MissBiz, "Krista Harris Fellowship for SMU Business Students"

by MissBiz aka Jackie Howatt
Published and Copyright November 28, 2006
Saint Mary's University Journal

Have you ever dreamed of working in the fast-paced, ever-evolving realm of broadcast media? Does working for a large and well-respected company sound appealing to you? Saint Mary’s University and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) are partnering up to provide SMU business student an opportunity of a lifetime. CBC is launching a special bursary and internship program - the Krista Harris Fellowship. I had the privilege of sitting down with Susan Mitton, Director of CBC Radio in the Maritimes, and Jane Chalmers, VP of CBC Radio Canada, to discuss the Fellowship program further; specifically the significant impact that Krista Harris had on the CBC organization and why her legacy of leadership will motivate and spawn future leaders in the broadcasting world.

Krista Harris had a very close relationship with Saint Mary’s University; she loved it here very much. The Cape Sable Island native graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce at SMU in 1987 with a Summa Cum Laude and the Birks Medal for the highest standing in the Faculty of Commerce. “She worked her way through Saint Mary’s on scholarships. She was a star and a self-made person”, says Chalmers. “Her heart is here in Halifax”. From there, Krista taught at Saint Mary’s as an accounting professor. It was at the end of this six year teaching stint that she really began to focus on her career at the CBC.

Scanning over the application for the Krista Harris Fellowship, I was immediately stunned at the accomplishments that Krista accomplished during her time at CBC. “Krista loved the CBC and was a fervent supporter of public broadcasting. She held a variety of positions at the CBC from 1994 to 2006, including Regional Director of Operations for CBC Radio in the Maritimes; Regional Director of CBC Radio in the Maritimes; and Executive Director of Production and Resources for CBC Radio Nationally.”

Speaking with Ms. Chalmers and Ms. Mitton, it is clearly understood that Krista Harris was an integral component of the CBC team. “Many employees have told me that she was by far the best boss they ever had. She was a person of great passion, and had to work in something that she believed in, and she found her home at CBC.” Chalmers adds, “She was really able to build a team, she trusted people, and she had people working for her that were doing things that they would otherwise not do for anyone else.”

“I wish I could take credit for getting her into the CBC – she came through the door in the finance department. I went after Krista [for Operations Manager] because she could see the big picture. She really got what we are all here for. She loved it, and she loved the people in it. She was able to stick handle with sensitivity in a way I had never come across before”, says Mitton. “She was a very interesting combination of a girl from a small town who just took off.”

The Krista Harris Fellowship is granting one business student per year the opportunity to work on the corporate side of the CBC organization here in Halifax. In discussing the purpose and benefits of the Fellowship program for business students, Chalmers explains, “Because Krista’s name within CBC is held in such high regard, we needed to find something that was appropriate to put her name on. I would say that for students, we need to attract management and manager inside CBC. She came from [Saint Mary’s] and rose up the ranks very quickly.” Krista Harris is a keynote SMU Alumni who was a representation of the quality experiences that Saint Mary’s University and the Sobey School of Business provides. The Fellowship is a way in which CBC aims to celebrate and honor the student excellence that Saint Mary’s produces.

“The Krista Harris Fellowship awards one full-time student a $2000.00 bursary and a six-week paid immersion ($750/week) at CBC in Halifax. The customized work program will be under the tutelage of the Regional Director and Regional Operations Manager of CBC Maritimes and will be designed to expose the fellow to all the facets of the CBC’s operations in Halifax including Radio, Television and On-line production; Finance; Human Resources; and Communications”.

Award winners will be entitled to use the designation: Krista Harris CBC Fellow (year of award).

This is an excellent opportunity for any business interested in broadcasting and media. The applicant must possess the following:

• A mimimum GPA of 3.0 in the current year
• Demonstrated leadership in extra curricular and/or community activities
• Knowledge and interest in local and national current affairs and culture
• Is legally eligible to work in Canada
• And will currently be a full time MBA student, or finishing the 3rd or 4th year of the Bachelor of Commerce program at Saint Mary’s University.

For more information regarding the Krista Harris Fellowship program, visit Dr. David Wicks, Dean of Commerce in the Sobey building, office #212. Applications must be submitted to Dr. Wicks by February 1, 2007. The announcement of the Fellow will be made by March 15, 2007.

