Reflections from TEDxUBC, FastForwardEd

Can we afford to wait for the next generation of educators to “be the change”? Tomorrow’s teachers are in our classrooms today! @terryainge #TEDxUBC

Much more to come from the event, er, movement. One of the most amazing experiences of my life as the TEDx licensee.  What an incredible mash-up of teenagers, university students and adults passionate about helping youth succeed.

TEDxUBC trended at #2 in Vancouver on Twitter (ahead of the Canucks!) during the event yesterday and was one of the Top 10 Vancouver trends of the week according to Trendsmap.com. Over 100 people watching the livestream, others mind-mapping online, prizes for best tweet, entertainment and mostly The Power of Youth.  Here's a screen capture from our Wall of Tweets.

Thank you next generation for letting this generation serve you.

The Directors of TEDxUBC: Faye Chen, Randy Sangha, David McMichael, Judy Eng and myself are amazed and humbled by the talent and enthusiasm of our student volunteers and contestants. Our generation is truly in good hands when your turn comes.

Oh right, it's already your turn.

Here's how you can get involved in rethinking, remixing, hacking and creating a 21st century solution for our education system.  Get involved, starting with the links below:

• Build on the speaker’s, attendees and viewer’s ideas with TED Talk mind-mapping courtesy of Mindmeister.
• Join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tedxubc
• Join the Wall of Tweets by posting with the hashtag #tedxubc on Twitter.
• View the TEDxUBC photo stream on Flickr.

TEDxUBC speakers and directors: Bill Jensen, Matt Giammarino, Chris Kennedy, Carla Rieger, Sunddip Panesar Nahal, Dan Pontefract, Paul Cubbon, Yellow Banana,  Josh Klein, Bret Conkin, Alex Jurgensen, Jeff Piontek, Faye Chen, David McMichael (missing: Basil Peters, Barry MacDonald, Elysa Hogg,  Judy Eng, Randy Sangha) 

Join the conversation. The first step to a learning revolution.  

The action step is then up to you!  

Take a cue from best tweet prize winner Terry Ainge an innovative teacher in Delta.  Fittingly, we presented Terry with a copy of TEDTalk speakers  Josh Klein and Bill Jensen's Hacking Work.

@terryainge Can we afford to wait for the next generation of educators to “be the change”? Tomorrow’s teachers are in our classrooms today!

A little event I'm working on....

Fast forward education with TEDxUBC

Leading thinkers and innovators in business and technology education to inspire a new generation

Vancouver, BC – The first TEDx event ever to be held in downtown Vancouver, TEDxUBC, takes place on Oct. 23, 2010. Themed FastForwardEd, the event will help shape the future of business and technology education in British Columbia’s secondary and post-secondary institutions. In the spirit of TED, TEDxUBC is an independently organized, one-day event combining live speakers and TEDTalk videos to spark deep discussion and connection in the education, business and technology sectors.

“How do you educate students for jobs that don’t yet exist? What skills will you need to be successful in the 21^st century? TEDxUBC was created to help answer these questions,” says Bret Conkin, Co-organizer and Licensee of TEDxUBC.

“It’s a grassroots forum on key education issues that will shape secondary and post-secondary education in the 21^st century,” he continued. “We’re bringing together 100 key leaders and innovators in business and education, who together can help spread ideas about the skills needed in the work force vs. those currently being taught, all in the unique spirit of TED.”

Presenters at TEDxUBC:

TEDxUBC will take place at UBC’s Robson Square campus in downtown Vancouver and will feature renowned local and international thinkers.

Josh Klein is a hacker of all things, including social systems, computer networks, institutions, animal behavior and corporate culture. His book, Hacking Work: Breaking Stupid Rules for Smart Results, has been hailed as “one of the breakthrough ideas for 2010” by the Harvard Business Review. At TED2008, he delivered a speech on the intelligence of crows and the possibilities of forming mutually-beneficial systems between humans and animals.

Bill Jensen’s credits include authoring Work 2.0, Building the Future, One Employee at a Time and the recent co-release with fellow TEDxUBC presenter Josh Klein, Hacking Work.  Harvard Business Review, CNBC and Fast Company have called Bill today’s foremost expert on work complexity, helping people to do less and accomplish more.  Bill is a passionate simpleton and an outspoken gadfly against corporate stupidity that wastes people’s time, attention and dreams.

Alex Jurgensen is a young entrepreneur who enjoys speaking about and using technology, with a special focus on products and services designed to be used by everyone. As a secondary student, he is a strong believer in the principles of universally-designed learning.

Barry MacDonald is a registered clinical counselor, educator, and international advocate for learners—especially boys—who struggle with traditional classroom learning. As the founder of MentoringBoys.com and best-selling author of Boy Smarts, Barry was identified as one of 25 Influential People to Watch by the Vancouver Sun for his innovative approaches to mentoring boys for success.

For much more on TEDxUBC, visit http://tedxubc.com

Social Networking Simplified - A Small Business Primer - Part I

Simplifying Social Networking for Small Business Part I

Here is Part I of the recent workshop done in Squamish for 50 entrepreneurs.  The response was very positive and I look forward to the upcoming one-on-one consulting sessions.

Unfortunately this widget from Slideshare tends to mess with some of the formatting.  That said, hope you find it useful.
View more presentations from Bret Conkin.

Social Networking for Small Business Workshop

This is an overview of a workshop I'm doing for 40 or so entrepreneurs in the Howe Sound area for one of my clients this July.  Just recalling that there was the Whistler forest fire last summer when I did a Selling Skills workshop in Squamish.  While I am looking forward to creating more small business sparks this year, let's hold off on the fires!

Common craft has a great video on social networking in Plain English well worth checking out here.  

Tweet. Yelp. Four Square. LOL.  What the heck are they and why do they matter to your small business?  Social networking is a hot topic but like a second language, putting it into practice can get very confusing.  Like most small businesses you may be trying to sort out social networking myth from reality, whether it can work for you and why.  In this workshop, you will view examples and learn in plain language how social networking can be a powerful and low cost way to connect, prospect, reward customers and gain word of mouth.

Topics include personal vs. small business social networking, social media vs. traditional media, privacy, measurement and hands-on practice applying this learning to your small business.  Plus discover 10 free networking and promotion applications you can use on Monday.  So, get Linked In and avoid having your HUB, LDO (texting acronyms for Head up Butt, Like Duh, Obviously).

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

View more presentations from Bret Conkin.

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.

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

View more presentations from Bret Conkin.

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!

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

View more presentations from Bret Conkin.

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!

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.