A Canadian press story noting the numbers of wounded soldiers coming back from Afghanistan, and the difference in care and compensation received by Reservists:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g3-1Ri9KIhBg2vZWCMiEcxj8eMzg
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
An "Army of One"
Over the holidays I watched an award winning documentary called "Army of One". It was about three young people, all under 25, who joined the U.S. Army post 9/11. One particular young soldier really caught my attention because of his disillusionment. He was trying to get out of the military because he felt that he had been misled into signing up by promises of action, adventure, service to country and civilization. Instead he was driving a military truck in Fort Benning, Georgia. During Christmas Leave the camera followed him home and it became crystal clear why he felt the way he did. His mother spoke to him on camera saying “If our government cannot find something good to do with you, and something you’ll be interested in, and valuable, because you are unique”. We are left without the mother’s final conclusion as to what should happen if the government doesn’t provide what he needs, but we can assume that the advice was something along the lines of ‘Quit the Army’.
It explains so much of this soldier's crisis when the mother expresses that the government owes her son interesting experiences because he is "unique" (This programming is prevalent among Boomer parents). She forgets that the military is not an organization of service to oneself, it is an organization of service to others. Of course, proponents of Gen-Y will immediately point out that the statistics show that this generation is volunteering for community service in unprecedented numbers. However, the question isn’t whether they are willing to give to others, it is whether they are willing to sacrifice for others. The example of the young soldier above casts this value into doubt. After all, the exact same logic that the mother used to give her son an ‘out’ from the military would presumably be applied to volunteering for a charity, think again of the above words, but substitute in Habitat for Humanity “If Habitat for Humanity cannot find something good to do with you, and something you’ll be interested in, and valuable, because you are unique” (Quit Habitat for Humanity). As an outsider hearing these words, most would immediately red flag this as a flawed piece of logic that discourages self-sacrifice for the greater good.
The military indoctrinates the concept and practice of perseverance and self-sacrifice into every soldier from day one. For some, like the example above, their prior programming cannot be overridden and therefore they are extremely dissatisfied with what they experience. They fail to learn that self-sacrifice is honourable and fulfilling, though often difficult and painful. Most often this leads to them leaving the service.
Voluntarily staying with the military, on the other hand, is a clear signal that this individual has been indoctrinated with the values of perseverance and self-sacrifice. In an employment situation this means that they will be inclined to put in the hours and dirty work to contribute to the collective good. This doesn't mean that your company should overload them like beasts of burden, rather they should be raised to be leaders in your organization so that their work ethic is evident to everyone that encounters them, therefore setting the example of what the company is looking for from its young employees.
Some employers will say that hiring reservists means that they will lose productivity for periods of time. However, keep in mind, that the same organization that initially indoctrinated them with the values of perseverance and self-sacrifice, is continually reinforcing those qualities in the training that they are doing, therefore returning them to your workplace even further imbued with the personal work ethic that leads to greater productivity for both themselves, and the people that work for them. A very small loss in personal productivity is more likely to result in greater productivity for the whole.
With that explanation, this is a good time to announce that CiviSide.com is doing a joint press release with TalentEgg.ca debating whether Gen-Y should adapt to the workplace, or vice versa. From the above you can certainly see where I stand. I believe that this is an important debate that must be given very careful consideration by every employer. The result of this debate may well decide the basic philosophy of work for a very long time.
It explains so much of this soldier's crisis when the mother expresses that the government owes her son interesting experiences because he is "unique" (This programming is prevalent among Boomer parents). She forgets that the military is not an organization of service to oneself, it is an organization of service to others. Of course, proponents of Gen-Y will immediately point out that the statistics show that this generation is volunteering for community service in unprecedented numbers. However, the question isn’t whether they are willing to give to others, it is whether they are willing to sacrifice for others. The example of the young soldier above casts this value into doubt. After all, the exact same logic that the mother used to give her son an ‘out’ from the military would presumably be applied to volunteering for a charity, think again of the above words, but substitute in Habitat for Humanity “If Habitat for Humanity cannot find something good to do with you, and something you’ll be interested in, and valuable, because you are unique” (Quit Habitat for Humanity). As an outsider hearing these words, most would immediately red flag this as a flawed piece of logic that discourages self-sacrifice for the greater good.
The military indoctrinates the concept and practice of perseverance and self-sacrifice into every soldier from day one. For some, like the example above, their prior programming cannot be overridden and therefore they are extremely dissatisfied with what they experience. They fail to learn that self-sacrifice is honourable and fulfilling, though often difficult and painful. Most often this leads to them leaving the service.
Voluntarily staying with the military, on the other hand, is a clear signal that this individual has been indoctrinated with the values of perseverance and self-sacrifice. In an employment situation this means that they will be inclined to put in the hours and dirty work to contribute to the collective good. This doesn't mean that your company should overload them like beasts of burden, rather they should be raised to be leaders in your organization so that their work ethic is evident to everyone that encounters them, therefore setting the example of what the company is looking for from its young employees.
Some employers will say that hiring reservists means that they will lose productivity for periods of time. However, keep in mind, that the same organization that initially indoctrinated them with the values of perseverance and self-sacrifice, is continually reinforcing those qualities in the training that they are doing, therefore returning them to your workplace even further imbued with the personal work ethic that leads to greater productivity for both themselves, and the people that work for them. A very small loss in personal productivity is more likely to result in greater productivity for the whole.
