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When Vancouver's new convention centre opened in 2009, I remember standing watching then B.C. premier Gordon Campbell invite the crowd, including  members of his cabinet, to chant along with him: "Wood is good, wood is good, wood is good."

He was referring to the amount of B.C. wood used in the building and how good it was and how good the workmanship was. Quite right.

It was, to my mind, a somewhat surreal moment, but not art.

At VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver this week, the Touch Wood exhibition opens: it is also a rather surreal happening, with wood sculptures dotted around the garden, but unlike the Gordon Campbell exhibition, this is art . . . and also the wood is good...

"Wood-related industries have been the back bone of the province's economy making possible the philanthropy that created VanDusen Botanical Garden and its Bloedel Conservatory."  

The USA represents a huge market that is very receptive to Canadian ideas and products, whether the goods are manufactured in Canada or imported from lower-cost international countries. To be successful in a foreign market, you will need to learn and employ practical, cost-effective methods and strategies.

Attend this seminar and learn about the basics of exporting, before you commit to the design, manufacture or purchase of your product or service.

Presented by the sponsoring organization in conjunction with International Market Access, Inc. and Pacific Customs Brokers Inc. This introductory two-hour seminar is aimed at entrepreneurs who are starting a new international business or who are currently operating in international market places. You will learn practical, cost effective methods and strategies.  

Topics include:  

• Overview of the U.S. Market
• USA Marketing and Distribution (Strategies, Lessons & Pitfalls)
• U.S. Customs Compliance Overview
• Roundtable: Questions, Answers, and Discussion.  

When: Friday, July 12, 2013, 10:00am - Noon 

Where: Vancouver, BC - Small Business BC Training Room, and by teleconference and webinar around BC and elsewhere 

Info: View/register online here     

Cost: $39.00 (or as otherwise specified)

All decisions we make are based on the words we use, read, or hear. So how do you know if you're using the right ones to drive sales for your business? Learn 3 critical elements to writing effective sales copy; the same kind that will persuade your target audience to do business with you-and you alone!

Join guest speaker Drew Bay, from Captain Copy ( @CaptainCopy) as he sets out to answer your most important business question: "what will make potential customers want to buy from me?"

Date/Time: Thursday July 18th, 4-5pm

Location: Studiothink, 10-19300 Langley Bypass, Surrey, BC

Cost: Free

RSVP: http://www.studiothink.com/events

Successful companies have found that the effective training of employees goes a long way towards reducing rework.

Rework costs you money - up to 20% of sales in a manufacturing setting. Rework eats into your schedule and uses valuable resources and raw materials that do not contribute to additional sales.

How do you train your employees now? Are you seeing productivity decreases and errors increase as your experienced operators retire or leave for other reasons?

Programs such as TWI are designed to give your supervisors the proper skills, tools and confidence to capture, document and promote best practises. This improves efficiency and reduces the possibility of errors that contribute to rework. Quality at each process step also improves.

Click here or the video link below to hear about Viceroy Homes and their experience with TWI and how they reduced their training time and boosted productivity.

TWI at Work at Viceroy Homes

For more information on this story, contact Brian Ehrecke (250) 462-4000,  brian.ehrecke@fpinnovations.ca

Sure, you can go into the small show looking for problems, but a positive approach can get you more bang for your buck than many larger shows.

1. Small audience. Big connections. - Sure, the traffic might not be heavy throughout your show, but that lets you reach out to a few key contacts to schedule meetings. Fewer activities and a smaller show floor means they are likely to have fewer commitments if you can get on their calendars early. Make a compelling case and get the appointment in your trade show booth or before or after the exhibit hours.

2. Small space. Big image. At a small show, the 10 x 10 exhibit spaces are likely to be 8 x 10 spaces, so you'll want to make every cubic inch of the space count. Other exhibitors are likely to be using small table-top units shoved to the back of the space with another table at the front, serving as a barrier. Make your space more welcoming by removing the table at the front and use a large, colorful graphic spread across a couple of well-designed banner stands or backwall and custom side drape to dominate your space with branded images and colors. If the show is in a hotel ballroom, spend the extra money for carpet (or bring your own custom flooring) to cover the gaudy carpet used in most hotels and define your space even further. Every precious inch should scream your brand.

3. Small space. Big meetings. Book your sleeping rooms early so your staff is conveniently located near the show site. Better yet? Rent a suite so you have a convenient meeting space (see #1 above) to connect with your target audience.

4. Small inventory. Big opportunity. Tiny booth spaces mean you can't stock a lot of literature, so it's time for your electronic inventory to shine, and generate more leads. Load your entire library onto a tablet computer and share relevant information with qualified leads right from your trade show exhibit. Want more than an email address from your prospect? Use a lead retrieval app such as iLeads or Marketpoint if the show has integrated the platform. And don't forget to have power available to recharge those tablets!

Roy Manion

June continued the trend of being another busy month for the specifiers program with ongoing weekly lunch & learn sessions, group seminars, beginning the process of becoming registered providers for both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Alberta Association of Architects (AAA), and preparing for another GBM.

For yours truly, the highlights of the month were the very well attended group seminars that featured Live Edge Designs (LED) and Unison Windows and Doors respectively.

The event with Live Edge was on exploring the use of wood in West Coast Design. It was held at the BC Showcase in Robson square on June 6th. This was somewhat D�j� vu for us as BC Wood partnered with LED back in '09 to hold a session in the same BC Showcase which at that time had just opened in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics. This year, our target attendees of 50 included architects and designers. As it turned out, significantly more were interested in the event and we ended up with over 70 attendees with many more being regrettably turned away. For those who attended, it was both a fun and informative event as they learned much about wood species, how to care for wood furniture, and the design process. BC Wood had a presentation on the up and coming furniture manufactures throughout the province and featured companies in the "Working Wood" Program.

