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Hospitality and Travel

The hospitality industry is an old and established one. For as long as people have needed to be away from home for necessity or pleasure, there has been the need for inns, hostels, motels, serviced apartments, hotels, and qualified staff to work at such establishments in order to service the weary traveller, businessmen or tourist.
Frontline Recruitmentis more than just a recruitment company. Our consultants are industry specialists offering advice on how to get the job you want as well as offering candid and honest feedback about your suitability for roles.
We won't waste your time. Matching the right candidates to the right job is what we do each and every day.

The diverse range of jobs available within the hospitality industry provides excellent job opportunities for all sorts of people with different skill levels, educational backgrounds and experience. There are jobs to suit first-time job seekers, mid career and experienced professionals.
Large resorts or international hotel chains require an army of well-trained staff to ensure a smooth business operation. The types of roles available in hospitality covers the entire job gamut.Here is a small sample of the many roles we regularly have on offer:
1. Accountancy and Auditing
2. Buyer/Purchaser
3. Corporate Communications
4. Hotel Management
5. Finance
6. Front Desk/Guest Services
7. Interpreter     23. Housekeeping
8. MICE and Event Management
9. Public Relations Reservations
10. Revenue Management Development
11. Sales and Marketing
12. Chefs and Cooks
13. Sales and Business Development Staff
14. Finance and Administration
15. Catering all Positions
16. Event Staff
17. Wait Staff (Waiter, Waitress and Stewards etc.)
18. Front of House
19. Administrations
20. Concierges Services
21. Engineering
22. Food and Beverage
24. Human Resources
25. It / Support System
26. Operations
27. Room and Reservations
28. Training and Development
29. Executive Manager
30. Front Office
31. Bar Staff
32. Baristas

Travel and Tourism

Travel and Tourism are two of the largest industries in the world. In many countries, tourism contributes to a major part of the national GDP and is often the number one employer. Both Travel and Tourism are also fast growing and exciting sectors. New destinations and products are constantly being introduced to an evolving consumer base that is rapidly growing more connected, mobile and affluent.
A career in tourism deals with any business that directly provides goods or services to people who are away from home (travellers, visitors or tourists). The tourism industry covers a vast and varied range of jobs dealing with the servicing and management of hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, conventions, theme parks, tourist attractions, cruises, airlines, tour agencies, nature reserves, resorts and many, many more. Tourism enterprises can range from major international corporations with thousands of employees, to a small family-owned businesses with only a few employees.

Ongoing technological advances in transportation and communications networks are making worldwide travel easier, more comfortable and accessible to more and more people. There are many promising job opportunities to be found within the travel industry. Job seekers have an almost endless range of possibilities to pick from in the travel industry. Some career choices include airlines, cruise companies, car rental/ hire, ticket sales, tour operations, luxury or adventure travel, leisure or corporate travel and many others.
Salaries in travel and tourism can vary widely within the industry. A major job perk is the opportunity for travel, including free or discounted travel and accommodation for families. Hotels, airlines/ cruises and attractions often partner with one another to offer special packages or discounted rates to their staff or people within the industry. Besides travel perks, many roles within Travel and Tourism also offer the opportunity to earn commission and gratuities on top of a base salary.

Travel and Tourism companies are constantly on the lookout for energetic, flexible and adaptable individuals. The type of professionals who thrive in these industries tend to be people-oriented, open-minded and possess excellent interpersonal skills.


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New Author Spotlight - E. G. Herrera - A Child's Notebook: The Diary Of An 8 Year Old - Interview & Review

Anthony has discovered that his mother is keeping a secret. She has been hiding in the bathroom and Anthony suspects she is hiding her new stash of candy. Enjoy this light-hearted read into the mind of an eight-year-old boy as he solves a mystery that just might change his life.

The 411:

An adorable insight into the conscious thoughts of an 8 year old who tries to figure out what is going on with his parents. The author does a wonderful job creating the voice of a child and the wonderment and innocence of youth. I loved it. As a mom I wanted to hug Anthony and tell him everything would be okay.

Take away thought: keeping things from children is not always best. Their thoughts can be worse then the truth!

What I know:

I work with E.G. and she is a wonderful person so when I heard she had just self published a book I had to get it. She mentioned it was on Amazon so I told her I was getting it and expected her to sign it for me. She laughed and said "definitely!" She was so excited to see her book in print. Look at that face. She told me it was the first time she was holding the bound book in her hands. She is adorable and sweet and I cannot wait to see what other stories she publishes.

