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Sudbury: the great youth brain drain continues

/ andyveilleux / 2 Comments

While it is not news that Sudbury has had a difficult time keeping young graduates in the city following their graduation, having southern Ontario newspapers cover it is relatively new (at least in this blogger's eyes). I am referring to an article in the Globe and Mail written by Adam Radwanski on Friday, which you can read here. I'm not going to go into the politics of having a southern newspaper write about the north, but it's a great thing that Laurentian Univeristy is finally getting more southern exposure. Time to discuss the article.

 

I'll begin with a quote that summarizes the article: "But ultimately, employers must have enough high-end jobs to keep graduates around permanently. And For all of Sudbury’s progress, that’s where the constraints typical for northern Ontario cities still fall leave it short." Beginning a sentence, much less a paragraph with 'but,' and some of the obvious grammar errors, may send some of our more grammar-savvy readers into a frenzy, but that's not the focus of the discussion.

Sudbury's exodus of educated youth is nothing new, nor is the discussion of it. I cannot count the amount of people who I've talked to about it, in both the private and public sector. The discussion is usually centered on my future, or the future of associates of mine, in Sudbury. I'm at the age now (23) where seeking a career is a priority and something I’ve been working on for quite some time. I’m not opposed to leaving town for work, in fact I’d welcome it some days, but in my heart I know I’d prefer Sudbury. Where does that leave me?

Well, I’ve applied to work at some of the typical, available options in town. These include Laurentian University, the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, Cambrian College, the city itself, the provincial offices, and federal offices. Beyond that, there are a host of other public development corporations, several private institutions, local media, and community colleges I’ve applied to also. I’ve worked for some of them, and been interviewed by more of them, but in the end I have not found a career out of it. Once again, where does that leave me?

At the moment, I’m continuing my studies. I’ve already got my Honours Bachelor of Arts in History from Laurentian University, my diploma from Print Journalism from Cambrian College, and will be finishing up a BA in Political Science this year. At 23 years old (24 when I graduate PoliSci), that’s not too bad of a resume. Add in all of the local volunteering, my hefty work resume, the various sports teams and committees, and the internships I’ve completed, and it looks even nicer. The sad reality, however, is that it’s difficult to find entry-level careers in meaningful work in this city. That’s the reality of the situation.

Simply put, the city needs to refocus their strategy on the youth brain drain. I understand that career turn-over has become a bit more stagnant due to the “harsh economic times,” as my favourite professor likes the call it. I also understand that companies want to hire people with experience, because they don’t have to train them. The problem with this two factors is they are causing educated people of my generation to have to leave town for employment. What’s the solution?

I would suggest more internships as a start. With internships, recent graduates, and even students, are able to gather valuable work experience. The issue with these internships is that they are usually too short-term. Take my current internship as an example. As a summer contract, I’m working for the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. My contract expires this Friday. In total, I’ll have spent about three months and change here. Was it valuable? Definitely. The issue is that while it’s been a positive experience, it hasn’t nearly been long enough.

Another fellow Chamber intern has been here for almost a year, and then will be departing because her contract is up as well. Without diving too far behind closed doors, the Chamber will be sad to see her go. She has become an integral part of events planning here. The Chamber has asked for an extension, but has been declined. It simply is not in the budget to offer a new contract without government funding (remember, we’re a non-profit organization.) It is probable a new intern will be brought in, which will not be as efficient as retraining is a must for any new intern.

I’m really not sure what the answers are for this problem. It seems Sudbury, and Northern communities in general, have struggled mightily to attract educated youth into the work-force. I want to hear from you. How can Sudbury work towards attracting more educated youth into the workforce? Will a new government help the situation? Will the municipal candidates positions on this matter in the October elections?

UPDATE: Bodyworks not responsible for text-message marketing

/ andyveilleux / 8 Comments

UPDATE (6:39PM): A friend called me and informed me how the process works. The martial arts program is being run out of Bodyworks, but not directly tied to them. The previous owned of this phone number had signed up for the course, and was therefore texted about it. However, the approach taken by the marketer who contacted me quite strange.

Also, I have owned this phone number for well over a year, so the information of this marketer was terribly outdated. It makes sense that Ray from Bodyworks was confused about the message. That being said, he was not aware of Systema being run out of his gym tonight it appears, or was at least not wanting to be involved with it officially.

To be clear, it is not the fault of Bodyworks in anyway. My journalistic curiousity is satisfied. Thanks to Mike for calling me and filling me in on their sign-up system.

I have received an email response from Bodyworks, concerning the text-message marketing I received earlier today.

I’m not sure what to think about the email response yet. I’m happy it didn’t take them long to get back to me, but it still seems odd that someone would message me to attend their gym, who was not hired by them.

“Dear Mr. Veilleux,

We have received your complaint and I have reviewed the link you sent me directing me to your personal website.

