Author: MH3

I have this recurring dream about CSFX17 that I haven’t prepared at all. Suddenly, I am being asked to go on stage and introduce the next speaker, whom I know nothing about. The dream gets worse when I forget the script to my own keynote, can’t remember the last name of the CEO of our conference partner, and then proceed to ask for a program guide so I can look up a session title.

Bet you’re even more keen to join us this Friday in Ottawa!

One saving grace is that I seem to always have my pants on during these nightmares. That’s a good thing because truth be told, I am having a wee bit of panic of what to wear this weekend to the JUNOS. Yesterday I read a sartorial profile on Kardinal Offishall’s style in Toronto Life and liked his idea of dressing simple, but adding one bold piece, like a chunky watch or bold hat, to create a buzz. Sounds good… except if I show up in a wide brim fedora, people may wonder what the ransom price is to have me returned by my kidnappers or not!

Still, I am spending Canadian Sponsorship Forum weekend at the 2017 JUNOS with 250 of my closest, bestest, newest sponsorship industry friends and I am feeling a bit unprepared. What does one wear to the JUNOS weekend? What are you going to wear? Think of the circumstances!

First, there is the flight there. The odds are high you are going to be next to an artist, or producer, or, at worst, a publicist. No insults to publicists, but when they meet me and realize I am not a somebody, their facial disappointment is incredibly hard on my ego. But back to you! This is an important moment. You want to look cool for your starry seatmate, but not too cool. You want them to wonder if you’re a hotshot from a label, or the next big festival promoter, or even cash-laden sponsor. You don’t want to have to start the conversation, so you need something that will get them to open up.

Now let’s skip a few days, and think about the flight home. Here is your last chance for a name-dropping story you can regal dinner party friends with for years. You have purposely taken an afternoon flight, so you can ride with some hungover talent who might just fall asleep on your shoulder. Can you snatch a drooly selfie without waking them up? If you do, be sure to have worn an outfit that says it may have spent the night on your hotel room floor, or somebody else’s. But so what? It still rocks. So, you must wear something that is essentially the perfect intersection of the walk of shame and the catwalk…

If you found that perfect go home garb, that may be what you have worn to the JUNOS after party (Don’t have an invite to one yet… message me about mine). Of course, the real issue is what happens if your drooler was at the same party as you. Don’t worry, if they remember that will be a miracle. Plus, if they DO remember, then they noticed you. Victory!

Let’s be clear, you can’t wear the same outfit to the after party that you wore to the awards broadcast. Read the fine print on your ticket –  the JUNOS want you to look good for television. Plus, I know you have put a lot of thought into getting Shawn Mendes attention or Sarah McLachlan, depending on whether you are a cougar, or twenty years past your prime like me, or thirty. Regardless of your interests or your age, get fancy people. It’s show time!

If the dizzying pace of outfit changes doesn’t make you feel like stage dancer in a tacky cruise ship show, then wait. Just hours before the broadcast you were seated at the JUNO Songwriters’ Circle, a fundraiser for MusiCounts. Odds are good that you have missed brunch and your last full meal was somewhere in the ByWard Market. By meal I mean ice, stir stick, mix or whatever. So, you need to be comfortable. You need ventilation, but you also need to look cool-casual. This event is laid back, so your outfit better be. Keep in mind that there could be a Justin Trudeau sighting as well. What if he agrees to a picture? Crap! What a nightmare and it isn’t even Saturday yet.

Saturday, I can’t help you. Are you going to the JUNOS banquet? Are you attending my conference? Are you joining to watch me do karaoke at the Sens House? Do you really think I am going to sing? Do you have a VIP suite to hang out in? What about JUNOfest? Did you find some cool bands on Friday you want to see again? The forecast says it’s going to be around freezing, so your outfit needs to be chill.

I would love to provide more advice, but I need to get home and layout my garb. I also must figure out workout clothes, clothes for my Thursday stage rehearsals (yes I think about these things), what socks to bring, should I bother with a coat and, finally, I have to do a contact lens count. A contact lens count you ask? Yes, I need 1.5 pairs per day as they get all foggy on me when I wear them too long and my only pair of glasses are far from JUNOS cool. Besides, I need to see what YOU are going to be wearing!

 

I really like Tourism Toronto’s new spot.