With that explanation, this is a good time to announce that CiviSide.com is doing a joint press release with TalentEgg.ca debating whether Gen-Y should adapt to the workplace, or vice versa. From the above you can certainly see where I stand. I believe that this is an important debate that must be given very careful consideration by every employer. The result of this debate may well decide the basic philosophy of work for a very long time.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Globe and Mail photoshoot
I just finished a photoshoot with Peter Powers of The Globe and Mail. He did the shoot as part of a feature the Globe is doing on Civi-Side in the Business Incubator section. The section features a business that is usually at the startup stage and looking for advice on how to grow. The Globe then brings in a panel of experts to comment on how they would approach the problem. This should be great national exposure, as well as a learning experience.
I don't know when the article will be coming out, but I expect it should be within the next 4-6 weeks. I'll let you know when it does.
Coincidentally, Peter is a former military guy himself, as is his editor Noel Hulsman. I seem to run into that in the most random of places, including Newspapers, Venture Capital funds,and HR conferences. I think that this shows how flexible military people really are, and how the soft skills they gain in the military directly translate into the civilian world to make them successful.
I don't know when the article will be coming out, but I expect it should be within the next 4-6 weeks. I'll let you know when it does.
Coincidentally, Peter is a former military guy himself, as is his editor Noel Hulsman. I seem to run into that in the most random of places, including Newspapers, Venture Capital funds,and HR conferences. I think that this shows how flexible military people really are, and how the soft skills they gain in the military directly translate into the civilian world to make them successful.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Christmas Dinner, and a Wrong that Must be Righted.
Yesterday we had the Christmas Dinner for the troops. In the military we have a tradition where the Officers and Senior Non Commissioned Officers serve the troops Christmas Dinner. The idea behind it being that the troops work for us all year, and that at Christmas we work for them to show our appreciation. It's a wonderful tradition that I look forward to every year.
On a unrelated, but very important note, I just came across this story about an auxiliary RCMP officer that was killed in the line of duty in 2004:
http://tinyurl.com/5cvxta
http://tinyurl.com/66n9ml
I am sad that this is the first time that I have heard of this loss, but more angry at the way his service to the community was treated. Instead of his name being placed on the Police Memorial, he was denied official recognition because he was not a full-time paid employee of the service. Imagine that you as a military reservist were treated in such a shameful way by being allowed to die in uniform, but not be recognized as an equal member of the Forces? There is something you can do about this. There is an online petition that you can sign to rectify this injustice:
http://surreyauxiliary.org/petition/
On a unrelated, but very important note, I just came across this story about an auxiliary RCMP officer that was killed in the line of duty in 2004:
http://tinyurl.com/5cvxta
http://tinyurl.com/66n9ml
I am sad that this is the first time that I have heard of this loss, but more angry at the way his service to the community was treated. Instead of his name being placed on the Police Memorial, he was denied official recognition because he was not a full-time paid employee of the service. Imagine that you as a military reservist were treated in such a shameful way by being allowed to die in uniform, but not be recognized as an equal member of the Forces? There is something you can do about this. There is an online petition that you can sign to rectify this injustice:
http://surreyauxiliary.org/petition/
Thursday, December 4, 2008
It's called "Hard Work" for a reason.
The Steve Maich, Macleans Magazine article, I referred to in my last post has really been sitting on my brain since I read it. Steve perfectly encapsulated the definition of Hard Work: "perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice". Most people walk into an interview and tell the employer "I'm a hard worker". However, the employer knows that most of his workforce are not "hard workers", they are simply doing the minimum needed to collect a paycheque. The phrase hard worker is simply a punchline used to get a job.
Here's a new idea, tell the interviewer that you are a hard worker, but back it up by breaking down how you have shown perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice in your personal or working life. If you are military this will be easy. For example, I could tell an employer that I persevered through extreme sleep deprivation, unreasonable deadlines, physical exhaustion, and mental stress...in basic training alone. I could say that I have shown discipline by maintaining a high level of physical fitness for military service on my own time. I could say that I have shown focus by staying with the military for almost four years. I could say that in addition to my regular civilian schooling/work, I have voluntarily sacrificed my evenings and weekends to prepare myself physically and mentally to defend Canada. Imagine what the employer would think of a job candidate that comes in and says that I have proven that I will voluntarily push my body in order to make sure that I am capable of coming in every day to work with the greatest ability to get the job done for you? Be a hard worker, it is to your benefit.
I urge you to measure your work against the criteria of perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice. This is especially true if you are military, but is applicable to any competitive field. An organization's success depends on the individual/team's perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice being greater than the opponent's. Be in it to win!
Here's a new idea, tell the interviewer that you are a hard worker, but back it up by breaking down how you have shown perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice in your personal or working life. If you are military this will be easy. For example, I could tell an employer that I persevered through extreme sleep deprivation, unreasonable deadlines, physical exhaustion, and mental stress...in basic training alone. I could say that I have shown discipline by maintaining a high level of physical fitness for military service on my own time. I could say that I have shown focus by staying with the military for almost four years. I could say that in addition to my regular civilian schooling/work, I have voluntarily sacrificed my evenings and weekends to prepare myself physically and mentally to defend Canada. Imagine what the employer would think of a job candidate that comes in and says that I have proven that I will voluntarily push my body in order to make sure that I am capable of coming in every day to work with the greatest ability to get the job done for you? Be a hard worker, it is to your benefit.
I urge you to measure your work against the criteria of perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice. This is especially true if you are military, but is applicable to any competitive field. An organization's success depends on the individual/team's perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice being greater than the opponent's. Be in it to win!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Macleans on Millennials
In a random coincidence to yesterday's blog posting, I just came across this article that appeared in last week's Macleans Magazine:
http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/11/24/is-this-the-future-dont-bet-on-it/
The passage that most caught my eye was
"they (Boomers) raised their kids to be steeped in the ethos of self-esteem, praised at every turn, enrolled in dozens of activities to ensure “well-roundedness.” Boomers, who’ve spent their lives terrified of being seen as old-fashioned, never bothered to dwell on archaic notions like perseverance, discipline, focus and sacrifice."
