There's No Overnight Success in a Good PR Program

We all love a good Cinderella story and in a YouTube world, it seems like there's an overnight success every episode of Ellen or issue of TechCrunch. But for tech start-ups immediate fame and recognition is rare - it can even be detrimental if your business isn't ready for the benefits PR can bring and worse if you aren't prepared for the work it takes to be successful. 

In the early days, you've barely formed your company. Your product is one step out of the gate. Your customers - if you have them - are just starting to kick the tires. You're iterating daily. Your team is working at break-neck speed. You need to grow your pipeline. And you think that one article, just one, in the right publication - the New York Times perhaps - could satisfy your investors, drive inbound sales, and accelerate your business. 

And yes, a good public relations program can do all of these things. But not overnight. I've known start-ups who have accelerated their business plans by years with strategic communications programs that helped them generate awareness, educate customers on their offering, create buy-in and advocacy with influencers, and develop positive relationships with industry. 

But if a single article in the New York Times is your goal, you're likely to be disappointed. If this is your goal you're short-changing your business and being very short-sighted. You're going to miss out on the benefits of creating a dynamic, interesting thought leadership program. You're going to miss out on building a foundation that can support your business long-term. You're going to miss out on iterating your product based on market feedback. You will blow through contacts instead of building relationships. And you're likely going to put a lot of pressure on your business and leave yourself without the elasticity and budget to grow, evolve your product, respond to the market, and maintain your operations and customer service. 

Sadly, I've watched companies do this time and time again because they begin their journey with the goal of that one holy-grail article and aren't prepared to do the work necessary to create a great program. Rather hoping for overnight success, think of your PR program as a journey, one that if you map it out well, will get you to your goals. 

Stay tuned for a checklist to help you prepare for a sustainable, ongoing PR program. 

Get Smarter for Just $2.50

There are two schools of thought as you develop as a professional: play into your strengths, or round out your experience.

The two approaches can lead to very different career paths. Two very different kinds of people. Do you help someone pursue the thing they're good at? Lean into their predisposition? 

Or, do you identify areas of improvement? Help them become a generalist? Encourage knowledge across a broad segment of the business functions? Encourage them to be able to accommodate a wide variety of tasks, people, and timelines...

This is a valid discussion for any employee or manager to have when thinking about their development path and how they will achieve their goals. And while this post could now launch into my feelings about 360 reviews, HR, and employee performance plans .... the topic got me to thinking ...

We read our media with the same two paths to choose from every day. 

I have long voiced my love of a printed newspaper - where you can walk up and down each column on each page and - even if only skimming - capture news that you might otherwise not be predisposed to read. I have no natural inclination to read about the stock market or the latest bills that have been passed. But, with a printed copy of the Globe and Mail I'll discover what Trudeau is up to, or what kind of investment is happening in our start-up community.

If however I head to my Facebook feed, or even theGlobeandMail.com ... I am going to enter the machine that sends me only what I'm interested in. A self-indulgent rabbit hole that will inevitably end up on a cute cat/puppy/otter video, and new workout plan, and articles on how to get more sleep.

via GIPHY

This part of our human nature - our self-indulgence in what we consume - is singlehandedly shaping our media. And we've all been complicit. It started with our entertainment being what was free and accessible. Perez Hilton, Lainey Gossip were readily available while the our world events were hidden behind subscriptions.

No surprise, that quickly led to media outlets struggling to attract the users they needed to convince advertisers, to convince those subscribers, and the wheel of death has led to the downsizing, closing, and merging of media institutions. 

At the same time in that struggle to stay alive and relevant, some traditional outlets tried to pursue the infotainment game. Whether it was opening up comments and encouraging dialogue with readers, posting click-bait headlines, or even syndicating content from around the world with zero local relevance .... it often became drivel. And what were they trying to accomplish? Was it this hope that instead of letting you bath in your own interests, the media might actually have a valid role in getting you educated by just one article that didn't involve a puppy?

Sidebar: This Global News post about Ozzy Osbourne donated money to a kid in Kentucky might be the worst offense. 

So now, when I hear that BuzzFeed - an outstanding outlet for self-indulgent media - is redefining how they measure content and make decisions about what to produce, it's no surprise to hear, "the company is thinking about other metrics that come closer to measuring what media companies and advertisers call "engagement" which theoretically matches up with actual interest on the part of an audience." 

