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Thank you!

6/13/2016

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Think Airdrie Networking would like to thank the Executive Members of our 2015-2016 session.  They did an amazing job!  This year TAN has:

- Sponsored the Airdrie Angel Program
- Sponsored an Entrepreneur with this year's SMARTStart program
- Hosted several FUNtastic, Off The Clock Networking events at some stellar venues throughout Airdrie.
- Participated, Donated or Assisted in various Local Fundraisers & Events.

We've learned about:
- Health Spending Accounts
- How to optimize your credit rating if you're self employed and seeking a Mortgage
- Demystifying SEO
- Marketing Strategies
- Mental Health Resources
- Networking Do's & Don'ts
- Small Business Lobbying... just to name a few.

We've brainstormed and collaborated on various topics like:
- Managing a Bad Review on Social Media
- How to avoid Client Cancellations
- Work/Life Balance
- Employee Recruitment & Retention
- Blogging
- Business Development... etc.

It's been a great year with an amazing and fun group.  Thank you to everyone who presented and/or contributed.  The gift of your time and expertise is what makes our lunches so informative and enjoyable.

*Don't forget that we have 1 session left for the Health Foundation before we break for the summer.  After that, we look forward to seeing everyone again in the fall.

Cheers!
The 2015-2016 TAN Group
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Small Business Armageddon

9/3/2015

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Business Continuity Planning – Are you ready?
By Michael Curtis – President of The Response Team Inc.

Why is it that your business should be thinking about a business continuity plan?  Well quite simply – “stuff” happens.  Sometimes that “stuff” is within our control but some of the time it is not. First of all I think that we should define a couple of terms:

A Business Continuity Plan enables critical services or products to be continually delivered to clients and endeavors to ensure that critical operations continue to be available.

The Disaster Recovery Plan is a subset, a small part of overall business continuity. It is the process of saving data with the sole purpose of being able to recover it in the event of a disaster. 

A Business Resumption Plan describes how to resume business after a disruption.

These three plans are quite different from one and other.  If you have questions about them please get in touch with me and I would be happy to walk you through them and the processes involved in them.

So what is this “Stuff” that I refer to?  These are the hazards that we face every day and how they could impact our businesses.  Generally these hazards are identified in the risk analysis (Which I will talk about later).  These risks are generally broken down into two distinct groups and are identified as either natural or human caused.

Natural hazards may include the severe weather phenomenon that we are aware of, such as: severe bad weather including high winds, hail, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, forest fires, earthquakes, epidemics, and tsunamis.

Human caused hazards can be broken down into two categories as well: intentional and non-intentional.

Non-intentional human caused hazards include: construction of failures (roads, bridges, water systems, etc.), Power or energy failures, explosions and fires, hazardous materials spills, financial issues, etc.

Intentionally caused human hazards include: civil disobedience, work action or stoppages, sabotage, terrorism, etc.

While this is just a short list, and any incident, emergency, or disaster may provide minor or significant impacts to any organization and their ability to continue business. This is why we need to have a plan in place ahead of time.

Business continuity management is not a new topic. However many people misunderstand what’s involved in business continuity management. My experience has taught me that business continuity management can actually be thought of as an umbrella. The umbrella can be thought of as the overarching and encompassing combination of the following components:

1.       Risk management
2.       Disaster Recovery
3.       Facilities Management
4.       Supply Chain Management
5.       Quality Management
6.       Health and Safety
7.       Knowledge Management
8.       Emergency Management
9.       Security
10.   Crisis Communication and Public Relations

Do not let this list overwhelm you. The vast majority of companies do not have a solid grasp on all 10 components. So what steps can you take? What’s involved you may ask? While there are six steps in completing a business continuity plan. They include:

1. Risk Management (or Risk Assessment)
2. Business Impact Analysis
3. Business Continuity Strategy Development
4. Business Continuity Plan Development
5. Business Continuity Plan Testing
6. Business Continuity Plan Maintenance

I will go through the steps of a couple of these in this blog. The risk management staff or risk assessment enables your organization to determine:

a)      What incidents can occur
b)      How often they are likely to occur
c)       The damage and incident is likely to cause
d)      How will an incident likely affect the organization
e)      How vulnerable the organization is to the hazard

Once the risk assessment is completed and we have a better understanding of the hazards that the organization may face we need to turn to the business impact analysis. The business impact analysis (BIA) is the assessment of the impact of a disruptive event on the business and the importance of that business function as it applies to your mission.  In other words it will identify:

•      Which business areas are critical to the your business survival
•      Time imperatives on the delivery of products and services
•      RTO – Recovery Time Objectives
•      MTO – Maximum Tolerable Outages
•      Who is involved both internally and externally in the achievement of the business objective  (Dependencies)
•       Minimum Resource requirements.