About E.G.

E.G. is a young writer who has many crazy and interesting plots and lives living inside her head that she cannot wait to bring to life.

My Interview With E.G.

Where do you get you ideas?

I get my ideas from both real life experiences and inspirations and from dreams and fantasies. I love imagining the "what ifs" and sometimes these ideas grow into stories on their own. I also, love people watching and I build characters off of the personalities that I have seen and interacted with.

What is your writing process?

I don't really have a writing process. As I put the thoughts in my head onto paper, I do my best to make my writing as a clear as I can. From experience I have realized that too much detail will cause your reader to become distracted and too little information doesn't let your reader know what to imagine or even sometimes what is going on in a scene. Depending on the storyline, I may even have a detailed map of all the characters' arcs and how they influence each other and what plot twists happen written down ahead of time. This helps me know what I am going to write since I already know what the ending is. It also helps me keep my facts straight so there are no inconsistencies. I love making sure each character learns a lesson of some kind since I feel that life is full of little lessons and it makes the characters seem more real.

What piece of advice do you have for young writers?
My advice for young writers would be to read. Read books of different genres to get a feel for how the author choose to present their work. The best thing I ever did was read books on how to write and then try to see how other authors incorporated these principals in their own work. Eventually you will find your own style that works for you. Additionally, not everyone will like what you write and that's okay. If you try to please everyone your story won't be yours anymore. Trust yourself.

What is the most difficult thing about writing the opposite sex?
As an bisexual, and androgenous person I think my perception of the opposite sex may be different than others. I kinda have picked up on the differences that I have noticed each gender has and sort of went with it. I also have a background in child psychology that I needed for my teaching degree so I do know the general milestones that children have mentally. My man did read my book and he felt that it was accurate so I did get a stamp of approval, lol.

Was this story partially non-fiction?

The only part of the story that was non-fictional was the MC's name (Anthony) and his age. My brother Anthony is currently eight. I also did word things the way my brother talks in this book. Everything else was fictional.

How do you select the names of your characters?

Like in this book, I kind of name characters after the people they remind me of. Other times, the name has a type of meaning (either literal, like Amora for a woman who is loving) or I looked around the room and see a name written down and gave it to the character, haha.

How long did it take you to write this book?
I wrote it over the course of two weeks. In total I think I spent 4 hours on it. I love writing so the words came easy and my first draft is nearly identical to the current story you read.

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Tangled Thought

Tangled Thought (2017)
When I started this painting, the idea was to create another version of the String of Thoughts painting because I feel there is still a lot more to explore. As I was adding the yellow string, I got the idea of wrapping it around the cloud. Not sure why, but it felt right. I don't always come with the name of the piece right away. I tend to let it it for a while and eventually, an idea will come. Two weeks later, Tangled Thought came to mind, and while searching for a quote that would resonate with the painting, I found this one :
"Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking."
- Jalaluddin Rumi
Fear is definitely a thought that can leave you bounded or trapped if you let it, but if you act despite of the fear, you realize that there was nothing to fear in the first place, it was an illusion : False Evidence Appearing Real. This is what this painting reminds me of, the fact that most of our fear are illusions. Although it seems like the string is restraining the cloud, it cannot do so because the  clouds is not a solid object, it can't be restrained.

String of Thoughts Knot

I recently created this painting as a continuation of another series of paintings using the idea of thought clouds and strings. As I was painting I decided to add a loop on the strings on the last cloud and the title that came to me after taking another look at it was String of Thought Knot. I like the idea of matching the painting with a quote I feel resonates with the painting, and the quote that I chose for this painting is the following quote by Michael Ondaatje:

"We all have an old knot in the heart we wish to untie."
Michael Ondaatje

Art As Meditation Workshop

 ✱ Thursday, August 31, 2017

Give your left brain and break and let your right brain play a little.

What's intuitive painting?

Think of it as meditation but a lot easier and more fun. It’s painting based on what your feel and whatever comes to mind. There are no right or wrong way to do it. It helps you tap into your own creativity and it’s a proven effective way to manage stress.

Materials will be provided. All you need to bring is yourself.

Portal Paintings

This is the second painting I created recently around the topic of clouds and portals. As I'm creating more paintings around clouds more surreal ideas are coming to the surface inspiring me to keep creating. It seems like I needed to go through the basics understanding of painting clouds first with the 100 cloud painting project before coming up with all these ideas. And I have a lot more coming! There are so many ways to paint the same topic! Enjoy the videos below of the accelerated process. They took about an hour each to complete.

