:: UPDATE
Dear Friend of Sequentia,
It’s been nearly twenty months since Sequentia came into being, and what a twenty months it has been! We’ve signed nearly fifty contracts since October 2002, done work for companies from large multinationals to tiny startups in all industries and verticals with one thing in common: a commitment to better communicating with customers and prospects.
Something we haven’t been all that great at doing ourselves. And so welcome to the relaunch of Sequentia’s newsletter, Sequences!
In this issue, you can catch up with the Sequentians new old and in transit, find out what’s new since our last newsletter (hint: pretty much everything), get some great tips on getting the most out of your relationship with Google, and learn what confluence of circumstances create great event PR.
Do you have online marketing and PR questions? Wondering how to get the most out of your marketing and PR budgets? Send your questions to questions@sequentia.net and next month, we’ll start answering! Until then...I guess it's baseball season!
Jen
:: NEWS
New Office
We love our new digs! In the heart of downtown Toronto, one block north and west of CityTV’s landmark building, we’re in a new, modern brick and beam space far too close to Pages, Caban, Aritzia and John Fluevog. Shopaholics beware – we’re in a dangerous neighbourhood! For the rest of you, come visit!
26 Soho St., Suite 203
Toronto, ON M5T 1Z7
New Faces
Sacha DeGroot joined our PR practice in January.
Christine Harris became our office manager in February. A graduate of the University of Toronto with a passion for theatre and communications, Christine has been an invaluable addition to our team.
Linda Brennan joined us as Manager, Production and Projects in April.
Catharine Fennell joined us as Vice President, Market Development and Marketing Strategist in May.
New Projects
Since our last newsletter, we’ve signed contracts with The Right Mountain, Select International, FACT Corporation, and Intel Canada among others.
New Website Stuff
Visit our website for samples of our newsletter projects, and case studies of some of our work. You can also download the presentation Jen Evans delivered for the E-Content Institute on using technology to gain new customers and keep your existing ones.
Babies, Books and b current!
BABIES
Well, baby anyway. A warm welcome to Rye Anthony D’Cruz Simonett and congratulations to proud parents Tracy D’Cruz and Geoff Simonett!
BOOKS
| Well, book, anyway. Are you looking for a good summer beach read? Wondering how adventure travel, minefields, the internet and murder all coalesce into a taut, suspenseful tale? Look and wonder no more. Jen’s brother Jon Evans’ first novel, Dark Places, (Trail of the Dead in the UK) is now in bookstores near you – or online! Buy it from Chapters or Amazon.ca. |
 |
Read the first chapter. See the US, UK, German and Dutch covers.
B CURRENT
Our very own Christine Harris is the apprentice director for the third annual rock.paper.sistahz performance work series festival, on at Theatre Passe Muraille, Queen and Bathurst, from May 5-23rd.
Christine recommends the production of Mad Miss. An adaptation of Olive Senior's "You Think I Mad Miss?" written and performed by Rhoma Spencer, directed by Honor Ford-Smith. The show runs from May 12-23; visit http://www.bcurrent.ca for the complete festival schedule.
[more news]
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:: FEATURE ARTICLES
That Versatile Google
Oh, that Google! Froogle. Gmail. Orkut. Oh yeah, and search. If we’re not making it clear enough for you, Google is not just a search engine anymore … it’s your complete online research solution. You’ll be amazed at the information you can track and find with Google – we were! Read on …
- Google is a package tracker. Type a FedEx or UPS package number (just the
digits); when you click Search, Google offers a link to its tracking
information.
- Google is a units-of-measurement converter. Type "teaspoons in a gallon,"
for example, or "centimeters in a foot." Click Search to see the answer.
- Google is a stock ticker. Type in AAPL or MSFT, for example, to see a link
to the current Apple or Microsoft stock price, graphs, financial news and so
on.
- Google is an atlas. Type in an area code, like 212, to see a Mapquest map
of the area.
- Google is Wal-Mart's computer. Type in a UPC bar code number, such as
"036000250015," to see the description of the product you've just "scanned
in." (Thanks to the Google Blog, http://google.blogspace.com, for this tip and the next couple.)
- Google is an aviation buff. Type in a flight number like "United 22" for a
link to a map of that flight's progress in the air. Or type in the tail
number you see on an airplane for the full registration form for that plane.
- Google is a calculator. Type in an equation ("32+2345*3-234="). Click
Search to see the answer.
