AHA Creative Strategies - B Seen B Heard B Known

Happy New Year. For all of us at AHA, the start of a new year is always filled with excitement, anticipation and potential. We’re looking forward to 2008 and the work we will get to do with our clients.

2008 marks the 5th anniversary of AHA Creative Strategies. While in the big picture, five years (which by the way is 1,825 days, 43,800 hours, 2,628,000 minutes and 157,680,000 seconds) is just a drop in the universal bucket…for us it symbolizes a great deal, it is an achievement of which we are very proud. We started out company in a small (and I mean SMALL office in a building in a marina, then moved it onto a float home in that marina …it was really fun having clients come to the office or the first time, seeing their faces as ducks or swans swam by them as they walked down the dock!) and then we moved our head office to the Sunshine Coast and found a way to be in two places at once, by sharing office space with one of our favourite partner companies The Donat Group, A Creative Technology Company‰.

2008 is also significant for us because we have found who we are, so to speak. AHA Creative Strategies is a full-service agency with a bit of a difference. While our head office is in Gibsons, B.C. a short commute via ferry from Vancouver, B.C. , our clients, our staff and colleagues are situated throughout North America.

We have taken full advantage of the freedoms the Internet and frequent flyer points give us. Our PR assistant and copy editor is in Calgary, Alberta (http://www.calgary.ca), we partner closely with several senior communications consultants that live in Vancouver, Toronto and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we work with a social media strategist and visionary who is incredibly knowledgeable in this ever changing landscape (although he’s pretty humble and would never admit to how good he is at what he does). We also have access to respected associates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Paris, and Aberdeen, Scotland.

Not to mention our strong ongoing relationships with some of the best communications companies in the world including Quay Strategies Inc. (http://www.quaystrat.com) and Capulet Communications .

It’s exciting to be a boutique agency right now. We work with the best of the best and build a team that is exactly right for each project or initiative. It’s obvious that our clients “get it” – they are innovative, creative and open to new ways of doing things. If they didn’t see the value in our agency, they wouldn’t work with us. What we have found interesting over the past year as we moved our business model over to this new business model is how potential clients have reacted when they realize how we work …and we’re talking some large – often perceived as conservative – companies as well as those in technology, entertainment and startups (who have a reputation for being a little more open-minded about new things). Out of an estimated 25 new business opportunities last year, we only had two decide that because we weren’t a “national” agency (one with offices in at least three cities in Canada), that we might not fit their needs.

In fact, several of the more traditional organizations (that, I have to admit we worried a little bit about), seemed somewhat intrigued about our evolving business model. As one of our larger clients said, “It doesn’t matter where you are, as long you’re there when we need you.”

We’re excited about 2008 – and while our big, funky AHA office seems a little empty with only a few of us working out of it right now – we think we’ve found our framework. Great clients, great staff, great partners, it’s a nice place to be, even if we aren’t all in the same location.

Here’s wishing you a great 2008 and hoping that you have found a nice place to be, in your life.

What’s a blog for — if not to talk to a great person that will come and join our team! Below is the ad we have put out for a PR coordinator!

AHA Creative Strategies, a boutique PR firm with its head office in beautiful Gibsons, B.C. (on the Sunshine Coast) and a client service/business development office in Vancouver, is currently looking for a Public Relations Coordinator. This position is based in Gibsons – a short 40-minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay (North Vancouver). Preference will be given to those who live or are willing to live on the Sunshine Coast.

Qualifications and Requirements
-Excellent communication, organization, and time management skills.
-Must be able to communicate effectively and professionally over the phone with company contacts and media.
-Ability to manage simultaneous tasks, think out-of the-box and take initiative.
-Creative, intelligent, positive attitude, team player, flexible, and reliable.
-Strong work ethic and strict attention to detail.
-Proficient with Cisions Media Source (previously Bowdens Media Source) media database.
-Must have excellent grammar and writing skills.
-Advanced skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
-Proficient Internet research ability.
-Strong understanding of social media, especially blogging.
-Degree or certificate in the field of PR or communications.
-A minimum of one year’s experience in public relations.

Responsibilities
-Write, edit and proofread news releases and pitches.
-Coordinate media interviews.
-Pitch story ideas to the media.
-Build and maintain media databases.
-Contribute to client brainstorming sessions.
-Maintain client media binders.
-Project account coordination.
-Assist partners with event planning and onsite coordination.
-Admin duties as necessary – including answering the telephone.
-Walking the AHA mutts – we have two!

The AHA office environment is casual, fun and lively. We work hard AND we have fun. Our clients are based throughout North America and are exceptional. This is a great opportunity for someone with a positive, “can do” attitude who wants to build a career with one of Canada’s best boutique PR agencies.

If you have the drive to succeed and are looking for a PR position in a fast-paced organization in one of B.C.’s most beautiful areas, we want to hear from you. Please email a cover letter and resume ASAP to paul@ahacreative.com.

Compensation is based on relevant experience. We will be hiring mid-July.

Work and Life on the Sunshine Coast…it’s as good as you would think! (Maybe even better.)

When anyone learns that AHA’s head office is on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, they either grin and give us a smart aleck remark like, ”Oh, and I’m sure you do a lot of work on the beach and the trails out there…” or they say it’s their dream to be able to live somewhere like this without sacrificing their career ambitions.

For those who grin and think we might be putting something over on the tax man, we really DO work out here – our office is 1,000 sq feet with a brainstorming area, televisions tuned into the news, a production office and four full-time staffers. (We also have some incredible contractors and strategic partners who work out of their home offices or business offices.) But – it’s also a pretty amazing place to work and live. We are surrounded by beaches (Sechelt means land between two waters) and we have a view of Porpoise Bay from our office – and access to some of the best nature trails around.

We also have an office in Vancouver, but we made a conscious decision to locate our production studio and head office on the Sunshine Coast. There are several reasons: quality of life; room for the dogs to run; and the ability to offer our clients the opportunity to get out of their office and meet here to brainstorm, media train, and for other business-related activities that need space.

We even have an “after work” fun space called The Naked Cowboy Bar & Grill named after the Naked Cowboy in New York City – who is one of the best entrepreneur PR success stories I have ever seen. The Naked Cowboy has a pool table, foosball, darts…it’s a little beach bar crossed with a Texas Honky Tonk. Clients love to go and spend an hour in there, have a cold drink and hang out after an intense afternoon of media training or messaging development.

Our office is not far from downtown Vancouver, but because we take a ferry to the city, perception is that we are far, far away. We’re not!! The ferry only takes 40 minutes – and we work on the ferry. From the Horseshoe Bay terminal, depending on traffic, we can be downtown in 20 minutes. Not a very big deal for us – and we are in Vancouver several times a week or more, depending on client needs.

With our Sunshine Coast and Vancouver offices, we have the best of all worlds. We have access to a great city with lots of culture, a large business population combined with the more rural beauty of the Sunshine Coast and the space to grow our business.

And, these days our clients are all over North America and the world so that where we are really doesn’t matter. Technology allows us constant contact – emails, Instant Messenger, telephone, online video and online conferencing allows us to feel like we are in the same room even when we are thousands of miles apart. And for those times that we need to be in the same room, we are only a drive or a plane ride away. The world is a big, wonderful, expansive place – but our ability to connect makes it seem like we are all right next door to each other.

I wonder how many others are making a choice similar to ours – molding their lifestyle and business together, instead of having one or the other. Have you? How has technology freed you to do business from where you choose? Or do you think that to be successful you need to be in the heart of a large city? Let us know what you are thinking – we’d love to hear from you. Even if you’re the taxman – because we really are working out here. Ask our clients!!