The BIA will assist in identifying the quantitative and qualitative impacts of a negative event:

Quantitative: Financial in nature (Sales, property loss, penalties, unexpected expenses

Qualitative: Operational or Non-Financial (Loss of Staff from this point in the process, low morale, reputation or credibility, customer relations etc.

From this point in the process we will begin to develop the strategies necessary to combat the effects of the most likely incidents to affect your organization.  Once those strategies are in place we can begin to put together the plan which will help drive how you will implement these strategies if an incident were to occur in your organization.

Once the plan is in place it is important to test the plan. Testing can occur on small or large scales depending on the needs of the organization. As testing of the plan occurs your organization will soon determine what levels of maintenance need to occur on the plan.

Maintenance should occur on a yearly basis at minimum, so as to incorporate changes in your business as they occur including personnel, location, buildings affected, expansion, contraction, or changes in significant business processes.

One of the significant steps that you will notice in the process is that as you move outside your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.

Our Vision: Providing you peace of mind –               A sense of calm.

  It is normal to be concerned and in some cases afraid of the unknowing certainties that lie ahead. With the assistance of professionals in the field of business continuity management and emergency management response, we can help bring those concerns to a manageable level. At the response team Inc. our mission is to provide you with timely, professional, and responsible direction and manpower before, during, and after an incident. It is our vision to provide you peace of mind - a sense of calm.

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HR For Small Businesses

6/16/2015

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Cartoon of HR attempting to hire an skilled employee for very little pay.
The challenges of finding and retaining great employees is the same whether you are a small business owner or you run a large corporation. The good news is that the same principles and practices apply, and if you put the work in up front, you will save time and money in the long run. The four crucial areas to this process are:

1)    Identifying the need to hire
2)    Writing a comprehensive job description
3)    Recruitment
4)    Training/Orientation upon hiring


How do you know you need to hire someone? This may seem like a simple question but many small business owners are so busy that they may not even recognize that they should consider bringing in a new employee. You may be spending way too many hours working on tasks that someone else could be doing e.g. administrative duties, instead of focusing on running your business, or you could be missing important deadlines because you are overwhelmed with the day-to-day functioning of your business.

Once the need is recognized, the most important step is to write up a detailed job description. This becomes a tool that will assist you and your new employee every step of the way.

“A well put together job description is a good business investment because it can be used to support most HR functions: recruitment, selection, orientation, training, work plans, compensation, performance reviews and legal defence.” (Service Canada Job Analysis 2011-11-30).

This can seem like a daunting task if you have never written a job description, however there are lots of great templates to guide you in the process, including one in Microsoft Word. Another great resource is the HR Council of Canada (http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/right-people-job-descriptions.cfm) which provides a template and samples (NOTE: This website is for non-profit organizations, but the examples are still useful).

Recruitment is your next step, and there are several ways to go about this:

- Referrals (friends, colleagues, peers, family)
- Posting on your company website
- Online Job Boards (Kijiji, Job Bank which are free; Workopolis or Monster for a fee)
- Industry or Professional Associations

The job description can be used to write up your job posting, and once again, there are lots of great templates available to guide you through the process (Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses is a comprehensive resource for the whole recruitment process along with samples, templates and links).

  Once you have hired your new employee, the last and often overlooked step is a good orientation and training plan. It can be as simple as spending time going over the job description, discussing your company goals, values, and standards, introductions to other staff members, and training on equipment and processes.

Hiring the right employee and retaining them is critical to the success of your business. The cost of hiring the wrong person can be massive; some statistics indicate that it can be as high as 30% of the employee’s annual salary; other statistics show that recruiting and training a new employee can cost up to 2.5 times their annual salary. Putting in the time and effort at the beginning of the process will contribute to success for your business and for the new employee.

