain opinions of other consumers, consumers use the Internet as a critical part of their shopping process. This trend has accelerated after the recession where consumers take more time to scrutinize their purchases. Consumers that use more than one retail channel are coined the multi-channel shopper. They are more profitable and loyal.
Smart phones and tablets have experienced significant growth in the last few years. Today, 1/3 of Canadians own smart phones, of which 40% have used their smart phones somewhere in the shopping process (source: AskingCanadiansTM, December 2010). In fact, several credible sources project 2013 to be the tipping point where research and purchase activity on mobile devices will exceed that of desktops and laptops. Consumers shopping behaviour and expectations are shifting.
Delvinia: The Canadian Multichannel ShopperDelvinia
Consumers no longer just shop at the retail store. With an abundance of product information and ability to gain opinions of other consumers, consumers use the Internet as a critical part of their shopping process. This trend has accelerated after the recession where consumers take more time to scrutinize their purchases. Consumers that use more than one retail channel are coined the multi-channel shopper. They are more profitable and loyal.
This presentation addresses the following key questions:
• How do Canadian multi-channel shoppers behave?
• What are the expectations of Canadian multi-channel shoppers?
• How have other retailers and manufacturers effectively engage multi-channel shoppers?
• How should retailers or manufacturers effectively engage their multichannel shoppers?
A tale of scale & speed: How the US Navy is enabling software delivery from l...sonjaschweigert1
Rapid and secure feature delivery is a goal across every application team and every branch of the DoD. The Navy’s DevSecOps platform, Party Barge, has achieved:
- Reduction in onboarding time from 5 weeks to 1 day
- Improved developer experience and productivity through actionable findings and reduction of false positives
- Maintenance of superior security standards and inherent policy enforcement with Authorization to Operate (ATO)
Development teams can ship efficiently and ensure applications are cyber ready for Navy Authorizing Officials (AOs). In this webinar, Sigma Defense and Anchore will give attendees a look behind the scenes and demo secure pipeline automation and security artifacts that speed up application ATO and time to production.
We will cover:
- How to remove silos in DevSecOps
- How to build efficient development pipeline roles and component templates
- How to deliver security artifacts that matter for ATO’s (SBOMs, vulnerability reports, and policy evidence)
- How to streamline operations with automated policy checks on container images
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
Welocme to ViralQR, your best QR code generator.ViralQR
Welcome to ViralQR, your best QR code generator available on the market!
At ViralQR, we design static and dynamic QR codes. Our mission is to make business operations easier and customer engagement more powerful through the use of QR technology. Be it a small-scale business or a huge enterprise, our easy-to-use platform provides multiple choices that can be tailored according to your company's branding and marketing strategies.
Our Vision
We are here to make the process of creating QR codes easy and smooth, thus enhancing customer interaction and making business more fluid. We very strongly believe in the ability of QR codes to change the world for businesses in their interaction with customers and are set on making that technology accessible and usable far and wide.
Our Achievements
Ever since its inception, we have successfully served many clients by offering QR codes in their marketing, service delivery, and collection of feedback across various industries. Our platform has been recognized for its ease of use and amazing features, which helped a business to make QR codes.
Our Services
At ViralQR, here is a comprehensive suite of services that caters to your very needs:
Static QR Codes: Create free static QR codes. These QR codes are able to store significant information such as URLs, vCards, plain text, emails and SMS, Wi-Fi credentials, and Bitcoin addresses.
Dynamic QR codes: These also have all the advanced features but are subscription-based. They can directly link to PDF files, images, micro-landing pages, social accounts, review forms, business pages, and applications. In addition, they can be branded with CTAs, frames, patterns, colors, and logos to enhance your branding.
Pricing and Packages
Additionally, there is a 14-day free offer to ViralQR, which is an exceptional opportunity for new users to take a feel of this platform. One can easily subscribe from there and experience the full dynamic of using QR codes. The subscription plans are not only meant for business; they are priced very flexibly so that literally every business could afford to benefit from our service.
Why choose us?
ViralQR will provide services for marketing, advertising, catering, retail, and the like. The QR codes can be posted on fliers, packaging, merchandise, and banners, as well as to substitute for cash and cards in a restaurant or coffee shop. With QR codes integrated into your business, improve customer engagement and streamline operations.
Comprehensive Analytics
Subscribers of ViralQR receive detailed analytics and tracking tools in light of having a view of the core values of QR code performance. Our analytics dashboard shows aggregate views and unique views, as well as detailed information about each impression, including time, device, browser, and estimated location by city and country.
