#DowntownCourtenay

Elevating our local talent economy!

June 4, 2017 by Leif Jason

On May 31, 2017 LIFT Comox Valley hosted its first Trade Show for local creatives and entrepreneurs. We also hosted our second Community Voices collaboration with CV Collective Magazine, featuring seven local entrepreneurs. Afterwards, we hosted our eighth #WeAreYQQ Party.

At LIFT we’re committed to Leading, Inspiring, and Fuelling Talent – because we think talent is the future of our economy here on Vancouver Island. For more information about how we’re helping creatives and entrepreneurs grow BIGger, please see our website, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Or set up a time/date to meet with me, LIFT founder Hans Peter Meyer (HPM).

For upcoming events, including BizOnDeck workshops, PitchFest2, #WeAreYQQ Parties and more, please see our website.

If you’re ready to give your business a lift, be in touch and we’ll get back to you ASAP! Because our business is helping you grow your business.

hpm
@hanspetermeyer on Twitter and Instagram

May 31: Let’s elevate this economy!

May 25, 2017 by Leif Jason

The 6th Annual Elevate Arts Festival in downtown Courtenay is the BEST time to visit the Comox Valley.

That’s it. Be here. May 31-June 3. Downtown Courtenay. Where you’ll find more fun and entertainment on the street than you can imagine.

It’s about talent

At LIFT Comox Valley we’re thrilled to be helping kick off this celebration of local talent. We’ve programmed a hat trick of events on the evening of May 31. These include a pop-up trade show, a different kind of talent show, and an after party for creatives, entrepreneurs, and fellow-travellers.

The evening, organised by LIFT Comox Valley, is focused on talent. “I believe that when we grow our local talent, we grow our local economy,” says LIFT VIP and special event sponsor Monica J Parkin, of Invis Mortgages.

The evening

Things start happening at 5pm at the Courtenay Legion with first ever LIFT Trade Show. This pop-up reveals what a number of LIFT VIP businesses are doing. Among them:

Bluebird Pads,
Re Bastien Portrait Photography,
Jace Pierson – Sun Life Financial advisor,
Wags Doggy Bags,
Heart Drum Beat – Brain & Body Training Systems,
Panther Workwear,
The Old House Hotel & Spa, and
Speedibin composter.
Futurpreneur Canada (Vancouver, British Columbia) will also be on hand, looking forward to meeting young entrepreneurial talent.

At 6:30pm Community Voices II challenges seven creative entrepreneurs to tell their story of “living local, thinking BIGger” with only seven minutes and seven slides. This is the second time LIFT is collaborating with The CV Collective and builds on CVC member Ian Adams‘ previous series’ of evenings featuring local talent.

The final event, the 8th #WeAreYQQ Party, takes place at Gladstone Brewing at 8pm. Music by DJ Adil, fun and games by “#WeAreYQQPartyCrew Boss” Leanne Zdebiak-Eni.

The presenters at Community Voices II represent a wide range of talents or examples of the Comox Valley’s “knowledge economy.” They include:

Wendy Nixon Stothert of Choral Valley,
Tom Keenoy of Kitestrings/ Medium Rare Interactive,
community animateur Meaghan Cursons,
craftsman Cyrill Werlen of Cascadian Wood Tech,
Step Carruthers of, among other things, Phat Tank and Lucky Village Enterprises ,
Alex Bowman & Kate Waddel of Byte Me Robotics,
and recent Dragons’ Den pitcher, James Flawith of Lil Worker Safety Gear .

The lineup is guaranteed to elevate your understanding of the creatives growing a grassroots “talent economy” in the Comox Valley.

For example, Tom Keenoy, a transplant to the Comox Valley by way of Brooklyn, New York, runs Medium Rare Interactive in Courtenay. He’s also currently building Kitestrings, a solution to internet security that could put our local tech scene on the global map. You can follow Kitestrings on Twitter @kitestringsapp.

