“On February 9 and 10, 2013, Oakville residents where encouraged to Shop Local at over 100 businesses in Downtown Oakville who offered exclusive deals. http://shoplocal.yellowpages.cac
The Shop Local Event aimed to encourage support for local businesses, raise awareness of the importance of local shopping and highlight the positive effects it has on our neighbourhoods.
Local businesses are the beating hearts of our communities and define the very fabric of our neighbourhoods. Our butchers, our mechanics, our hairstylists, they’re not only local business owners but also our neighbourhoods, our friends, even our family.
The event was organized in collaboration with the Downtown Oakville BIA and the Oakville Chamber of Commerce.
Interested by local shopping in Canada? Follow @shoplocalcanada
http://www.twitter.com/ShopLocalCanada

An initiative of Yellow Pages Group in collaboration with Business Improvement Association of Downtown Oakville.”

So the gist of this is that the app will let a user quickly jot down notes and add checklists and photos online. The big sales pitch here is that once you log your ‘items’ they essentially move to the cloud and you can access them anywhere.

Ground breaking stuff here folks, I mean wow…did they do it again or did they do it again. Personally I was looking to see if it was April 1^st on this since outlook has had this functionality in a cross platform mode for about 10 yrs, albeit not everyone would be running outlook so I guess I could see the application.

Maybe I’m just a critic on this one and need to try it to become a believer, but that will have to wait as its only available on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

PS – Google has some ridiculous names for their products…

Today we’re upgrading AdWords, by rolling out enhanced campaigns. This is a first step to help you more simply and smartly manage your ad campaigns in today’s multi-device world.

Why enhanced campaigns?
People are constantly connected and moving from one device to another to communicate, shop and stay entertained. In fact, a recent study of multi-device consumers found that 90% move sequentially between several screens to accomplish a task. There’s also a proliferation of new devices — PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, hybrid devices, mini-tablets, televisions, and more. And there are many more digital screens and devices to come, with the lines between them continuing to blur. For example, as devices converge, consumer behaviors on tablets and desktops are becoming very similar.

This creates great opportunities for businesses, but can also make marketing more complex and time-consuming. For example, a pizza restaurant probably wants to show one ad to someone searching for “pizza” at 1pm on their PC at work (perhaps a link to an online order form or menu), and a different ad to someone searching for “pizza” at 8pm on a smartphone a half-mile from the restaurant (perhaps a click-to-call phone number and restaurant locator). Signals like location, time of day, and the capabilities of the device people are using have become increasingly important in showing them the right ad.

With enhanced campaigns, instead of having to cobble together and compare several separate campaigns, reports and ad extensions to do this, the pizza restaurant can easily manage all of this in one single place. Enhanced campaigns help you reach people with the right ads, based on their context like location, time of day and device type, across all devices without having to set up and manage several separate campaigns.

Key features:

Here’s an overview of some key features.

1. Powerful marketing tools for the multi-device world
   People want search results that are relevant for the context they are in — their device, location and the time of day. Enhanced campaigns help you better manage your campaigns and budgets for this multi-device world. With bid adjustments, you can manage bids for your ads across devices, locations, time of day and more — all from a single campaign. 

   Example: A breakfast cafe wants to reach people nearby searching for “coffee” or “breakfast” on a smartphone. Using bid adjustments, with three simple entries, they can bid 25% higher for people searching a half-mile away, 20% lower for searches after 11am, and 50% higher for searches on smartphones. These bid adjustments can apply to all ads and all keywords in one single campaign.

2. Smarter ads optimized for varying user contexts
   People on the go or near your store may be looking for different things than someone sitting at their desk. With enhanced campaigns, you’ll show ads across devices with the right ad text, sitelink, app or extension, without having to edit each campaign for every possible combination of devices, location and time of day. 

   Example: A national retailer with both physical locations and a website can show ads with click-to-call and location extensions for people searching on their smartphones, while showing an ad for their e-commerce website to people searching on a PC — all within a single campaign.

3. Advanced reports to measure new conversion types
   Technology is enabling people to take action on your ads in new ways. Potential customers may see your ad and download your app, or they may call you. It’s been hard for marketers to easily measure and compare these interactions. To help you measure the full value of your campaigns, enhanced campaigns enables you to easily count calls and app downloads as conversions in your AdWords reports. 