Both original paintings are available for sale. You can click here for details

Portal 2

Painting Live at the Spoke Club

Tomorrow I will be joining 5 other local artists to paint live at the Spoke Club's gallery. It's a fun little competition where we'll be painting for 15 minutes on a given topic and the audience will chose the winners.

Have you ever been to an art battle? Join us in The Gallery to watch a competitive painting tournament where the winner takes all! What is competitive painting you may ask? A group of artists duke it out in three separate rounds as they each create a masterpiece you deliberate on. Vote for your favourite and the best painters move onto the next round for a chance to be the last artist standing and win the ultimate prize. Their works will also be auctioned off after each round. Each $15 ticket gets you access and voting rights at the show plus a glass of wine or beer.

Thoughts are things

Do you have a friend, a relative or a colleague who’s always complaining? Have you ever noticed that they often seem to find themselves in unfortunate situations? What if one of the main causes of their unfortunate situations is their way of thinking? What if our thoughts attract these unfortunate situations, like a magnet attracts metal. And the more we think and complain about everything that’s going wrong, the more they seem to happen. What if our thoughts really create our environment?

“Thoughts are things”. The first time I heard that concept was while watching a motivational video compilations featuring Will Smith. I didn't really get it at the time, but it stuck with me and my search to get a better understanding of what he meant lead me to discover various authors and speakers such as Napoleon Hill, Bob Proctor, Wallace D Wattles, Eckhart Tolle, Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Gilbert, and many more. And I started to get a better understanding of the concept behind the idea that our thoughts and emotions affect our environment. It’s essentially what the book The Secret is trying to convey. The part that was unclear to me was the importance of the emotion behind the thoughts. Emotion is key. As I pay attention to what's going on around me, I can now see how thoughts fuelled by emotions can become things.

This is what inspired this painting called Thoughts are Things. As I mentioned before, this year I felt compelled to paint clouds using the colour trends of the year and later discovered that my painting are essentially a representation of what I see around me. As an artist, I observe and see the world differently and reproduce it visually to share a new perspective with you. I paint was feels right and analyze it after. And after completing this particular painting I started to notice parallels with what I see around me and in the media : people (including myself who create their own negative environment by holding on to thoughts they don’t like ). The problem is, the more we hold on to those negative thoughts clouds, the stronger they can become. Those little negative thought-clouds fuelled by our emotions soon become storm clouds, casting more shadow into our lives, and if we keep holding on, those storm clouds can turn into tornadoes, turning our world upside down.

I can see how the more we focus on negative thoughts, the more negative events we can attract. They don’t need to be our own thoughts to have this effect. Watching the news and witnessing a lot of negative press can get us emotionally involved in nurturing thoughts that has nothing to do with us. But by latching on to them, they start to affect our own lives. I see that a lot, especially when it comes to politics lately. You may have seen many example on your Facebook feed like me, of people just arguing online about events that are completely out of their real lives and affecting their own genuine relationships which has a direct impact on their lives.

So what’s the solution? We can’t avoid all negative thoughts but we can be mindful, observe them from a distance, let them pass by without holding on to them and focus on the thoughts we want to materialize instead. It takes practice because it doesn’t necessarily comes naturally to all of us, but it makes life a lot more enjoyable. Instead of focusing on what we don’t want, we can focus on what we can, fuel these positive thoughts with our positive emotions, and these emotions will then fuel our actions and we’ll see our worlds change for the better.

Head over to Cafe Press to get a print of this artwork

Uncovering Saskatchewan's historical faux pas from sketching the Devonian Pond

Yesterday, the Toronto Urban Sketchers headed over to the Devonian Square, near the Ryerson Image Centre, to sketch the Devonian Pond, also known as Lake Devo. I was hoping to get a nice picturesque pond with the surrounded buildings and boulders reflected on the water, but there was no water. Just a couple puddles here and there, probably from the rain earlier that day and some discarded coffee cups. There was also large images of a lady wrapped in a bright red fabric standing on a rock pasted onto a couple boulders . Not what I was expecting, but then again, Toronto is always full of surprises.

