Blackberry addicts
We asked local business people and celebrities how they (and those around them) know that they are addicted to their BlackBerry. Here is what they said.
Tina Jones — Co-owner, Banville & Jones
The most likely clue that I’m addicted to my BB is that I carry it in my right hand 16/7 (not quite 24/7). One could also deduce that I’m addicted because my aesthetician, Terri, at Aevi Spa has designed a special hand massage for my aching BlackBerry thumbs.
Robert Tapper, Q.C. – Tapper Cuddy LLP
I do not believe I am a CrackBerry addict. I probably learned fairly early that it is my tool, I am not its. I do not let emails signal me on arrival. I only read them when I have a moment. And only a few have the phone number. Other people let it run their life, read them at dinner with others, etc. That is a mistake. It should permit you to better manage your time rather than being managed by it.
Ian Rabb — General Manager, Winpark Dorchester Properties
• When you freak out five minutes from your house when you forgot it. • When you don’t put it down during a meal because you are playing games. • When you’re late for work answering texts and emails and needing to get a high score on a game. • When you have to go to the physiotherapist for phone elbow. • When all the skin on your thumbs and forefingers are dying. • When doing business while driving (using your BB) though you know against the law or you might kill someone.
Jennifer Jones — Corporate counsel, Wellington West & championship curler
My BlackBerry is never too far away and it goes with me everywhere. I have even been known to check my BlackBerry during the fifth end break of a curling game or two!
Chrissy Troy—Morning host, Hot 103
I do love my BlackBerry. It’s a Curve, it’s pink and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, honestly. I used to sleep with it beside my bed on the nightstand, but now the relationship has become a bit more serious. Usually my BB Curve ends up in bed with me and every morning (I wake just after three) I have to comb the bed looking for it, which means I grab it during the night and roll over with it. We’re more than just business partners—it’s becoming that serious. I’ve figured out that I’ve started to open and read emails while I’m sleeping. The only thing is I don’t remember it.
Indu Brar—General Manager, The Fairmont Winnipeg
When you are stopped at a red light, and not drumming your fingers on the steering wheel, listening to music, but are instead catching up on the latest email or news. This goes for restaurants, waiting for an airplane, walking down the street, you name it.
Also when you’re walking with your head down, reading messages, and you almost bump into another person. The funny part is that rather than ranting or being annoyed, the other person completely understands, and smiles because they were doing the same thing.
Have you learned to look your spouse in the eye while also texting under the table? Do you wash dishes, mow the lawn and type reports with one hand so you can have the other free for your BlackBerry?
If you too are a frequent user (addict is such a harsh term), we want to hear from you. Let us know how you (or others) know you are addicted (oh, there it is again) to your BlackBerry and you could be featured in the next issue of Marketplace Magazine and entered to win a new BlackBerry Bold from Rogers Communications.
Book it
Here’s what local business figures have on their night table.
Wade Miller – President and Co-founder, Pinnacle Staffing
What are you currently reading?
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson.
What business books have you read recently?
The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny by Robin Sharma.
What business book has had the biggest impact on you?
Focus on the Strengths by Marcus Buckingham. Also, Good to Great by Jim Collins and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
Polly Craik – President and CEO, FineLine Solutions
What are you currently reading?
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill.
What business books have you read recently?
The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes.
What business books have had the biggest impact on you?
Getting Partnering Right by Neil Rackham, Good to Great by Jim Collins and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish. Our business has incorporated components from all of these books. To sum them up, they focus on competitive advantage, discipline and rhythm.
Lesley Hamilton - President, Future Leaders of Manitoba Council
What are you currently reading?
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Based in India, it’s a book about entrepreneurship, but not what you would expect!
What business books have you read recently?
CFA Level 2 Financial Statement Analysis (terribly exciting).
What business book has made the biggest impact on you?
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, no question. It was impactful because Rand’s philosophy is articulated so well through the female character Dagny. I found it very empowering as a young female embarking on a business career. Here’s an excerpt from the novel: “Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark. In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the
not yet and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”
Greg Bieber - Investment Advisor/First Vice President, Richardson Partners Financial Limited
What book are you currently reading?
I’m actually rereading Conversation with God: An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1) by Neale Donald Walsch.
What business book have you read recently?
Behavioral Investment Counseling by Nick Murray.
What business book has made the biggest impact on you?
Stocks For the Long Run by Jeremy J. Siegel because it’s written in easy-to- understand language on how to be a successful long-term investor. In short, it has made me fearless owning common shares in any market cycle (especially the last one we just experienced) and has assisted me greatly in the counsel I have provided my clients over the last two decades.
Your opportunity to change the world
We at Marketplace Magazine are continuing to challenge local small businesses to support the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. Restaurants, retail stores, hotels and attractions all stand to benefit from the creation of this one-of-a-kind museum, which is set to become one of Canada’s top attractions. Help the CMHR thrive by committing $5,000 per year for the next five years.