MissBiz, "Blogging For Business"

by MissBiz aka Jackie Howatt
Published and Copyright 21, 2006
Saint Mary's University Journal


I saw a t-shirt the other day that announced in big bold letters, “I Don’t Want To Read Your Blog.” I was a little concerned that this person was so opposed to reading blog that they actually felt the need to spend money on a shirt that stated it. I must admit that it did take some of the wind out of my sails as I just began a blog in early September. Even though blogs, MySpaces, and Facebooks are now uncontrollably rampant, they can and do serve a functional purpose – especially if it coincides with a business of some kind.

Blogs act as a reciprocal communicating tool for both the visitor and the blogging company. They offer an interactive and personal experience for potential customers that ultimately encourage them to become involved, give feedback, and monitor developments within the business. They benefit the blogging business in many ways as well, as there is a continuous free flow of communication with the customer, which means instead of paying a high priced consulting company to figure out what the customer wants, a blog allows the business to hear it directly from the customer.

In my personal experience with blogging, there is no better way to obtain interest and feedback for a new and developing business than starting a blog that tracks the progress of that business. True, there wont be many visitors at first, which is why starting a blog should be more for personal reasons and then for the business, or else it will not survive for very long. There has been widespread speculation regarding the usage of blogging in the corporate world, however, which has somewhat desensitized readers. Major corporations, such as Wal-Mart, have been accused of fronting grass root blogs in order to impose or change a particular image or stream of thought regarding their operation. In this sense, a blog can be a very useful tool, but a very damaging one as well.

Many use blogs or other alike web communication services to unleash personal reflections in a diary-like format. It is important to note that if you do decide to use a blog as a marketing tool for your growing business, it must be treated in a very professional way. Professional means that the topics discussed should center around the issues and happenings of the business - unless a specific type of business calls for a more edgy demeanor, of course.

Nothing makes the customer or client feel more involved in a business than allowing them to track the progression of a business. Blogging regularly about the ups and downs of the business is a sure way to reach the customer on a personal level, which can in turn translate into brand loyalty.

Blogging as a start-up is somewhat feeding into the insurgence of the health food and organic trends of the day as well. Even though the two may seem unrelated, there is a logical connection between these two phenomenons. It all has to do with the growing concern and involvement that the consumer is now willing to go to in order to understand what they are consuming. Just as a consumer wants to understand what is exactly in their food and where it came from, they appreciate knowing who the businesses they deal with are and what they stand for.
Despite what a t-shirt may say, blogging isn’t all bad. It gives businesses the opportunity to get to know their customers’ wants, needs, and even more importantly – their ideas and input. Blogging serves as a valuable medium to make that personal connection between entrepreneurs and the outside world, and should be seriously considered when beginning a new venture. On a more personal level, blogging can also be a motivator to actually forge ahead with the business.

MissBiz, "A Message To Big Businesses: We Don’t Need Your Money, We Need Your Support"

by MissBiz aka Jackie Howatt
Published and Copyright November 14, 2006
Saint Mary's University Journal

Support systems for “young” entrepreneurs are overwhelming these days. With the over-abundance of business plan competitions, small business centers, and funding programs from various private and public sector organizations, it seems as though becoming a successful entrepreneur is a simple career choice. This may be so, but there are very real glass ceilings that virtually prohibit the development of some businesses. The unfortunate aspect of this reality is that the businesses that “claim” they support entrepreneurship are apart of these exasperating barriers. This article is based on personal experience, and hopefully serves as a wake-up call to those resource-enriched businesses out there that could make all the difference in an entrepreneurial venture in a real way.

First, I need to expose the motivation behind this article in order to shed some light on where I am coming from. For a year and a half during my university career, I was apart of a very ambitious tech start-up. Myself, along with four other male colleagues (one being a former SMUSA President), set out to implement an intricate loyalty based program that required the support of large and small retail chains in Canada. During that year and a half, we developed a 180 page business plan, with detailed graphs and explanations of how the system would be set-up through the Interac and banking system, and then brought to the marketplace. This essential banking program necessitated three important primary partners: a bank, a merchant, and possibly a university.