Engineered by J. Walter Thompson, the new spot is a wonderful celebration of everything the 416/647/905/289 has to offer. I am not sure if the ad was released in celebration of the city’s milestone 183rd birthday, but that’s my guess.

The spot focuses on three F’s that make Toronto great right now: Food, Being a Fan, and Freedom.

This city tastes so damn good right now. When I moved here, the restaurant scene had no imagination. A waterfront patio or a view from an office building masqueraded as an atmosphere. Quickly prepared and even more quickly served Asian food pretended to be experimental. The removal of tablecloths at 9:00 PM, to make way for a dance floor, falsely signaled hipness.

Today, there are more places to dine than days in the week. Neighbourhood flavours are popping up and establishing delineated neighbourhood pockets that offer multiple options. Young people have made finding the latest brunch place into an art form. Condo after condo is rising to provide even more clients than most proprietors could imagine.

Food is also our moist outward symbol of our multiculturalism, which, thanks to President Trump, is high on the conscious of the entire world right now. Canada has longed to open its doors to the world and the collection of top menus profiled by Toronto Life demonstrates the benefit of that.

This city is also playing damn well right now. Is it possible with the rise of the Maple Leafs, renewed leadership at the Argos and the continued excellence of TFC/Jays/Raps, that 2017 could mark us going 5 for 5 in reaching the playoffs? Our teams’ performance has only been outshone by amazing marketing and player engagement. We The North is a timeless and brilliant marketing campaign. The Bautista bat flip should be in Cooperstown if it isn’t already. The media even seems to like the current Leafs brass  

My Dad used to tease me as a young Leafs fan. His patented expression “Poor old Toronto” could regularly be applied to many of the lean long downturns our teams have faced, but I smell a parade coming before you know it. Will it be a World Series? A Coupe Grey? Lord Stanley’s mug? My prediction? Raptors. 2017 NBA Champions. You heard it here first. Raps-Rockets, we win in 7!

Long before the world has decided to take a turn back to the Stone Age and erect borders, Brexits and brick walls, Toronto has been one of the most welcoming places on Earth. I found this as a young mixed race individual moving here with no track record and today we continue to do so. Unfortunately, the most famous Black Jew that Canada has produced isn’t me, though I’m giving Drake a good chase. JK!!! 

Drake is no refugee, but I love his eagerness to stump for our city at almost every chance he gets. We are a city that accepts everyone and our backbone is going to be tested more and more over the next few years. 

I only have small quibble with the Toronto Tourism’s piece – proclaiming Toronto as “Canada’s Downtown.” Guess the tourism marketers decided we don’t need any visitors from the rest of Canada. Perhaps they haven’t travelled across this great land and realized the dislike our fellow citizens have for our arrogance. In fact, I thought by loaning the Raps and Jays to the rest of the country that we were building new bridges (I’m only half joking).

Toronto is no more Canada’s downtown than Bay Street is my bank or Ossington is my rec room or Leslieville is my garden. Toronto, like Vancouver, Halifax, Chicoutimi, Lethbridge and Brandon, is a window into Canada. What you see through that window is a lot different than what you would see through the Fort McMurray or Port Hawkesbury window, but we aren’t anybody’s downtown. 

But that’s just my point of view. The View from/of Toronto is a pretty good one. So, let’s share it and not flaunt it!

Can you “Guess Who” will be appearing at CSFX 2017?

It’s true, the thirteenth edition of the Canadian Sponsorship Forum will be featuring some amazing JUNOS weekend talent. No it won’t be the eponymous Winnipeg rockers. I just borrowed their name to create a catchy headline, or what I thought was a catchy headline.

