Newsletter Archive
The value of newsletters has diminished dramatically with the advent of broadcast email and blogging software. Delete, delete, delete is the typical reaction. When we styled Blane, Canada newsletter 13 Tips—formerly Economic Development Marketing Letter—in 1994 we focused on pointed 4-5 lines (Twitter copied this style from us!), providing information that adds value and broadened perspectives.
December 2018 – Self-Driving Cars + Data
~~~Think about this “All the talk about self-driving cars is really about how they (giant tech companies) can monetize the time we spend in our vehicles.” Quote: Alex Roy, auto writer, The Future of Driving, Hagerty Magazine, May-June. Yet another instance of turning people into data slaves.
December 2018 – Battery High / Brain Low
~~~Battery high / Brain low A recent study from the University of Texas found that merely having your phone within reach can significantly reduce cognitive capacityÑeven if it’s turned off. As one of the researchers behind the study put it, your phone is a “brain drain.”
December 2018 – Why Economic Development is Important
~~~Why economic development is important is one of the toughest questions to answer. Easy to get bogged down in the what, missing the main point: Why. Check out Why economic development is important, (Professional Development Resources) an excerpt from our book, Economic Development for the Team.
October 2018 – Ripple Effect of Leading
~~~Ripple effect “I am very interested in reading Economic Development for the Team. I heard you talk at a conference nearly 20 years ago. At the time a friend of mine had just been elected mayor and I was elected alderman. He put me in charge of economic development. After the conference I read your book (Economic Development: Marketing for Results!) and from that start we ended up four years later with an industrial park, a full time E D director and a couple of pretty big infrastructure projects. This all led to significant job growth (for our small town).” Craig Wetter, IL. Bottom line, you may never know the impact you have from an action you take today. Be your best every day. You too are impacting lives! Eric
October 2018 – Newsletter
~~~Who’s the boss on workplace culture Does your organization have a culture? Yes, of course. Good or bad every workplace has a culture. There are even micro cultures within your organization think about the Board Ð silent acceptance or meaningful conversation? It is worth thinking about organizational culture and working to understand and improve it. There is always room for improvement. Source: CIO.com article
Get More From Your Conversations
~~~Get more from your conversations Instead of asking, “How are you doing?” Ask, “What are you working on?” This launch point will produce a richer, longer glide path for your conversations. And, this simple trick may stimulate innovation on a challenge you face. EPC LinkedIn post, 10/02/18
October 2018 – Rate of Change Forecast
~~~A sad forecast “When the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is in sight!!” Jack Welch, former CEO, General Electric. 10/1/18 General Electric in turmoil and shrinking.
October 2018 – You Must Be Important
~~~Busy? You MUST be important According to research in Harvard Business Review, Americans value the perception of being busy so much that we now use it to determine status. The busier you are, the more important and powerful you must be. Researchers theorize this may be a by-product of the shift to a knowledge-intensive economy. Or, maybe we just don’t want to be seen as lazy. Source HBR article
October 2018 – The Best Marketing
~~~”The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” Is your approach heavy handed? Or, worse yet, bloviating? Quote: Tom Fishburne, Cartoon Powered Marketer
October 2018 – Improve Productivity and Combat Burnout
~~~Improve Productivity and Combat Burnout Are you in control? Do you have time for reflection? Do you feel productive? Most of us are all over the map on these critical issues that drive burnout and wipe our productivity. Check out Ron Kitchen’s Mindfulnessstrategies to make a real difference.