I can assure you that this was not directed from our facility.  We DO NOT, HAVE NOT and WILL NOT provide any of our membership information to any individual or organization without having a court order to do so.  We run generic advertising campaigns with TV, radio and print and never via email/text messaging.  The campaign that is referred to in the message that you received was run last year by a local radio station so it is not even current.  I have no clue who that number belongs to and have tried calling it a few times and receive a voicemail.

We are very clear on our advertising policies and the rules and regulations that we are required to follow.  All of our material and methods are not only vetted by our legal counsel but also the groups we advertise with.  My guess is that someone has somehow sent you an old message.

We always give away prizes for charity events as well as marketing campaigns.  Any information captured by these agencies is kept and maintained by these associations.  We never receive this information as they have to comply with their privacy laws in the same manner that we do.

I have also reviewed your comments about the message you received and they are unjust and I would kindly request that you remove such unwarranted comments.

Trusting that I have satisfied your query.


Best Regards,

Ray”

In regards to Ray’s request concerning my comments: when I mention the marketer’s grammar, I assumed it was a third-party hired by them. The comments were not aimed at Bodyworks, but the third-party company I believed was working for them. The comments concerning it being illegal to text-market without customer consent is accurate, however. Ray has said it was not on his company’s behalf, but some questions still remain about it. To clarify, Bodyworks was apparently not responsible for the message, and it came from someone else. Who would message me concerning a company they aren’t reprenting? Questions abound. Any ideas?

Bodyworks fail: text-message marketing

/ andyveilleux / 2 Comments

I just received a text message (1:28pm), from a number I don’t recognize. The message is from 1-705-###-####. It reads:

“Hey, slight change. And an update. 1- the Systema is still at Bodyworks in the downtown mall. 2- starts at 7pm. Not 6pm. Oops. My bad. 3- Tonight is a FREE trial. I love free trials. 4-It is at our own intensity. EX: so push ourselves as it is suggested. 5- lets see how well you recognize me in casual clothing. Lol. Let me know if you can make it or not. ###-####.”

First, I have no plans tonight, and have never been a member of the above-mentioned gym. Second, when did text-message marketing start? Third, is it illegal for a company to text message someone, posing as a friend, in order to try and get you out to their event? Fourth, marketing professionals should use decent grammar and have a respectable grasp on the English language (in my opinion). This marketer clearly does not have either of these traits.

Is membership at this gym so bad they need to text message random people to come? Has anyone else been marketed at directly through text messages? What’s the legal policy on this?

Do iPhone users have more sex? Does it matter?

/ andyveilleux / Leave a comment

I'm sure everyone's read the survey, or at least seen the headline, 'iPhone users have more sex' or 'iSlut'… It goes without saying that the survey is a little informal. It was published on free online dating site OkCupid's blog, OkTrends yesterday, and has been generating a phenomenal amount of buzz. The statistics in it are not that significant, unless put in the proper context. Here is a summary of the stats, quoted from the Times' article "iPhone users have more sex" (linked above):

"The accompanying graph shows male iPhone users have had an average of 10 sexual partners by age 30, while BlackBerry users have had 8.1. What's worse? Those poor losers with Androids have only had 6. The best news may be for female iPhone users who have an average of 12.3 sexual partners by age 30, as compared with 8.8 for BlackBerry users and 6.1 for Android users."

Is it significant that iPhone users apparently have had more sexual partners? I don't think so. The significance lies in another context of the statistics; the gender statistics. Did you notice that women had more sexual partners than men by the age of 30? I think this speaks volumes for equality. I'm not suggesting that this tiny survey is akin to women getting the right to vote or anything, but I think it's great that women are feeling comfortable enough to engage in a healthy amount of sexual activity, and to share that fact.

Also, I'd like to see a comparison between the users on dating sites, in terms of sexual partners, and the non-users. Do people on dating sites have more partners? I'll be willing to guess they do. That's not a condemnation of dating sites, or the people that go on them. That would be so hypocritical of me, considering I've used dating sites to a fair degree over the past few years. To hell with the social stigma of dating sites. I've met a lot of interesting people through them (after weeding through a lot of uninteresting people). That's a discussion for another time (oh, you know, next week :P).

There is an issue with a survey like this: honesty. Are these numbers accurate? How do we know a lot of people didn't downplay their numbers? How do we know people didn't exaggerate their numbers? We don't. Still, this survey was an interesting one, and it's worth reading over the article.

What's your opinion of dating sites? Do you think the fact iPhone users have more sexual partners in this survey is significant? Do you think the numbers are high or low for a person at 30 years old?