Tickets

Tickets are by “suggested donation” online and at the door. Net proceeds from the event support the volunteer community economic development organisation that annually creates the Elevate Arts celebration of local talent.

For more information about May 31st events see WeAreYQQParty.ca, or contact me:

Hans Peter Meyer
Founder, LIFT Comox Valley
250-792-1408

@hanspetermeyer on Twitter and Instagram

Why “Where is Here” matters to business in the Comox Valley

June 24, 2016 by Leif Jason

On July 20-22, 2016 the Comox Valley Art Gallery, with Vancouver Island University, hosts the Where Is Here Symposium in downtown Courtenay. What’s it about? That’s what I asked Sharon Karsten of the Comox Valley Art Gallery (CVAG).

Sponsoring innovative thinking

The #WeAreYQQ LIFT Project is on board as a social media sponsor for the event. Why? Because we’re focused on leading, inspiring, and fueling talent in the Comox Valley.

Why are we interested in a symposium on “cultural mapping?” Because we’re interested in “talent.” Our premise is that our economic future isn’t going to be imported. Like other startup communities that are growing themselves out of economic dead ends, we think the Comox Valley is going to grow a “talent-driven” economic future. That means talent – entrepreneurs in business, the arts, food, etc – who live here, people who are already connected to the values of our community, are going to be the ones who’ll be creating the businesses, careers, and jobs that make the difference.

Every business needs to do things like taking an inventory of supplies, assets, etc before it starts. Cultural mapping is one way to start figuring out what kinds of talent assets we’ve got. It’s a step towards figuring out how we can bring them together to really make shift happen. That’s why we’re in.

What’s the economic future of the Comox Valley?

As I’ve already said, my bet is our economic future is being built by local talent. If you’re interested in how this might be accelerated, you’ll be interested in what Sharon and her crew have put together for July 20-22. Tickets available online here.

By the way, this isn’t new stuff. The Village of Qualicum Beach did a cultural inventory project several years ago. That’s led to a few things. Including an emerging tech sector community, an entrepreneur co-working hub, and a determination to attract more talent to grow their knowledge industry. Where is Here is cut from the same cloth. I’m personally thrilled that Sharon and her crew are doing this. It’s time we took our cultural assets seriously.

Supporting the project on social

You’ll start to see posts with the event tag – #whereishereCV – on social media channels like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, and more. Even if you can’t attend the event on July 20-22, you can help raise the profile of our emerging Comox Valley talent-driven economy by commenting on, liking, and reposting. You are part of the solution. Lend a hand – or a like or a retweet – us as we’re making shift happen!

hpm
for Team #WeAreYQQ and the LIFT Project
@WeAreYQQ on Twitter

LIFT Comox Valley: Leading, Inspiring, and Fueling Talent in business, the arts, and more!
We’re building an entrepreneurial culture in the Comox Valley. Join us. Be a #WeAreYQQ Champion for local business and community economic development – and get perks that’ll grow your business too! Sign up here

What’s up in May! Lotsa shift

May 2, 2016 by Leif Jason

April was fun! May looks even better – because even more Comox Valley entrepreneurs and business owners are getting on board the collaboration train. That means more businesses attending workshops and events, more business people like you putting your smarts to work to help other create success – at the same as they’re upgrading their path to success. It’s not about competing with each other to grow this Comox Valley economy; it’s about finding ways we can support each other to think BIGger about our markets and opportunities.

What’s up for May?

We’re still focused on helping Matthew Black and Anotiv Team in their bid to represent Canada and the Comox Valley at Global Finals in Knoxville. We raised money in April, and we’ll keep doing that in May. We’re committing 50% of the first month from every new Champion subscriber to this bid. There are more good reasons to become a #WeAreYQQ Champion, but I think this is the coolest. Join us here.

We’re also putting the Anotiv Team “on deck” today, Monday May 2 to help them get more exposure, more support in their bid to represent our region. Sharing the bill is Luciano Rollin and Aero Art Screen Printing. Want to help business grow? We’ve still got a couple of seats. Sign up now.

