Comedy puts technology in perspective - LouisCk on Conan

Went to a series of great events this week that all featured humour to make their point. Great stuff including this video of comedian LouisCK on Conan O'Bryan on the frenetic pace of technological change. If you were born before 1970 this should really hit home.

Really enjoyed the keynote by West Van Deputy Superintendent Chris Kennedy. Some great apps including Visible Tweets. He also shared this video and I have to agree that everything's amazing and nobody's happy. Hopefully, this will make you happier...

VEF presents Technology Maverick Kevin Ham - Part 4

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Part 4 of Kevin Ham at Vancouver Enterprise Forum. Question and Answer Session.

VEF presents Technology Maverick Kevin Ham - Part 3

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Part 3 of Kevin Ham at Vancouver Enterprise Forum.

Digital Tattoo - What traces are you leaving behind on the Net?

There has been much talk about privacy and the information people post on social networking sites like Facebook. Still, few of us are truly aware of the "Digital Tattoo" we leave behind. I recently attended a workshop on the subject and I am pleased to share the materials for our followers.

Don't say we didn't tell you...
The website link is here and the SlideShare Presentation describing the initiative is below:

Digital Tattoo Presentation for Canadian eLearning Conference 2009

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VEF presents Technology Maverick Kevin Ham - Part 2

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Vancouver Enterprise Forum is pleased to present this riiPlay of Technology maverick Kevin Ham. Kevin Ham has been described as the most powerful dotcom mogul youve never heard of. He was featured on the cover of Business 2.0 magazine in 2007 as The man who owns the Internet and is one of a handful of major-league domainers in the world.

Even in a field filled with unusual career paths, Kevins stands out. Formally trained as a family doctor, he taught himself programming so he can dabble in the internet, When his web ventures started pulling in more money in one month than what he made in one year as a resident, he decided to put medicine on hold to pursue the riches of the web.

Since 2000 he has amassed a portfolio of more than 300,000 domains that some estimate is worth more than $300M. Now, Kevin is out to surprise again. His newest venture - Reinvent Technology aims to build a powerhouse of Internet businesses around his portfolio of domain assets. Kevin talks about how this maverick of domains built his empire and what it takes to succeed in the new emerging economy.

VEF presents Technology Maverick Kevin Ham - Part 1

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Vancouver Enterprise Forum is pleased to present this riiPlay of Technology maverick Kevin Ham. Kevin Ham has been described as the most powerful dotcom mogul you've never heard of. He was featured on the cover of Business 2.0 magazine in 2007 as The man who owns the Internet and is one of a handful of major-league domainers in the world. Even in a field filled with unusual career paths, Kevins stands out.

Formally trained as a family doctor, he taught himself programming so he can dabble in the internet. When his web ventures started pulling in more money in one month than what he made in one year as a resident, he decided to put medicine on hold to pursue the riches of the web. Since 2000 he has amassed a portfolio of more than 300,000 domains that some estimate is worth more than $300M.

Now, Kevin is out to surprise again. His newest venture - Reinvent Technology aims to build a powerhouse of Internet businesses around his portfolio of domain assets. Kevin talks about how this maverick of domains built his empire and what it takes to succeed in the new emerging economy.

TEDxUBC - Transform Something

Pleased to share additional info on TEDxUBC. Organizing team is really shaping up. First Sponsor and we are barely out of the gates. Yaaaa. Check it out.

TEDxUBC - Tranform Something

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Understanding Branding - Sauder UBC Keynote Presentation makes it easier

One of the often mentioned, seldom understood arts of business is branding. I am pleased to share the keynote presentation that was provided to the graduating class of the Sauder UBC Sales & Marketing Diploma program in 2007. It was a pleasure to send off the impressive roster of students at their graduate retreat with lessons learned & guidelines on carrying their personal brand most effectively. They are achieving great things already!

Branding Workshop For Sales & Marketing Executives

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I was recently contacted by one of the students who I keep in touch with and she mentioned that she would like to see it again, so here it is. Branding myths, brand experience, reverse branding and personal branding are all covered. The notes and media are not included but the outline should still prove a useful resource.