Other Resources

1)    Alberta Human Rights Commission (Provides information on the Alberta Human Rights Act)
2)    Service Canada (Screening and Interviewing Job Applicants)
3)    Government of Canada (National Occupation Codes)
4)    HR Council (Selection and Hiring Tips)
5)    Alberta Government (Hiring and Keeping Employees, Business Tax, and Payroll)
6)    Alberta Employment and Labour Relations (Employment Standards and Labour Code; Employment Equity and Human Rights)
7)    Canada One (Effective Hiring for Small Businesses)
8)    Law Depot (Legal Forms and Documents for Canadian Businesses)

Author:    Loanne Benner - Benner Database Designs                                                    loanne@bennerdesigns.com

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Parkbench - The Marketing Revolution!

3/18/2015

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Picture of the Parkbench logo
Most of us have our websites which are great, but they’re usually pretty static.  There’s our Facebook pages, which are definitely more interactive but the only people following them are those that took the time to find and like them.  Then there’s our LinkedIn accounts with vast networking potential, but are designed to showcase the person, not so much a business.  So what do you do if you want to attract new clientele but you’re trying to reach people who may not even know what they’re looking for?... 

Shilo Storey with Re/Max Central – Shilo Storey Real Estate, is an advertising pioneer blazing a trail through Airdrie with a new and exciting online marketing tool called, “Parkbench”!  She has extended an open invitation to the business community to join her in a truly unique and revolutionary marketing campaign.

Parkbench takes only the best of the other conventional networking and advertising mediums and combines it into a powerful database, custom built for local businesses to take advantage of.  It links businesses, customer reviews, upcoming events, deals, groups, websites, other social media accounts, blogs and so much more into a neighbourhood based, information hub.  Real time, local demographics are now available to businesses who wish to market their companies more effectively.

Parkbench is able to find who and where your customers are and can tell you what it is they’re looking for.  Not only that but when you wish to say something, you now have a captive audience ready and willing to listen.  Compare and analyze response to different marketing techniques.  Get feedback about your services.  Collaborate and partner with other complimentary industries.  It’s a one stop shop for businesses trying to get their message out there to just the right people.

What’s the catch you say?  How much?  It must be hard to do...  No catch.  It’s Free.  All you have to do is go to www.parkbench.com and create an account.  You either claim your business if it’s in there already or simply start a new business profile if it’s not.  (Answer some questions and upload your logo.)  Oh!  Did I mention it was FREE!!!!

The only downside with Parkbench is also its greatest advantage, and that is that it’s LOCAL.  So yes this does not mean you’re going to get a million hits like on YouTube, but if you’re a local business do you really care if your page is viewed by the thousands in India?  This will be exclusive to local businesses and local residents only… aka your ideal clientele. 

Like with anything in life you will get out of it what you put in, so Shilo is encouraging everyone to check it out as soon as possible and stake your piece of the advertising pie.  Even if you don’t wish to join just yet you can still show your support for your fellow entrepreneurs by writing reviews or providing referrals.  Want to spark interest in your own business profile?  Try an incentive or reward program for customers and colleagues.  If nothing else at least take a few moments to have a look around at the hottest new trend in business networking.

Viva Airdrie!


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How Can I Help?

1/28/2015

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Picture of someone meditating on the beach at sunset.
In light of Bell Canada’s “Let’s Talk” day, we thought we’d post on the issue of Mental Health in the work place.  Last week we had Clayton Falk with Effective Solutions Counselling presenting to our TAN group and there are a few simple steps we can all take to ensure that we are in fact, “Talking” about mental health.

Statistics from the World Health Organization indicate that by the year 2020, depression will be the 2nd leading cause of disability worldwide. Mental problems and illness are among the common causes of workplace absenteeism.  Having employees that are unable to work does not benefit anyone.  However the majority of us do not know how to properly deal with various mental health issues including depression.  Often our response (either going through it personally or addressing someone else that is), is that depression is something that you can simply snap out of, if you really wanted to.

To clarify, no one really knows what causes depression but they have identified a few factors that definitely contribute.  One is genetics and another is brain chemistry.  These are not imaginary and cannot be treated by simply wishing them away.  You can’t “snap” out of cancer, so why do we think you can “snap” out of depression?  Once you realize that depression is real, and a problem then you can move forward and begin to plan ahead.  Our attitudes about mental health issues really determine how successful we are in overcoming them.

Clayton suggested 3 easy steps to ensure your work place is an environment that encourages mental health.

1. Have an Open Door Policy – Let people know that if they’re struggling you are willing to listen.  Stating that upfront and reminding them often when there’s not a problem, makes it much easier to talk about when there is one.  Sometimes all it takes is asking, “How can I help?”