It was interesting to me that the author would use character traits such as perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice, to describe the qualities missing in Millennials as a generation. Aren't these the character traits that the military teaches our young soldiers? This article certainly supports our claim that hiring reservists is a smart business decision.
http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/11/24/is-this-the-future-dont-bet-on-it/
The passage that most caught my eye was
"they (Boomers) raised their kids to be steeped in the ethos of self-esteem, praised at every turn, enrolled in dozens of activities to ensure “well-roundedness.” Boomers, who’ve spent their lives terrified of being seen as old-fashioned, never bothered to dwell on archaic notions like perseverance, discipline, focus and sacrifice."
It was interesting to me that the author would use character traits such as perseverance, discipline, focus, and sacrifice, to describe the qualities missing in Millennials as a generation. Aren't these the character traits that the military teaches our young soldiers? This article certainly supports our claim that hiring reservists is a smart business decision.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Millennials at Your Service
We have decided to begin another press push with the theme:
"Millennials at Your Service"
The idea behind this theme is that young reservists are differentiated from their civilian peers by the experience, skills, and character gained in their Service to Canada.
For those of you who have not heard the term Millennials, the Millennials are the generation born roughly between 1980-2000. This generation have been characterized as "Trophy Kids" because they expect to receive a participation award for everything. Millennials are also often seen by employers as selfish, disloyal, and lacking in work ethic. This manifests itself in the workplace as an expectation for recognition, promotions, and raises, even for substandard work.
We at civiside.com are contrasting the negative characterizations of Millennials with an image of hardworking, loyal, and team-oriented young reservists. Sure we have the occasional Bloggins in our midst, but overall, our young people are some of the best that this country has to offer. They know how to put in a hard day of work individually and as a team, they are enthusiastic about challenges, and don't expect something for nothing. These qualities alone should make them top of the list for employers. In addition, reservists bring proven team-building and leadership skills, as well as training in First Aid, Harassment Prevention, Media Awareness, and Ethics.
I've said it before, employers are the ones who gain the most when they hire reservists. Hopefully our efforts will help them see this clearly.
"Millennials at Your Service"
The idea behind this theme is that young reservists are differentiated from their civilian peers by the experience, skills, and character gained in their Service to Canada.
For those of you who have not heard the term Millennials, the Millennials are the generation born roughly between 1980-2000. This generation have been characterized as "Trophy Kids" because they expect to receive a participation award for everything. Millennials are also often seen by employers as selfish, disloyal, and lacking in work ethic. This manifests itself in the workplace as an expectation for recognition, promotions, and raises, even for substandard work.
We at civiside.com are contrasting the negative characterizations of Millennials with an image of hardworking, loyal, and team-oriented young reservists. Sure we have the occasional Bloggins in our midst, but overall, our young people are some of the best that this country has to offer. They know how to put in a hard day of work individually and as a team, they are enthusiastic about challenges, and don't expect something for nothing. These qualities alone should make them top of the list for employers. In addition, reservists bring proven team-building and leadership skills, as well as training in First Aid, Harassment Prevention, Media Awareness, and Ethics.
I've said it before, employers are the ones who gain the most when they hire reservists. Hopefully our efforts will help them see this clearly.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Article in HR trade publication
There is an article today in Workplace Magazine that I think very nicely summarizes why employers should be hiring reservists:
http://tinyurl.com/6c3t72
We are now pushing our press campaign into the business and trade press with the message that hiring reservists is good business sense, in addition to good corporate citizenship. This is an irresistable combination for most employers.
As always, I encourage you to tell fellow reservists about civiside.com. Employers are posting jobs and they need to see job candidates in return. We have built the platform, raised awareness of the value of reservists and the need for a supportive employer, now it's up to reservists to complete the final part of the equation by signing up.
http://tinyurl.com/6c3t72
We are now pushing our press campaign into the business and trade press with the message that hiring reservists is good business sense, in addition to good corporate citizenship. This is an irresistable combination for most employers.
As always, I encourage you to tell fellow reservists about civiside.com. Employers are posting jobs and they need to see job candidates in return. We have built the platform, raised awareness of the value of reservists and the need for a supportive employer, now it's up to reservists to complete the final part of the equation by signing up.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Update.
Over the last week I have continued to do press and media interviews in Brandon, Belleville, and Kingston. The media continue to show an interest in what we are doing, and that has been a welcome surprise.
I have also been working on an information package that we will be sending to all the reserve units across Canada. The hardest part of our mission has been getting reservists to sign up for the service. Employers for the most part have been very interested in posting jobs to attract reservists to their companies. The problem is that we can't actively promote the service to many employers without a sufficient pool of reservists to take the jobs. We are at a Chicken or Egg situation that is slowing down our progress. If you are a reservist who has been putting off signing up for the service because you want to see what happens, I recommend that you take the initiative and receive the benefit of being one of the early users.
In case you don't see why using civiside benefits you, here are a few reasons:
1. Position your military experience as a competitive advantage versus your civilian peers. Employers posting jobs on civiside consider military experience to be a competitive advantage versus the other indirect work experiences of your civilian peers.
2. Employers posting jobs on civiside have signed a statement of support for reservists working for them. This means, if you decide to stay in the reserves you will have an employer who won't refuse time of for training requests, or make you use your annual vacation instead of accommodating your military service.