But I can promise you some surprise artists will be making an appearance sometime during the weekend. I can’t tell you when. I certainly can’t tell you who. That would be ruining the fun. In fact, I have already said too much. I will leave it to you to be ready to share live with your social networks, so make sure your smartphone is always charged. As for whether you will be able to get a selfie, a group photo, or an autograph… my advice is simple. Sit in the front row of every session. Dress to impress. Gasp out loud every time a curtain opens behind a speaker. Mare sure you have engaged a teammate with sharp elbows to ward off other delegates trying to hone in on your moment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s half the fun of an event like the JUNOS. You don’t know who you are going to run into over the weekend, whether it be in the hotel or on the street. Just take a look at this year’s nominee list! We have The Weeknd, Celine Dion, Drake, Sam Roberts Band, Tegan and Sara, Coleman Hell, The Tragically Hip, Billy Talent, Hedley, Leonard Cohen, and Arkells just to name a few! How much fun would it be to see one of them? Once again, I encourage you to be at your ready. Start a couple of weeks out by practicing your moves. For example, don’t suffer from open mouth gaping syndrome when you first catch their eye. Your uvula is not attractive to anyone, especially perfect strangers. Secondly, don’t stammer that your their greatest fan and then get the name of their last single incorrect. Third, don’t start talking about your Kiwanis music festival ribbons unless you enjoy shouting to the back of a departing skull.

Here is who I can tell you that we are going to see: Shawn Mendes, The Strumbellas, Ruth B, Alessia Cara and A Tribe Called Red.

Taking nothing away from the spectacular award show itself, but my favourite event is the Songwriters Circle in support of MusicCounts. The 2017 version of this event is hosted by music legend Bruce Cockburn and features some of Canada’s most talented songwriters, including this year’s JUNO nominees, performing their songs and sharing the stories behind them.

Guess who else you are going to see at CSFX 2017? Well I can tell you we have delegates from RBC, BMO, TD, Visa, Scotiabank, Telus, Bell, NHL, Canadian Red Cross, Allstate Insurance, Freedom 55 Financial, Unicef Canada, Habitat for Humanity Canada, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Diamond Integrated Marketing, NFL Canada, NBA Canada, Lumency and more! Now I am not sure if this is needed, but I am happy to share my Top 10 Networking Tips with you perhaps in a future blog, but #7 is most definitely to keep your PowerPoint in your pants. Seriously, nobody comes to a conference to get pitched. Friends first, sponsorship partners second.

Our JUNOS weekend won’t be complete without some Ottawa venue carousing at JUNOfest. Friday night we encourage you to hit the town with your wristband (part of your delegate kit) and check out some of the 100+ artists playing on stages throughout Ottawa. The festival will feature live performances by regional and national artists representing the many genres that make up Canadian music, including local artists representing Ottawa’s diverse and vibrant music scene and 2017 JUNO Award nominees.

You don’t need to guess at who our great speakers are. But in case you’ve missed it, we have Google’s very own Mike Armstrong and Cristie Schultz talking how Google can help you amplify your efforts in a mobile-first World. We have the founder and CEO of Spartan Race, the world’s leading obstacle racing company, Joe De Sena. We have digital media industry veteran of nearly 20 years, Marc Dinsdale, from Facebook and Instagram. We have Marketing Mag’s 30 under 30 winner, Rebecca Basi, from Plastic Mobile. We have Dana Brochu chatting how Sleeman Breweries launched a new product with a younger demographic. We have Allan Reid, President & CEO of CARAS, The JUNO Awards and MusiCounts, giving a backstage glimpse of the JUNOS and Canadian music. We have Smoke’s Poutinerie‘s Ryan Smolkin discussing brand building through entertainment and world domination through poutine. That’s just a small taste of CSFX17’s exciting speaker roster. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would encourage you to, once again, sit in the front. I would also encourage you to keep that charged phone in your pocket. Trust me, the world can wait forty-five minutes. You are much better off inhaling everything the speaker has to offer, especially if you want to hit them up later for coffee. Nobody wants to have coffee with the crown of your head.

I am sure you can guess by now that I will be at CSFX 2017, as your host and conference guru. But if you have any questions for me sooner, feel free to reach out!

 

Ladies and gentlemen it’s official, I am writing a book.

I talked about it for years and was asked about it a great many times. A lot of my friends and several of my blog readers – which would mean all of them – have suggested that perhaps I should put something together that is a little bit longer than a weekly rant. They have also suggested, and not unfairly, that I use appropriate grammar, structure, punctuation and language style. So, I went out and bought a classic style guide, completely rearranged my work schedule, put on my thinking hat and dove right in.

I’m sure you have many questions. Questions that most likely fall under the following three inquiries. Number one, what am I writing about? Number two, who agreed to publish this thing? Number three, who is going to read it?