So, thank you for choosing ViralQR; we have an offer of nothing but the best in terms of QR code services to meet business diversity!
Elevating Tactical DDD Patterns Through Object CalisthenicsDorra BARTAGUIZ
After immersing yourself in the blue book and its red counterpart, attending DDD-focused conferences, and applying tactical patterns, you're left with a crucial question: How do I ensure my design is effective? Tactical patterns within Domain-Driven Design (DDD) serve as guiding principles for creating clear and manageable domain models. However, achieving success with these patterns requires additional guidance. Interestingly, we've observed that a set of constraints initially designed for training purposes remarkably aligns with effective pattern implementation, offering a more ‘mechanical’ approach. Let's explore together how Object Calisthenics can elevate the design of your tactical DDD patterns, offering concrete help for those venturing into DDD for the first time!
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Monitoring and observability aren’t traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current company’s observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumble….many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
Le nuove frontiere dell'AI nell'RPA con UiPath Autopilot™UiPathCommunity
In questo evento online gratuito, organizzato dalla Community Italiana di UiPath, potrai esplorare le nuove funzionalità di Autopilot, il tool che integra l'Intelligenza Artificiale nei processi di sviluppo e utilizzo delle Automazioni.
📕 Vedremo insieme alcuni esempi dell'utilizzo di Autopilot in diversi tool della Suite UiPath:
Autopilot per Studio Web
Autopilot per Studio
Autopilot per Apps
Clipboard AI
GenAI applicata alla Document Understanding
👨🏫👨💻 Speakers:
Stefano Negro, UiPath MVPx3, RPA Tech Lead @ BSP Consultant
Flavio Martinelli, UiPath MVP 2023, Technical Account Manager @UiPath
Andrei Tasca, RPA Solutions Team Lead @NTT Data
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
3. 3 The story of Delvinia
Where do you start when you want to reflect
on 15 years of running and building a busi-
ness? Taking a moment to look back, I realize
that it is important to reflect, learn, celebrate
and look ahead – but never second guess. I
feel blessed that I have had the opportunity
to pursue my own path for 15 years, following
a dream, adapting to change, building
a team, creating jobs, servicing clients,
achieving goals, meeting lots of new people
and building relationships that will go well
beyond my working days.
I have spent my entire career following a
path driven by passion and a vision that
interactive technologies would change
the way we communicate, work and play.
Looking at the world from a user-centric
point of view, you know that it’s not simply
about creative, technology or content.
Rather, it’s about how you apply all of these
to create better digital experiences that are
relevant to the user.
I always knew that the power of interac-
tive technologies gave the user choice and
control. But until there was a critical mass of
users to make the innovation associated with
technology secondary to their behaviours,
the realization of its potential would be just
that – a concept. We knew that we would be
evangelists – preaching the gospel of what
this could be, and living on the bleeding edge
of innovation.
When I knew that we would be reaching
our 15th anniversary this year, I realized
timing was everything. We had just come
out of the second brutal economic downturn
since I started Delvinia, and we were seeing
the business growth that made the pain of
managing through the last recession feel
worthwhile.
A vision is not static – it is constantly evolving
and changing. When I started my business,
I equated my vision with simply knowing in
your gut what the opportunity was. You could
see the silhouette but you couldn’t exactly
make out how that opportunity would be
realized. You knew you had to take this path,
because you felt it deep in your soul, but you
were also frustrated that you couldn’t clearly
articulate what “it” was in one sentence.
Since then, I have discovered that main-
taining my values and integrity are key to
longevity in business – for me anyhow. In
business you have to make many tough deci-
sions. Some of those are not popular ones,
people get disappointed or even hurt. They
challenge you even when it is the necessary
choice. Other decisions are easy and give
you hope that all the pieces are falling into
place. For better or for worse, you have to be
willing to make decisions and be accountable
for them. At the end of the day, any choices
I have made have been based upon being
able to look at myself in the mirror afterwards.
While it hasn’t been easy, I can honestly say
that I can live with all my business decisions.
Over these past 15 years I have learned
how to run a business. I have learned how
to manage cash flow. I have learned that
you can’t control economic downturns – you
can only foresee them and try to manage
through them. I have learned what it means
to be an entrepreneur. I have learned to
Introduction
We knew that we
would be evangelists –
preaching the gospel of
what this could be, and
living on the bleeding
edge of innovation.