3. Civiside is designed to do the job searching for you. All you need to do is sign up with an email, password, and your educational credentials. Civiside will then automatically inform you whenever a job is posted that matches your credentials. No need to browse, or even return to the site, until you are matched with a job that you want to apply for.
I hope that the benefits of civiside are now clear. I look forward to continuing the iteration of the service so that every reservist that wants a job with a reserve-friendly employer gets one.
I have also been working on an information package that we will be sending to all the reserve units across Canada. The hardest part of our mission has been getting reservists to sign up for the service. Employers for the most part have been very interested in posting jobs to attract reservists to their companies. The problem is that we can't actively promote the service to many employers without a sufficient pool of reservists to take the jobs. We are at a Chicken or Egg situation that is slowing down our progress. If you are a reservist who has been putting off signing up for the service because you want to see what happens, I recommend that you take the initiative and receive the benefit of being one of the early users.
In case you don't see why using civiside benefits you, here are a few reasons:
1. Position your military experience as a competitive advantage versus your civilian peers. Employers posting jobs on civiside consider military experience to be a competitive advantage versus the other indirect work experiences of your civilian peers.
2. Employers posting jobs on civiside have signed a statement of support for reservists working for them. This means, if you decide to stay in the reserves you will have an employer who won't refuse time of for training requests, or make you use your annual vacation instead of accommodating your military service.
3. Civiside is designed to do the job searching for you. All you need to do is sign up with an email, password, and your educational credentials. Civiside will then automatically inform you whenever a job is posted that matches your credentials. No need to browse, or even return to the site, until you are matched with a job that you want to apply for.
I hope that the benefits of civiside are now clear. I look forward to continuing the iteration of the service so that every reservist that wants a job with a reserve-friendly employer gets one.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
CBC Radio One interview.
My interview on CBC Radio One yesterday went exceptionally well. It was a little shorter than I thought it would be, but nevertheless excellent. I received calls from friends all over excitedly telling me that they had heard me on the radio. It really shows how great exposure on CBC is.
With this interview finished we have wrapped up our press campaign and will get back to the job of bringing reservists and reserve-friendly employers together. I expect that we will be putting out an information package in the next week or so to most of the reserve units across Canada, then contacting our list of reserve-friendly employers and encouraging them to post their jobs.
An exciting time to be civiside.com.
To listen to the interview visit http://www.civiside.com/press
With this interview finished we have wrapped up our press campaign and will get back to the job of bringing reservists and reserve-friendly employers together. I expect that we will be putting out an information package in the next week or so to most of the reserve units across Canada, then contacting our list of reserve-friendly employers and encouraging them to post their jobs.
An exciting time to be civiside.com.
To listen to the interview visit http://www.civiside.com/press
Sunday, November 9, 2008
90th Remembrance Ceremony
Today I marched with the 1000 member strong Hamilton Garrison in the 90th Remembrance ceremony. It's always an honour to be part of the parade. Marching as part of such a large body of soldiers you also remember that you are part of a much larger fraternity of Canadians that have served the country, many paying the ultimate price of sacrifice.
It is important to remember that when we reach the 100th Remembrance ceremony that most of our current WWII veterans will no longer be with us to give their first hand account of the great suffering their generation went through to protect the spirit of freedom. It is my hope that we as a nation will continue to remember those that fought as part of The Greatest Generation, and what they stood for, and against, whether they are still in our presence or not.
It is important to remember that when we reach the 100th Remembrance ceremony that most of our current WWII veterans will no longer be with us to give their first hand account of the great suffering their generation went through to protect the spirit of freedom. It is my hope that we as a nation will continue to remember those that fought as part of The Greatest Generation, and what they stood for, and against, whether they are still in our presence or not.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Technical Problems
In case you are wondering why civiside has largely been down since Thurs. afternoon (yesterday), our server host decided to migrate our server to another one, in the process lousing everything up for us. Our site became unusable b/c the database was corrupted. We had to spring into action and decide what to do to salvage the situation, and decided to upgrade our site to what we were intending to launch in a week...a brand new civiside.com site! The new site is developed in Ruby on Rails, a cutting edge programming language that makes development leaner and meaner.
The new civiside.com is designed to be quicker, more robust, and easier to use. We took people's feedback to heart and designed from the ground up a service that will get you in and out as quickly as is possible.
Don't be surprised if there are bugs, as we are rolling out this site ahead of where we intended. If you do find bugs use the feedback buttons to let us know and we will be on it lickety split.
As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
The new civiside.com is designed to be quicker, more robust, and easier to use. We took people's feedback to heart and designed from the ground up a service that will get you in and out as quickly as is possible.
Don't be surprised if there are bugs, as we are rolling out this site ahead of where we intended. If you do find bugs use the feedback buttons to let us know and we will be on it lickety split.
As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
National Press Coverage
In addition to the media/press we have been receiving in individual cities from Victoria to Charlottetown, we have two upcoming national radio shows: The Roy Green Show on Sun, and CBC Radio One "The Point" on Mon.
We are still waiting for bites from the national press like The Globe and Mail and The National Post. Hopefully they will see fit to do a piece on our mission to help reservists connect with supportive employers.
We are still waiting for bites from the national press like The Globe and Mail and The National Post. Hopefully they will see fit to do a piece on our mission to help reservists connect with supportive employers.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Successful So Far.
Our press campaign has been successful to this point, and looks to be picking up momentum. I have done radio and newspaper interviews from Victoria to Hamilton, with a number of places in between. It's a very exciting time and I am enjoying all the support that the press are giving to our concept.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Tomorrow's Veterans Need a Supportive Employer Today.