It turns out that the images are part of a temporary art installation by artist Lori Blondeau regarding Indigenous identity. It was a bit shocking a first to see this but not nearly as shocking as it must have been for the Crees and Assiniboin who saw their 400-tons sacred gathering rock blown up by the government in 1966 to make way for the man-made Lake Diefenbaker, named after the John G. Diefenbaker, former Prime Minister of Canada. Knowing a little bit more of the story behind the installation, it makes a little more sense. I can see the parallel between the sacred rock in the 1960s that was destroyed to make way for a man-made lake vs an empty man-made pond using imported boulder from the Canadian Shield plastered, almost like a graffiti on a natural stone, with the image of a Cree artist defiantly and ironically standing on a rock in pristine nature wearing a red cloth.

From what I understand, this installation brings more awareness so that we can hopefully make better decisions.  It's great to be aware of these stories to get a better understanding of the complexities of our history. But, where do we go from there? What's the next step to make things better? Apparently the site it still considered sacred despite being 60 ft under water. Steven Thair, a diver in Saskatchewan discovered the remains of the rock and is looking to make a documentary about it. He's also looking for experienced Cree divers who would be able to work with him.

You never know what you're going to find out when you take the time to sketch the city. We had a great turn out. About 20 sketchers showed up to sketch the empty pond and surrounding areas. You can see more images on Facebook and Instagram

Chasing Clouds

Here's a quick little clip showing the acrylic cloud formations of one of my recent paintings. I hope you enjoy it too. 😊

Music: Dark Hallway by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. (via YouTube Library)

Don't let fear be your guide

Yesterday I listened to an audiobook called The Instant Millionaire: A Tale of Wisdom and Wealth by Mark Fisher. It was a nice little story about a man who's unhappy with his life and met a self-made millionaire who teaches him the secret of becoming wealthy in all aspects of his life. It's a beautiful story full of great simple insights that really resonated with me. I'm probably going to listen to it again because it reminded me of various lessons I've been picking up along my journey so far, but I haven't necessarily applied all of them.

One quote that particularly struck me wast the one shown above : "Don't let fear be your guide". How many of us make decisions or avoid making decision out of fear? I know I still do it and too often. The silly thing is that a lot of those fears are silly : fear of the unknown, fear of getting hurt, fear of hurting other people, fear of feeling judged, fear of feeling embarrassed, fear of making a mistake. The longer they stay in my mind, the bigger the can become if I don't take a step back and look at these fear honestly with a certain amount of detachment. Most of them are not life threatening. They're just uncomfortable. And uncomfortable is where growth happens. So it was a nice little reminder for me to get uncomfortable in order to keep growing. Silly things like going to an event even though I don't know anyone. What's the worst that can happen? Nothing really, but I'll learn and experience something new.

Another beautiful quote that I really connected with was this one :

Always remember that at a certain height there are no clouds. If there are clouds in your life it’s because your soul hasn’t soared high enough. Many people make the mistake of fighting against their problems. What you must do is raise yourself above those problems once and for all. The heart of the rose will lead you above the clouds where the sky is forever clear.
Mark Fisher, The Instant Millionaire: A Tale of Wisdom and Wealth

This quote is freakishly aligned with my thoughts regarding my art project on clouds this year and almost reenergized my determination to pursue my call to paint clouds

The Timeraiser Toronto Party was a Success

I first heard of Timeraiser when I lived in Ottawa back in 2009. It's a unique concept that enables artists to sell their artwork to the organization which, in turn, enables art patrons to bid for the artwork in exchange for their time volunteering for various non-for-profit organizations. Fast forward 6 years later, I decided to attend the event in Toronto last night and it was quite inspiring.

There was a lot of interesting artwork, a lot people interested in volunteering in exchange for the artwork as well as great live art installations by various local artists. I didn't plan on staying long but I ended up staying for 4 hours!

Artists were making portraits of the visitors. The lines were long to get the opportunity to be sketched by them. It's quite impressive that they were producing so many portraits surrounded by so much activity around them.

An artist called dahae invited visitors to co-create art pieces with her by leaving their handprints on canvas fabric fixed on the wall.

Some artist quietly created their work in their bubble while others involved visitors in their work. It's interesting to see the different way artists create.

I was particularly fond of the work of Jonathan Edwin Simpon who patiently engrave wood trucks with letters creating some sort of poem. Very inspiring!

I really like the way it was set up. There was drinks and food for everyone as well as a clever game Timeraiser put together. We were given a Nonprofit Passport including the logos of each of the participating organizations. They had a booth in the main area to talk to visitors. And for each representative we spoke to, we got a stamp on our passport. If we collected at least 6 stamps, we could participate to a contest to win a prize. This encouraged visitors (including myself) to go talk to the organizations reps and find out the amazing work some of them do. In my case, I found out about groups I genuinely would love to get involved with. Kudo's to Timeraiser for an effective solution to getting more people to connect.