4. 4The story of Delvinia
face scenarios where I thought there was
no way out, but somehow find a way to pull
ourselves through when we thought we
would surely collapse. I have learned that
our approach to creating customer experi-
ences works. I have learned to promote our
business. I have learned to hire people, to
fire people, to build a team. I have learned
to trust my instincts. I have learned to push
myself out of my comfort zone, because it
is here that you really grow. I have learned
that when I push others out of their comfort
zones – some can handle it and others can’t
– they all learn. I have learned to trust people,
even though they may disappoint you. I have
learned to build a culture based upon my
personal values of transparency, authenticity
and loyalty. I have learned that with a strong
support system around, you can work through
any challenge. I have learned humility. I have
learned to listen – okay – well I’m still learning
that one. I continue to learn from everyone
that I work for or with. I have learned to give
back. I have learned to never stop learning.
I have learned that being passionate about
what I want to achieve, that never giving up,
that accepting that the path I am on is not
straight, has allowed me to look back at what
I’ve accomplished so far and to clearly see
where I want to go.
After 15 years, my passion has not dimin-
ished. I am as excited about the digital
customer experience now as I was 15 years
ago. Probably even more so. I am exactly
where I should be, with the right people, in
the right business, on the right path. The
fog has lifted and my vision has never been
clearer and the path to get there seems much
straighter.
Fifteen is a good number. It exudes longevity,
but not being passé. Taking this time to reflect
on the past 15 years gives me the opportunity
to remember why I started down this path in
the first place. Sharing my story is only just
the beginning. My hope is to have others
who have been part of my journey share their
thoughts as well. Together our stories will put
further context to the business, the entity,
the brand that I have spent the past 15 years
struggling to build.
6. 6The story of Delvinia
My company was founded in August of
1998. July had been largely spent in meet-
ings sitting in a booth at Bar Italia on College
Street with my fellow founding partners,
Sam Punnett, Bill Sweetman, and Warren
Coughlin. If you have ever sat in a booth at
Bar Italia, you may have noticed that there
are electrical outlets on the ledge above the
booths. You can plug in your computer and sit
there all day, which is just what we did. We all
had visions of running our own business in
the digital space, and that summer was all
about strategizing.
Six months earlier, I had made the decision
to leave Braxton Associates, the strategy
consulting arm of Deloitte where I had
the opportunity to work on some exciting
convergence engagements. I wanted to
pursue building my own business in the
digital space. I was still part of the Interactive
Multimedia Arts & Technologies Association
(IMAT), at the time the largest digital media
association. My involvement in running IMAT
during the ‘90s, and providing input into digital
policy in Canada, was a great way to take on
some consulting projects as I figured out the
business I wanted to build.
Sheridan Scott, who, at the time was the
Chief Regulatory Officer for Bell Canada,
was representing the Stentor Alliance, which
was mandated by the CRTC to create a fund
to support the “next generation” of content
– being digital. Sheridan wanted to consult
with digital producers from across the country
about their needs for funding digital content.
Given my involvement running IMAT, she
knew I could pull together the right people
and she hired me to hold a series of round-
table discussions in various cities across the
country. This was my first engagement after I
left Deloitte.
Sam, who I had gotten to know through IMAT,
was available to help out and we worked on
the project together.
Around the same time, the CRTC was holding
hearings on whether it should try to regulate
the Internet. Sheldon Levy, now the dynamic
and forward-thinking President of Ryerson
University, was the President of Sheridan
College at the time. Sheldon asked Sam and
I to help prepare a position to the CRTC on
behalf of the college. That project, along with
a number of others involving clients who were
also making submissions, meant I was busy
from the start.
At the same time, the dot-com boom was in
full swing and there wasn’t a week without
another IPO coming out of Silicon Valley,
Seattle or Boston for not only pure-play
technology companies, but for new online
businesses that were going to displace the
traditional brick and mortar ones.
I wanted to tap into this with more than just a
policy and research firm. And so did Warren,
Bill and Sam. Warren, who had worked with
Sam and I on a small engagement, had left
his career as a lawyer and was looking for
something new. Bill, who I had also gotten
to know well through IMAT, and who built the
MultiMediator website—the first resource for
those in the digital industry in Canada—was
just leaving a partnership in a digital PR firm
and was also interested in doing something
more exciting in the digital space.
So, Sam, Warren, Bill and I went through a
series of five strategy sessions, each building
on the other. We first discussed what we did
NOT want to be, which led into a discussion
of what we DID want to be and do.