We will be launching our "Tomorrow's Veterans Need a Supportive Employer Today" media campaign in the next couple of weeks. We received some excellent advice from a Globe and Mail editor, and a MetroLand Papers managing editor, on how to make our story more appealing to the media. I am very excited to see how it is picked up by media outlets.
Another little lesson that I have learned is to really cast a wide net of advisors with many different perspectives (some being specialists, as in the case of our media advisors). Our permanent group of advisors gave advice on how to approach the media that was very different from that our media advisors gave. After reworking our press story into the problem/solution narrative suggested by the media advisors I can really see how much more interesting it is from a news perspective. This knowledge gained will be very useful to me as we continue to progress throughout the lifespan of civiside.
Another little lesson that I have learned is to really cast a wide net of advisors with many different perspectives (some being specialists, as in the case of our media advisors). Our permanent group of advisors gave advice on how to approach the media that was very different from that our media advisors gave. After reworking our press story into the problem/solution narrative suggested by the media advisors I can really see how much more interesting it is from a news perspective. This knowledge gained will be very useful to me as we continue to progress throughout the lifespan of civiside.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Passion
I am not terribly consistent with blogging and for this I apologize. We have been busy coming up with our strategy for the 08-09 recruiting year, contacting vendors for a virtual job fair that we will be running, and getting prepared for our first press release. We expect that over the next 6 weeks or so things should take off.
I suppose the lesson imparted over the last months has been sticking to your passion. We ran out of investor money almost 6 months ago and have had to bootstrap development since. I hope that this shows to potential investors that we are committed to making civiside a success. We have personally sacrificed (and continue to do so) more than we have. We are not giving up until every reservist and employer has either accepted or rejected civiside as a service. If you are reading this blog for inspiration, find something that you will do despite the sacrifice and nil extrinsic reward, and you will have a real passion that will carry you through the hard times.
I suppose the lesson imparted over the last months has been sticking to your passion. We ran out of investor money almost 6 months ago and have had to bootstrap development since. I hope that this shows to potential investors that we are committed to making civiside a success. We have personally sacrificed (and continue to do so) more than we have. We are not giving up until every reservist and employer has either accepted or rejected civiside as a service. If you are reading this blog for inspiration, find something that you will do despite the sacrifice and nil extrinsic reward, and you will have a real passion that will carry you through the hard times.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Mentors and Mentees
I'm on Ben Casnocha's email newsletter list and was interested to read his thoughts on how to be a good "Mentee". Ben made a great point that for a mentor to feel like their time and effort is worth giving the mentee has to show that they are people that can be coached. However, he rightly points out that the kind of people who will risk everything on a startup are typically very headstrong, self-confident, and aggressive. This creates a fine line to walk on b/c well intentioned mentors may find the mentee push back on advice given, and therefore seem to reject the mentor's gift. I can tell you that this is something that I constantly struggle with as an entrepreneur. I ask for advice, but then get very frustrated with what I perceive to be overly conservative responses. Or, I ask for feedback on our business plan and financials and then get tasked with more work to further clarify what seems to me to be ridiculously clear. I ask for honest advice and feedback...I just want it to reflect what I'm already thinking. Probably not the best model for a successful relationship.
Anyhow, I am aware of the problem and continue to work on my shortcomings as a mentee. One of our advisors in particular has given us huge amounts of time and advice on our business plan and financials, and I must admit that I have been less than the ideal mentee to work with. However, I have complied with his requests to tighten up the plan and financials if for no other reason than to make sure he feels that his feedback is being heard and acted on. Maybe this will be the start of being a better mentee.
With all that said, I would like to thank all of our advisors for their generosity in helping us startup and succeed. I hope that one day I can return the favour.
Anyhow, I am aware of the problem and continue to work on my shortcomings as a mentee. One of our advisors in particular has given us huge amounts of time and advice on our business plan and financials, and I must admit that I have been less than the ideal mentee to work with. However, I have complied with his requests to tighten up the plan and financials if for no other reason than to make sure he feels that his feedback is being heard and acted on. Maybe this will be the start of being a better mentee.
With all that said, I would like to thank all of our advisors for their generosity in helping us startup and succeed. I hope that one day I can return the favour.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
HRPAO trade show.
I'm pleased to announce that civiside will be at the Human Resources Professionals of Ontario trade show in January. This is an awesome opportunity to present our services to over 4000 HR decision makers over a 3 day period.
I know this to be a great event b/c just as civiside was beginning as a company, I happened on the trade show and saw it for myself. It is quite a production. I got a ton of great ideas for civiside just by seeing what was already out there.
The timing of this couldn't be better (end of January). It gives us a chance to sign a critical mass of reservists before a large number of employers flood civiside with job postings. I'm actually a little afraid that we will have too many employers and not enough reservists signed up to accommodate the demand. Hopefully we will be able to rectify this sooner rather than later.
I know this to be a great event b/c just as civiside was beginning as a company, I happened on the trade show and saw it for myself. It is quite a production. I got a ton of great ideas for civiside just by seeing what was already out there.
The timing of this couldn't be better (end of January). It gives us a chance to sign a critical mass of reservists before a large number of employers flood civiside with job postings. I'm actually a little afraid that we will have too many employers and not enough reservists signed up to accommodate the demand. Hopefully we will be able to rectify this sooner rather than later.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Canadian music still rocks! Part II
I have over the last few days been listening to a band that never quite made it mainstream, but nevertheless influenced scores of young musicians back in the early 90's. The band is none other that The Lowest of The Low"...do I hear crickets? I'm not surprised if you haven't heard of them, they were really only popular around Southern Ontario and Western New York. However, after listening to them again after this many years I am amazed by the staying power of their music and incisive lyrics.