- Download and install the Google toolbar. Not only does it put the Google
search box into your browser full-time, but it also blocks pop-up ads and
fills in forms for you. For Windows at http://toolbar.google.com. (Ad
blocking, form-filling and Google's search box are already built into the
Apple's Web browser, Safari.)
- Google is the Department of Motor Vehicles. Type in a VIN (vehicle
identification number, which is etched onto a plate, usually on the door
frame, of every car), like "JH4NA1157MT001832," to find out the car's year,
make and model.
- Phrase your question in the form of an answer. "After all, you're not
looking for Web pages that ask your question," explains director of
technology Craig Silverstein. "You're looking for pages that answer it."
So instead of typing, "What is the average rainfall in the Amazon basin?",
you might get better results by typing "The average rainfall in the Amazon
basin is".
- This is an old one, but very important: Put quotes around phrases that
must be searched together. If you put quotes around "electric curtains,"
Google won't waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the
word "electric" and another set containing the word "curtains."
- Similarly, put a hyphen right before any word you want screened out. If
you're looking up dolphins, for example, you'll have to wade through a
million Miami Dolphins pages unless you search for "dolphins -Miami."
- Google is a global White Pages and Yellow Pages. Search for
"phonebook:home depot norwalk, ct," Google instantly produces the address
and phone number of the Norwalk Home Depot. This works with names
("phonebook:robert jones las vegas, NV") as well as businesses.
Don't put any space after "phonebook." And in all of the following examples,
don't type the quotes I'm showing you here.
- For hours of rainy-day entertainment, visit http://labs.google.com. Here,
you'll find links to new, half-finished Google experiments-like Google
Voice, in which you call (650) 623-6706, speak the words you want to search
for and then open your browser to view the results. Disclaimer: It wasn't
working when I tried it. (Ditto a lot of these experiments.)
- Poke around the "Services & Tools" link on the Google.com home page and
you'll find some of the better-known lesser-known Google features, if that
makes any sense.
Thanks to Bryan Leblanc for these great Google tricks. Submit yours to timewasters@sequentia.net today!
That Privacy Legislation
Are you privacy compliant? Find out!
Have a database of customer information and wondering whether or not you’re privacy compliant? You are not alone. There is a tremendous amount of confusion and misinformation surrounding PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, effective in Canada as of January 1, 2004) requirements for small and large companies alike. Sequentia partner ThinData has developed an excellent set of checklists covering PIPEDA compliance and customer communications from newsletters to email campaigns to information collection to database. Available for download at
http://www.thindata.com/pipedachecklist/
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:: MARKETING TIPS AND TRICKS
Consumers Becoming Marketing-Resistant?
http://www.internetnews.com/stats/article.php/3344701
E-newsletter Strategies from CLickZ
http://www.clickz.com/experts/em_mkt/enl_strat/
How Email Changed the PR Business
http://www.clickz.com/experts
/em_mkt/b2b_em_mkt/article.php/3317031
Paid Search Keyword Strategies: A Three Part Series
Part One – Using your Log Files
http://www.clickz.com/experts/search/strat/article.php/3315271
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:: CASE STUDY
Event PR and Bonasource
What’s the key to successful media coverage at an event? A hot topic, a knowledgeable and qualified speaker, a good media strategy – and lots of phone calls! Read on for how we secured some great coverage for a very timely topic …
Last month Sequentia client Bonasource was asked to speak at an industry debate called "Offshore Outsourcing: Reality vs. Rhetoric", hosted by the Toronto Product Management Association (TPMA). Offshore outsourcing is a hot topic in the media these days, given phenomena like the ‘jobless recovery’ and job exodus being a major issue in the upcoming US election.
Seeing an opportunity for some publicity, Sequentia developed a strategy to drum up media interest and issued a media alert, followed up by phone calls arranging for media to attend the event and witness experts debate the pros and cons of the off-shore business model.
After the debate, Dmitri Buterin, President of Bonasource was available for media interviews on the topic of outsourcing. Bonasource has a Toronto office and an offshore Moscow office where its core development takes place, and the company has become expert at successful offshore development models, the keys to which Buterin outlined at the event.
The media response was phenomenal and resulted in a wonderful piece in the National Post, right on the front page of the business section featuring a photograph of Dmitri Buterin and a sidebar piece focusing on the company itself.
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