Number One

I am going to write about what sponsors want. Why? Well first off, every piece of unsolicited advice I’ve received in my life has been consistent with “you should do something you know or you should do something you’re passionate about.”  So, that’s exactly what I’m doing and it’s pretty exciting. Literally what I’m attempting to do is take a presentation that I have given at least 50 times, which focuses around my ranting against gold, silver and bronze sponsorship packages, and turn it into a book. If you have ever seen my presentation before, you know that I focus on sponsors wanting to borrow equity, tell stories, engage stakeholders, see proof and get promoted. So naturally, this is precisely what my book is about.

Number Two

Ohio University Press agreed to publish my book. They even sent me a fancy contract, which I’ve signed, and now I have an incredibly demanding set of deliverables because I set a ridiculous timeline to deliver this book by April 30th. In addition, we still have the many projects going on at T1. I am, however, honoured and candidly intimidated that the Ohio University press will be including my book in a new sports marketing series they’ve been creating, publishing and promoting over the last year. They have asked me to tackle the sponsorship topic for my book and they have several more in the hopper as well. If you’re wondering if this has anything to do with my recent trip to Athens, Ohio where I talked happily in this blog space about working with some fantastic combined MBA/MSA students, then you are correct. If you’re thinking that Ohio University also sounds like the same place where my good friend Dr. Norm O’Reilly is the Richard P. & Joan S. Fox Professor of Business, you’re right again. I’ll fill in the blanks for you if you’re thinking this publishing gig is a result of me using my connections, it is. I mean, what good in life are connections if we can’t use them.

Number Three

Now on to chapter three. I didn’t mean chapter three but I guess I’m thinking about the book. Question three, who will read it? The cool thing about this project is that while I have a university as my publisher, it’s not a textbook. It’s a book that we would like to see in classrooms in sports marketing courses on sponsorship. It’s a book that we would like to see in many countries, in fact the book is going to be promoted in over 50 countries through their network. It’s a book we would like to see as required reading. But most importantly, it’s book we would like to see people who work in sponsorship in the street reading, whether that be an academic professional or on a voluntary basis.

I hope all of you read the book as well because if one thing is for certain you are all contributors. The book is not a textbook and was not meant to be an academic study. It was really to question my thoughts on sponsorship, on the opportunities that exist today, on the application to use it tomorrow and what makes for great sponsorship or for poor. Really what this book is going to be is a catalogue for my lifelong industry observations. I have had the amazing fortune to work on some great sponsorships but candidly I have had the opportunity to watch and observe even more great work than I’ve had my hands on. I’m combining my life of observing, my relentless reading, insane amount of conference going and unapologetic event snooping to pepper my thoughts into one little book. So, in effect everybody in my universe is a contributor.

On top of that, I should reach out to some of you for discussions, to gain your input, to question case studies and to fax quotes for the book (that is been an interesting exercise). I’ve reached out to people as far away as Austria, Germany, The United Kingdom, Spain, The United States of Trump and, of course, some Canadian experts as well. Modestly I must say that everybody is very excited for me and so far have agreed to contribute as best they can. If you have any thoughts or a case study or a person I should interview or an idea for my book, send it my way. 

As the publisher said to me, nobody is getting rich off this. My motivation is to provide a resource to help sponsorship marketers around the world. My motivation is to create a vehicle for conversation about different points of view on sponsorship. My motivation is to shape and share what I have learned so others benefit. If you want to be a part of that, hurrah! But hurry, I have committed to a crazy deadline of April 30th for my first draft. Yikes. That’s 80,000 words away. The good news is I have cranked out about 43,000 words already, digitally at least. Though I suspect 42,000 of them will be deleted. If you want to read some, I can send the completely unedited version to you because I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts.

How have I been able to get so much done in January? Well my team here at T1 has been incredibly supportive. I was really quite surprised how agreeable everybody was when I said “Hey I’m not going to come in most mornings. Hey I’m going to decrease the number of meetings I attend. Hey I’m not going to work on so many projects. Hey I need to move your weekly one-on-one to the afternoon.” I don’t know, maybe I was naïve expecting more protests. Maybe my ego hoped for some tears and whimpering sad faces. I guess my team is just so supportive of me that they don’t have a problem with me not being around. I guess the team really wants T1 to have a worldwide publication and they’re willing to sacrifice having me in their meetings giving them the death stare. Somehow, someway my team has figured out that they need to let Mark go be in a dark corner to scribble down all his problems, memorize his memoirs and put them into a book.