From what I gather, it was a huge success. Timeraiser Toronto raised 15,863 volunteer hours last night. There's  probably more to come from those who, like me, who plan to connect with great organizations such as Emerging Young ArtistsFull Circle and Luminato amongst many others. And if you're interested in participating as an artist, they are still accepting submission for their online version here : http://www.timeraiser.ca/artist

Expand your vision and change your perspective using creativity.

I will be taking part in a workshop to help people better manage their stress this coming Saturday, April 29 2017 at 2PM along with some fellow wellness experts to provide a complete practical guide addressing various aspects of the effects stress have on your body and how to protect yourself from it.

Get your ticket here : https://goo.gl/VQgf3A

Are you living your life in survival mode ?

"It's hard to flourish when we're in survival mode"

This was an insight that came to me during a recent conversation with a friend. It got me thinking : How many people are currently living in survival mode, focused on making it through another day, on autopilot, working 5 to 9 on a 9 to 5 job, anticipating every Friday nights and dreading every Monday mornings? How does that affect their quality of life?

Surviving goes beyond our ability to feed ourselves or have a safe place to live. It also has to do with our ability to express ourselves. Unfortunately, that is often taken away from us as a result of us trying to keep up with the Jones, following the heard, or being trapped in Reaction Mode where we're reacting to everything that life seems to throw at us without a second to take a step back,  breathe, and figure out a better way to live. This can eventually lead to depression or worst.

Sometimes all we need to get out of survival mode is a broader perspective. Something as simple as taking a step back to look at our situation from a new point of view. When we're in survival mode we tend to have tunnel vision. We only see what's in front of us. In that case, it can help to have a friend, a motivational book, podcast or video to give us a glimpse into what's possible. Other times, an event will cause us to snap out of it long enough to realize what's going on and change things. This is what happened to me when I was living in survival mode.

A couple years ago, I was living in survival mode. I became aware of it when I found myself searching on Google for ideas on what to do to have fun on my birthday. "How ridiculous!" I thought, "Who asks Google how to have fun? How can I not know what I want to do for fun? What happened?". It seems like I had forgotten what I loved to do for fun. I had been working really hard the previous years to the point where was struggling to take a well deserved break and enjoy myself.  What's the point of doing all this work if I don't get to enjoy life? Those thoughts became my "White Rabbit". So I decided to take on the role of Alice and follow these thoughts to find answers for myself.

Following the White Rabbit

I quickly realized that I wouldn't find my answers out there but within. So I started to dig deep, got back into journaling to search my mind for some answers. For me journaling was my gateway out of survival mode. It allowed me to take a step back and see my situation from a new perspective. I would ask myself a question, write it down in my journal and then record anything that came to mind. This resulted in many pages of words, diagrams and sketches and after a little while I realized that what really made me happy was to create in the form of drawings. I used to draw all the time as a child. Drawing was my thing. I would spend hours drawing anything for fun. With that answer in hand, I decided to bring drawing back into my life.

I started to draw whenever I had a little bit of free time and then I signed up for a life drawing class once a week with a friend. In class, I would spend hours observing and reproducing what I was looking at on paper. Time slowed down. I was present and fully engaged in the process. Drawing was a mindfulness exercise and as a bonus I would come back home with something I was proud of. The more I sketched the more I wanted to sketch. This led me to urban sketching, where I was not only drawing but also exploring my environment with a renewed perspective. I was appreciating the simple things more and enjoying the life we're so blessed to have.

Drawing was now an easy tool for me to relax and enjoy life. I wasn't stressed anymore, I felt happier and I no longer felt like I needed to be in survival mode. I had found a way to make time for myself and having fun. One of my favourite sketchbook is the one I made during two trips to Las Vegas. It was one of the first time in a while when I really felt like I was reconnecting with myself and was enjoying life. If you'd like to see the sketches I made, I recently made a video flipping through that sketchbook below :

Helping others reconnect with their creative side

This self exploration journey eventually led to me moving to Toronto and founding the Toronto Urban Sketchers where, in a sense, I now get to hold space for fellow creatives to reconnect with their creative sides and come out of survival mode. I believe that we are all here to create. It could be in the form of drawing, coding, painting, talking, cooking, teaching, dancing, building or more. The key is to first take the time to find out what creating looks like for us and then make space in our lives for it. Creating enables us to express ourselves, which in turns makes us happy and help us flourish. It also energizes us and enable us to face our problem with more resilience. Failing to be creative tends to keeps us in survival mode with tunnel vision, missing out on many wonderful life experiences.

