I attended the SOHO Business Conference in Toronto today (and I will be at SOHO Vancouver on Oct. 30), but there didn't seem to be much of a tie-in with SBW. The new “Small Business” edition of the Financial Post was specifically scheduled to coincide with Small Business Week, but it wasn't really tied to it in any way.
Still, the week is only half over, so there are lots of events still to go. (Thursday, Oct. 18, seems particularly event-packed, so why not take one in?) For a list of events across the country, click here.
One of the problems with Small Business Week may be that it was started by (and is owned by) a big eastern syndicate -- the Business Development Bank, which is A) a federal Crown corporation, and B) exceedingly bad at marketing and public relations. I noticed on their website that they are starting to brand it as BDC Small Business Week (see picture). That's about the best way I can imagine to kill anyone else’s interest in taking part.
Are you participating/did you participate in Small Business Week this year? What type of event did you find effective? Leave a comment below and maybe we can get a fruitful discussion going. Then I will e-mail the discussion to BDC so they can ignore it for next year.
BTW, the BDC kicks off Small Business Week every year by presenting awards to the top young entrepreneurs from each province and territory.
Congratulations to this year’s winners:
EPIC Newsgroup Inc., Vancouver
Upside Software, Edmonton
24-7 INtouch, Regina
Modern Earth Inc., Winnipeg
I Love Rewards, Toronto
matt & nat, Montréal
Ad-Dispatch, Halifax
Fatkat, Miramichi, N.B.
Smooth Cycle, Charlottetown
MedicLINK Systems Ltd., St. John's
Igloolik Isuma Productions, Igloolik, Nunavut
Northern Canadian Adventure Racing, Yellowknife
What's Up Yukon, Whitehorse
You can get lots more details on these companies here.
4 comments:
I think small business week needs a new sponsor. Is it my imagination or are we in Canada promoting small business less every year. I remember coming here in 1999 and seeing all the buzz about small business. Somebody needs to take the lead in promoting entrepreneurship or our economy is going to suffer in the future
I can't speak for anywhere else in Canada, but in Winnipeg the BDC did and our Canada/Manitoba Business Service Centre did a great job of branding Small Business Week. During the whole month of October there are hundreds of events going on throughout Manitoba to help small business owners. I was also at the Young Entrepreneurs dinner on Tuesday night and thought they did a first rate job on the production of the event.
gbg
Useful info, the companies away from the limelight are making all the money.
ViSalus
During the whole month of October there are hundreds of events going on throughout Manitoba to help small business owners.
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