This Branding Workshop was also given to the Sales & Marketing Executives International Vancouver (SMEI) to rave reviews. The current version of this workshop and others, including Selling Skills and Social Media for Small Business are available upon request from the riiPlay.tv team. Contact info@riiPlay.tv.

High def is changing the Event Industry too

Much has been written on the growth of digital high definition coverage on television, blue ray and other innovations that make watching movies, sports and other content crisper, more vivid and a more enjoyable experience overall.

Video sharing sites like YouTube are upgrading to high def and the promise of higher resolution Web TV is an exciting one. Why can't we access content of interest, including events, anytime anywhere?

Through our riiPlay.tv service, we are very pleased to help push HD, and other innovations like pay per view into the arena of conferences, workshops and business events. There are still some challenges related to need for viewer high connectivity, resolution settings and so on but the message is clear - High def is the way of the future for Events.

Check out this recent event HD magic we did for a workshop featuring Angel Investment Fund manager, Basil Peters that was featured on the top technology blog Techvibes. Not only is Basil presented in life-like high def but the presentation material are conveniently displayed in the interface.

Almost as good as being there. Let us know what you think. Would convenient access to your events online be of interest to your members, audience or customers? Stay tuned as we share best practices on online event delivery in future posts.

21st Century Skills - Teacher Murray Bulger shows students the way

Many parents and students over the years have echoed the challenge today's schools face in staying "current." How do we best prepare our kids for the brave new digital world? Not to mention most of us adults!

The dramatic global changes that technology has enabled have meant new careers, challenges and skill sets. This has trickled down into schools - computer labs, more business and computer courses - through the efforts of many dedicated teachers, administrators and parents.

Still, it takes a true innovator to create change in a more dramatic way. Meet Argyle Secondary teacher Murray Bulger, creator of the Digital Media Academy.

I had coffee recently with Murray to learn more about him, his experiences around innovation in education and how he navigated changing "the system."

Like many other institutions (health care) - the school system often embraces status quo as "safe" or "proven." Fortunately, visionaries like Murray, with enough charisma and determination do find a way.

I had seen an article on Murray in the North Shore News and given our shared interest in innovation, education and technology arranged to connect.

I later learned that Murray had also been awarded the Prime Minister's Teaching Excellence Award and that he had fought through adversity along the way. Read more about finding his calling when he found himself critically ill at the age of 40 at the UBC Faculty of Education site here where Murray himself got schooled.

So here's some rapid-fire nuggets from coffee with Murray:

• On his history: Three years in Japan and experience with a youth program for ICBC
• On philosophy: It's about the people and ideas not the technology
• On traditional school approaches: A key issue is the traditional seperation of left brain vs. right brain. For instance, distinct Art class vs. Science class. The DMA program brings them together.
• On his mandate: Give kids life skills for the 21st Century

Given the length of this post, look for more Rapid-Fire in a follow-up post on the DMA program, Murray's philosophy, lessons learned and a very cool student output called 44 magazine.

This thumbnail links to a very cool promotional video done by the students, of course, that shows their talent and overviews the program. A pure testament to the DMA impact is how many leaders in the Digital Media industry like EA and New Media BC are captured within embracing the program's innovation and real world value!

Here is a link to the application for students interested in the DMA which are being accepted until September.

Step 2 in the 5 Step Selling Success Cycle - Prospecting

We are pleased to share the slides from Step 2 of the Selling Success Cycle - Prospecting - How to fill your Sales Funnel. This is excerpted from a Workshop presented recently to 50 entrepreneurs -largely services, retail and some small-scale manufacturing - in B.C., Canada as part of a program supporting self-employment. The Workshop's goals were to:

• anchor a sales process
• develop their selling skills
• help them view "selling" in a fresh, positive way
  
• give them resources to apply to their businesses
  
• entertain and create interaction and networking to better retention

5 Step Selling Success Cycle Step 2 Prospecting Bret Conkin July 31 2009

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In every case, it is very rewarding to learn about the exciting new businesses being nurtured or the innovative ideas being launched or readied for market. Some keys to the prospecting step included how to best approach your database, the art of networking, how to produce an introductory letter or email and an example of Tony Robbins to make the key point of why people buy. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Tony for a major event in Vancouver a few years back and he is a master of delivering sales because of his understanding of the 2 reasons people buy: 1. to impact how they feel and 2. to find a solution to a problem.

