A Digital Marketing Company Supports the Written Word
October 17, 2011 by Martin Wong
On October 22, twenty-six emerging writers will take the stage at SFU Woodwards. These students, from SFU’s The Writer’s Studio program, have just published a student anthology, emerge 2011, and are launching the book with readings from their works of fiction, poetry and lyric prose, and creative non-fiction.
MarketingSmartt is proud to be a corporate sponsor of this event. We have a passion for communication. We help clients communicate their brand, benefits, and values. We communicate these messages through social media campaigns, email, or a great website. In an age of increased digital communication, the written word matters more than ever.
When any person with an opinion can publish online, quality content lifts worthwhile reading above the digital slush pile. While tweets and texts may dominate the airwaves, it is still the well-honed sentence that slices through our consciousness. Good writing will always find its audience.
TWS poetry and lyric prose student Meg Torwl agrees. With an established career in photography, video, radio, and new media, she still works hard to master the “old” medium of writing.
“It’s about finding the right medium for each story,” she says. “Whether a poem, photograph, video, radio, or live performance, the skills of narrative, pattern recognition, dissonance, editing are the same in each media. Writing is the backbone of all arts. I often include poetry in radio, video, live performance, and at exhibition openings. TWS teaches you everything – from creative and technical aspects, to trusting your instincts, ergonomics of writing, getting published, networking and readings.”
What draws students to TWS is the way the program addresses all the needs of a writer.
“I was attracted to the well-rounded blend of individual courses,” says fiction student Claire De Boer, ”from how to workshop your prose to navigating today’s publishing world. Few creative writing programs offer an opportunity to work in a one-one-one setting with a mentor. This feedback is invaluable. The program also places great emphasis on community and I knew this would be critical to my writing journey.”
The notion of community underscores The Writer’s Studio, which encourages participation in literary events and public readings.
“Writing is a solitary pursuit,” says Carol Tulpar, creative non-fiction. “We need to meet readers and hear what they have to say about our work. We also need the fellowship of other writers, who can articulate their sense of what needs work, regardless of their own genres. TWS founder Betsy Warland says ‘To write is to enter public space’. The opportunity to gauge audience response to my work has been priceless, both within the workshop setting and in our public readings.”
In the past, MarketingSmartt has supported charities, such as A Loving Spoonful and the Union Gospel Mission, which feed our community. We support The Writer’s Studio because the arts also feed our community.
Register to attend the emerge 2011 Student Anthology book launch and reading. Admission is by donation.
Copies of the anthology available for purchase at the event, the SFU Bookstore at Harbour Centre, or by contacting: twsinfo@sfu.ca
Tweet and post about the TWS emerge 2011 event
Chat about the event live on Twitter: #TWSEMERGE2011
Join the discussion on the TWS Facebook page
Find out more about The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University
An Englishman’s Perspective on Business in Vancouver
December 9, 2010 by Adam Jones
Being an Englishman living in Canada, I continuously find myself asked the same questions:
“Do you like it here”?
“How does the weather compare to London”?
“What is the queen really like”?
“Do you really eat baked beans for breakfast”?
Ok, so the last two may not be quite as common. It may be my stereotypical, satirical British humour shining through, but just in case anybody reading was wondering, to me the queen is just a very rich old lady with a shiny hat and a big house. And baked beans are a delightful snack that can be eaten at any stage of the day.
But enough about menial cultural discrepancies. The topic of my blog post today is to discuss the differences that I have noticed in the business culture between here and the UK. And I was wondering if local Vancouverites also felt the same way.
How To Get Your Vancouver Business on Groupon and Other Group Buying Services
October 1, 2010 by Martin Wong
The hottest marketing trend online at the moment is running promotions on group buying websites like Groupon and LivingSocial. With Vancouver’s highly-connected residents being some of the world’s biggest users of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, you need a social marketing strategy. A great way to kick start your social marketing is by running a promotion on a group buying service.
Typically, these group buying services want you to discount your product or services by at least 50%. Then, they usually take 25% of the remaining discounted sale. For example, for $100 of services you would create a Groupon for $50 and the company would take $25. So the challenge for your business is to find a way to at least break even at $25, which can be tricky. [Read more]