We all knew we had services that the market
wanted and a combination of skill sets of
We first discussed what
we did NOT want to be,
which led into a discussion
of what we DID want to be
and do.
7. 7 The story of Delvinia
which the sum was greater than the individual
parts. There was so much opportunity.
We decided that if we were going to be a
strategic digital firm that we needed to work
directly with clients, since working through
another company would relegate us to simply
being a production shop. We listed our core
attributes as a group. It’s interesting to look
back at it today, because it really hasn’t
changed. These core attributes were:
We defined our service focus, which was
based upon two areas. One was our fee for
service consulting and the other area was
our venture side of the business.
Our fee for service business was split into
two service lines. The first was the policy
and research side where we tracked what
was going on in the digital industry in
Canada, informed policy makers as to the
potential of digital media and advised clients
who were trying to understand their role in
this new digital media landscape. The second
was to provide consulting services that would
help companies that were trying to determine
whether they even needed a website, to build
one in a way that was both relevant to their
businesses and relevant to the customers
that they wanted to interact with.
The venture side of the business was more
long term – and our real passion. We wanted
to be set up to conduct our own R&D and
develop our own products. Consulting would
bring in the profits and retained earnings,
and then it was our goal to leverage our
consulting services to finance our innovation.
Helping clients solve their digital challenges
and develop interactive products would lead
to identifying and spinning off some
interesting ideas that could be incubated as
future business opportunities.
We initially launched our business as the
MultiMediator Strategy Group (MMSG)
since we had not yet developed the name
we wanted, but we liked the MultiMediator
name and what it represented in the market-
place – a guide for those interested in digital.
In 1999, through a visioning exercise to
decide what name would best fit our busi-
ness, we came up with Delvinia. Delvinia was
the perfect name. It presented an image of
“delve in and dig deep” which was how we
approached developing digital experiences.
More importantly, we had not seen the name
Delvinia anywhere, and www.delvinia.com
was available. Our brand vision was focused
on “a fascination and drive to solve business
problems using the power and potential of
interactive digital technologies.”
Our brand identity was about creating interac-
tive solutions driven by knowledge to help our
clients make better, more strategic decisions
about their digital activities. We also wanted
to demonstrate that we were driven strate-
gists and passionate about the digital space.
This hasn’t changed.
There were many organizations that were
emerging as strong digital firms. While the
tendency in most digital firms was to build a
production capability in house, we wanted to
focus more on the strategy behind what we
• Analysis
• Vision
• Expertise
• Relationships
• Strategy
• Experience
• Independence
• Profile
• Integrity
Our brand identity was
about creating interactive
solutions driven by
knowledge to help our
clients make better, more
strategic decisions about
their digital activities.
8. 8The story of Delvinia
would eventually build. In my mind, building a
large production studio would handcuff us to
sell production work to keep the engine alive.
I wanted to be able to focus on the strategy
as our core competency, and then build
and launch website and digital marketing
campaigns after we had worked through the
strategy process. We kept only the design
capability in house, and we scaled our tech-
nical production capability using various
freelancers. This business model made sense
to me.
We had landed some major clients and
worked on some very interesting and high
profile projects. Some of those projects
included helping to promote the launch
of cbc.ca, CBC’s first foray into the digital
space and developing their e-merchan-
dising strategy. 1999 was when we began
our 14-year working relationship with RBC
Royal Bank, to launch their online banking
pilot by working on their digital marketing
campaign. It’s hard to believe that online
banking was only launched in 1999. We also
helped Harlequin Enterprises build its North
American website – eharlequin.com – and
increase their online audience of romance
novel readers.
The digital media industry was still in its
infancy, and after spending most of the 1990’s
promoting this industry, we founded and
launched the Canadian New Media Awards
(CNMA), in order to build recognition for
the companies, individuals and products in
the Canadian digital industry. In the digital
industry we were always the poor cousin to
the television, film, advertising, and consulting
sectors. The CNMAs became the pre-eminent
awards program in Canada for the digital
industry, building profile for digital on its own.
In 2009 we merged the CNMAs with Next-
Media and Achilles Media took it over from
us. During its 10th anniversary in 2010, the
CNMAs were rebranded as the Digital Media
Awards (Digis) which are still running strong
today.
Our digital strategy and marketing side of the
business grew very quickly and it wasn’t long
before we had 40 people under our roof.
In November 2000, I was asked to be the
keynote speaker at the Canadian Associa-
tion of Broadcasters national convention,
providing a glimpse into what the future
of broadcasting would look like. We really
thought this was going to be the turning point
for the growth and presence of our business
and the Canadian digital media industry. Little
did we know that a week after the convention,
the dot-com bubble would burst.