It's this last part that scares me. It scares me because self-indulgence is not just happening at an individual level. It's happening en-masse with millions of people every day. At a time when 12-million Canadians and 32-million Americans are barely literate, the issue is compounded. If people barely want to read the stuff they're interested in, how can you possibly educate them about things that matter?

We know that social media has already in just a short few years changed our thought patterns, short-term memory, and ability to communicate. And while Barack Obama used social media to win an election and educate the world about his platform, social media is now helping Trump gain ground based on his entertaining idiocy. 

At what point do we as adults, productive members of society, active participants in our community take individual responsibility to get educated? To protect the institutions (old and new) that help us to explore more than "Which Kardashian Are You" quizzes? 

Maybe you're only aware of how your content is served up to you if you work in PR or media. But if you've made it to the bottom of my rant, then I hope you'll pick up a printed copy of your newspaper and think of it as a journey into your own personal development. 

2015. What a Struggly Year.

It has largely been a shitty year. Not just for me. For some reason 2015 seemed really hard for a lot of people. There's a general consensus among my friends, that they too had a tough time. It was struggly. And whether we were just "due" or a planet/star/force field got way too close to us for too long and made our brains all squirrely, I'm sure glad it's over.

The plus side to 2015 being generally obtuse, is that everyone seems to have a brighter than normal hope for the year to come. 2016 has to be great - or at least better than 2015 - and that in itself feels amazing! It's like we've just become brave enough to poke our heads out from the dark holes we've been hiding in for the last few months - afraid to make a move for a new level of karmic punishment - and optimistically look around. We're recognizing how tough this year has been for our friends, family and community. We see their fear, stress and hardship and recognize it as our own.

In all the struggly though, I learned a few things this year that I'll carry with me into the next.

1. Stop dismissing your feelings. 
A friend of mine had a particularly bad day. Her feels were all over the place. She was stressed and overwhelmed. But in the middle of explaining her feelings, she said but then I saw someone who was having a worse day and it put it all in perspective. She forced herself to perk up on the spot. She grinned with clenched teeth.

Ok. Seriously. Can we stop this? There is always going to be someone having a worse day, a better day. There will always be someone doing more than you, succeeding faster than you, being skinnier than you, having a harder time than you .... We need to stop dismissing everything in our lives and downplaying everything. Not recognizing our feelings no matter how they rate on the global impact scale leads us to dismiss ourselves and how we respond and grow to things. It breeds beige into our lives, our stories. It stops us from feeling, expressing and creating intimacy with our friends and family.

2. It's ok to say, I'm done. 
Ok, nothing new here. Everyone parenting blog has an article about putting yourself first so that you can take care of other people. But what I've learned this year is that you don't have to pretend to have more to give when you don't. It's ok to say, I need a break, I need something for myself, I need time, I need space. It's ok to reset boundaries with friends, family and colleagues. For me, I need to recognize this point before it goes beyond breaking ... to see it coming and plan for the R&R I need before I become a total basket case.

3. Sometimes when you have nothing left to give, that's exactly when you should focus on someone else. 
Earlier this year I was having a wee bit of a meltdown. It lasted 3 months. It was scary and was largely due to stress, recurring adrenal fatigue, lack of sleep and more stress. All of it self-induced. All of it mis-managed. I enlisted the help of several experts to help me get a plan together - my doctor, nutritionist, acupuncturist, personal trainer - they all worked together to help me get out of my own way. And with a plan in place we had our course of action.

The funny thing is though, at a time when I could barely get my bearings, it was the perfect time to help another friend who was also having a struggly year. Giving to her what I was struggling to give to myself - support, kindness, an ear, love - not only reminded me of what I needed to do for myself, but fed my soul and reminded me that underneath everything that I was going through I was still ... me. A generally good person, with a kind heart, who was just having a tough year. And that it was the former, not the latter that defined me as a person.

4. I have long been over FOMO, but it took me until this year to actually be ok with it. 
I have a theory that you only get so many years to party each decade of your life. And I used up all of mine for the last two decades in my early twenties! I am 100% happy at home with Netflix, a glass of wine, a good book and the ability to get up early on a Saturday so that I can read the paper, have a coffee and go to the gym without feeling the effects of a late night. FOMO has not impacted me since I was 27. At least, not enough to actually make me leave the couch.