If you're currently living in survival mode, I really hope that this will encourage you to follow your own White Rabbit to rediscover your unique creative toolbox so you can start expressing yourself out of survival mode and into thriving mode.

Comparison is the thief of a successful life

Imagine if Professor X from the X-men wasted time wishing he could look more like Wolverine, regularly working out at the gym to bulk up, going through all kinds of surgeries, and combat classes to emulate Wolverine instead of investing his time perfecting his natural telepathic abilities and create his school. How would that affect his life and the life of everyone around him?

I was talking with some friends the other day about how comparing ourselves to other people is not only detrimental to ourselves but to everyone around us as well. That’s because by spending time picking at what we can’t do because of what we don’t have, as opposed to strengthening what we can do using what we do have, it robs everyone who would benefit from our unique abilities. We are all born with a unique set of skills and gifts. When we work with them and share the fruits of our labour with others, we essentially become superheroes helping and inspiring others.
I think that’s why many people admire popular public figures like Oprah Winfrey or Bill Gates. They each have something unique that they are really good at. By focusing on their skills, they accomplished great things for themselves and others. They also inspired many along the way to do the same for themselves. Both Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey are like superheroes to those who connect and relate with them, not because they are better then others, but because they chose to focus on their strengths. Anyone can do the same. The reason why most don’t is because they tend to spend more time trying to fix what they perceive as flaws as opposed to nurturing and growing their unique gifts and talents: their superpower.
If you’re familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk, I think that’s what he means when he talks about the importance of becoming self aware as the starting point to a successful life on your own terms. This is something I’ve been pondering on lately (maybe something for you to ponder on as well) : asking myself What kind of superpower would I have as a superhero based on my personality, skills and natural abilities ? And most importantly : Am I making full use of them right now or am I waisting time comparing myself to others?
What about you? What do you think?

Self discovery through art

As I was putting together this latest video about my 100 cloud paintings project, I realized that there seems to be a right brain left brain game going on while I create the paintings. Despite the fact that my intent while creating the paintings is always to make them look different, perhaps because I paint them in pairs, the pairs have a lot of similar traits, just like non identical twins.

This didn't occurred to me until I saw them side by side in the video. I wonder if it's because of my setup painting them side by side or because I used the same colour palette. Maybe both? Even the first two, sold painting to two different collectors, were from the same painting session. What does it mean? Who knows.

Another interesting insight from this discovery is that, is it also reveals another part of my personality: a particular affinity for balance and symmetry. The more I paint the more I discover about myself. How you do anything is how you do everything. I think this says a lot about how art can support people in figuring things out about themselves if they are open to it. For me it's a great way to find clues to many existential questions such as : Who am I?

If you're looking in finding things out about yourself, I would definitely recommend using a form of art as a tool to bring out some clues from your subconscious mind into light. It may even help you find your true purpose in life.

Failing Forward - 5 benefits from my "unsuccessful" Kickstarter project

You win or you learn. Despite not reaching my goal for my Kickstarter project, I survived the imagined humiliation of having an unsuccessful crowdfunding project online. Who knew it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be! Don't get me wrong, it was quite the roller coaster of oscillating between confidence and self doubt, constantly switching between my desire to keep going vs my desire to give up. What kept me going is that I really want to make these paintings and I kept learning new things along the way. Besides, all of the people I admire for achieving great things, failed many times before. What's one failed project? The thing is, if you're not failing you're not trying hard enough. If you're not trying hard enough, you'll stay where you are. So I kept going and came out the other side with a handful of insights and skills that will surely serve me in my current and future endeavors.

My benefits came in the form of five upgrades in the following area :
  1. Quality
  2. Productivity
  3. Creativity
  4. Social media
  5. Online business

1. Quality : I improved my art

Practice makes perfect. Although  I haven't reached the famous 10,000 hours of painting clouds yet, I'm closer today then I was a month ago. Repeating the same process using various colours and shapes gave me insights on how to best use and mix the colours to be able to get more depth into the paintings. With practice I came to better understand how to mix the light and the dark colors to create more depth and I also allowed myself to experiment with colours I may not have tried to combined together otherwise. Some were surprisingly complementary.  I can already see the difference from the first painting to the 30th, and can only imagine how much better the will look by painting number 100.

