The Dorsey Group has been in business for many years and is highly respected in the City of Brantford. Mark Gaylard & I were thrilled with the opportunity to work with the Dorsey Group to give them a new look for their business card design.
Read more →In the past year, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the Brantford area who has raised his public and business profile any higher than Lucas Duguid.
And there are reasons why that has happened for the latest member to join the team at the This Really Old House Goes Green project.
For starters, the man seems to be everywhere. As the owner of Octopus Red, he has vaulted his creative communications agency into the public eye on a myriad of levels – from his involvement in Tweetstock, a social media networking event which began back in 2010 with a small gathering of ‘tweeters’ congregating at The Piston Broke Pub & Grill next to Harmony Square, to his constant online presence on Twitter and Facebook.
But he doesn’t stop there. You’ll find his graphic design/branding work at Lynden Park Mall, where he spearheaded a campaign called the ‘Zero Waste Program’ which introduced organic recycling at the food court. And he was the branding force behind the corporate logo for TheGreenHub.ca website, where TROHGG lives.
So as we begin to proceed in earnest with the ramping up of the TROHGG project, it seemed a perfect fit to bring Duguid into the mix.
In the coming weeks, we will be working together on a brochure, which will explain all the ins and outs of the project, with sponsor options and detailed benefits of participating. When it is ready, we will be circulating it throughout The Green Hub area , both online and in more traditional formats. And we are confident Duguid will be instrumental in drawing maximum attention to the campaign.
“Brantford has always been my home,” he says. “I grew up in a generation in Brantford where cynicism and apathy were considered virtues. I felt differently. I’ve always had a passion for Brant and have always felt this is where I need to be … a place where I can have a lot of impact.” He followed a familiar path – Greenbrier Public School, then on to North Park Collegiate, then Mohawk College. All the while, he was consumed with English and history, with “a great deal of time spent with photography and the visual arts.”
After making a conscious decision to remain in Brantford, while many others like him chose to migrate to larger, more cosmopolitan centres, he honed his craft at Ball Media and Beam Reach Communications before creating his own agency in 2009.
With his wife, Laura, he is also the co-owner of Sophia Gluten Free Foods, another local business where his energy and enthusiasm is evident. ”The business is a passion of ours because it encompasses the very basic of family and feeding your children,” said Duguid, 34. “My daughter was diagnosed celiac (a disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food) when she was born, which she inherited from her mother. My wife made it her mission to ensure there was always good food for her to eat. This became a passion for the whole family and several years later it became sustainable business venture as well.”
And he doesn’t mince words about the reason for joining TROHGG – “I’m happy to assist any organization that shares with me the goal of a better City of Brantford.”
Yet another amazing article by Sean Allen of the Brant News!
After filling the Sanderson Centre lobby to capacity and hosting Canada’s most recognized social media guru as the keynote speaker for Tweetstock IV last November, organizers of Brantford’s signature online networking event have set the bar high for future events.
Trevor Cherewka, Lucas Duguid and Josef Stevens don’t say they are trying to “top” the previous event with Tweetstock V on June 16.
“The event is maturing,” Cherewka said. “We’ve always had different themes and we are staying away from any redundancy.”
The tagline for Tweetstock V is “the art of the community” and Duguid said the 10 speakers lined up are going to touch on a range of relevant subjects from how to use social media for small business and how to affect change in your community.
The keynote speaker, Mark Kuznicki, is the creator of ChangeCamp, a collaborative process for solving difficult problems facing a community.
When the Toronto Transit Commission was looking for a new website, they ended up using a ChangeCamp model to develop the request for proposals to make sure it had the community’s input.
Julie Cole, from Mabel’s Labels, will also be presenting.
Cherewka said the Hamilton-based clothing label company for parents has recently been on the View and makes regular appearances on Regis and Kelly.
“That is what having Scott Stratten at Tweetstock IV has done for us,” he said. “Normally we would have to beg for people like that to come to Brantford, but now it’s just a mention of the fact Scott was here.”
Mabel’s Label has experienced enormous growth since taking its business to social media and the founders won the 2009 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award.
