We need a name. Four names really. Okay, maybe five.

So far we’re stumped.

Every decision, every action has been the product of collaboration and passionate discussion, yet this elephant in the room seems to receive sporadic attention, or inattention. It’s the blank screen problem on a billboard scale.

Its seems that this one area of the project has been relegated to our quiet contemplative moments – almost as an ... [more]

I just got back from an intensive two-day brainstorm / working retreat with the team up near Mount Tremblant in Quebec.

It’s difficult trying to make the best use of such a short period with everyone in the same physical location - it’s only happened one other time - at the beginning of this project - and it’s unlikely to happen again.

The highlights of the meetings:

• A lot of progress was made on how we integrate the customer management, customer portal, and team collaboration modules.  We discussed where they overlap, and how we can ensure smooth transitions for all of the different roles of the people who will use the ... [more]

Writing generally involves deadlines and limited access to the people who can provide the information and the direction. Much of being successful is being able to get everything you need in one shot, usually at the drop of a hat.

In this situation – which can happen pretty much anywhere – I try to lead a detailed conversation, to really get a sense of what we want to write about. This really beats getting a slew of information that people think you would need to get the job done.

In these types of discussions I will assume the role of someone who knows nothing about the subject (which is often not a stretch). The goal is to get the person/people to explain ... [more]

Scott Annan and I had a great conversation this morning about how to categorize people who sign up for the MG beta. Usually when companies start collecting email addresses, they simply lump everyone into the same category without considering the fact that people always have different reasons for signing up for something.

Realizing that fact is very important because when you start interacting with these people, you can easily turn them off by sending them something that is not in line with their own intentions for signing up.  For example, lets say someone signs up because they are passionate about your application and helping you make it better but they will never be a client for ... [more]

Scott and I grabbed a quick sandwich at Goonies on Friday. A series of last-minute meetings and the need to deliver on a speech request (read: It’s 9:30, I need to see something from you by 3:30, but I can’t meet you until 11:00) had hijacked what was supposed to be a casual Friday after a long week.

In an abridged meeting, Scott and I talked applications, we talked community, ... [more]

Yesterday I sent out a “Friends of Mercury Grove” email announcing the launch of our blog.  Below are the click rates from the email using our email campaign tool (code name marathon).

The Friends of Mercury Grove list is made up of personal contacts and people who have signed up for our newsletter over the last year.  We haven’t sent out a note in several months, so our we had a higher ... [more]

We spent a lot of time talking about the right message for Mercury Grove’s splash page before there was much to show for it.

I think that this particular task took on serious significance for Scott A. There’s a lot riding on this call to action and so it needs to be just right. We need to hit the right chord with potential customers/ community members, find our voice and phrase it smoothly enough that readers won’t give it a second thought. It’s a lot to expect from 50 words.

With several discarded drafts, it’s easy to lose site of the progress being made – however incremental. Our meeting at Dunn’s was valuable – there’s nothing like blueskying over ... [more]

Since we are getting really close to the official re-launch of the MG site and the re-design of the MG blog, Jeff Meldrum, Scott Annan and I got together to go over the final messaging for both sites. Not having a background in communications, this process was a bit new to me. It was great to listen to Jeff because he is a pro and does the communications for some many big wigs around Ottawa. Even though ... [more]

So this is almost unheard of but the images attached to this posts are our task lists, including delivery dates for this project. We wanted to share these right from the beginning so people could see what we’re doing and when we think we will be “getting stuff done”.

It takes a lot of guts for a company to be this transparent. MG has already committed to developing four applications in four months, and now we’re making public the most secret list that any software ... [more]

Communications strategies always have key messages – the five to ten salient points that should be communicated over and over again. Key messages provide an organization with the foundation to speak with clients, media and each other. They’re the glue.

In this naked marketing arena, much of who we are is being defined as we go. We don’t want to sound canned, but we also can’t sound scattered and inconsistent. Everyone’s speaking at once and we’re not managing the message with the same rigour that you’d often see.

So here’s the challenge: suggest messaging that can keep people on point without stifling the flood of ideas that stem from having to stop, reflect ... [more]