Of course, I must thank my darling wife Karen, my lovely and handsome sons, my sweet little animals Prince my CavaPoo and Apollo the crazy cat. I also must make sure that I think of my staff who sacrificed so much. But it all seriousness to everyone who reads this blog, a big big big big thanks as many of you have said to me, “Hey you know what you’re an OK writer, maybe you should write a book.”

So finally, I am listening and cranking out pages, because that’s what you want and this book is about What Sponsors Want.

Kudos to Class of ’97 grad Brendan Fyfe and his volunteer band of Sport & Event Marketing alumni for building the George Brown College 5 to Watch program into a premier Canadian sports marketing property.

Since its inception, the program has awarded 25 5 to Watch winners from 186 nominations and raised over $200k for student bursaries at George Brown. One of those award winners being T1’s very own Norm O’Reilly who was honoured in 2013.

Other notable winners include TSN’s Matt Silver, Under Armour’s Matt Shearer, Scotiabank’s Jacquie Ryan, NHL’s Sophie Kotsopoulos and Canadian Olympic Committee’s Andrew Baker.

There are three things I admire about the program:

1. It’s a “Hall of Fame” for people in their prime. Just look at the past winners. They aren’t retiring. They aren’t selling their agencies. They aren’t getting ready to write their memoirs (not one of these comments apply to me FYI.) They are the hottest and smartest players in our industry today and will be for some time.

2. Talent attracts talent. By honouring and promoting the best, the younger people in our industry are provided with role models and templates to mirror. Hopefully this property helps retain some of our best young minds who may be getting lured to stray.

3. Given it sold out last year this may cause more harm than good, but the 5 to Watch Award Ceremony is one of best networking events of the year (you know I’m going to list my events at the top….ha!).  But seriously, get a half dozen tickets early, early, early for your team and block off your afternoon to make yourself handsome. Okay that’s my strategy. You probably don’t need the extra prep time. In any event, if you haven’t been to the beautiful George Brown Waterfront campus, here is your chance.

Like anything in life there is, however, room for improvement:

1. To date, only 1/4 of the nominees and 1/4 of the winners have been women. While I have no data, I am positive this industry is a lot more gender balanced than that. I am shocked that any sort of bias exists, but there must be a fundamental reason for this inequality. That problem can be solved by YOU!

2. Another issue that the organizers have stressed is ensuring national representation of nominees. While there is an industry concentration in Toronto, there is a massive sports marketing community in the Province of Quebec, as well as provincial sports bodies, university athletic departments, community sports leaders and junior hockey teams from coast to coast.  If ever there was a year to ensure more nominees came from across our great land, 2017 is it!

3. Not enough people outside the industry know about them. We can be the world’s biggest clique in this business and sometimes that’s a great thing, but other times it’s a liability. Awards like the 5 to Watch need to have a larger profile across the Canadian marketplace. Not only will it be great for the winners, it will have tremendous benefit for the professionalism of Sports Marketing.

One quick note: The organizers are looking for new blood to drive it forward. The core group of volunteers have done five years of heavy lifting and it’s time for some fresh input  I don’t know if they are accepting non-GBC alumni, but to me this seems like a prime volunteering role if you’re looking to “network before you need to.” This would certainly be an effective platform!

Nominations are now open. It’s a great opportunity to honour the next generation in your organization, even though you will probably have a challenge narrowing it down to five from your own talent pool. As well, it’s a great opportunity to build profile for your property, organization, company or agency. Place a special emphasis on finding nominees who don’t look like the past winners.

Nominate. Celebrate. Motivate.

We are exactly two months away from the 2017 edition of the Canadian Sponsorship Forum, CSFX17 for short, to be held in Ottawa in conjunction with the JUNOS. I should clarify that the two months applies if you read this on the day I wrote this, which is/was January 31, 2017. If you read it later in the week, or month, I will leave the countdown arithmetic to you. Sound good?

Since I am such a creature of habit, it’s usually around this time out from the event that I write something disguised as a blog, but closer to a pitch, in an effort to rally your support and attendance at our conference . Sometimes I attempt to be funny by providing you a top 10 list of not so secret tips on how to navigate our Xperience. Other times I pursue an inspirational tone by talking about the value of networking and learning for your career. Often nostalgia dominates my tone as I reflect back (is there any other type of reflection by the way?) on my motivation for starting this conference in the first place, but I am sure everyone has heard that story one or three too many times.