On May 9 it’s the third in Nazaneen Dizai’s Social Media for Professionals and Business series, this time focused on Pinterest. Only 5 seats left. Register here.

Note: If you’re a #WeAreYQQ Champion you get one workshop or event no charge per month, but you’ll have to register early as there are a limited number of seats for all these events.

May 18 we’re going to be workshopping two more Comox Valley businesses. More details coming soon, but for now know that local food entrepreneur Nancy Farey and Dr. David Milanovich are wanting to grow their businesses BIGger – and you can help make that happen.

May 27 it’s the second #WeAreYQQ lunch time Show & Tell at the White Whale. This time we’ve got Leif Jason showing what he does with SEO and online marketing. Details and registration coming soon on our events page..

June 1 we’re doing our first ever collaboration with the creative entrepreneurs at CVCollective. This is part of the Elevate the Arts Festival that rocks downtown Courtenay June 1-4. CVC will lead with Comox Valley Voices: a panel of local creatives and entrepreneurs who are living local while serving bigger markets. (You may have noticed a theme for us at Team #WeAreYQQ; we like it when people “punch above their weight” – and we want to help make that shift happen!) We’ll follow Comox Valley Voices with another #WeAreYQQ After Party – at Gladstone Brewing. We’re ticketing these events “by donation,” all proceeds going to feed more Elevate the Arts community economic development activities. Fun! FMI about Elevate the Arts Festival see elevatethearts.com

Work locally, think BIGger!

About this theme… One of my mentors, Jayesh Parmar, is working hard on creating YVR’s next billion dollar company with Picatic. You can read about that here. That’s cool, and I’m doing my small part on the Picatic team to make that shift happen.

I love working with Jay. But I don’t have that kind of ambition or energy. However, I do take his advice to heart: Whatever you’re doing, think BIGger! If you think the Comox Valley is your market, think Vancouver Island. If Vancouver Island is your market, think BC. If BC is your market, think Canada, North America, the world. And, at the same time, respect and feed your community, the businesses that feed your local economy.

The #WeAreYQQ Project is about helping Comox Valley businesses get better and bigger at what we’re doing. Our focus: grassroots collaborations, punching above our weight. Your business is an important part of the mix. Sign up for a workshop or event. Join us as a #WeAreYQQ Champion (cool and useful perks!). Whatever. We’re growing businesses, making shift happen, and you’re invited to play.

C’mon peeps: Let’s get this shift done!

hpm

ps. A reminder: we’re dedicating 50% of first month subscriptions from every new subscriber in May to helping Anotiv Team get to Global Finals. The first 30 new subscribers get a $10 gift card to Atlas Cafe, and you’re entered to win new subscriber prizes – like a $100 gift card to Atlas Cafe or a $400-700 travel voucher for two from Pacific Coastal Airlines. It’s a good time to join the team!

pps. We get to do because of support from some great Comox Valley businesses and individuals. See the (always growing) list of #WeAreYQQ Solution Sponsors, Community Partners, Champions, and Ambassadors below.

SOLUTION SPONSORS
Comox Valley Record, Finneron Hyundai, hanspetermeyer.com, Mastermynde Strategy, Sure Copy Courtenay – and now 98.9 The GOAT!

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Atlas Cafe, Hansen & Hansen Painting, Island Word, My Tech Guys, Ron Pogue Photography, McKinnon Photography

CHAMPIONS & AMBASSADORS
Eatmore Sprouts, Sonya Marie Jenssen, David Frisch, Red Toque Creative, Lil Worker Safety Gear, Jace Pierson, Mike Templeton, Steve Morgan, Lucky Village Enterprises, Ivan’s Truffles, Studio IPF, Kayla McDonald Productions, Modern Rocket Media, Rattan Plus Home & Patio, Ben-zion Eni, Brooke Ferguson, Pacific Coastal Airlines, Speedibin Composters, Aero Art, Ansley and Company, and John Bonner Photography.