2.  Have Standard Procedures – If you have a structure for employees to follow when bringing their concerns forward it lends a sense of legitimacy and purpose in how your company deals with an out of the box situation.  Perhaps when conducting employee reviews you dedicate a segment for mental health.  If it’s standard for everyone, then it may not be as embarrassing or uncomfortable to bring up if something is wrong. 

3.  Have Resources Available – How does the old saying go?  “It’s better to have something and not need it, than to need something and not have it.”  Obviously the majority of us are not qualified to address a mental health issue.  However there are people, programs and websites that are.  Once you open the dialogue for mental health make sure you can suggest some options to help.  It’s important to know what they are and how to find them. 

For example Mental Health Works is a great resource for mental health in the work place. Or you can always check out Depression Hurts for Friends and Family Members

For more information you can also go to Clayton’s website at: www.effectivesolutionscounselling.com or  to the Airdrie Counselling Centre at: www.airdriecounsellingcenter.com

With our stressful, busy lives it’s never been more critical to take a moment and reflect on our own well-being and others’.  Conversation is the first step to ensuring our success… Are you ready to start?




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Attainable Mortgages For The Self Employed

11/25/2014

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Picture of a Home For Sale
Entrepreneurs are by definition independent.  However, sometimes that independence can become a barrier when trying to achieve certain personal goals, such as becoming a Home Owner.  Anita Lemke with Mortgage Architects recommends 3 simple steps to overcoming those barriers:

1. Know your Credit Score.  People often think that they shouldn’t check their own credit score as it can adversely affect their rating.  However when you check your own score it’s called a “Soft Hit” and does not show up in your credit history.  It’s only when another lender checks your score that you see their inquiries – the more you have the more detrimental it can be for a mortgage application.  (Only give permission for credit checks if you are fully committed to financing your purchase, whatever it may be.)  You can check your personal credit score for free at Equifax Canada.  It ranges from 300-900.  A score above 680 is considered excellent, and a score below 620 is considered challenging.

2. Financial Discipline.  Something as simple as just paying your bills on time can dramatically increase your credit score and begins to build trust with possible lenders.  Being consistent when managing both your personal and business financials, along with filing your income taxes with future buying power in mind; can be worth more than your actual numbers.

3. Documentation.  When applying for a mortgage, make sure to have ALL your documentation ready.  If your record management and bookkeeping are well organized you will have a clear picture of your financials and so will your lender.   If your documentation has gaps in it, this creates confusion and can result in either disqualification or a less than favourable rate.

Knowing upfront the extra requirements a self employed individual will need to obtain a mortgage; can smooth an otherwise daunting process.  A qualified mortgage planner with Mortgage Architects can definitely help and will come highly recommended. 

-They have access to a broad network of lenders.  They will work to pair you with the right type of lender based on your financials with the best possible lending product.  When you go into a bank you only have access to one.
- They do one credit check which is then used to approach only the right lenders.  Going to several banks results in several credit checks.
- They know what documents are required for any type of financial situation and can help make sure your application is complete.
- They know when to submit your approval documents based on the current real estate market activity. 


All this and more, at no cost to you!  Yes that’s right.  FREE!!!  Mortgage Brokers are paid on a commission basis by the lender.  So why not take advantage of all these tools, resources and experience?  If you are self employed and ready to achieve your goals, contact Anita Lemke.  She can certainly help pave the way for your success.

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A Toast To Small Businesses!

10/29/2014

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Picture of the attendees of TAN's Small Business Week Luncheon.
This past Thursday TAN was excited to participate in Small Business Week by hosting a free luncheon for other small business owners.  We were extremely pleased with the turn out and we had many new faces (and some familiar ones) joining us for some exceptional food prepared and served by the wonderful staff at the Toad & Turtle...  It was so good we’re seriously debating having more luncheons like that, just so we can have those appetizers again!

This week was all about recognizing our local, small businesses that help make our city such a wonderful place to live and work.  An accolade well deserved many times over.  The focus of our luncheon was to talk WITH other business owners, not at them.  It’s amazing what you can learn sometimes when you take a moment to stop and just listen.  Not only were we able to make some new connections, we were also able to reacquaint ourselves with some of our own members and strengthen some old bonds.