But it wasn't until this year that I realized I needed to stop hiding behind excuses and just own up to the fact that, as one friend put it "you turn into a pumpkin at 11." It's true. And if everyone else already knew this, then why was I constantly trying to dream up reasons for not wanting to go bar hopping. Friends, please don't ever stop telling me your plans, one day I may say I'd like to join you. I will continue to ask you to join me at the gym, the opera, an art gallery, or to brunch. Because even though some of you hate "brunching" or prefer to lounge on a weekend morning, there's always a happy compromise of lunch and day-drinking where we can both happily coexist. What I do promise, is that I'll just own up to it instead of insulting you with weird excuses you can see coming a mile away. (ps. I love and thank you for putting up with that neuroses)

5. Letting go of dreams you don't want anymore can be harder than holding onto the ones you do.
Singer Bif Naked wrote a great piece for the Globe and Mail in which she described the benefits of unclenching - the jaw, the mind. I think about it often.

For me, unclenching has been a process of releasing the death-grip I've had on specific goals and expectations I've had for what my life should look like. Much of it defined in my teens and not really considered or revised over the last twenty years. This last year though hard, has forced me to open the fingers on that tight fist and let go of some things that I don't actually want in my life ... and be ok with it. A forced hand if you will, but one that let me create more space in my life for other things. New goals, new dreams. Fresh perspective.

----

So friends, this struggly year is over. I commend all of you if 2015 was a year of barely keeping your head above water. I applaud all of you for just putting your head down and getting through it.

And I thank all of you who put up with my own struggly-ness. Because I think I've grown because of it, and largely because of you. 2016 is going to be great! xo

The F Word

The F Word

It Suits Me

It Suits Me

I am Sitting in My Life

I am sitting in my life

23andMe In Canada, 8 Years Later There's Miles to Go

Years ago, eight actually, 23andMe was founded. I was an AC at High Road in Ottawa and was naive enough to think that we should pitch them for new biz. My fellow PR peeps will appreciate the zeal and stupidity that it took. Needless to say the conversation went nowhere. 

I have to admire the company for its early day strategy - they focused on getting the product right, understanding how consumers would use it and respond to it, and focusing on their mission and vision.

Tonight, I was so lucky to meet the team at 23andMe including founders Anne Wojcicki and Uta Francke as part of their (re)launch into Canada. 23andMe is a genetic database service. From the outset, they had a clear mission to help people understand their personal genome and help construct their ancestry. At the same time, making personal health information available by understanding predispositions based someone's chromosomal highway. 

In Canada, 20,000 people signed up. Eager to learn more about the helix they carried. But, they were unable to find out the health reports based on the information - they could only access the ancestral connections within the database. 

It seems crazy to think that just 8 years ago, the information highway related to healthcare was touchy. eHealth in Canada was.... well, viewed by many as an over-investment in taxpayer dollars for few results. Security for any sharing of health-related data was met with incredible skepticism. We didn't have a culture of "there's an app for that." The cloud didn't exist. And few believed that revolutionizing healthcare was possible. It's no wonder that 23andMe and other companies like it were told too much information wouldn't be good for consumers. 

That has all changed now. Today, 23andMe is making its 108 reports - including genetic risk factors - available to Canadians. The 20,000 who had already had their genetics mapped out will automatically get this new information .

In 8 years, 23andMe has inspired people to find out what their true heritage is, whether they are at risk for breast cancer or heart disease, to meet siblings they didn't grow up with, and to understand more about who they are. At the same time, there are a lot of questions. Information can be incredibly empowering, sometimes scary, and on occasion a burden. What I learned is that the people at 23andMe understand these implications. They aren't just geneticists, they are people who are trying to understand the response from people as they get access to this new information. They are sympathetic to each person's journey - those who pursue it and those who don't. 

It was an awe-striking evening for a former bio-nerd like me. There's power in the information that we haven't even begun to realize. But they have a vision. It's clear to them. It's inspiring. And I am really grateful to have heard first-hand about their journey and the passion that is leading them. 

Nothing in Life is Free

And when it comes to social media this is one gift horse you should definitely look in its mouth. 

Of course, I'm referencing Facebook and how it manipulated almost 700,000 users' feeds to see if the amount of positive or negative information presented influenced the sentiment in the posts of those users. Guess what. It did. Makes sense....when I worked as a standardized patient the first thing we were told was to go home and watch a comedy to help us break the mood of the pain/depression we were acting out during the day. 