2.  Productivity : I made more art

This is what 30 cloud paintings look like
One of the things I kept in mind while learning about the life of Picasso is that he was very productive. He has thousands of paintings to his name. In order to become better and more successful I know I have to produce more work: pay the 10,000 hours entry fee to the Notable Artist Party. Challenges like this was a great excuse to get to it. No amount of theorizing, reading or watching instructional videos will ever come close to the effect of taking action. This project was my main focus for the month of February. Being focused on one goal made me more productive and I probably created more paintings in that month then I ever did. 30 paintings, that's a little more then a painting a day. The Make 100 Kickstarter challenge made me accountable and as a result I became more productive and I have 32 finished artworks to show for. It doesn't stop here. I'm only a little over 30% done and despite not being funded, I'm continuing the process so that I get to 100 painted clouds by the end of March,  as planned.

3.  Creativity : I got many new ideas

Doing something for the first time forced me to think outside the box and what I'm used to. For me, thinking of new ways to bring my artwork in front of people required more creativity. It also let me to create different videos (like the one below) based on suggestions from peers and ideas that emerge from various conversations about this project. It also gave me a chance to come up with new ways to present the artwork on social media, different ways to photograph my work, and different ways to describe my work.

This focused challenge also made me see my subject from a new angle and I'm realizing that I'm not only painting clouds, but I'm painting thoughts or a reflection of them. The more I'm diving into the "why" behind my inspiration to create these paintings, the more I'm discovering opportunities to express my own thoughts and insights through my art and also it enable others who see it to discover more about their own thoughts through them as well. I'm realizing that clouds are thoughts and we give them meaning depending on our own stories and experiences of life. I get a feeling that the clouds are just the first step in this creative journey, which makes me more eager to complete my challenge this month so I can dive into its second stage.

4. Social Media : I have a better understanding of its impact

First : Gary Vaynerchuk is right : Facebook trumps all social media platform at the moment. I documented all the actions I took over the course of the month (where I posted, what I posted, how many times I posted, etc) and got the results from Google Analytics regarding where the clicks came from. By far, Facebook was the most effective, followed by Instagram. I also saw the difference videos make compared to pictures. Video created spikes of interest compared to any other posts. Working on this project also made me realize that I'm not yet fully benefiting from the capacity of social media platforms to reach the right people. I've barely skimmed the surface.

I also learned that while it's great to get views they don't equate purchases. I was fortunate enough to have my project partially funded so I also got a bit of insights regarding where they came from and as I suspected, it's far easier for someone in the Kickstarter community who has backed projects before to back your project then to get someone new in the system. Nevertheless my click to sale ratio, based on the available data was 1%, which is good for a beginner. This means that had I been able to get the page viewed by 5000 people, I likely would have reached my goal.

As it turned out, both backers had backed projects before and I suspect that had there been a way to reach out to art backers via Kickstarter's mailing list, this project would have gotten a better chance at being fully funded. The main issue for me was not enough views. Perhaps a 60 day campaign would have given me a more time to get a better hold of the online marketing aspect of the project. I would say marketing is probably one of the most important aspect of a Kickstarter project like this.

I've always kept google analytics at bay because there seems to be so much data to look through, but at the same time, its valuable information tells you how your presentation and products are received by the public. It's definitely something that I need to use more often.Throughout my campaign, I've learned about the benefits of using tools like Google Analytics to get an idea of what's working and what's not, what gets attention and what doesn't. Starting this project with the goal of making it successful prompt me to look for avenues to spread my message and reach the right backers looking for such a project. This meant that I had to be more active online and post on a consistent basis. Using Google Analytics, I was able to see the impact of my posts.

5. Online Business : I have new tools to create a better online store

Participating to this project made things a little more real in terms of the process of creating a piece of artwork, selling it and shipping it to it's collector. I realized that I had a few steps in the process that needed tweaking and refinement. For example, once the Kickstarted was over I realized that my artstore on Square, only accepts purchases from Canada after a client from the United States tried to purchase one of the paintings. I had no idea this was even an issue. Why they would create the system that way, is beyond my comprehension, but that little bit of information got me working on alternative ways to enable clients from other countries to purchase my artwork. It's still in the works, but I'm currently using Paypal, which makes it easier. If there's anything I learned from listening to people like Gary Vaynerchuk and Tai Lopez is that when it comes to selling items online, make it as easy as possible for any interested party to get your product.