Tweetstock V will occur less than a year since the first event was held in July of 2010.
Duguid said Brantford has really welcomed the format for the event and has a real appetite for social media.
“In a real way we learned that if you build it, they will come,” he said. “We put 100 people in a room for the first event and I’ll bet 75 of them didn’t know why they were there. By Tweetstock IV we had 250 people all glued to the speakers’ every word.”
The event is gaining enough steam that Cherewka, Duguid and Stevens are able to start giving back. Proceeds from parts of the event will go to supporting the Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Arts After School Kids and the local food bank.
Brantford Tourism is also using Tweetstock V as a springboard to launch their own social media awareness campaign Love My Brantford.
Tweetstock V takes place June 16 at Freedom House Church. Tickets are available online from www.Tweetstock.ca or on Facebook.
The full list of speakers includes: Mark Kuznicki, Julie Cole, David Yoon, Deb Lowther, Marc Laferriere, Matt Scobel, Amanda Kinnaird, Josh Bean, Dave Carrol and Jason Dykstra.
Read more →As we walk down memory lane we come to Tweetstock II (Two) our second social media networking event. Once again we have some amazing commercials by Adam Hislop of atmoicspark featuring Lucas Duguid, Trevor Cherewka, Roger Duck, Syd Bolton (PC Museum) & Dave Carroll (Freedom House Church)
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We’re just a few days away from Tweetstock IV… Thursday March 3rd, 5 – 8pm in the lobby of the Sanderson Centre in the heart of downtown Brantford. Our online tickets sold out late last week and the BRC here in Brantford has a handful left. With the full-court-press of headliners Scott Stratten and Kathy Buckworth lending their support to some fantastic promo videos along with the BRC pushing out a massive email blast we expect the few remaining tickets to be sold this Monday. Huge thanks as always to Adam Hislop of Atomicspark for the fantastic video work. Trevor and I will be on Inside Brant with Ted Lehman this Wednesday the 2nd for one last push. Thank-you as always to Jason, Patti and Ted from Rogers for all the support.
I’d like to take a minute and thank Ray & Lorrie Gallant from Al Dente. They’ve been gracious enough to host the Tweetstock IV after party. With the help and support of the “Brant Pack” we’ll be holding a weekly tweetup called “Twitter Thursday” 8pm in the wine bar at Al Dente. Ray is using this opportunity to test new appetizers / pairings. As one of the most successful and oldest privately owned restaurants in Brantford we’re thrilled to make Al Dente our new home.
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Our fourth and largest Tweetstock is only a few weeks away. Scott Stratten from Unmarketing and Kathy Buckworth are two of the featured speakers. Scott is currently on a nation-wide book tour promoting his New York Times Bestseller “Unmarketing”. We’re really excited to be holding this event in the lobby of the Sanderson Centre right here in the heart of downtown Brantford.
We got a great push from Sean Allen of the Brant News and Talk Local (Rogers Cable) and we’ve enjoyed the support of like minded colleagues in the community… Marc Laferriere, Dave Carrol, Syd Bolton, Jamie Stephens, Andrew Macklin, Trevor Cherewka, Josef Stevens, Adam Hislop, Roger Duck, James Harris, Terri Banin, Stacy Cox Farrant, Steve Dostal, Adam King, Matt Larocque, Kevin Magee just to name a few.
We have a few tickets left to what is shaping up to be a sold-out event. Thursday March 3rd, 5-8pm, Sanderson Centre for Tweetstock 4!
Read more →Brooks Signs is celebrating their 25th year of business. they have set the standard in their industry and are the go-to sign manufacturers in Brantford and surrounding area. Adam Hislop of Atomic Spark was asked to shoot a video for the anniversary and he asked me to prepare the design and print for the DVD package. I’ve worked with atomic spark on numerous projects and it’s always a pleasure to partner up with his team.
Read more →It’s always an adventure working with Jamie Stephens on a design project. We had a really great time preparing the branding for his newest event ‘Brantford Barks – A Celebration of all things Canine” Can’t wait to see the show, I’m sure it’s going to be awesome!
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