Consider this edition a simplistic and straightforward informational notice. Why so plain you ask? Well our online sleuthing tells us that a lot more of you read my blog than ever open up our propaganda email. Of course if I make this blog too much propaganda, you will portably tune me out forever. However, I am going to take my chances that I can entertain you while I’m blatantly selling you.

The questions is, are you up to the challenge? If so, let me know. Feel free to tell me if I was boring, neither good nor bad, or if I was actually somewhat entertaining. You can tell me in the comments section, reach out to me directly, use your loudest social media vehicle or tell me in person in Ottawa on March 31st! See, I already have you thinking about it. So when I see you in two months, what else will we talk about?

We will talk about how the Songwriters Circle was your favourite event of the weekend.

We will talk about how amazing it was that we had both Facebook and Google presenting this year.

We will talk about how hearing Don Amero talk about music as medicine got you thinking.

We will talk about how many new industry friends you have made.

We will talk about how the Forum seems like the best class reunion you’ve ever had.

We will talk about how amazing the production of the JUNOS were compared to the last time you saw them live.

We will talk about how the Forum should partner with a music property every year.

We will talk about how men have been excluded, again, from our Women’s Only leadership panel.

We will talk about how the influx of tech speakers invented wonders you never thought possible.

We will talk about how the removal of morning runs from the agenda made you feel less guilty.

We will talk about how the IMI Happy Hour is the best networking event of the year.

We will talk about how the Taylor Swift tour case study blew you away.

We will talk about how you have finally figured out the hook to sell that title sponsorship.

We will talk about how there was no way you could have imagined yourself lip syncing.

We will talk about how the injection of younger speakers really spiced things up.

We will talk about how excited you are about our 2018 host partner.

We will talk about how surprised you were that our 2018 host partner wasn’t at the Forum, the first time this has ever happened.

We will talk about how your daughter couldn’t believe you were going to a conference to talk about Hatchimals!

We will talk about how the founder of Spartan Race made you feel like a slob during his keynote

We will talk about how come I don’t need as much sleep as you.

We will talk about how much you loved Sarah McLaughlin when you were in university.

We will talk about how great it is to be Canadian and in Ottawa during our 150th!

We will talk about how great the T1 team is.

We will talk about how many people are here as we are steaming towards record attendance.

 

All isn’t so bad in America after all.

At least not in Athens, Ohio, where I spent three inspiring days teaching in the MBA/MSA (Sport administration) program at Ohio University. Ohio is the number one graduate sport business program, according to the rankings. A title they proudly claimed in 2012, 2013, and 2015.

But first a word about Athens. It’s one of those small towns that could lure me out of living in a big place like T.O. Its population is approximately 24,000, which makes the fact that it is home to a 24,000 person university all the more intriguing. The downtown core of the community and the university are one. The school was opened in 1804, set high on a hill painted with gorgeous views of rolling terrain. Apparently designed by the same architect who created Harvard, the whole place has a calming buzz.

Athens is also friendly beyond belief. I walked everywhere, and with everywhere I walked people stopped to say “hello” to me. I don’t really know why, but it certainly was nice. If I walk down Yonge Street in Toronto, nobody says hello. Did I look like a professor? An aged foreign exchange student? The father of a new sports recruit? An out-of-work Obama looking for a part-time gig? I don’t know the answer to the question, although I answered every hello with an equally chipper hello back. Then I would slowly turn my head as they went by to make sure they weren’t secretly posting me on Facebook Live Antonio Brown style, nor laughing hysterically at the toilet paper strung out of my backside from my morning ritual. Nope. Nope. Nope. They were being nice.

I guess Athens hasn’t received the memo from the PE yet. Nice isn’t America’s way anymore.

As nice as the people of Athens were, the 28 students in my workshop were amazing. In fact, amazing isn’t a powerful enough word. I just don’t have a stronger one. Let me work on that.

The group were the second year MBA/MSA students, carefully selected from across the country. Each of them were passionate, driven, ambitious and delightfully unique. They told me their stories. Shared with me their dreams. Admitted their weaknesses. Talked about their futures. 