We expect some big things out of the most recent session -from exciting new golf clothing to helmet cams to organic farming and much more!

While we were in-doors the day before a long week-end, on a sultry summer day and surrounded by forest fire smoke from a fire up in Whistler the attendees were very involved and asked great questions. Thank you for the positive feedback and we look forward to connecting again with any of you we can support!

Little Jake Series Rights purchased for APTN development deal

After many years of effort, I was very pleased to see the completion of the Option purchase for the production of digital shorts based on the Little Jake children's book series this month! This charming western adventure series (image of Book 3 adjacent) features protagonist Little Jake and his foil and side-kick, Many Skies.

A development deal is in place between APTN and producers Marylin Thomas and Tracey of Little Jake Productions for a series of digital shorts. Now in the animation phase, the deal closed this month on the purchase of the book series for production from author Jake Conkin.

It was my pleasure to assist the business development which was originally an option deal with Blair Peters and Vancouver's Studio B way back in 1999!

Well, just shows that perserverance is one of the keys to business. Congratulations Jake, Carol, and thanks to Blair, Tracey, Marylin and Wayne Clark for their untold efforts to bring Jake's dream of wholesome family entertainment set in the West to the digital world.

Top 12 SEO tips - SEO Expert Gary R. Beal of Sticky Eyes video riiPlay

Our fundfindr.tv crews captured Gary R. Beal's presentation at the 2008 Internet Marketing Conference in Vancouver. This continues our series of riiPlays of the 2008 IMC event for interested viewers with the 2009 event upcoming in September with keynote Google evangelist, Avinash Kaushik. Get tickets here.

Gary, previously Search Manager for Sticky Eyes in the Uk, was one of my favourite presenters of the entire conference with his combination of wit, must be his time spent in the UK, and of course, his SEO expertise. Note: The video runs 37 minutes and focuses on Gary not his slides.

Tune into the Top 12 SEO tips for 2008 but don't worry they still apply today! And if you would like to see Gary's Top SEO tips for 2009, you can connect to his great blog GarytheScubaGuy and the 2009 post here.

For an IPOD compatible version of the video, click here. For an MP3 file for audio only, click here.

Please note: Future video and media posts related to Internet Marketing, Sales, Branding, Education, Content Monetization and Technology will be featured here on the riiPlay.tv blog and/or website. Media and posts on finding funds for start-ups and small business, investment, venture capital, angel investing and content specific to what we like to call "Venture Dating" will continue to be posted on fundfindr.tv. This better filters the content and reflects the broader series of events we now capture and deliver.

5 Simple Steps to Small Biz Sales Success

I recently had the pleasure of facilitating a half-day workshop, Simple Steps for Sales Success, in Squamish, BC with 13 up and coming entrepreneurs. And contrary to Dilbert's sentiment here, small businesses typically either does both sales and marketing among their many hats (so they avoid this rivalry) or at a certain scale, they may bring in some expert help.

In fact, after leading many sessions like this, I was very impressed by the Howe Sound participants innovation and drive for their ventures which spanned organic farming, graphic design, art, daycare, accupunture, photography and a few others.

The workshop was sponsored by Community Futures Howe Sound and firstly, I have to say that the CF team - Nicole, Megan and Sandra - was outstanding in terms of their program development, support and resources made available for the participants. Great to see this type of support for small business.

Simple Steps To Sales Success Step 1 Bret Conkin Rii Play.Tv July 2009

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The topic was on Sales for Small Business and I presented our 5 Step Cycle for Sales Success. Step 1 is all about the foundation including a clear definition of your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition. Based on request, I am sharing excerpts of it on our blog and on Slideshare, to benefit a wider audience. You can see the Introduction and Step 1 by clicking above. Enjoy and please feel free to comment.

The 3 little pigs, Rodney Dangerfield and Squamish's Chief all weigh in on how to best create a plan and strategy for your small business. What can you learn from Rodney? No, not the pigs with the brick house....