Social media and post-secondary institutions

/ andyveilleux / 2 Comments

I think I know what’s been bothering me lately. I’ve been feeling really anxious to achieve, and implement these enormous plans I keep coming up with. I touched on this anxiety in an earlier post, but now I believe I’ve figured it out.
Last week I attended a strategic planning meeting for Cambrian College’s Alumni Association, and it encompassed the plan for the next three years of the Association. I’ve been on placement with the Association for five weeks so far. In that time, I’ve pitched numerous ideas, and most of them have been short-term. They were accepted with great enthusiasm by my manager Celina. I’ve also pitched many long-term goals, which have been met with great enthusiasm, but have not been put into action.
That is not Celina’s fault by any means. The office staff here is too small. There are four of us, and two of us are placement students. I pitched some of these ideas to upper level management, and got relatively the same response. It all came down to budget and manpower restraints.
One cannot blame the staff here, or some of the management, because they don’t control the budget or manpower. They understand the ideas, and feel they are important, but don’t have the resources. It’s a shame. The main point I tried to raise was about the importance of using social media for a business’ success (yes, post secondary institutions are businesses).
The Alumni Association, but more so the College in general, needs to become a social media force. That’s where their customers (read: students and prospective students) are, and one ALWAYS needs to bring their advertising into contact with their customers. It is critical in today’s advertising world (as Mashable, Conversation Agent, Convince & Convert, and any respectable marketing, PR, or social media website will inform you) that a business reaches out to its customers through a strong social media presence. This is especially true when your target is mostly in the 15-19 year-old range, which if I recall correctly, is one of the most active user groups on social media.
I even tried using strong language (not to be confused with cursing and swearing) to convince Cambrian to get on board. “Laurentian is killing us in social media!” I’ve declared at several different meetings. It’s worth noting that Laurentian University is also in Sudbury, so they are technically one of Cambrian’s strongest rival schools.
All of the idea generating is great, and I love behaving like I’m part of a think-tank. To quote an industry professional I respect, people like me are “ideologues;” we just love generating ideas. When one never gets to watch their ideas soar, it begins to take a toll on one’s morale. I’m really hoping that the next institution I work for (teaser: expect a major announcement next week sometime probably), let’s me spread my wings and test how high I can fly. I’ve got an insane amount of ideas, and I can’t wait to see them come to fruition.
It’s worth recounting a personal story, which I’ve often recited to friends and colleagues. I’ve even recited it in meetings here at the College, concerning how badly Cambrian needs to get into social media. Today at Cambrian’s Journalism Advisory Committee meeting even, one of the individuals in attendance approached me after the meeting, and informed me she wanted to tell this story to others as a great example of how a post-secondary institution could use social media effectively. Here’s the story:
A few months ago, I applied to Algoma University and Laurentian University for Public Administration. I posted about applying in my Facebook status, and within 15 minutes, Laurentian University President Dominic Giroux Facebooked me. He personally invited me back to the University (as I am an alumni), and said they’d love to have me. This personal touch, from the President of the University himself, is an incredible way of encouraging prospective students to attend your school. Customer service isn’t about how well a member of the communications team can spin words anymore. Now customer service is about the whole organization buying in, and when your President buys into this manner of teamwork, your institution ‘gets’ social media.
I present two thumbs up to Dominic, and Laurentian, who honestly seem to understand the sometimes wavy seas of social media, having just launched their social media efforts in full force. Happy sailing Laurentian!

Academic freedom -oxymoron in Canada?

/ andyveilleux / 1 Comment

Today I was informed of some very troubling news concerning academic freedom. To a select few, including myself, academic freedom in Canada seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. If you’re comfortable with the world, and don’t care about such petty things as academic freedom, go back to watching your television, chatting on MSN, or playing whatever video game was making your life significant before you came across this nonsense.

First, I want to share two quotes, which I’ve been reminded of by U of O Watch:

“An education obtained with money is worse than no education at all.”
–Socrates

“One knows … that the university and in a general way, all teaching systems, which appear simply to disseminate knowledge, are made to maintain a certain social class in power; and to exclude the instruments of power of another social class. … It seems to me that the real political task in a society such as ours is to criticise the workings of institutions, which appear to be both neutral and independent; to criticise and attack them in such a manner that the political violence which has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one can fight against them.” – (Michel) Foucault, debating/agreeing (Noam) Chomsky, 1971.

My thoughts on academic freedom are aligned with those of men such as Dr. Denis Rancourt and Dr. David Noble, who have had to battle through several challenges within the university system. Both of the struggles are still going on, and I encourage you to read about Rancourt and Noble on your own time, but also through those provided links.
The University of Ottawa has a disgraceful track record in terms of their dealings with Dr. Rancourt, and one of his former students Marc Kelly. I have a video to show you that is really quite ironic. Kelly teaching a class about campus corruption, and is arrested. When Rancourt tries reasoning with the officers in charge, he is also arrested under trespassing charges. Here is that video. A google search of ‘marc kelly ottawa’ brings up a host of related videos (if you have Kikin installed, if not click the video tab) about similar run-ins with the U of O security team, and Ottawa police officers.
I bring up the discussion of academic freedom for a direct reason. Today, I received an interesting email from Marc Kelly, which was addressed to the students of the U of O.