The interest in this study however is less about the findings, and more about the ethics concerning how the research was conducted. What you need to know is that no individual user signed up for this study. Facebook didn't ask people to participate. Think about that. For a week, you may have been fed a disproportionate amount of positive or negative news from your friends, news sites, groups and companies you follow. What you once thought was a fair representation of what was going on in your circle of connections may have been skewed. On purpose. 

Now, Facebook cites within its ToS it can use the information it receives for internal operations including research and service improvement. This section found under policies is named "How we use the information we receive." Wait, WHAT? Based on the policy, information received by Facebook the company can do research. Ok. I buy that. Most companies collects information on its customers/users to help better serve them - whether that's through recommending a new product, developing a new feature, you get the idea.

But nowhere in the policy does it say that in order to receive the information to conduct the research, that the company has the ability to manipulate the fundamental nature of the service itself. Oh wait, I'm in PR. I can't possibly believe this to be true... 

Let's be real. Almost everything online is manipulated in some way. Companies run pricing tests to see which number will drive the most sales. A/B tests may look at how people respond to new imagery. Search engines if not driven by advertising, is driven by teams of marketing experts looking at SEO/SEM. So what's ethical, what's not, and where do we draw the line? Is that even possible? 

When chatting with friends this weekend about privacy and how data is used (not specifically about the Facebook study), I was shocked to find out that not a single person in the group really cared about how their data could be used. The resounding consensus was that it didn't impact their day-to-day so it didn't seem to warrant their attention. 

My question is this, if how information is collected isn't through the natural way you interact with the service, and is instead manipulated to the point of interrupting your behaviour and psychological response to the information presented, is it right? Are you comfortable with it? Should the potential cons outweigh the pros? 

One of the first things a good PR pro builds their career upon is that transparency is key. I'll be the first to admit that while I think the approach taken is unethical, I won't be cancelling my Facebook account. Knowledge is power after all, and because I'm in PR I'm generally quite aware of how my data is used, and what's happening behind the scenes. If nothing else, I hope people will at least give this pause for consideration in how they post, what sites they use, and understand that situations like this do and will continue to occur. It's important to understand that the information you read is being presented to you. It may even be manipulated. It may not be organic. 

I also hope that this study encourages companies to be explicit in their intent. That studies are conducted in a transparent way - with notifications to users. And that those in the legal profession take a hard look at this example to help build legislation around data usage to best protect the people using these services. 

What do you think about the study? Will this change how you view the sites you use? Will you be using them differently or cancel an account? 

Should We Go Back to Print?

The lights went out, but the Kobo Glo saved the day.  

This is likely the billionth time someone has written the words "the internet has changed -- everything." And it's true. Particularly for journalism and public relations. Social media is immediate and consumer-driven. From sharing a funny family photo, to complaining about bad customer service, to witticisms, and breaking news, it's all out there. All the time!

The lightning pace at which PR-pros work to create timely responses to almost everything is both exhausting and exhilarating. Take the time when the lights went out at the Super Bowl last year. Thank goodness Kobo's execs had the trusty Kobo Glo on hand - you couldn't plan for a golden moment to respond to such a situation.

Every PR person waits for these moments. The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics were no exception with every brand looking for ways to capitalize on the rich media landscape and the whole world watching.

For me, Jimmy Kimmel's wolf prank stands out as something we should really pay attention to. Not because it was funny, which it was. Not because it got the whole world talking, it did. And not because he pointed out that consumers shouldn't always believe what they hear - which we all know to be true. The prank - where Kimmel collaborated with Kate Hansen to create a video of a wolf in her dorms in Sochi (a real wolf, but a recreated dorm at Kimmel's studio) - pointed out something that many journalists and PR pros have been struggling with for a while now. The credibility of media. In a world where social media moves almost instantaneously, where your neighbour is a blogger discussing any topic they choose, the question of truth becomes much harder to answer.

If this prank pointed out anything, it's that trusted, reliable, accurate and vetted media is more important than ever before. There's value in investigative journalism, there's value in editors examining articles to ensure they're accurate, there's value in sources contributing to a thesis, and there's value in all of those people being experts in their field. I'm not saying social media doesn't have its place - it absolutely does - but when we think about where we get our information, now more than ever we need to have confidence in the profession of journalism. It's worth paying for. It's worth protecting. It's worth knowing what's true.

What are your thoughts on how to protect the virtues of journalism in the age of the internet?