The following week, we had another highly successful seminar and factory tour at Unison Windows and Doors on the introduction of made-in-BC hybrid wood curtain wall window systems. Similar to the session with Live Edge, interest for this event greatly exceeded our expectations. With limited space, we had to add more sessions; a good "problem" to have. Aside from introducing the hybrid wood curtain wall window system (including an installation demonstration), the session also covered low maintenance wood products that could be used on the exterior of windows and doors and a demonstration on the rigours of water testing to obtain a B3 rating and beyond.  

While both these events have taken considerable time and resources by all involved, the end result is well worth it. We are already working with other companies for tours and seminars for this Fall. Our target for this fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 for these type of events is 8, so if you want your company to participate, we still have room and would be pleased to hear from you.

On another subject, June also was when we began, in earnest, the process of becoming Registered Providers for both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Alberta Architect Association(AAA). While neither will be included in the Specifiers Program as it is currently structured, they will be included in other BC Wood programs which will provide BC Wood members an excellent opportunity to meet with architects and designers from both associations. Details will be forthcoming once we have completed the process. I can tell you that the process of becoming a registered provider with AIA is a very rigorous one and it will take some time to complete. Once completed, being part of both associations will also provide incentives from both the US and Alberta architects to attend our upcoming GBM.

Regarding the GBM, Scott Thompson in our office is taking on the lion's share of the Architect Program at the GBM. This is freeing me up to move forward to other programs including working with AIA and AAA.

One last note!!

If you are interested in assisting First Nations in a very worthwhile endeavour and at the same time develop a relationship with six of Vancouver's leading Interior Designers then read on.

There is a renovation that is taking place at Skwatchays Lodge in Vancouver. The plan is to re-position the lodge as Canada's only Aboriginal arts hotel. Once completed, guests can immerse themselves in First Nations culture by staying in the arts hotel, having breakfast in a fine art gallery, and perhaps participate in a workshop with the artist who created the room. To accomplish this, six aboriginal artists are teaming up with six of Vancouver's leading Interior Designer firms with each team tasked with designing and furnishing 3 rooms. For their part, the Interior Designers are donating their services and are now soliciting donations from BC's furniture, millwork, and cabinet industry in the form of a piece of furniture, a cabinet or a vanity as part of the renovation. They are not seeking large volumes from a single manufacturer, but rather have multiple manufacturers become involved with a donation of just a single piece. All those who donate will then have the opportunity of meeting and working with the various designer firms.

The first of these opportunities will be on August 8th when Skwatchays Lodge will be hosting a meet and greet event. All Interior Designer firms along with the aboriginal artists will be attending. This will be a thank you party for all those that have donated time, money or goods, and also a way to introduce them to most of the Interior Design firms that do hospitality design in Vancouver.

If you wish to become involved in this project or require additional information, please contact Vicki Pearson of Porada Design Group at  Vicki@poradadesign.com or myself at rmanion@bcwood.com

As always, should you want more information on any aspects of the Specifiers Program, you can contact me at  rmanion@bcwood.com.

ONLY 4 BOOTH SPACES LEFT FOR THE GBM!

The Gas and Oil Expo held June 11th-13th, 2013 in Calgary Alberta welcomed over 500 exhibiting companies and 20,000 registered attendees. The show was a departure from the 'usual' trade shows BC Wood normally attends, but was deemed successful in the eyes of the participants.  

BC Wood and member companies that manufacture pre-fabricated homes, industrial products such as rig matting & components, as well as log home timber frame structures felt it presented a good opportunity for exposure into the fast growing oil sands region of Alberta, the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana

Participants included Western Forest Products and Taiga Building Products who showcased their pressure treated hemlock sound abatement systems; Structurlam was promoting Cross Laminated rig matting and access matting; as well as Viceroy Homes, Trout Creek Enterprises, and Okanagan Timber Frame displaying their custom home packages. Initial feedback from the 6 participants indicated sales in excess of $3.5M and approximately 50 leads.  

The China International Exhibition on Housing Industry (CIEHI) is Beijing's most important building products and housing construction event. Major areas of focus for this event include wooden homes, urban real estate projects, resort development, housing technology, and building materials.

BC Wood's China in-market representative Jeff Li will provide local coordination of the tradeshow program and organize business networking opportunities, customer plant visits as requested, and one-on-one meetings with potential customers. This show offers the best opportunity in China for Canadian companies looking to export: engineered wood products, timberframe packages, packaged 2x4 and log structures, WRC outdoor products, as well as finishing materials.

Exhibition dates: October 23rd - 25th

Venue:Beijing National Convention Center (Water Cube Olympic North)

Total number of booths: 3500

Supported by: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

Organizers: Housing and Urban Ministry of Housing Industrialization Promotion Center, China Real Estate Association, China Architectural Culture Center, Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

Main Exhibits:

1. Wooden architecture: wooden houses, vacation cabins, wood gazebos & pergolas, and light wood frame & heavy timber structures
2. Wooden structural materials
3. Wooden structures and equipment
4. Other wood materials: flooring, decking, fencing, stairs, outdoor furniture, etc.
5. Landscape planning, construction, and maintenance: landscape design, golf course design and construction, green roofs, tourism development planning, etc.

Those interested in learning more about the show should contact Jim Ivanoff at ivanoff@canadawood.jp