CES

Women’s Economic Empowerment: Building Strong Economies and Communities in Canada and Internationally

2012-01-12T08:49:00.000-06:00

Register TODAY and join us to learn about how women’s economicempowerment activities are are building local economies and strongercommunities in Canada and internationally.

BACKGROUND

In nearly every country, women work longer hours than men, butare usually paid less and are more likely to live in poverty. In subsistenceeconomies, women spend much of the day performing tasks to maintain thehousehold, such as carrying water and collecting fuel wood. In Canada, womencontinue to face systemic wage discrimination and their unequal domesticresponsibilities continue to limit their employment options.

Around the world, gender equality is key to economicdevelopment. This session will look at how women’s economic empowerment inCanada and internationally is contributing to stronger economies andcommunities, and what Canadians can do both here and abroad.

SPEAKERS:

International perspective: Myriam Lafrance, Centrefor International Studies and Co-operation (CÉCI)

Canadian perspective: RozLockyer,PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise andWomen’s Economic Council

Moderator: Ethel Côté,Canadian Centre for Community Renewal

A question and answer period will follow.

SESSION LOGISTICS:

· Date: Jan 31, 2012

· Webinar begins at12:00 pm Eastern time, 9:00 am Pacific time

· Participation is free

· Register by January 29to obtain connection information and additional resources.

This session is in English.

A session in French takes place at the same time on WednesdayFebruary 1

REGISTRATION:

Register today! by clickingon http://womenseconomicempowerment.eventbrite.com

For more information about theCanadian CED Network, please visit: http://www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/

Please share this invitation with anyone interested.

The Canadian CED Network’sInternational Committee webinar series is made possible in partnership with Uniterrahttp://www.uniterra.ca

Defining your Mobile Strategy

2011-11-30T14:43:00.001-06:00

Seine River First Nation

2011-10-28T13:26:00.001-05:00

Jason and I traveled to Seine River First Nation this pastweek – a small Ojibway community situated on Wild Potato Lake in Northwest Ontario.We met with Tom Johnson and Roger Spencer, Councillors for the Band, to discussopportunities for sustainable tourism development. Tom and I first connectedthrough the Community Tourism Vitalization Initiative (CTVI) spearheaded by CESback in 2010.

On Wednesday morning, we drove to the community from FortFrances on Highway 11 – the TransCanada Highway in this neck of the woods. Thispart of Canada is one of the country’s best kept secrets – the Canadian Shieldmarks the territory with lakes and rivers that are yours for exploring. On thisparticular morning, fog was creeping along the highway as we followed the SeineRiver east. The evergreens were moist with dew, the tamaracks had turned agolden orange and the birch trees stood naked already.

After about an hour’s drive from Fort Frances, we came uponthe community, which lies directly off the highway. It’s a small community withonly about 300 community members living on reserve. We met Tom and Roger at the‘Roundhouse,’ – literally a round house that is used for community events andworkshops. There we had an open dialogue about tourism opportunities for thecommunity and were joined by Clarence Johnson – Tom’s brother.

All that discussion got us pretty hungry. Lunch was catered by the community and a localcommunity member who has been trained as a chef prepared and served the meal.For lunch we ate locally harvested wild rice, moose meat (the moose had just beenkilled a few days ago by Roger’s dad) and vegetables. The food was so good andI ate so much that I didn’t even need dinner that night.

After a meal like that, we definitely needed to get moving.So Tom served as our personal tour guide and we checked some of the sites fortourism development. Without giving too much away, I can say with confidencethat the community has great potential for tourism with a variety ofopportunities.

Jason and I left Seine River First Nation feeling verypositive – everyone was so friendly and the community was so beautiful thattourism is a natural fit for them.

As a result of the visit, we will be developing a Go ForwardStrategy for the community which will detail opportunities, approach and recommendations.We hope to continue working with the community in the future.

Thank you Tom, Roger and Clarence for hosting us for theday!!

To learn more about the CTVI program, please contact JessicaBraun at jessica@cesclients.com or1-877-444-5550.

