Victory is Ours!

Our venture up Signal Hill was a great success—everyone managed to make it up the hill with minimum difficulty, and to top it all off, there was birthday cake with the most delicious cream cheese icing waiting for us at the top.

Fresh off the presses (or would that be the USB port?) here are some pictures from the AI 4 TA walk yesterday!

The boys making their way up Signal Hill.

Wilma presenting the crucial element--the birthday cake.

TA blows out the candle and makes a wish. True story: the wind (notoriously high on the Hill) probably makes this the worst place to blow out a birthday candle west of a sand storm. But TA managed to get hers out just before the breeze took it!

The whole team. Congratulations on the summit!

Counting the efforts of everyone involved, 74 walks up Signal Hill were completed. A feat that TA insisted was at least the height of Mount Everest. And I guess if anyone would know, it would be TA! A big thanks to everyone who took part. Donations to the Canadian Prostate Cancer Network can still be made here.

That's It: The Twitter Conversation.

Twitter founder Evan Williams on listening to Twitter users.

This brief video dives into an overview of Twitter’s birth, but what’s more interesting about this clip is how Williams expands on how Twitter is being used, in ways he never imagined when he first got the idea. Especially when he arrives at how businesses have begun to use the low-cost service:

Among the other interesting things that have cropped up is [sic] many things from businesses, from marketing and communications and predictable things to an insanely popular Korean barbecue taco truck that drives around L.A. and Twitters where it stops causing a line to form around the block.

Interesting, right? But what stands out is the subject matter of the talk: listening to Twitter users. Why is that important? Because quite frankly, that’s it: that’s the way that businesses can use Twitter to their advantage. Twitter is a conversation, one you have to learn how to have, but can benefit your business immensely.

And it does need to be learned, at this point anyway: it takes a little out of the box thinking to see how 140 word status updates can benefit your company. But here’s a great example. Applecore posted a few days ago about our friend TA Loeffler’s plan to climb Signal Hill ten times to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. We took that blog post and posted a link to our Twitter account. But then we took it one step further, addressing local news outlets and media personnel via their own Twitter accounts. By the end of the day, those outlets had begun to repost out initial tweet.

And voila: a press release via Twitter. It’s simple, it’s direct, and most importantly, it’s taking place in a space where people are already prepared to receive it.

Other companies use their Twitter accounts for customer service: @comcastcares (Comcast) and @SouthwestAir (Southwest Airlines) are two leaders in Twitter as CSR. They were early adopters of the trend, and have given hope and a voice to lots of customers who are frustrated with the normal route for customer service. By simply addressing the Twitter account by name (an '@' symbol plus the Twitter account name) these companies have given their customers the power to make themselves heard and leads to less frustrating and more proactive customer services, which in the end makes all parties much happier.

So that’s it: that’s the conversation that businesses should be aiming for with their customers. What are you waiting for?

Just One Question....

500 people in Times Square were asked a simple question: what is a browser? Let's see what happens.

For the record, a browser is a computer program used for accessing websites or information on a network (as on the World Wide Web). And you could have asked us; we totally knew that already.

AI Supports TA!

Just another adventure for Applecore’s longtime friend TA Loeffler. Starting at 12 noon on June 24^th (which just happens to be her birthday) TA Loeffler will be climbing Signal Hill 10 times to raise funds for prostate cancer research. In addition to spreading awareness, this is also the final preparation for TA's forthcoming effort to summit Mount Elbrus (Europe's highest peak) an adventure that will be beginning in July. You can read all about that particular adventure at TA’s website.

If there’s one thing Applecore can get behind, it’s a good cause, so the entire office will be joining her on the last leg of her climb. We’re excited to play even a tiny part in such a useful, awareness-building cause… and we’ll definitely be snapping a few pictures after we’ve finished the climb!

TA is inviting us to join her for a leg of the walk or two (which takes about 20-25 minutes) and wear sky blue (the awareness colour of prostate cancer). TA is also asking well-wishers to consider making a donation to the Canadian Prostate Cancer Network in lieu of a gift or card.

As extra incentive, birthday cake is waiting at the top. Check back here for the wrap-up!

Join the Facebook event.

Learn more about TA Loeffler.

Donate to Canadian Prostate Cancer Network.

Launch of the Canadian Breast Cancer Tour for the Cure

At ten o'clock this morning, our own Deborah Bourden will be kicking off the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Tour for the Cure on the steps of the Newfoundland House of Assembly in St. John’s. Joining her will be the Hon. Danny Williams, Hon. Ross Wiseman (Minister of Health and Community Services), Nancy Margeson (CEO, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Atlantic Region) and emcee Betty Ann Vater.

The Tour's goal is to raise awareness about something that affects a large portion of women and their families --a problem that's largely preventable. Screening rates in Atlantic Canada are at a low, something that's true of Canada at large, but the reality is that early detection is a woman’s best defense against breast cancer.

The Tour for the Cure hopes to spread awareness about that and wants to have 85 percent of eligible women in Atlantic Canada screened regularly for breast cancer by 2010. Head down if you get a chance, or even just check out the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation website to see how you can make a difference.

Best of luck to a wonderful cause!

June 1-7: Tourism Awareness Week!

This past week has been something that naturally catches our eye: June 1st - 7th is Tourism Awareness Week, sponsored by Hospitality Newfoundland & Labrador. Tourism is such a huge industry—not only internationally, but online as well. Not to mention that it’s always been such a vivid factor in the economy of Newfoundland & Labrador.

The week was host to many talks and seminars about the direction that the tourism industry is moving in, capped off with a luncheon on the 3rd attended by the Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. Spreading tourism awareness is an exciting topic, especially since there’s never been a better time to spark conversations about the future. The industry has been taking huge steps online, embracing social media and interactive communities.

Of course, Applecore had to get in on the action as well. We were so inspired that we've written an article on that very subject, to be published in the St. John’s Board of Trade Business News Magazine. We decided to tackle the subject of social media and why it works so well withtourism, since it’s a topic we’re exploring every day. Social media—things like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and peer reviews—are making amazing leaps in the industry and shaping the future of how people travel.

Check back next month for full details, but here’s a teaser for now: the future of social media and tourism relies on being flexible, transparent and ready to have a conversation with potential travelers. How can you prepare?

To be continued…!