Talking About the F-35 and Giving One Killer Interview

This week in Ottawa, the AIAC (Aerospace Industry Association of Canada) is holding a summit to discuss a number of issues and opportunities, not least of which is the pursuit of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter II program and the role that Canada plays. I won’t bore you with my enthusiasm for the program and the amazing work that companies like NGRAIN are doing with Lockheed Martin. No, this time, I thought I’d share a little something PR-related: giving a good interview.

NGRAIN CEO, Gabe Batstone, who I had the great pleasure and opportunity to work with, gave an interview on CTV Ottawa Power Play and frankly…it’s smooth… succinct and well delivered… and it is worth showcasing. Forbes has a great little summary about giving a good interview, and this one is a good example of these guidelines coming into practice.

The first thing you’ll notice (apart from the fact that Gabe has chosen a TV-appropriate wardrobe devoid of loud patterns and the colour green), is that Gabe is prepared. He knows the story. He’s ready with stats, and he has a clear position. He isn’t sensational, he addresses the questions, and he builds context around the story to champion NGRAIN’s role on the program as well as the opportunities for the Canadian aerospace industry.

He delivers messages for government, industry as well as the general public in a way that is educational, friendly and engaging. Oh, and did I mention the quotable quotes “I can deal with any decision but indecision,” “transparency isn’t possible without a timeline.”   

Gabe knew what he was doing when he woke up this morning! And it was a real pleasure to watch. 

Check it out here at CTV Ottawa Power Play. 

For more on the work NGRAIN is doing with the F-35, check out this case study and The Future of Maintenance Training magazine. 

F-35 Lightning II, Joint Strike Fighter Program

The value of third-party (Readers) testimonials

Apparently I just need to look for the intersection between space stuff and books to inspire a post! And unsurprisingly to anyone who knows me - yes, this is again about Commander Chris Hadfield.

I had the absolute joy of working with Chris again on a small project for Kobo. In August, we were heading to New York to share the news about how Kobo remained committed to focusing on the world's most passionate Reader to bring them the best experiences through our 4 new devices. Devices that are gateways to millions of titles, the best reading experience, and information to inspire the imagination....well, you get the picture. It was going to be BIG. It was going to be beautiful. There would be heaps of media there. The pressure was on.

The big question we had to answer was, "how could we help people understand how important reading really is?" Our love of reading is palpable at Kobo. We talk about it every day. Our love of getting other people to read makes us get up early and stay up late - focused on helping more people to read no matter where in the world they live. How could we convey our passion and inspire others to share it?

It would be one thing for us to say it. And believe me we do...a LOT. But we knew it would be far better coming from some of the amazing authors and influencers that we know who love to read.  The result? A series of videos that were graciously contributed by people like author Sylvia Day, Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi, Nate Weiner the CEO from Pocket, and my person fan-fave - Chris Hadfield.

Needless to say the launch was a massive success. The testimonials gave me and others goosebumps and added the right balance of emotion connection to the written word with our announcement. It was a perfect blend and certainly inspirational.

In this video Chris talks about how he instilled a love of reading in his children and why reading is freedom. Check it out!

Great Canadian Contributions - Books, Space and Training!

OK, so it's been a LONG while since I've posted here. Not because I haven't been reading my MS&T and MedSiM magazines religiously, but because....well, life here at Kobo is NUTS... In all the best possible ways!  As I've fallen in love with everything this company does, it's been hard to find the time and head space to sit down and write about anything A&D. 

Funnily, there are two things that sparked my desire to post today and one is related to books  as well as my last post in January. Commander Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut extraordinaire, announced that he is going to publish a book - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. 

You can bet I'll be pre-ordering this when it becomes available. His experiences are something to be celebrated, and combined with his wit, personability.... well, number one fan...right here!

The second news to highlight is that my former employer NGRAIN has received $9.5-million from SADI to continue it's R&D efforts in 3D equipment maintenance training. At I/ITSEC last year, the company unveiled its augmented reality training solutions designed to improve training and performance when maintaining complex pieces of machinery. Check out the video:

From my perspective, it's nice to hear this good news coming out of Canada's aerospace and defence industry - innovation and thought leadership are two things that every company hopes to bring into storytelling. The challenge is that you actually have to DO something that's innovative and/or have a unique perspective to be able to bring it into your public relations efforts. NGRAIN and Commander Hadfield, have it in spades.