The reason I am getting back into them is because I have recently picked up my guitar and started playing after many years of neglect. I learned of The Low at exactly the time I was learning to play guitar so I ended up learning a number of their songs. Another band that I learned to play guitar to was The Lemonheads. They're not quite as brilliant in the lyrics department, but nevertheless still so fun to play.
It's funny to me that what has returned me to playing music hasn't been new songs, but the same old ones, albeit experienced in a new way as I age and mature.
I also hope that you find joy in the same old songs experienced in a new way.
The reason I am getting back into them is because I have recently picked up my guitar and started playing after many years of neglect. I learned of The Low at exactly the time I was learning to play guitar so I ended up learning a number of their songs. Another band that I learned to play guitar to was The Lemonheads. They're not quite as brilliant in the lyrics department, but nevertheless still so fun to play.
It's funny to me that what has returned me to playing music hasn't been new songs, but the same old ones, albeit experienced in a new way as I age and mature.
I also hope that you find joy in the same old songs experienced in a new way.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Canadian music still rocks!
Three weeks into my working vacation in Quebec. Have enjoyed the city immensely. The summer musical festival was fantastic. Saw acts such as Feist, Stars, Great Big Sea, and venerable rockers Honeymoon Suite. Two things really struck me about the shows I saw: 1. Great Big Sea were unbelievably good. In fact so good, that my 15 minute stopover before going to Stone Temple Pilots turned into 2 hrs of Newfoundland kitchen party and no STP. 2. Even though they haven't been in the spotlight for roughly 2 decades Honeymoon Suite could still rock. It was also amazing to me that I knew many of their songs this many years later (that's the benefit of a hook).
Anyhow, in business news, Jamie and I have been busy trying to put together pro forma financials that investors want to see. We think we have something together now that should do the job. Hopefully the right people will see what we have to offer and will come through.
That's it for now.
Anyhow, in business news, Jamie and I have been busy trying to put together pro forma financials that investors want to see. We think we have something together now that should do the job. Hopefully the right people will see what we have to offer and will come through.
That's it for now.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Update
In the past 5 weeks we have gone to the Founders and Funders Dinner and made some great connections. We have also just about finished the next iteration of our technology. Finally, we have been working with select employers to help them find the talent that they are looking for.
We expect Sept to begin the high season for our efforts with corporate recruiters and reservists. So, most of our time now is spent on setting ourselves up for a a highly demanding sales season between Sept08-April09. We expect that by this time next year civiside will be a valued resource for employers, and a household name in the reserve community.
I'm off to Quebec City for the month of July to enjoy the 400th Anniversary celebrations. However, it will be a working vacation. I'll be doing everything that I am doing here, just moving it with me to a new locale. I also hope to improve my French considerably in this time.
We expect Sept to begin the high season for our efforts with corporate recruiters and reservists. So, most of our time now is spent on setting ourselves up for a a highly demanding sales season between Sept08-April09. We expect that by this time next year civiside will be a valued resource for employers, and a household name in the reserve community.
I'm off to Quebec City for the month of July to enjoy the 400th Anniversary celebrations. However, it will be a working vacation. I'll be doing everything that I am doing here, just moving it with me to a new locale. I also hope to improve my French considerably in this time.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Founders and Funders
I'm really excited to report that civiside was invited to the Founders and Funders Dinner in Toronto. We were invited to the one in Montreal also, but couldn't afford to travel (that's how cash strapped we are : (
Founders and Funders is great idea to give startup founders and investors a way to network in a very informal way that allows for open dialogue without pressure.
Anyhow, this will be a great opportunity to meet others in the Toronto tech community. I expect that we will make some great connections.
Founders and Funders is great idea to give startup founders and investors a way to network in a very informal way that allows for open dialogue without pressure.
Anyhow, this will be a great opportunity to meet others in the Toronto tech community. I expect that we will make some great connections.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
How Not to Die!
I really felt that I had to link this article from Paul Graham called "How Not to Die":
http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html
We haven't arrived at our darkest hour yet, but this article will help us put it all into perspective when that hour comes. I hope that it helps you also.
http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html
We haven't arrived at our darkest hour yet, but this article will help us put it all into perspective when that hour comes. I hope that it helps you also.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Newest Happenings
Fri, Jamie and I attended the Toronto Campus Recruiting Forum and had terrific response there as well. We even a met a reservist working for Canadian Revenue Agency who was also an HR person....talk about an easy sell.
Yesterday we attended Discovery 08 and got to meet some interesting people with new technologies and business concepts. Even inadvertently pitched an Angel investor on our concept and got some good feedback.
Our biggest difficulty right now is communicating that our service exists to reservists. The employers that we have spoken with want them, but our limited marketing budget has made it difficult to spread the word effectively. If anyone has ideas on cheap ways to get the word out let us know.
The next few weeks will be filled with us following up with employers and potential investors so that we can get this to critical mass by the end of the summer.
Yesterday we attended Discovery 08 and got to meet some interesting people with new technologies and business concepts. Even inadvertently pitched an Angel investor on our concept and got some good feedback.
Our biggest difficulty right now is communicating that our service exists to reservists. The employers that we have spoken with want them, but our limited marketing budget has made it difficult to spread the word effectively. If anyone has ideas on cheap ways to get the word out let us know.
