John Furlong, CEO of VANOC told us this past weekend at the Canadian Sponsorship Forum in Whistler about a New Brunswick woman who persisted in applying to volunteer for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics until she was successful. She has cancer and said the volunteer experience was one of the most important of her life. It underlines the “coming together” of Canada in the past two months, driven by visionary people.
Mr. Furlong’s keynote was just one of great moments at Forum where we were immersed in educational experience featuring 40 industry leaders. We were introduced to new learning platforms such as hands-on Business of Sponsorship tutorials, moderated discussion rooms and interactive strategy sessions.
I was also thrilled to attend fantastic networking events including riding the gondola to the pique of Whistler Mountain for a dinner reception at the Roundhouse Lodge. The forum was also aligned with the Paralympic Winter Games an aspect that ensured plenty of practical application in a very real setting.
Sixteen Paralympic athletes also joined us to share inspirational stories and mingle with delegates for a truly authentic, Canadian event.
I appreciated being at the Forum and give it an enthusiastic “High-5.”
My endorsement of the Forum is not just a “nod” to my friend Mark Harrison whose brainchild the Forum is. More importantly, egos and Titles shed, delegates representing corporations, charities and agencies were engaged in friendly discussions and debates.
I first attended the Forum four years ago in Calgary during the Calgary Stampede. Social media was in its infancy, not many had mastered the emerging networks, but I was able to form a foundational understanding of what has since blossomed into a revolution.
I could write entire essays on valuable learning and reminders I received at the Forum this year but here are just three thoughts I’d like to emphasize:
1. When people feel the passion of your cause, there is power:
Don Mayo presented enlightening and important research about the Canadian embrace of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, overlaid with learnings about consumer views on Olympics sponsors.
2. Telling “your story” effectively is critical to building emotional equity:
Bill Baker talked about the importance of storytelling to engaging our audience. We were also reminded about the importance of the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Sabrina!) and how to tap into public emotion. (I was even able to apply what I learned about this to a client strategy I was working on as I travelled home to Toronto.)
3. Successful cause marketing programs or sponsorship don’t happen by accident:
I loved the case study presented Jim Kozak on the “gold standard” Kraft Hockeyville, a reality TV partnership between CBC, Kraft Foods and the NHL. The presentation showed how business and community causes can both benefit when they focus on something people deeply care about. In this case, Kraft recognized the passion Canadians feel about “our national game” and created a channel for that river of passion to flow, while giving out hundreds of thousands of dollars to enable arena improvements.
(Yes, doing good IS good for business. And, why shouldn’t it be?)