A Canadian Rockstar

It's no secret to anyone who knows me - I am a space nerd - the subject fascinates me and can be woven into more conversations than my work colleagues care to think about. Everyday discussions about the weather and music have led me to introduce people to NASA TV and chat about how satellites are put into different orbits. They've also led me to encourage people to follow Commander Chris Hadfield on Twitter.

As one of Canada's most prolific and personable astronauts - who can rock a moustache like Tom Selleck - I consider myself fortunate to have met and worked with Hadfield as a spokesperson for the Canadian Space Agency when I was working with Neptec. He is likely one of the best-trained spokespeople I have ever met with an uncanny ability to weave messaging into conversations peppered with soundbites for journalists. It's a true art, and he has mastered it!

Now, social media is elevating Hadfield's presence and this time, it's from the International Space Station. He's currently on a five month mission during which his team will perform scientific experiments like VASCULAR which researched the impact of weightlessness on the human body and the ageing effects on bones and blood vessels. He'll also be working with CANADARM2 - sweet!

But, if those amazing things don't turn your crank, tune into Hadfield on Twitter just to view his photos. There's nothing more amazing than looking out into space, only to realize that the most fascinating thing is our Earth.

CAE Mining, Simulation and a Catchy Tune

Check out this cool video from CAE showing its Terra Mining Simulation which uses CM Labs' Vortext solutions to simulate the earth and vehicle dynamics. Thanks to my friend @SLFeeding for sharing!

 

CAE Terra Mining Solution with CM Labs Vortex Software

Turkey & the F-35...a Christmas Delight

Christmas dinner at my house always entails a heated debate. Well, every dinner hosts a heated debate with my family actually, and Christmas was no different. Usually we discuss things going on with the healthcare system or the pros/cons of education in Canada and the UK. But, this year, the debate turned to the F-35 program. We’re an exciting family, aren’t we?!

Having been part of many discussions and presentations about the program with Industry Canada and select contractors involved in the development and sustainment of the aircraft, and coming from the point of view of a PR person, I was amazed to hear my family – normally more savvy to marketing spiel – spout off the program’s opposition so heavily covered by the media. Should I applaud such marketing efforts? They seem to have the two ministers who once supported the program with vigilance stopping in their tracks and turning the other way as if it was their decision the entire time to explore other options.

If the rising costs of the program are the ONLY reason to rescind our support of the program, then statements such as these from respected officials to the National Post must be false, “We point out that the costs of operating the CF-18s over their lifespan has also turned out to be roughly $1-billion a year, just what the F-35s will cost going forward. The F-35s cost a lot of money, yes, but not much more money than any other jet would require. And we’d get a lot of plane for the money — including advanced sensors and computers that are absolutely essential to patrolling our half of the continent. The F-35’s project cost can only be fairly measured against what any other comparable plane would cost….The cost of the F-35 fleet would constitute barely 5% of the total defence budget and 0.4 % of the total federal budget. We can afford that.”

Is it then also fair to assume that other expert opinions given during the development of the JSF program are also false? Is the Eurofighter without the F-35 reconnaissance and stealth capabilities now something we’d consider? Should we grab Boeing Super Hornets and pretend the price tag might be different? Never mind, let’s ignore the money already spent on this program to enter into a competition – which let’s face it was the Achilles of the F-35 from the beginning.  

I can’t pretend to know the answer here. I don’t fly jets and I’m not in the military. And should Lockheed answer why costs are rising and timelines are being delayed? Yes. But I don’t understand why the position has changed so drastically and why there has been no conclusive evidence to show that any other plane would cost us less, give us more capabilities to suit both domestic and foreign efforts, nor be delivered in a timeframe that would keep Canada’s Air Force strong.  

I'd be interested to know how this is going to impact the hundreds of Canadian companies that have already invested in the program.... let me know!

And the winners are....

Washington Technology posted an article listing the biggest defense contracts in 2013. The top ten contracts listed total more than 25-billion and go to companies like Honeywell, BAE Systems, General Dynamics and others to support key programs like the F-18 program, the Navy's Portable Radio Program, and others. What was interesting was that maintenance and training was listed as a major priority within at least two of the contracts and that others could surely leverage simulated training capabilities related to the modernization of equipment. Great news for our M&S friends.

The Overview Effect

Sometimes you just need to look at things from a different perspective.