Our President, Keith Wilkinson with Investor’s Group and our Secretary, Shilo Storey with RE/MAX Central – The Real Estate Storey took a few moments to speak about the benefits of networking and how it has helped their businesses move forward.  Every invitation, every meeting, every event, every introduction is an opportunity to put your best foot forward and increase your sphere of influence.  The old adage is true.  It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know. 

Again THANK YOU to everyone that was able to attend last week and congratulations to our door prize winners:

Charlene Codio – Codio Photography
Joel Bates – Axiom Mortgage Solutions
Natalie McCabe – Cam Clark Ford

Finally, we would like to take a moment to say a BIG thank you to the City of Airdrie Economic Development for advertising our event in their monthly newsletter.  We would also like to thank City View for also including our TAN luncheon in their Small Business Week events section; and another warm thank you is sent out to the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce for promoting our event in their Chamber newsletter. 

Success cannot be achieved completely alone, and we feel Airdrie’s business community exemplifies this spirit of cooperation.  Job well done everyone.  CHEERS!


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Is Something Wrong Occifer?

10/22/2014

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Picture of Aaron, Anita, and Alicia demonstrating the beer goggles obstacle course.
“Failure to plan on your part should not constitute an emergency on my part.”  Unknown

While that may be true, sometimes life happens and we do not always plan things out properly.  We’re only human after all.  That’s where Drive Me Home Designated Drivers has managed to find their market niche in Airdrie.  Drive Me Home opened last February in response to a services gap in Airdrie and have been steadily growing their customer base ever since.  Different from Taxis, they drive both you AND your vehicle home and are the only company fully insured to do so.  With a 15 min response time in Airdrie they are one of the best local options for your inebriated bat signal.

Alicia McCallum was kind enough to come and talk about her business to our members last week and while drunk driving is no laughing matter, we certainly had some fun during her presentation.  Two of our members, Aaron Kendall and Anita Lemke graciously demonstrated how difficult it is to navigate through an obstacle course when saddled with “Beer Goggles”.  Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty!

While most of their business may be spontaneous in nature Drive Me Home can be booked ahead of time for events such as weddings, graduations, or corporate events.  They offer gift certificates which are a great idea for party favours or door prizes and they handle service calls to and from Calgary.  If you get a chance check them out at http://drivemehomedd.com or give them a call at: (403) 980-8811 to book a ride. 

Christmas party season is fast approaching but we shouldn’t forget that Halloween is also one of the highest rated occasions for DD incidents.  So if you’re out celebrating with friends and you realize that you’ve had a little too much unplanned fun, don’t fret.  Drive Me Home can make sure you get back safely without having to do the cabbie ride of shame in the morning to retrieve your car.  As for those embarrassing Facebook pictures... well you’re on your own with that one.

Be safe and have fun!


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A Good Story Can Be The Key To Success!

10/15/2014

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Picture of a woman in an office buried under a mountain of paperwork.
Records management all comes down to telling a story.  What did you do?  Why did you do it?  When did you do it? How did you do it?  The clearer and more accurate the story the easier it is to follow.  Jennifer Benner with Benner Database Designs believes there are many benefits to taking the time to make sure your story is constructed properly.  It acts as a reminder to oneself; it serves as direction for others and creates accountability for what is being done.  Here are some quick easy steps that Jennifer recommends to ensure that your records are organized and well managed.

Create an Index – With any book there is an index which explains what you should find inside.  Records should be the same.  Consider taking your monthly bank statement for example and use that as a front index for all of the corresponding receipts you should attach in behind.  The front page is a quick summary that relays all the pertinent information quickly and the attachments support your summation.  *Helpful Hint – Use envelopes to store loose/small receipts.  The envelopes can be attached in such a way that you can access, edit or add additional receipts.

Multiple Copies – Don’t be afraid to photocopy or print duplicates, (you can always recycle later).  If you have copies in more than one spot you will be able to tell more than one version of your story. For example if you keep a deposit slip for your bank account, you may attach it as a receipt to your statement.  (As outlined above)  However if you also photocopy it, you can keep it in a separate file for Deposits and Deposits only.  This allows you to view your information in more than one way.  One would be Any/All Banking Activity within a Date Range.  (Bank Statements)  The other would be Specific Banking Activity within a Date Range.  (Deposits File) Also if you happen to lose a copy you may be able to find it in the other location.