The purpose of my visit was to run a one credit workshop around one of my favourite topics – entrepreneurship in sport. I used to teach it as a semester long course in Laurentian’s SPAD program but changed it up dramatically for this workshop. Time was a clear driver of this change. Taking a sixteen week course down to a couple of days required a reboot to the approach.

The reboot resulted in the design of a workshop that focused on my personal beliefs as the most critical factor in the success of any enterprise. The entrepreneur themselves. As well, that reboot also resulted in a slight adjustment in focus. My objective wasn’t for everyone in the room to run out the door and magically become entrepreneurs. My focus was for the participants to become more entrepreneurial in spirit. Obviously biased but I feel entrepreneurial people are the key to success in any enterprise, regardless of size, mission, structure, or purpose.

I write pieces of this on a wet winter January morning, minutes after meeting an aspiring film maker who has invested thee years and all of his savings of his life into creating a documentary. That’s an entrepreneur. This afternoon I will huddle with the CEO of one of our largest NFP clients, who has rebuilt his organization despite encountering massive funding cuts literally the week he assumed his new title. That’s an entrepreneurial leader. 

There are thee parts to this discussion for any person wanting to understand their inner entrepreneur. 

1. Can you sell yourself to yourself? There are going to be dark moments and ugly hurdles. Do you have the passion, focus, and courage to succeed?

2. Can you sell yourself to others? You can’t do it alone. Who will come to your side for this voyage? Who will pick up arms for this battle? Who will leap off that cliff holding your hand?

3. Can you sell yourself to customers? You are the brand. You are the business. But a business isn’t a business until you make a sale. A sale isn’t made until you get paid. 

These questions made for an engaging discussion with this group of Bobcats. Taking stock of yourself isn’t easy, but it’s a process that can benefit anyone. However taking stock of yourself and sharing it with some strange Canadian is an even more challenging task. These OU kids, however, were more than my match. 

I came home from this trip and blurted out to anyone that there is some incredible talent for hire in this class. There is one young lady I want to sign up tomorrow. Even if it means she would become our entire Athens office. She’s a rockstar. Additionally it would be really nice to work somewhere where total strangers said Good Morning. Something to consider. 

Happy New Year!

At some point this month that greeting won’t be appropriate, but I feel it’s still okay this early in 2017. Before you know it the holidays will be forgotten, your bills will need to be paid and your resolutions will be tested.

Speaking of resolutions, did you make some? Is that a tradition you honour or despise? Is it a source of pride or failure? Do you share yours publicly or keep them private? If you do share, who do you share them with?

Some years I make them and others I don’t. If I were to provide you with a firm declaration, one way or the other, you could rightfully accuse me of being untrue. Not that I wouldn’t be telling the truth, there just isn’t a truth to tell.

But I certainly will not, could not, mislead you to believe that I don’t do a ton of thinking about the future when it comes to the new year. I think it’s a combination of time on my hands and the celebration of holiday milestones, magnified by the interaction with friends and family. The media also plays a big role. Year in Review articles. Best of lists. Top ten tributes. Lives lived memories. Forecasts. Predictions. Speculations.

You would be a fool or a lover of Russian government not to look back at 2016 and suggest that was a normal year, it wasn’t. In terms of global turbulence, I think it was a ride unseen since 2008. The world would have to end very early in January of 2017, which very well may happen, for history not to look back at MMXVI and not say that was the year the world turned in a different direction. If you felt unsteady on your feet, queasy in your belly and light in the head, I don’t blame you.

Depending on who you read, who you ask or who tweeted you last, the year 2017 is going to be the worst ever, the most dangerous ever, the most violent ever or the most reviving ever. But let’s face it, history, especially recent history, has proven to us that the forecasters, pollsters, economists, experts, political commentators and trend-spotters are so dramatically off the mark that they should all be sent back to whatever schools educated them for a nice giant refund, ’cause what they learned ain’t working.

I have no predictions for 2017. If I did have a brain big enough to make them, I am not sure I would have the confidence to shout them aloud. Especially when people are so quick to criticize these days, like I just did. But I do feel good about my upcoming year. I bet you do too.

Why is that? I think there is an interesting question to chew on here. Why does the concept of a new year so motivate us? Why does it empower us to believe we are supercharged? How come when the clock strikes midnight from 12/31 to 01/01 do we suddenly down a bottle of superpowers?