October 2018 – Brain Churn Produces Results
~~~Inbox: Brain Churn This jumped out at me from the 13 Tips (June, 2018): Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate. Jon Bon Jovi “Passion is one of the three Ps that have slowly distilled themselves as my personal touchstone – Passion, Purpose, Pack (it started out as People, but having People isn’t the same as my dog, Pack.) Someone to be responsible for and to you). Having one P in your life fulfills a need, two is a blessing, three is fulfillment. None is being lost.” “No P is primary, no P secondary. As I was squeezing the Ps out of my brain, I realized there was something else in the 13 tips about writing and asking questions, so I went back and found Tip # 8 – Interesting thing about writing… The three Ps have bounced around in my head for a long while. They were born out of “where you are, what are you doing and who are you with” as a measure of happiness/fulfillment/what-the-hell-am-I-doing-here. But this is the first time I have tried to distill it and it wasn’t easy. No research involved, but a lot of brain churn.” As always Eric, thanks for churning my brain. Long-time reader and friend, Brad Apland, Chicago, Illinois
October 2018 – Growing Jobs: Transforming the Way We Approach Economic Development
~~~Recommended reading Growing Jobs: Transforming the Way We Approach Economic Development, Autor Thomas Tuttle. We have highlighted this book in the past, but good is good and worth recommending again. Quotable “When they tell me they manage their business retention program on Salesforce, I know they don’t have a business retention program.” More info
October 2018 – Driving Change in a Fluid Environment
~~~”Driving Change in a Fluid Environment” the keynote address at the upcoming Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) annual conference will be delivered by our own Eric P. Canada. The keynote will address the 5 steps to become a “masters of change” in economic development. Lessons drawn from Economic Development for the Team. Toronto, Ontario, CANADA, January 29th-31, 2019
October 2018 – Develop This! Podcasts
~~~New kid on the block Develop This! An economic development podcast co-hosted by Ð Dennis Fraise, CEcD and Jason Hutcheson, CEcD, working economic developers. Develop This! has a growing collection of real-world, economic development topics. I especially liked: BR|E by way of a World Record, #15; Negotiating CEO Employment Agreement, #16; Investing in your Knowledge base with Mary Ann Moon, #22. Check out this new personal development resource.
October 2018 – Building a Strong BRE Program
~~~Building a Strong BRE Program Featuring Eric Canada Podcast #32 from the folks at DevelopThisPodcast.com. How can Blane, Canada help you elevate your existing business program? Call Eric 630-462-9222×700
October 2018 – Business retention and expansion defined
~~~Business retention and expansion defined We stumbled on the problem (lack of a definition of BR|E) while writing For the Team. There are many process descriptions, but no definition. That problem has now been eliminated through a joint effort with Business Retention Expansion International (BREI). In economic development, business retention and expansion is a program designed to strengthen the connection between companies and the community while encouraging each business to continue to growin the community. Through direct interactions, events, and research, the program seeks to gain insight into business practices, planned future actions, as well as the challenges of targeted companies. Then, to turn this “business intelligence” into value added services, programs, and/or products that address individual and shared company opportunities and problems.
June 2018 – Desperate for Economic Development for Results?
~~~Desperate to have a copy of our original book, “Economic Development Marketing for Results!” You’re in luck. We noticed recently there are used copies available on Amazon, $25 to $215. Marketing for Results introduced economic developers to B2B marketing before B2B became popular. Another chapter in the book led directly to the strategy underlying Synchronist Suite’s prime and main street BR|E approach. The book was clearly a forward looking take on economic development still solid today.
Desperate for Economic Development for Results?
~~~Desperate… to have a copy of our original book, “Economic Development Marketing for Results!” You’re in luck. We noticed recently there are used copies available on Amazon, $25 to $215. Marketing for Results introduced economic developers to B2B marketing before B2B became popular. Another chapter in the book led directly to the strategy underlying Synchronist Suite’s prime and main street BR|E approach. The book was clearly a forward looking take on economic development still solid today.
Interesting thing about writing a book
~~~Interesting thing about writing a book… is that you get to ask yourself a lot of questions. Everyone does this. It is often a mindless daily exercise. Having just finished (July 9th release) my book, Economic Development for the Team, I couldn’t accept the easy answer. My audience – the people behind the economic development professional and you their boss– expects more. I expect more. It took a lot of research and legwork to come to grips with sometimes seemingly simple questions like, the “impact of technology on economic development.” It turns out, the answer is multi-faceted. When you put it on paper, answers become real. https://blanecanada.com/edteam-book/
Core Values
~~~READ THIS – Core values… that drive Amazon’s success as viewed by Jeff Bezos and capsulized in an article for Inc. Magazine by Thomas Koulopoulos. It could make you a better executive. Winners vs Dreamers. Amazon Letter to Shareholders. Inc. https://www.inc.com/thomas-koulopoulos/in-just-two-words-jeff-bezos-sums-up-what-separate-winners-from-dreamers.html Amazon file:///C:/Users/Eric%20P.%20Canada/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Amazon_AR.PDF
Passion
~~~Nothing… is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate. Jon Bon Jovi