I will be doing a second session on July 31st and will cover Step 1 including measurement, goal-setting, the difference between marketing and sales (as explained by Dilbert and others!) and riiPlay.tv's Selling Success Cycle.

If you would like to find out more, hold a workshop for your Chamber of Commerce or small business members or you are a small business wanting to improve your sales, please contact me via info@riiplay.tv!

TEDx coming to Vancouver! You can attend or assist!

A flurry of activity locally around TED's move to a community based non-affiliated but branded event program called TEDx. For those not familiar, TED is an amazing community based on "the world's leading thinkers and doers."

Exciting times as there are now 3 active TEDx initiatives underway in the Vancouver area that you may be able to attend or become part of in some fashion as follows:

• We are very pleased to be working toward final licensing approval by TEDx and to be working with some other top UBC and SFU alumnus & students on local events with the working names, TEDxUBC and TEDxSFU. Stay tuned and if you are T-Birds or Clansmen, follow us and send a tweet to @TEDxUBC or @TEDxSFU for more info.

• TEDxTerryTalks is a great program out of UBC that held its first event in 2008 and is planning their 2009 event featuring students in October. Check out this great video.

• TEDxVan was announced this week and they can be followed at www.tedxvancouver.com and on Twittter @TEDxVan.
  

As they explain on their website, "In the spirit of "Ideas Worth Spreading," TEDx is a program that enables schools, businesses, libraries or just groups of friends to enjoy a TED-like experience through events they themselves organize, design and host. We're supporting approved organizers by offering a free toolset that includes detailed advice, the right to use recorded TEDTalks, promotion on our site, connection to other organizers, and a little piece of our brand in the form of the TEDx label."

Exit Strategy Workshop Web cast - Previews Now Available!

See highlights from this essential workshop on how to prepare, execute and maximize your exit strategy for your business. Presented by Angel Forum and BC Innovation Council and captured and delivered by riiPlay.tv. The wrong exit strategy can scare away investors. Can you afford not to maximize your Exit?

View top experts in over 6 hours of content conveniently delivered to view anytime anywhere. Find out why you need the right exit from the day you start-up. See more on this event at the Pre-view Gallery located at www.early-exits.com or to purchase tickets for your access visit the ticket access page on riiPlay.tv here. Distributed by one of our favourite apps Tubemogul.

Imagining the Unconference - Reply to Mitch Joel of Twisted Image

Mitch Joel is a thought leader in digital media that made a great post in the Vancouver Sun today, "Re-imagining the Business Conference." Great post. Since we've captured and deliver ed business content digitally since 2002, I posted my reply to Mitch below.

More proof why event content need be archived online and how to monetize it:

• The power of video - View this video of Mitch from a recent event.
• The power of audio - Listen to Mitch's podcast 6 Pixels of Separation featuring Seth Godin and other thought leaders, Talking about a Revolution.
• The power of print - To pre-order Mitch's new book, Six Pixels of Separation click the link.

My post on Mitch's blog: "As Chris mentioned in his comment, it is a slow evolution evolving the conference model outside the tech/new media space with many still failing to use technology, video and other apps to move retention, reach and networking forward.

Tony Robbins, who I had the pleasure of producing an event for in 2003, figured out this out long ago - Use events to spike and convert business objectives and prospects nurtured in digital media and online. Live events that end without archive are wasted assets.

A cool innovation we have observed recently is the move by TED, to license it's brand to local events. They have got a lot of things right in terms of their model - max 18 minutes online, great interface, killer live events. We have adopted their 18 minute max for everything we produce for clients and we are continually saying to these clients, "less is more!" (At least in online video...)

Huge missed opportunities to long tail the conference content and networks happen daily. Crowd sourcing the content is one of other the interesting developments - we are doing this for a big Internet Marketing conference upcoming - but it needs to be married with a model that incents the videographers and the delivery channel with residual income. We have done extensive research that really points to the appetite for more learning stream access online and we are hard at work at delivery on this with our platform Riiplay.

We have several web casts live - both free an pay per view for progressive clients like BC Innovation Council and Angel Forum and many more queued but still early days as an Alpha app. You can view the unconference for Angel Forum's Exit Strategy Workshop here and the BC Science Outreach Workshop here.