How come we don’t feel the same way at the beginning of a new quarter? Or a month? Or a week? Or even a new day? How about a new hour? If one tick of the clock can be enough to change our entire lives forever when the rollover of a calendar year is involved, how come the same can’t be said for a few seconds during any day that ends in a “Y”?

This new year stuff is powerful. It has its own industries. It has its own events. It has its own commentators. It has billions of loyal followers. It has one powerful brand.

Hopefully I don’t sound jealous, nor skeptical. It is not frustration or lack of motivation. It’s a healthy desire to bottle this power that I feel today and export it to March, tap into it in May, chug it in September and shower in it in November. It’s a clarity of vision and focus that seems to be missing at other items of the year. It’s a spring in my step that sometimes loses its bounce. It’s a perception that all my glasses are fuller by more than half, before the leaks spring wildly.

If I could figure this out, then perhaps I would have no shyness in sharing my resolutions. If I could find the map, then I would tell all of you where I am going. If I knew I wouldn’t fail, then perhaps I would be more resolved.

Do me a favour? Poke me in three weeks, three months, three hundred days from now. Remind me to reread these words. To roll them around in my mouth for a while. To lip them in front of a mirror. To sing them in a shower. To chant them in my head on a morning run. I think they would have a powerful impact on helping the new year me, be me.

As the year winds down we often retreat into reflective mode where we consider the success or perceived failures of our year. It’s almost impossible not to look back and provide a scorecard for yourself.

Did you get that new job? Buy that new house? Lose that old weight? Run that new goal? One of my personal productivity habits is to record three things every day that have gone well. Three. Every day. I would say I have probably missed no more than ten days of acting on this habit in 2016. It’s a powerfully simple tool to stay positive and focused on what you are trying to achieve day in and day out.

What would you write down if I asked you to list three things that went well for you in 2016? What would you write if I narrowed the ask down to three things that went well at work in 2016, would that help? If I narrowed the ask even further by asking you what three work things you are most proud of from 2016, would that be even more helpful? What if I tweaked the question? What if I asked you what three things did you achieve in 2016, at work, that Matter The Most? Would that be even better?

Or would it be harder? Do you need me to define the terms? Are you skeptical of the question? Do you not believe what you do matters? If so, I am here to remind you how much it does. It’s not a message I imagined ever needing to share, but a recent conversation I had hit a nerve with me.

I was talking with an acquaintance whose child is in the business. The child is employed on client-side for a big company that does big sponsorships and big properties. The reply that dad provided to my inquiry as to how the offspring was doing startled me. “Child is doing well,” he said. “But I remind Child often they aren’t critical to the company’s business and that puts Child in a dangerous spot if there were ever layoffs.” Oh man. Do you really think that our business is not important? The very sector your own child is working in?

My immediate reply was emotional. I pounced on the fact that Child was working for a well-respected brand on great properties, with a talented team well admired in the industry. IMHO, Child would be a sought-after asset in our industry if for some reason the powers that be deemed them non-essential to the organization’s success.

My follow up reply was personal. I let Dad know that beyond the lack of appreciation for the skills and experience that Child is acquiring, there he was propagating a bigger falsehood. That what we do doesn’t matter. That a job in the Sponsorship Department is not as vital as the engineers, chemists, salespeople, bankers, traders, researchers, managers, financiers, marketers, promoters, counters, analysts, etc. who populate the many other departments of the organization. Forgive me for my bias, but what we do matters.

It matters to the companies that employ us and it matters to the stakeholders that engage with us. It matters a lot. Because in our world we have one of the few professions in the world where you can sell snow tires and raise money for kids to play sports at the same time. We can open new chequing accounts and put musical instruments in schools. We can sell beer and fund the career of a new fashion designer. We can raise money to cure disease. We can feed the hungry. We can build and uplift a community. We can fund animal protection. We can build new pools. We can clean up waterfronts. We can help a team compete. We can create international champions and champion local heroes.

What we do matters. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. In fact, I would suggest that what we do can matter more on a value basis than many other functions in a company.

Sorry to pick on you, Dad. I know you are Old (actually he’s younger than me chronologically), but I didn’t know you were Old School.

Now it’s time to reflect a little more. I am sure you can now easily share the Three Things You Did This Year That Really Mattered.