Take part now in our small business challenge at www.friendsofcmhr.com/marketplace
Aboriginal entrepreneurs honoured with leadership awards
Aboriginal-run businesses are thriving in a variety of industries in Manitoba, contributing to the local economy and reaching worldwide markets. In an effort to recognize these businesses and showcase them as role models for students, the Excellence in Aboriginal Business Leadership Award is handed out each year to a winning business or individual.
The award was created six years ago out of The Centre of Entrepreneurship at the Asper School of Business, in part to generate interest in, and raise financial support for, its Aboriginal Business Education Program (ABEP).
“It’s a way to acknowledge who has an impact and is a role model in our community,” says ABEP director Wanda Wuttunee. “It has been very successful in raising the profile of aboriginal businesses in the province.”
To be eligible, nominees are to have attained secure financial success and growth in their business activities, while also recognizing their cultural background through their work and in their community. This year’s two nominees have found success in completely different industries.
Lisa Meeches started her career as a news reporter, eventually producing and hosting the television program The Sharing Circle. Meeches soon started her own production company, invested in equipment and buying the rights to become the only producer of the show. She then established Eagle Vision with a partner, and it became the parent company of MidCanada Production Services and Meeches Video Productions Inc.
Eagle Vision has had its hand in producing several feature-length films such as Capote, but has also produced documentaries, television shows, corporate videos and live broadcast events. Apart from this massive success in the production industry, Meeches also dedicates time to several boards and organizations such as Manitoba Film and Sound and On-Screen Manitoba. She is also chair of the Manito Ahbee Festival. She teaches through the NSI New Voices program, a film training program for aboriginal individuals.
Larry Chartrand is the co-owner of Labels Unlimited, a successful label company. In 1986, after years of labouring and turning over properties such as houses and apartment complexes, Chartrand decided to establish his own business with a partner. He primarily financed the business, bought a building on Archibald Street and set up shop. Labels Unlimited has a range of clients from one-time jobs to large companies, and its mainstay is food-label production. Customers include Lucerne Foods, Granny’s Poultry and the Fort Garry Brewing Company.
Labels Unlimited first grew its customer base throughout Western Canada, eventually expanding throughout Northern Canada and the United States. The last of the building’s three expansions saw its Archibald headquarters acquiring and expanding onto adjoining property. Labels Unlimited also has a sister company that Chartrand co-owns in Kelowna, B.C., and a sales office in Calgary. Chartrand’s son bought out his previous partner early this year, making the operation family owned. The Métis businessman is subtly supportive of his heritage, hiring a majority of Métis staff.
The Excellence in Aboriginal Business Leadership Award was presented to Lisa Meeches on October 8, 2009.
By Amie Lesyk
Hands-free for 2010
In 2010 a new law that bans talking on hand-held cell phones and texting while driving will come into effect in Manitoba. For those who never answer their phone while driving because they are, well, driving, the ban won’t mean much. But for those who use their car as a social hub or traveling office, it will be
a lesson in behaviour modification.
Globally, in countries from South Korea to Switzerland, cell-phone bans have been in place for years. Manitoba’s ban puts the province on even footing with Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and soon Ontario.
And while the new law seems to have the public behind it—a 2007 Manitoba Medical Association survey found that 75 per cent of Manitobans would support a ban—many are asking how it will be enforced.
It’s a fair question, and one that’s plaguing many cities. Here at home the Winnipeg Police Service says it has not yet been advised on how it will enforce the ban. But perhaps it’s not the possibility of a ticket that drivers should be worried about. According to U.S. statistics, 21 per cent of fatal car crashes involving teenagers each year are the result of cell phone usage, and this number is expected to rise by four per cent each year.
To educate drivers about the impending legislation, MPI launched a public awareness campaign in early fall. While its TV ads and billboards are getting noticed, it remains to be seen whether they will help change driver behaviour.
More effective perhaps is the prospect of being involved in a serious accident. Driving home the dangers of distracted driving are a new crop of Hollywood movies like Will Smith’s Seven Pounds, and myriad graphic online videos like the U.K.’s “Cow” film and the Zero Fatalities series. (Links can be found at marketplacemagazine.ca).
With talking and texting bans popping up across North America, many companies are targeting linked-in consumers with a variety of hands-free devices.
• Offered exclusively through Ford, Lincoln and Mercury, SYNC reads text messages aloud and offers voice commands and hands-free calling. It also lets you read everything you see on your phone display—including caller ID and contact lists—on your radio display.
• Hands-free car kits come in a variety of shapes, sizes and price points. Some versions use a plug-in speaker with a car-mounted cell phone, while others are visor mounted.
• While they may be a little more obvious, most headsets offer automatic volume control and noise cancellation, as well as special features like a third-party GPS app.
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