This was the first time where we had to face
what I called, “looking down the shotgun
between my eyes.” Like most of our industry
colleagues, because the earnings of the new
IPOs had failed to realize the promise of what
a dot-com IPO would deliver, investors were
pulling their money from these companies,
companies were shutting their doors all over
the place, and the traditional industry players
were praising themselves that this “Internet-
thing” was just a fad. I didn’t know we would
go from feeling like we were on top of the
world, to seeing our dreams evaporate before
our eyes.
I still remember June of 2001. I don’t think I
slept a night that month. We were faced with
agonizing business decisions, potentially
devastating our dreams and all that we had
invested, and constantly feeling like we would
get crushed under the weight of everything
that was going on. The terrorist attack of
September 11th threw the world into a deep
state of fear and depression and everyone
wondered how it could possibly get worse.
We all believed the
Internet was not going
away, and that it would
become more ubiquitous
in everyone’s lives.
9. 9 The story of Delvinia
During this period, we had to look hard at
whether there was a future for this business.
We all believed the Internet was not going
away, and that it would become more ubiq-
uitous in everyone’s lives. Consumer choice
and control through the use of digital tech-
nologies would be the future. We all held to
the vision that once the dust settled the last
companies standing would not only survive
but thrive.
Somehow we made it through this period.
We could finally exhale and decide where we
wanted to go next. We had survived the most
devastating correction in the digital space
to date, and the first economic correction
since we had launched the business. It is still
hard to believe that we made it through this
economic downturn. Looking back, I couldn’t
have made it through this period if I had not
had the partners I had at the time. We really
pulled together to manage through the most
difficult period of all of our careers to that
point.
By the end of 2002, we were battle worn,
and at a crossroads for the company. Bill,
Sam and Warren decided that they wanted
to pursue other ventures and leave Delvinia.
I believed that there was still value in our
brand. We entered into a negotiation for
me to buy them out of Delvinia. While the
dot-com crash had taken its toll on all of us, I
was still passionate about where the business
could go. While I was disappointed that our
dream was not going to be realized together,
I appreciated that my partners were willing to
negotiate with me to retain the Delvinia brand
and allow me to continue on with my dream.
At this time, I had a three year old and a one
year old at home, and my wife Sharin was
deciding whether she would go back to work
or stay home with the kids. I remember sitting
down with Sharin to tell her about the deci-
sion my partners and I had made. She looked
at me and said, “You have been through a lot
over the past couple of years, we have our
two kids, our mortgage, maybe you should
just get a job.” I definitely had some tough
decisions to make, and I had to ask myself
whether I could carry this vision forward on
my own.
The best thing about starting the entrepre-
neurial part of my career with partners was
that I didn’t have to make any decisions by
myself; it gave me a sense of confidence to
manage through difficult situations. We made
almost every decision by consensus, and this
worked for us through our good times and
particularly during our challenging period.
While negotiating the buyout of a business
from partners is not always pleasant, I appre-
ciated that though the partnership had taken
its course, I had met three very honourable
people that I still have respect for today. They
all left the business in a manner that allowed
me to continue the path we had embarked on
five years earlier, without compromising the
integrity of the brand we had built.
However, the real question was whether I
had the self-confidence to make decisions
by myself going forward. It was one thing to
possess the intestinal fortitude to pursue an
entrepreneurial career path, but having to
trust my own instincts, that was different.
Ultimately I had to and it was then that I
realized I was cut out to be an entrepreneur.
Looking back now, although I was nervous, I
had a sense of calm and I knew I could do it.
Throughout 2002, while we were managing
through our recovery, I had started to spend
more time with Steve Mast. Steve joined
Delvinia in 1999 as the Director of Client
Service for our Digital Marketing business.
He had become an important person in our
organization. I realized that we shared a great
By the end of 2002, we
were battle worn, and
at a crossroads for the
company.
10. 10The story of Delvinia
deal of the same vision of where we could go
with the business. He had the same drive and
passion as I did, and he was also intrigued
with the idea of developing our own innova-
tive products and services.
Steve and I spent a lot of time talking about
where the industry was going and where the
business could go. I told Steve that I wanted
to keep the Delvinia brand.
As the next chapter of our journey began, I
rung in 2003 with only Steve and Craig Tothill,
our technical specialist, and the determination
that I had no choice but to succeed.