This one day, interactive course will be on Saturday February 23, 2013 from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm.

Details of the cost and location are being finalized, however we can assure you that reference materials, lunch and a lot of knowledge will be included. Additionally, it will be in Calgary, Alberta.

Feel free to leave any questions below in the comments, and be sure to sign up below to get notification once course registration is available.

With the warm weather finally starting to show up in North America, comes a number of outdoor fund raising events. It seems as though every disease or cause has a walk or run of some sort – and that’s a good thing (you can say it in Martha Stewart’s voice if you’d like). In fact we’ve been getting a lot of inquiries lately for donations and sponsorship, which I’m happy to say we’re glad to support however we can. In fact we have a monthly budget for such items. Our trouble comes down to deciding which charity, people, cause, etc benefit from the donation.

That’s where you come in. We need your help. We’re offering up to $500* to the charity or cause of your choice and it’s simple to get your hands on. Simply nominate them by writing a blog post about your charity or cause, why it’s important to you and how you got involved with it. Place a link to this page and leave a link in the comments below so we can easily track you down to make the donation. It really is that easy. For bonus points let us know something unique about your charity or how it’s directly had an impact in your life.

Our first round of nominations ends June 30, 2011, so there’s lots of time to nominate the charity of your choice. In fact, you can nominate them more than once. In the past we’ve donated to Alberta Cancer Foundation, American Heart Association, Association for Community Living-Manitoba, Calgary Humane Society, The Salvation Army and more.

We want to help you make a difference in something important in your life.

*Fine print: This is NOT a contest. Though it may seem like it, we’ve done our best to not make it a contest, it’s a simple nomination process to help highlight many charitable organizations. All nominations must be received by the last day of the month (i.e. June 30) by 11:59 pm MT. SPRY (or a designated representative) will read all nominations and post the donation amount and charity each month as soon as possible after the closing date (typically within three business days). SPRY reserves the right to determine the amount of and benefactor of the donation(s).

Over the past few seasons we’ve done work with University of Calgary Dinos and SAIT Trojans. We’ve really enjoyed working with these competitive teams. We’ve decided to add more focus and support on helping out other educational institutions in securing sports funding, sponsorships, scholarships and by presenting a game day experience that fans are fanatical about.

As avid sports fans at SPRY, we take loyalty very seriously — especially when it comes to sports teams. In fact, CSM | College Sport Marketing will become your teams biggest fans. Contact College Sports Marketing today and get them cheering for you!

image credit allspice1

The new site is a custom developed them built in-house on the WordPress platform. WordPress has been gaining more popularity as an overall CMS instead of just as a blogging platform. By upgrading the website, Stevenson indicates that they will be able to better showcase their new work, provide a better user experience and spend more time working with their clients as opposed to manually updating content.

The past few years have proven that SPRY has what it takes as they’ve gained more clients and work. And 2011 looks like the year to really get back to their roots and focus on quality solutions and strategies with a personal touch. Feel free to contact SPRY today to see how they can help you.

It’s only been a few weeks since I’ve made a local Starbucks my virtual office since devoting myself to SPRY full time and building out our service catalog. In the time that I’ve worked there I’ve had the following experiences happen.

New sales guy mentality

There were two sales guys chatting about how they’re planning to make things work and get new clients. One guy was relatively new and was being mentored by the other. Now there is a certain lack of privacy in holding conversations at Starbucks but it did get me thinking. They started planning and laying out what needs to be done each week in order to attain the desired levels of revenue and sales the one person wanted.

It was interesting to watch and learn from others and really got me thinking about additional, new ways to market SPRY and define the goals and actions. That’s on the list of things to do now as much for me as for the business.

New business opportunities

I’m not the only one who works at Starbucks. Not even remotely. There’s a few regulars that flow through and we got chatting about what each of us do. It’s really a great way to network with other potential clients and build relationships.

In fact I ran into an old acquaintance that has asked for some contract help already. I’d consider that ROI on a cup of coffee to be pretty good and the ‘overpriced’ coffee that much more enjoyable.

Existing business opportunities

Just yesterday I had a chance encounter with an existing SPRY client. One that loves us and that we love to work with. Most of our communications are over the phone and email with the occasional face-to-face meeting as required. She was there to do some of her own work, away from the restaurant. I took the opportunity to chat informally and let her know about some of the newly refined marketing services that we offer. We had a chance to chat informally without the pressure of time lines and interruptions and even came up with some new, exciting ideas to help market their franchises a little more.

Conclusion

Getting out of the office isn’t just a nicety, it’s a necessity. It’s another way to market SPRY and our other clients to potential customers and consumers. Setting up a virtual office at Starbucks just makes sense. Great coffee. Good food. Free wi-fi and always a fresh set of potential new business walking through the door. I don’t go there every day, but at least twice a week. I find it refreshing to see some daylight and some friendly faces. I would encourage you to do the same. And while I like setting up at Starbucks, I’m sure there are other great places to connect as well. What is your best place to network and work outside of the office? Let me know in the comments below.

Previous events

WordCamp Edmonton • Edmonton, AB – November 16-17, 2012
Mesh West • Calgary, AB – June 8, 2011
SMX Advanced • Seattle, Washington – June 8-9, 2010
Bruce Clay SEO Bootcamp • Seattle, Washington – June 10, 2010
PubCon Vegas • Las Vegas, Nevada – November 11-13, 2009
Search Engine Strategies • Toronto, ON – June 8-10, 2009
Search Engine Strategies • Toronto, ON – June 12-13, 2007

Check back soon to see how it will grow and know that while there’s nothing here right now, we promise we will get some good information here soon.