Here is a lengthy excerpt of the email:

but if this message fails to reach all of you, probably intercepted and censored by the University, I could stay stuck in a prison cell until early next year after the court case is all cleared. so this is my last chance to explain, in as much detail as i can, why I need each and every one of you to come out and stand by me on thursday

i need each and every one of you to help protect me from the bizzaro university!
if you came out tomorrow, i’d listen to everything you have to say to me too!

i love this world.
i love our society.
i love you if you are my friend.
i love you if you are my enemy

(but I do not love this country)

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On May 14th, 2009, three Ottawa Police Officers were sent to my home apartment by the University. They entered without a warrant, and they arrested me while I was sleeping. I was charged under the Criminal Code of Canada for “speaking directly to” the President of the University, because I asked him a question on March 4th, 2009, during the Q & A of his inaugural lecture series.

YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO OF ME ASKING AN ILLEGAL QUESTION HERE:
fast forward the video, my question starts at 1:11:35

Responsibility to Protect: a Doctrine of Humanity
http://events.onlinebroadcasting.com/uottawa/030409/index.php

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I DO NOT THINK IT IS OKAY THAT IN THIS COUNTRY A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA CAN BE ARRESTED BY THE POLICE AND PUT IN JAIL FOR ASKING A QUESTION

aren’t we not always taught by our professors, “there are no stupid questions” ?

if illegal questions exist, does that mean there are indeed stupid questions too?

if that’s true, then what’s the difference between an illegal question and a stupid question?

Here is an excerpt from my reply:

This news is very troubling, and this case speaks about university education in a very clear light. This story saddens me greatly, and further reinforces my desire to find a better place to further my education outside of Canada. I’m truly anxious to see what unfolds tomorrow, as the authorities will be alerted to this event I imagine, and he will definitely be arrested for trespassing. It is pathetic that a university can arrest him for trespassing when he poses absolutely no threat to anybody on the campus, and has paid his tuition (though he is now expelled). I admire this guy’s stand, but his approach is a little bit off. I’ve realized a number of reasons why his paper was rejected. First, the basis of it doesn’t seem that scientific, despite the formulae present in it (I found a copy of his proposal online – http://sites.google.com/site/marckellyuottawa/test). Secondly, if you check his references you will find U of O’s public enemy number 1 among them – Denis Rancourt. The idea behind the paper seems interesting enough, and I would have thought some individuals in the physics department would have loved to help him with his research.

So far from this email and my provided links we’ve gathered a number of things. First of all, it’s illegal to ask the President of a university a question. Secondly, that academic freedom is not a guarantee in Canada, according to James Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, who suggests he is dealing with at least 25 to 30 cases at the moment. Thirdly, any questioning of the political leanings of a university’s top administrators will find you in the university’s doghouse, or in the case of Dr. Noble, forced to sue the university you work at for defamation.

I am not suggesting that every university in Canada is void of academic freedom, but I am suggesting that universities take a serious look at how free they allow their professors and students to be. Academic freedom SHOULD BE the cornerstone of any proper university education , although that is the ideal and not the reality presently. My experiences at Laurentian were good, but I only did one undergraduate degree there, and was never employed at the institution (so my experience has been admittedly one-sided in all of it).

For more information on all of that is going on at University of Ottawa, please look into this website, U of O Watch.

Vale Inco workers officially on strike!

/ andyveilleux / Leave a comment

Vale workers voted unanimously against the proposed new contract, according to the Associated Press. This is the first strike since Vale Inco took over Inco’s Sudbury operations, and many locals feel it will be a long one. The union has recently made comments regarding Vale Inco’s operations as being “Third-world.” All bantering and posturing aside, the outcome and fall-out from this strike will be crucial for the city of Sudbury, and Canada as a whole, as it will demonstrate how the municipal, provincial, and federal governments deal with a foreign company in a situation such as this. This strike will also set a precedent for how the upcoming Xstrata (February) contract negotiations (aka strike, as many miners are making it sound) will play out. This writer can only hope that the city of Sudbury rallies behind the striking workers, and demonstrates their support for them in full force, in whatever capacity it is being asked of them. It is interesting Vale Inco is pushing the workers into a strike, considering they made more profit in the last two years then INCO did in the 10 years preceding those, isn’t it?

Be strong workers, I’m happy you did not cave in to such a ridiculous contract offer. This strike may get long, but hopefully Sudbury residents can carry you on their back until this company offers a realistic contract to their workers.