Branding your voice, being easily heard & building your network

2011-10-25T13:59:00.001-05:00

Clinton and I ventured off to Bonnyville, Alberta tofacilitate a Mobile Strategy Workshop sponsored by Alberta’s Lakeland,Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce and the Northern AlbertaDevelopment Council. The workshop was hosted at the beautiful Bonnyville &District Chamber of Commerce’s office and information centre situated in VezeauBeach Park.

The focus of the workshop was on:

Branding your voice – defining the image youneed

Being easily heard – determining what mobile platforms to use

Building your network – managing, monitoring andmeasuring the results

The first exercise of the workshop was to find out the most interesting blog title that the participants were drawn to. This set the tone for the workshop to emphasize the importance of your brand's voice.

We were excited to have so many great participants at thisevent and we enjoyed learning about some of the challenges and opportunities ourparticipants had in defining their Mobile Strategies.

Participant’s Feedback:

“This was a very interesting workshop – relevant in manyways to our organization. I gained more knowledge about social media & feelI have a direction to go in marketing via social media.”

“How important the ‘real people’ and the stories are.”

“It makes social media not so intimidating and makes youfeel like there is so much potential.”

“It was unpretentious and not intimidating. Awealth of knowledge.”

Finding your Brand’s Authentic Voice

2011-09-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

I just participated in a webinar hosted by SustainableTravel International titled ‘Finding your voice: Creating Strong Bonds withCustomers via Social Media’. This webinar really hit home on some of the do’sand don’ts of social media and focused on how to create more engagingconversations with your customers using facebook.

So why is it challenging to engage your customers but soeasy to talk with your friends on facebook? It’s all about the approach youtake and finding your brands ‘authentic’ voice. Your friends know who you areand they know what to expect. If you’re always acting like a salesperson andpushing products and services, your customers won’t get to know who you reallyare. Focus on building a relationship with your customers rather than justselling your products to them.

Before you dive into the world of social media think aboutyour brand’s voice. What makes it unique, what do you know a lot about, what doyou love, how would customers describe who you are...You have to know yourselfbefore you begin posting things on facebook.

You also have to go in with a plan and determine what youwant to talk about and share with your customers. Posting videos, photos, andstatements that require a response are great ways to connect with yourcustomers.

I’ve become an avid follower of the GreenlandTourism facebook page. They do an amazing job sharing videos & photos,asking fun trivia questions, while reflecting a strong brand identity – ‘I loveGreenland’. http://www.facebook.com/ilovegreenland#!/ilovegreenland?sk=app_100196080073902.

Building relationships with people and places is part of ourphilosophy at CES. If you would like to share your stories or brainstorm fornew ideas on how to find your brand’s authentic voice, we want to hear fromyou!

Written by Amanda Huculak

Creating a Successful Stakeholder Consultation Process

2011-08-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

Stakeholder consultations are an integral component to each of CES’ projects. We believe that meeting with key stakeholders will develop a project framework that meets the needs and aspirations of the local community.

So how do you begin a successful stakeholder consultation process that will ultimately enrich your project?

Often, consultations can be dominated by one very vocal, strongly opinionated community member. Or, consultations can stray off course by hidden agendas. Through our experiences and our belief in the value of consultation, we have developed these 5 criteria to keep in mind when developing your process.

Schedule – Ensure you schedule the stakeholder consultation appropriately within your project work plan to allow you to gather and frame the data for its intended use. Budget adequate time and staff.

Methodology – One-on-one meetings allow you to gather rich data from expert or key stakeholders but are the most time consuming form of consultation. Identify key stakeholders to schedule one-on-one meetings with; secondary stakeholders can be consulted through focus group or workshops. Group the stakeholders by industry or focus area when coordinating workshops to ensure relevant topics are discussed.

Technology – Utilizing technology, e.g. web-based questionnaires will allow you to gather feedback from a much larger number of stakeholders.

Education – Ensure your stakeholders are properly informed of project background and objectives. Inform them of the purpose and goals of stakeholder consultations. This may make some stakeholders more willing to provide their time and thoughts.

Communication – Establish clear communication channels and keep them open.

Stakeholder consultations will allow a community to contribute to the project, ultimately creating a successful project that everyone can feel proud of.

CES has created effective and efficient stakeholder consultation processes developed to international standards. If you are looking for a third party facilitator – contact Jessica Braun at jessica@cesclients.com or 1-877-444-5550.