We hit the pavement running looking to bring these essential players together. We set up about a dozen meetings with various business leaders in Atlantic Canada, including Paul Sobey, the CEO of Empire (the holding company of Sobeys, Empire Theaters, etc), Jay Forbes, the now former CEO of Aliant, Brent Currie, the VP Marketing of Scotiabank, Jamie Baillie, the CEO of Credit Union Atlantic, just to name a few. Although they were extremely impressed and saw the need and value-added aspects of the business, their common response was that they needed another business to be apart of our project before they signed on. One of the executives (mentioned above) said, “I realize how frustrating it can be, it’s like everyone has a pen in their hand and they are just waiting for the other person to sign on first”. They understood our situation, but still did very little to really help us. Becoming involved in an outside entrepreneurial venture seemed too “risky” to these companies, even though most of the above would claim they “sponsor” or “fund” small business programs. We didn’t need the money. We needed a name on paper. We could have done a lot with just a signature. We didn’t even need that per se. Just their reference or contacts would have helped.

And therein lies the problem. Much of their support is a total façade. I’m not saying that my particular case defines their stance in every situation, but it is an indicator at the very least. They’ll support the overall “cause” of entrepreneurship, but when faced with a real-life encounter, they close their doors.

Something else that furrowed my brow was an incident that took place last year regarding the same tech-start up. The two teams I was involved with at the time won the top two positions in the SMUBDC’s What’s The Big Idea? Annual Competition. I am very grateful to Saint Mary’s University for stimulating entrepreneurial desire within the student body. However, I came out of that awarding experience with a bitter taste in my mouth; not from the competition itself, but from one of the affiliated business involved in the competition. Upon my arrival at the awards ceremony for What’s The Big Idea?, my business partner and I were immediately ushered over to a well-known incubator investment company, who operate in the business community here in Halifax. We spoke with four or five of the representatives from this company, with the impression that they really enjoyed our idea - they were actually an influential component to our winning “Most Creative Business Idea”. They had already read our business plan at that point and were well versed in the overall idea. After we had won, my business partner and I were very pleased, and planned to go to their downtown office to set up a meeting in order to discuss further project development. We arrived at the downtown office shortly after the awards ceremony and spoke to one of the representatives we had conversed with only a few hours before. He said that the idea was too complex to fund and incubate and, “you’re ahead of the market right now”. Ahead of the market? I thought that’s what made a successful business – thinking ahead of competition? It was disappointing to say the least, because on the surface they seemed very supportive, but after confronting them about one-on-one support – real support - they declined.

The disheartening aspect of this is that most entrepreneurs with grand venture concepts do not need the funding at first. They need support from those who have experience, who work in related industries, and who can align them with potential investors. If one large company would have simply stated on paper that they supported our concept and would help us (not financially) to set up a beta program, we would have been set. Donating $1,000 toward a business plan competition which promotes the formation of “Big” business ideas is appreciated, but serves more as a goodwill tactic for the donator than anything else. It gets their name on posters and on bulletin boards within the University for years on end. But when the business that they gave the funding to comes knocking for actual involvement, they shy away.

I’d like to challenge these businesses to come out from underneath the safeguard that is known as “the business competition”, and to really consider being more receptive to individual entrepreneurial start-ups that need more than just $1,000 and a handshake. What is there to lose if no money is exchanged? For a company like Scotiabank (who, coincidentally, was the donator of our $1,000 prize in the What’s The Big Idea? Competition), they only stand to gain by keeping their doors a little more open (despite the bureaucracy that permeates such organizations). And take Sobeys, for example, we were four entrepreneurial students from their business school! Even if they hadn’t put a dime into our idea, it would look good for them on a marketing standpoint to actually develop and foster an idea (and become that merchant we so desperately needed) that was created by students from their own school. Sobeys in particular should take a more active role in partnering (or facilitating connections) with student businesses for this reason. Saint Mary’s University houses many enterprising young people who already have their own businesses set up. The marketing aspect works on both sides of the coin for Sobeys as well – for those big ideas (like ours) that need more support than actual funding, the Sobeys name can be utilized as a major networking tool. And as for Sobeys - by placing a driven entrepreneurial team from their school on a platform, they are fundamentally promoting the value and effectiveness of their Sobey School of Business.

It is my wish that big businesses recognize their importance in not only encouraging entrepreneurship, but helping where it counts. “Where it counts” may be a meeting, a contact, or even a consideration. I shudder at the hypocrisy that I’ve been shown over the past few years, and I will do whatever I can to make big businesses understand the importance of listening to our ideas – especially since it is us young people who will dictate the success of their business in the future. Strategically speaking, it would be smart for them to keep an ear to the ground, and to listen to our business ideas, since we are the upcoming influencers in the marketplace. “Think BIG” is Donald Trump’s most recognizable quote, but it is hard not to lose faith in it when these rigid businesses are scared to take a chance, and are seemingly prone to “thinking small”.