   Example: You can count phone calls of 60 seconds or longer that result from a click-to-call ad as a conversion in your AdWords reports, and compare them to other conversions like leads, sales and downloads.

PS – Tell me the msg to the voice over folks from the marketing brass @ Google wasn’t to speak slow and calm. It’s like a freaking lullaby, I nearly fell asleep.

The marketing brass behind the re-branding and product launch likely weighted options heavily on how to best define the product and reach out to the market to start to seed some customer acquisition for the new device once it hits stores later this quarter. A Super Bowl spot was a risky move in my opinion, pricey and the potential of being outdone by another brand in a completely different industry is very real which could all but steal all the visibility of the spot.

Arguably GoDaddy may have done that, but the BB10 messaging hit the mark in my books. Quite honestly my reaction was somewhat mixed as I watched it for the first time, but the conclusion and the overarching message behind the ad was spot on. I’ll let you make your own opinion. Enjoy.

Great visuals, catchy tune but I’m going to step out and challenge the message here. Like who is the intended audience on this thing? Knee-jerk reaction….windows 8 is for small children. I didn’t dig into the numbers behind this but I would have to assume that Microsoft’s bread/butter from the Windows line is from the corporate environment rather than the home pc market these day’s (thanks to Apple).

So I guess the question is, did Windows 8 miss the mark?

Source: OkDork

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I’m TIRED of answering this question so I’d rather write it out and just point people to this post.

Let me start in reverse.

I can tell you every detail of the day I got fired aka “let go” aka “down-sized” aka “shit-canned.”

I thought I was going to a routine coffee with my boss and randomly saw Matt Cohler sitting at the table inside (surprising)!

I knew something was amiss. Matt broke the news quickly and I was in dead-shock as the words came out of his mouth. They walked me back to the office and removed my laptop and my cell phone.

Then I proceeded to the Verizon store to use their phone, called my gf (at the time) and drove to the house I shared with 6 other FB guys.

Packed up all my stuff in my CRX, smoked a 1/2 pack of cigarettes on the balcony and drove to my friend Johnny’s place. It took me a bit to let my mom know and I slept on Johnny’s couch for a few days, thanks J!

Later that night we had a bbq at this place and everyone was asking me how the job was going….#awkward

I kept drinking that night to pass out and pray this was all a bad dream.

At that time, here’s the order of what was important in my life:

1- Facebook
2- Myself
3- Food / Shelter
4- My gf
5- Family
6- Friends

To spell it out. Facebook was my entire life.

My social circle, my validation, my identity and everything was tied to this company.

How the fuck could have ended up like this?

WTF! I just got a promotion and a raise 2 months before!

This was my first time being fired and it took me 1 year to get over the depression.

—————————————————————————————

After running AppSumo for over 2 years I’ve finally understood that Facebook made the right decision to let me go.

When you hire people there are three types of employees:

1- Grower. Someone who starts when the company is small and improves / adapts their skills as the company scales.

2- Show-er. Someone who can be good for the company where they are now but NOT where they are going.

3- Veteran. They’ve done it before and it’s second nature for them to teach you how to do it in your company.

I was a show-er at Facebook. I dealt with chaos of a 30 person company extremely well. (Did I mention my boss got fired on my first day and my next boss got fired 2 months after me?)

Most decisions were me walking over to Mark’s desk for approval, but at 150 people it was a group meeting of 30 people or me having to schedule time via Mark’s secretary.

I was a bit annoyed with the situation even though our memories always deceive us. Ever recall how you thought all the times with your ex-girl/boy friend were great but in reality there were a lot of shitty times…

The specific reasons I wasn’t able to adapt are as follows:

1- Selfish. I wanted attention, I put myself before Facebook. I hosted events at the office, published things on this blog to get attention and used the brand more than I added to it.

Lesson learned: The BEST way to get famous is make amazing stuff. That’s it. Not blogging, networking, etc.