The next few weeks will be filled with us following up with employers and potential investors so that we can get this to critical mass by the end of the summer.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Vancouver Campus Recruiting Forum
Our first real employer recruiting event went off without a hitch. We directly pitched 20 employers and have 30 requests for follow up info. We also have a list of 50 more employers that we didn't have an opportunity to pitch, but will call up in the next couple of weeks. We will be doing it all over again in about 10 more days and should be even more successful given our experience.
Additionally, we gained so much insight into how hard it is for recruiters to get great entry-level talent. We will be implementing several features based on what we heard from employers.
Finally, our pitch at the Upstart Competition is on 9 May. I feel extremely confident that we are going to have one of the top pitches of the day.
Additionally, we gained so much insight into how hard it is for recruiters to get great entry-level talent. We will be implementing several features based on what we heard from employers.
Finally, our pitch at the Upstart Competition is on 9 May. I feel extremely confident that we are going to have one of the top pitches of the day.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Civi-Side's Second Week Done
We have just finished our second week of life and everything is going as planned. We are now heading out to Vancouver for a week to meet with receptive employers. We expect from this trip to sign up an additional 50-75 new employers.
On the development side we are still iterating according to your requests. We are planning to bring in additional ways to differentiate Class A, B, and C service as requested. We are also bringing in a very exciting new feature in June that will exponentially increase the utility of the service for you.
Finally, over the next couple of days we are bringing in a "refer a friend" button to make it easier to share civiside with fellow reservists.
If you have any feedback feel free to share...we are listening.
On the development side we are still iterating according to your requests. We are planning to bring in additional ways to differentiate Class A, B, and C service as requested. We are also bringing in a very exciting new feature in June that will exponentially increase the utility of the service for you.
Finally, over the next couple of days we are bringing in a "refer a friend" button to make it easier to share civiside with fellow reservists.
If you have any feedback feel free to share...we are listening.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Civi-Side's First Week
The first week of life for civiside.com is just about done. A promising number of people have signed up to take advantage of the features we offer to help military people communicate how they are the best job candidates for prospective employers.
On the development side, we continue to iterate new features as quickly as we can. We are moving up by several months the release of an outstanding feature that we know that users will love. Expect to be blown away by how it increases the utility of civiside.
On the business side, we are continuing to build our employer base. Turns out that there is a tremendous latent desire for military people. Our simple promise that "military people will show up to work on time, work with those they are assigned, and get the job done", has struck a chord with employers.
With all that we are doing, we still can't do it all alone. We encourage you to let other reservists know that the service exists and how it can benefit them. The more reservists that sign up the more employers will want to post jobs, so do yourself a favour and let others know.
If you have feedback for us you can leave it here, or better yet, leave it on civiside.com by clicking on the feedback button on any of the webpages.
On the development side, we continue to iterate new features as quickly as we can. We are moving up by several months the release of an outstanding feature that we know that users will love. Expect to be blown away by how it increases the utility of civiside.
On the business side, we are continuing to build our employer base. Turns out that there is a tremendous latent desire for military people. Our simple promise that "military people will show up to work on time, work with those they are assigned, and get the job done", has struck a chord with employers.
With all that we are doing, we still can't do it all alone. We encourage you to let other reservists know that the service exists and how it can benefit them. The more reservists that sign up the more employers will want to post jobs, so do yourself a favour and let others know.
If you have feedback for us you can leave it here, or better yet, leave it on civiside.com by clicking on the feedback button on any of the webpages.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Civi-Side.Com is Live!!!!
Civiside.com is live!!! Or at least it will be in a few hours. We are putting the final few touches on the Beta, and will be sending out the notification email to those that requested one.
This is a really exciting moment because this represents a tremendous turning point in the effectiveness of the Canadian Forces Reserve. Over time as more reservists take jobs with employers that give them time off in addition to vacation for training and deployments, the experience level of our organization will grow exponentially.
It's a personally exciting moment because I knew that there was a latent need for this service, and now I can see the momentum building among military people, as well as industry, to mutually benefit one another.
I feel very lucky that I have had the opportunity to bring the civiside.com service to this point, and I look forward to maximizing the benefits that both reservists and employers receive from their association together.
I want to thank Jamie Smith for sharing my vision. He isn't military, but he sure works like he is. I also want to thank Hon. Lt. Col. Kevin Reed for seeing the potential of this right from the start, and giving us the seed capital we needed to get this off the ground. A thank you wouldn't be complete without the business advisors that helped me think how to highlight for employers how reservists are better potential employees. Finally, I want to thank my C.O, Lt. Col. Jenny Newton, for encouraging me to pursue this opportunity. You couldn't ask for a better C.O.
This is the start of something beautiful!
This is a really exciting moment because this represents a tremendous turning point in the effectiveness of the Canadian Forces Reserve. Over time as more reservists take jobs with employers that give them time off in addition to vacation for training and deployments, the experience level of our organization will grow exponentially.
It's a personally exciting moment because I knew that there was a latent need for this service, and now I can see the momentum building among military people, as well as industry, to mutually benefit one another.
I feel very lucky that I have had the opportunity to bring the civiside.com service to this point, and I look forward to maximizing the benefits that both reservists and employers receive from their association together.
I want to thank Jamie Smith for sharing my vision. He isn't military, but he sure works like he is. I also want to thank Hon. Lt. Col. Kevin Reed for seeing the potential of this right from the start, and giving us the seed capital we needed to get this off the ground. A thank you wouldn't be complete without the business advisors that helped me think how to highlight for employers how reservists are better potential employees. Finally, I want to thank my C.O, Lt. Col. Jenny Newton, for encouraging me to pursue this opportunity. You couldn't ask for a better C.O.
This is the start of something beautiful!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Sketchy No More!!!