More on this in our post Creating a Long tail for your event. One of the key problems is that the knowledge is distributed across hundreds of event, association or corporate sites. The problem - no easy way to aggregate my events and knowledge as a user/viewer . One recent event locally spearheaded by Danny Robinson and Boris Mann that harnessed this interactivity well was Launch Party by Boot Up Labs - they used the Crowdvine app to create some connectivity around their start-up launches and in-person co-founder speed -dating. It was well done as an example of marrying live and tech. For more on this subject, you can subscribe to our blog on the long tails for events at Events worth Sharing. Vive le revolution.

Bret Conkin, riiPlay Evangelist

To order other great reads from Seth Godin and other thought leaders, simply click on our Recommended Reading list in the right column.

Monetizing events - How to create a longtail

How do you create a "long tail" for events that you hold? Read on.

We have been working with a progressive local event holder in Vancouver, Angel Forum, and a high profile content provider, Basil Peters, to test and refine a new business model for events that treats the content as an asset. The learning has been very interesting around the appetite for web casts and the willingness to pay a fair price for watchable, relevant content delivered via the Internet.

At riiPlay.tv we had questioned the current practices of holding live events and not capturing them for follow-on benefits like better retention, reach and revenue generation. In addition, the practice of charging high fees for live events then capturing them and distributing the content "free" afterward didn't make much sense either. While viewing the content online may lack some of the networking benefits of live attendance, the convenience of accessing the content on demand certainly has value.

As Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine said in his epic book, The Long Tail, "Information has value. The Web allows for more niche products to get global attention... in the years to come more and more products will be marketed online taking advantage of the ability of Web methods to fine-slice consumer groups and influence word-of-mouth more effectively than any other time in history."

In interviews like this one with Charlie Rose , he extols the virtues of "free" and that the long tail is creating a variation that 5% of the audience may pay for. This requires driving enough scale that the 5% model can work. There are many examples of this freemium model on the Web, but research conducted amongst attendees completed by riiPlay.tv and Angel Forum, both point to a strong appetite for the content online (not surprising) and a willingness to pay for it (surprising if you follow Chris's model).

So, while various conferences are now charging for video archive access, live streams or DVDs of their content many more are missing the opportunity that exists. As well, these efforts are often executed poorly in terms of capture quality and almost always, in terms of delivery. We believe the future is a recipe using micro-payments, digital rights, reputation management, residual income and filtering to deliver Knowledge on Demand in an exciting new way.

We will keep you posted here about best practices related to our experience proving this new event learning model, other relevant examples and invite you to comment. For a peek at one event leading the charge check out Angel Forum's Exit Strategy Web cast here.

To buy The Long Tail or other books we recommend for Small Business success, simply click on the Book Carousel featured in the right column half way down the page.

New Workshops in July - Simple Steps to Selling Success

Leading some workshops for Small Business in Squamish in July for Community Futures. Going to share simple steps and resources on selling success for these new entrepreneurs. Looking forward to it! Here's an overview:

Simple Steps to Sales Success - Small steps can deliver dramatic sales results for small business even in turbulent times. You don’t need to be an experienced seller. You do need to know how to turn suspects into prospects, how to help people buy and how to earn the right to close. This interactive workshop covers key steps - prospecting, presenting and closing - to arm you with practical skills and resources to apply to your business. Learn about top mistakes like failing to pre-empt objections and secrets like how feedback loops create raving fans from some unexpected sources like Don Cherry and Rodney Dangerfield.

Interested in sharing this workshop with your team, membership or association or other educational programs on marketing, social media and technology? Please contact us for more details @ info@riiplay.tv.

RSS Feeds and our Blogroll

We are fans of Common Craft's video series "In Plain English." Here is Social Media in Plain English - worth a look.


If you are new to Social Media and Social Networking, then you may still be subscribing to newsletters on topics of interest to you via email. Check out our blogroll in the left bar for other recommended blogs with great advice for small business like sales training expert and speaker Shane Gibson and personal development and leadership expert Robin Sharma.

If you are interested in convenient access to our Events without end blog posts please subscribe via the links also on the left bar. Look for more posts on social media for small business soon.