2- Marketing. The marketing team’s plan was not to do anything and the night before we opened Facebook to the professional market (anyone with a @microsoft.com, @dell.com, etc…) I emailed TechCrunch to let Michael Arrington know to publish it in the morning. He ended up publishing it that night (I was at Coachella and will never again attend) before the actual product was released in the morning. I immediately notified the e-team and assumed full responsibility.

Lesson learned: I don’t think what I did was that wrong since the marketing team did not do anything to promote our new features. My lesson learned was more I should have involved them instead of just going around them.

3- Skills. As I said above when things needed to get done. I was there and shit got done. As we progressed to needing to organize massive spreadsheets and big group collaboration meetings, I zoned the F out and was then shortly out of the company.

Lesson learned: Go see if your weaknesses are hindering you at your job. Ie. I wasn’t great at planning or product management at this time. Fix them or move to another position. Also, constantly ask yourself how can I make the company more valuable. You do that and you will never get fired*. *unless you do something really stupid or the company goes out of business.

Each human on Earth has super powers. I’ve realized mine are execution, sales, marketing, eating tacos and throwing in occasional jokes.

As I’ve gotten older I’m more patient, a bit better at planning and able to work better with larger groups. Would I be a great fit for product management at Facebook now, likely; would I ever work there again, Frick No.

Ultimately, when I’m hiring now I’m looking for people who have gone to the promised land and can come back and teach us. They’ve built certain things, done the marketing we need to know, etc…

Matt Cohler (early LinkedIn, FB and now Partner at Benchmark) called me a “liability” as they let me go that day in the coffee shop on University Avenue.

This has scarred me and I’ve worked hard to be an asset to the companies I start and people I’m involved with. Thanks Matt!

A few key things I’ve learned after letting people go from AppSumo:

1- It stings the person WAY more than the company. I thought every day that the company missed me but I’ve learned they just keep going on with business. AND (UN)FORTUNATELY most businesses get better. So be stern when letting someone go but be reasonable and thoughtful to how it must feel. I encourage everyone to get fired once so they know that feeling. It’s unbelievable and something to definitely learn from.

2- EVERYONE is replaceable. You are NOT special and there is guaranteed someone better than you on this planet. So be the opposite, find the way to be invaluable where you work. This doesn’t mean locking things into you but opening things up so you are trusted and subsequently valued more.

3- Most people when they get let go, they know it’s time. They may not want to accept what their subconscious tells them but they know it’s right and it opens them up to something better. Instead of throwing them away, help guide / work with them to see what is their true calling and better suited for them.

People hear me speak or see my resume as awesome experiences but the details / depth of them is the interesting / meaty part.

Being at Facebook is where I grew the most professionally. I’ve NEVER been around such smart people. I’ve never felt so consistent like I wasn’t the smartest person in the room.

So all this combined ended up costing me around $100,000,000. It is what it is. Ultimately, I appreciate where I am now and all the experiences I got from NOT being there.

A true measure of an entrepreneur / successful-person is how they deal with adversity.

As my high school drama teacher told me the day I ran crying off the stage, “it’s not the outcome but learning from the experience that really counts….”

Yeah, Halifax…we are behind the times. Although Apple has arrive in town, sparking mass hysteria which is a little head scratching as there was no “new” product offering to be had. Regardless this ignited some interest on my side, below are some very interesting stats on Apple’s storefront locations:

• 370(ish) retail stores worldwide, each generating an average of $49 million annually.
• Apple has 42,200 employees worldwide, of which 30,000 of them work in the retail locations.
• Finding work @ Apple isn’t overly easy, application acceptance rate is about 2%. To give some context, Harvard has an acceptance rate of 7% for potential students….Yikes!
• Apple retail employees make on average, $11.91/hr. The average revenue per employee is $420,000. The average electronics retailer in the US brings in $206,000 per.
• Some may argue the retail locations have little product actually in them, but sales per sq ft equalled $5,647 in 2011. Compare that to a giant such as Costco who packs the goods in, they saw sales of $918 per sq ft in 2011.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Apple store employees are some of the most efficient sales people around, but maybe more so that they are opportunists capitalizing on the crazy known as Apple. In my opinion, give the credit to the product, design and G2M folks in Palo Alto.