Colour Coding – Assigning a Colour to a Form, Folder or Item can instantly relay information and serves as a quick visual cue.  It can let you know where you are in a process or establish value/priority to a task.  As an example, perhaps you have Work Orders in one colour (Pink) and Invoices in another (Yellow).  If you see a mountain of pink you know that you have to prioritize getting the work orders completed so you can convert them to invoices.  Hard to tell if your inbox is all white.

Delete vs Void – If possible ALWAYS Void something rather than delete it.  Deleting can create questionable gaps in your story.  When you void you often have an opportunity to say why you’re voiding even if you have to do it multiple times.  You may look like an idiot but at least you’ll remember why.

Back Ups – If nothing else make sure you back up your files, and verify that your back ups are actually working.  A computer can crash.  A hard drive can be stolen.  Paper can burn or get wet.  Nothing is fool proof but if you ensure that you have both a Hard Copy (Paper) and a Soft Copy (Electronic) then chances are if you find yourself in a pickle you’ll be able to get yourself out.

Consistency – Being consistent in your processes and how you create your files makes it much easier to search through and makes errors or gaps much more visible.  Try printing file folder labels instead of handwriting them.  Keep the same naming convention when creating electronic file names.  Ensure you staple your forms together in the same way, in the same order.  Taking 5 extra minutes now can save you hours later.

At the end of the day you need to do what works best for you.  However it’s always wise to bear in mind that others may need to understand what it is you’re doing.  Have fun organizing!!!



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Art Has No Borders

9/29/2014

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Logo for Artember 2014
   This past weekend marks the end of Artember with the grand finale having been Culture at the Creek.  Artember is an amazing 17 day event celebrating Arts and Culture in and around Airdrie.  It was started 4yrs ago by Creative Airdrie Society and is quickly emerging as an artistic Mecca for Alberta.  Their goal is to help make arts and culture accessible to everyone across any border.  If Artember’s success continues to grow at its current rate it could become to Airdrie what the Stampede is to Calgary.   

  We were fortunate enough to have Sherry Shaw-Froggatt, who is one of the Creative Airdrie Society founders, come in to explain to us how businesses could become more involved in Artember.  We were surprised at some of her suggestions as most of us didn’t realize many of the options open to us as business owners. 

  Did you know that for a nominal fee you can display a local artist’s creations in your store front?  In return you get free artwork for your office, advertising space in the Artember guides and a sandwich board in front of your business indicating your support and welcoming more foot traffic to stop in.  This program has been so successful some of the companies have opted to display the artwork year round, rather than just for Artember.

  Did you know that if you own a building with a blank wall, Creative Airdrie can match you with a local artist to paint a mural on it?  (I think we all know how much a mural improved the look of the metal quonset on 1st avenue.)  You can’t advertise by putting your business name in the mural but you can certainly choose a subject matter that highlights your business.  For example a coffee shop might choose to have a painting of coffee beans and a cup done.

  Did you know that if you have one of those ugly utility boxes or fire hydrants in front of your store or in your neighbourhood the city can approve artistic coverings for these?  Just by contacting Creative Airdrie you could collaborate with them to have a unique cover created which complements your business or community.  As an example the fire hydrants in Bayside could be painted up as lighthouses.  This project could become our version of the painted cows.  The possibilities are endless and the goal is to have every single one in the city done. 

  Creative Airdrie has also recently launched the Artistic Flags along 1st avenue and have been inundated with calls to have more flags added in other locations.  Put your request in now so as not to miss out on the opportunity to display your civic pride and artistic support.

    Are your creative juices flowing?  Do you want to get more involved now that you know how easy it is?  Well here’s how you can help... Creative Airdrie is currently looking for new board members.  They can always use help from volunteers.  They are also in need of places to host Pop-Up Galleries or “Dirty” spaces for Artists to create in.  If you’d like to go all out, how about opening a full time Art Gallery in Airdrie?  A first for our city and grossly overdue.

Statistics show that for every dollar invested in the arts, double that is returned to the community. A 50% return on your money is certainly nothing to laugh at.  Airdrie’s population growth and development is unprecedented and seems to attract hard working, entrepreneurial individuals along with some amazingly gifted artists.  Building our community pride and unity through support and cooperation between these two groups is the foundation of Artember’s immense success.  We are truly blessed to live in such a great city, and the sky’s the limit when we work together. 

  For more information on Artember visit their website: http://artember.ca or to become more involved please contact the Creative Airdrie Society at info@creativeairdrie.ca

Stay classy Airdrie! 

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