3 Keys to Hiring Top People - Success Snack with Robin Chakrabarti of Boston Pizza

One of the true keys to small business success is hiring top people. This applies to partners, suppliers, staff and anyone else that supports you.

Tune into this Success Snack with Robin Chakrabarti, former VP with Boston Pizza, as he shares 3 keys to Hiring Top People. The second in our series of Success Snacks produced for fundfindr.tv.

Success Snack: What Entrepreneurs have in Common

The quest for self-employment's rewards and control of one's own destiny are a key driver for many who take the bold leap into entrepreneurship. The opportunity for rewards and satisfaction compel many to achieve new found success in operating a small business.

How do you know this path is right for you? Tune into this Success Snack featuring expert consultant Mike Desjardins of Virtus to learn what traits all successful entrepreneurs have in common. Traits like passion and persistence and a few surprises on what traits you may have thought you needed but don't require to be a successful entrepreneur like experience!

Success snacks are a series of short videos produced by us for fundfindr.tv to provide small business resources that are easy to digest, tasty and good for you. Stay tuned for more in future posts.

VEF presents Fireside Chat with technology legend Ken Spencer

Part I of III. Each video has been edited to run under 20 minutes to enable you to plan your viewing time.

As part of our “Technology Legends” theme, the VEF is pleased to present a fireside chat with local legend Ken Spencer. After holding a senior executive role in many BC technology companies such as MacDonald Detwiller and Associates and Glenayre, Ken and his partner Dan Gelbart branched out on their own to found Creo Products. Over the next 20 years, they grew the company into BC’s largest technology company with 4,000 employees and revenues of nearly $1 billion, took the company public and eventually sold the company to Kodak in 2005.

Laurie Wallace, past co-founder of Datum Telegraphic and FlyOver Entertainment and current chair of Constructive Media and Vivity Labs will moderate the fireside chat. He and Ken will talk about Ken’s drive to co-found Creo Products, his motivation for wanting to run his “own” company, and the keys to growing Creo into BC’s largest technology company.

BC Science Outreach Workshop

Tune into this BC Science Outreach Workshop featuring David Heil, best known as host of the Emmy Award-winning PBS science series, Newton's Apple, on connecting science with communities. This Workshop was produced by BC Innovation Council and NSERC Pacific and captured and delivered online by riiPlay.tv

You can view the entire workshop online on riiPlay.tv here.
For more resources and information on this event, visit www.bcscienceoutreach.ca.

Part II of VEF Fireside Chat with Greg Peet - Webcast Part II

Vancouver Enterprise Forum was pleased to present tech legend Greg Peet in Vancouver, BC recently. Moderated by Mike Satterfield of Yaletown Venture Partners, enjoy this riiplay of this chat, Part II of IV, produced in part by riiPlay.tv.

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VEF presents Greg Peet - Fireside chat with the Tech legend webcast - Part I

In the last segment of this Spring's Fireside Chat series, Vancouver Enterprise Forum was pleased to present tech legend Greg Peet in Vancouver, BC. Moderated by Mike Satterfield of Yaletown Venture Partners , enjoy this riiplay of this event, Part I of IV, produced in part by riiPlay.tv.

For an Ipod/Iphone compatible version of this video, right click to download here . Please note the video runs about 17 minutes. Parts II, III and IV will be posted soon.

To listen to the audio file, right click to download here .

Greg is an accomplished business leader, entrepreneur, angel investor and corporate director. Until 2004, he was VP and General Manager of the McKesson Medical Imaging Group , a role he assumed following McKesson’s (NYSE:MKE) acquisition of A.L.I. Technologies in 2002 for over $500 million. As CEO, Greg spent a decade directing the growth of A.L.I., from an R&D organization into a market leader in the digital medical imaging segment with over 400 employees. Greg was recognized as the Ernst & Young’s Pacific Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002, and B.C. Technology Industry Association’s “Person of the Year” for 2007. Prior to ALI, Greg was CEO of Enterprise Technologies and Norsat . He began his career in the financial services industry. Greg currently serves on a number of company boards, and is Co-Chair of the B.C. Premier’s Technology Council.