I want to thank Shadow for posting his comment about the sketchiness of our sign-up page. Shadow indicated that he had decided not to post his information on our temporary sign-up page b/c we failed to provide enough information to make him comfortable with disclosure. Now looking at it I can totally see why he would feel this way.
I was beginning to suspect that people were being scared off by the request for information. You see, I have been posting an ad on Facebook and getting a lot of clickthroughs, but only about 25% of them were signing up. It really goes to show that trust is as important a factor in attracting users on the net as it is in the real world.
Well the good news is that we are going live next week. Remember that it is just a beta, so you may find browser errors, little things undone still, etc. Have faith that we are working as fast as we can to create the best possible experience for you. I think that you will find that civi-side.com will be one of the most innovative and useful job sites to help you in your job search.
If you have more feedback when the site launches feel free to share.
Thanks again Shadow.
I was beginning to suspect that people were being scared off by the request for information. You see, I have been posting an ad on Facebook and getting a lot of clickthroughs, but only about 25% of them were signing up. It really goes to show that trust is as important a factor in attracting users on the net as it is in the real world.
Well the good news is that we are going live next week. Remember that it is just a beta, so you may find browser errors, little things undone still, etc. Have faith that we are working as fast as we can to create the best possible experience for you. I think that you will find that civi-side.com will be one of the most innovative and useful job sites to help you in your job search.
If you have more feedback when the site launches feel free to share.
Thanks again Shadow.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Upstart Competition
Civi-Side.Com just made it into the finals of the MaRS DD Upstart Competition. We are technically competing for a $10K prize, but the real value for us will be the business plan development and the contacts we will make throughout.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Growing Team Civi-Side
Another addition to Team Civi-Side. I'd like to welcome Dave Lemstra to our development team. Dave is a great developer and an innovative entrepreneur. You can check out one of his projects at cellplanexpert.com
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Addition to Team Civi-Side
A few weeks ago I went to a networking event to do a quick pitch of Civi-Side to the local entrepreneurial community. I should point out that the weather outside was terrible (I think around 25 cm of snow fell over a few hours) Anyhow, at this event an experienced senior Human Resources person in the audience made a point of coming over to me and giving some really helpful feedback. Taking advantage of the opportunity I asked him to look at our technology when it was further along, and suggested that we could use someone like him on our advisory board. He seemed a bit taken back by my suggestion at first (I tend to be a bit bold in asking things from strangers : ) but agreed to come to a meeting to check out who we were. Long story short, he liked what he saw and agreed to join our advisory board. In addition he is donating 20hrs of his time to give us free consulting on crafting our message to other HR people.
I feel like this story is a really instructive one. First, commitment to further your business means venturing out in a blinding snowstorm whether you really believe that it will payoff. In this case, I would not have met our new advisor had I not taken some personal risk. If you really believe in your concept then you will find yourself doing things that in most cases seem foolish (for example, borrowing against your credit cards, asking strangers for money/time, driving out in a snowstorm, etc). The second lesson here is not to be afraid to ask for what you need. Had I not suggested that this person would be a great addition to our advisory team we would still be guessing at many facets of our business. You will be surprised how people can buy into your vision if you present it and ask for help in making it a reality.
Anyhow, without any further ado, I would like to welcome Alan Murray (Former VP HR at Gennum Corp.) to Team Civi-Side. I hope that he gets as much out of this association as we will from him.
I feel like this story is a really instructive one. First, commitment to further your business means venturing out in a blinding snowstorm whether you really believe that it will payoff. In this case, I would not have met our new advisor had I not taken some personal risk. If you really believe in your concept then you will find yourself doing things that in most cases seem foolish (for example, borrowing against your credit cards, asking strangers for money/time, driving out in a snowstorm, etc). The second lesson here is not to be afraid to ask for what you need. Had I not suggested that this person would be a great addition to our advisory team we would still be guessing at many facets of our business. You will be surprised how people can buy into your vision if you present it and ask for help in making it a reality.
Anyhow, without any further ado, I would like to welcome Alan Murray (Former VP HR at Gennum Corp.) to Team Civi-Side. I hope that he gets as much out of this association as we will from him.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Civi-Side update
Wow...it's been about 6 weeks since my last post. Over that time we sealed the deal with our investor, and have been building the site. We have also figured out a great long-term revenue model that will keep us in the black from the get-go.
Not to say that everything has gone smoothly. Over initial negotiations with the Department of National Defence appear to have gone nowhere. This outcome put us into a position where we had to rethink how we would make money to sustain this service. Necessity being the mother of invention kicked in and through observing other business models, and a bit of serendipity, we came up with a sustainable revenue model that actually increases our revenue potential and makes the service even more attractive to employers.
I have said it repeatedly in this blog, perseverance and creativity are the key attributes of entreprenurs. Even if you don't have all the talent in the world, the universe miraculously allows these qualities to make up for shortfalls.
I will endeavor to keep this blog more up to date. I think that this opportunity will end up being exponentially more interesting than anything that has come before it.
Not to say that everything has gone smoothly. Over initial negotiations with the Department of National Defence appear to have gone nowhere. This outcome put us into a position where we had to rethink how we would make money to sustain this service. Necessity being the mother of invention kicked in and through observing other business models, and a bit of serendipity, we came up with a sustainable revenue model that actually increases our revenue potential and makes the service even more attractive to employers.
I have said it repeatedly in this blog, perseverance and creativity are the key attributes of entreprenurs. Even if you don't have all the talent in the world, the universe miraculously allows these qualities to make up for shortfalls.
I will endeavor to keep this blog more up to date. I think that this opportunity will end up being exponentially more interesting than anything that has come before it.
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