Our family friend Guy Reid and his team recently put together this amazing film about the Overview Effect described by NASA astronauts. In this amazing piece of artistry, Guy and the Planetary Collective speak with astronauts who describe the change in the human philosophy of earth once we saw it from the view of space in the 1960's, as well as the perspective it gave us on the governance we owe the earth and our intrinsic connection of our own understanding.

If you have an interest in space, the earth, or the people who work for NASA, this is going to change your perspective on where you fit into the world when sitting on your couch.

Check out the film at: http://vimeo.com/55073825?action=share 

I/ITSEC 2012 and My (fave) Usual Suspects

I am officially out of the kool kids club for M&S these days, but it doesn't mean I'm not paying attention. Particularly this time of year. I've been watching what's been happening down in Orlando at I/ITSEC and it is seemingly a quieter show from a news perspective - though no less exciting on the show floor!

The I/ITSEC Show Daily is jammed with some amazing news - not least of which is NGRAIN's new Augmented Reality demo that blends the company's 3KO with mobile computing deliver a compelling and interactive maintenance training solution. As a former NGRAIN-er, this was really awesome to see.

TSJ, which is now incorporated into the Defense News site, reinforces that a continued theme at this year's show is declining budgets. LeAnn Ridgeway, vice president of Rockwell Collins simulation group, highlighted the attractiveness of COTS products when maximizing budgets but with the desire to move forward quickly.

At the same time, Nick Giannias, CTO at Presagis spoke about the business drivers that make COTS software attractive when reducing costs, and enhancing training for defense customers. CM Labs and Presagis continue work on ground vehicle simulations that are highly accurate - using COTS solutions to "create and deploy a high-fidelity, real-time simulation core" based on large quantities of data.

[CM Labs Excavator Sim]

[Ya, Ya, I get it. My friends do really cool stuff. And yes, I'm sitting here slightly jealous - ok, well a lot actually! But I'm also just so dang thrilled to see that innovation is really moving forward for these companies and that the "cool" factor is going WAY up!]

But with all this cool stuff, the show still seems kind of quiet. Twitter is barely moving at all with posts using #iitsec and #iitsec2012 crawling by hourly. Blogs like defpro.com unfortunately retired earlier this year, but others which have kept things going aren't making much noise from the show floor at all.

In a world where things should be integrated from a marketing, PR and social media perspective, I'm wondering how so much AMAZING stuff can be happening on the show floor and not making its way to the news pipeline and online quickly. [Maybe I'm just too much of a NERD? Or maybe it's time companies take charge and create their own forums for news?]

Either way - I'm following the news! And encourage everyone else to get more involved - reTweet, share, post, follow and engage! Get activated! There's so much cool stuff going on and it's up to everyone to get more people talking.

And if you only do one of those things today, "Like" the I/ITSEC Facebook page. If they get to 1000 by tomorrow, the NTSA will be donating $500 to Wounded Warriors.

I/ITSEC Kicks Off Tomorrow...But Will it be Quiet?

It's my favourite time of year, the time when all the best get together in Orlando for what has always been my favourite tradeshow. Wireless technologies, operating systems, optical networking, consumer electronics - these industries all have a plethora of events to build brand and connect with partners and customers, but there is none like I/ITSEC. Thousands of square feet covered by every kind of training system available to support the most advanced weapons, vehicles, aircraft, procedures, missions and people of today.

But for some reason, it seems like this year might be a little quiet. Little news has been pushed out in advance of the show. The regular crew of news has come from companies like DiSTI, BARCO, and GL Studio which leveraged releases to drive awareness for activities at their booths. But the list is short this year. I also haven't seen much in social either. Twitter's relatively quiet apart from "check out our booth" posts and LinkedIn is a ghost town.

Yet I know there's a lot going on with companies like CM Labs which has released Vortex 6.0, NGRAIN is making Producer freely available (big news for its users!), and MakeMedia continues to dominate with its use of Presagis tools to create construction simulation applications.

So, looks like attendees are going to have to do a little digging this year - venture a little further outside of their booths this year and pick up that trusted Show Daily from Darren Lake and his team. While unfortunately I'm not heading down this year, I hope that everyone has a wicked time. I can't wait for the photos, stories, and to see what news comes out of the show.

Obama focuses on air combat

And plans to reduce ground forces. I wonder if programs like the F-35 will be accelerated and how ground equipment will be used. Modernized amphibious tanks anyone? But seriously, Defense News gives the low-down on Obama's plan for DoD spending.



Networked Vehicles - A thing of the past?