All in all, this experience turned out to be very valuable for me. It was worth it, and dare I say, I would do it again. I guess, going through it made me grow a little more and I have a better appreciation and understanding of what it takes to succeed : repeated failures leading the way to success. So, no matter what difficulty or obstacles lies ahead of your dreams, don't give up. The guys in the video below didn't and look where that attitude took them.

Thoughts on Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is a day for many to celebrate love. Although the origins of this holiday is a little murky, it’s one of the most popular and lucrative holidays in North America. Unfortunately not everyone feels the love on Valentines day. That’s partly because mass media’s depiction of love is lacking. Mass media love is a bit like fast food. It’s usually represented as “an intense emotionality combining physical attraction, possessiveness, control, addiction, eroticism and novelty.”  It feels great, looks great, tastes great but it often lacks nutrition or substance. The “organic whole food” kind of Love is a state of being that all of us have the capacity of becoming but that many of us forgot. Although it’s nice to receive and give cards, flowers, chocolate, special dates on Valentine’s day, it's not necessary. So if you didn’t get something, don’t despair, you are still loved.

In his book Power vs. Force, Dr. David Hawkins describes Love as “a way of relating to the world that is forgiving, nurturing, and supportive. Love is not intellectual and does not proceed from the mind. Love emanates from the heart. It has the capacity to lift others and accomplish great feats because of its purity of motive. [...] Love focuses on the goodness of life in all its expressions and augment that which is positive. It dissolves negativity by recontextualizing it rather than attacking it.

This is what Love is all about: It’s unconditional, it’s infinite, it’s self sustaining and it’s everywhere. We just need to pay attention to see it. That version of Love is worth celebrating not only on Valentine’s Day but every day. It’s something that I’m learning to reintegrate in my life in a more active way rather then in a passive way. Love is simple. It just is. It’s always there and it comes from within you and me, if we allow it to take over us. Everything else will fall into place when we do things with and out of Love. Love is not something that’s outside of you to find. Love is who you are at your core. It’s the most vulnerable and at the same time the strongest part of ourselves and it's capable of changing the world around us once we set it free.

Today is a great day to remember to look into ourselves and our actions : Are we withholding the Love that is within us or are we setting it free to emanate from our core and from our own actions? Today can be a New Valentine’s Day, a reminder not just to give items as a representation of Love but to constantly behave in a loving way with every action we take. I challenge you (and myself) to use Valentine’s Day as a reminder to let that Love inside of you radiate out of everything you do and affect everyone around you in a way that is unconditional, forgiving, nurturing, supportive and uplifting : to act with an open heart because the world need a lot more Love right now.

Happy New Valentines Day

Lessons from 5 strategies used on my first Kickstarter project

I've always avoided the idea of running my own Kickstarter project. Even if
many visual artists ran very successful campaigns, many also failed. And the idea of running a project that fails is terrifying. But for some reason, the Make 100 challenge from Kickstarter felt different. Perhaps it's the fact that it was initiated by Kickstarter and that the idea of challenging myself to create a series of 100 art pieces, warmed me up to the idea of joining. After seeing some similar project succeed under the Make 100 umbrella, I decided to take the plunge despite the fear of failure and the illogical shame that comes with it. Now that's I'm 1/3rd of the way to the deadline, I've learned a couple things so far from the strategies I used as a beginner, to try to make it a successful one. And I would like to share them with you. It might give you some insight if you're thinking of creating your own campaign in the future.

1. Ignore Kickstarter Spam Messages

One thing I did not expect to get is spam messages within the Kickstarter mailing system. As soon as I hit the launch button, I received a lot of unsolicited messages from anonymous Kickstarter accounts selling their services to promote my campaign. You can imagine my disappointment receiving 10 messages selling me crowdfunding campaigns for hundreds and thousands of dollars and not one word of encouragement. Most of the accounts I received messages from had no activities on their profile. I'm not even sure they are real accounts, they could be bots. If they weren't they would waste their time soliciting on a $500 campaign. At least I don't think so. So be aware that this is something that's going to happen. Maybe they are valuable to people running larger campaigns, but the fact that they don't even check to see if what they're offering fit, they wouldn't be my first choice.

2.  Seek Advice from fellow Kickstarters

The silver lining in receiving so many spam messages on Kickstarter was that it made me realize that I could also reach out to fellow participants and ask for advice. So I did.  I reached out to a couple successful artists who also took part in the Make 100 challenge project and surpassed their initial goal. I asked them if they had some advice for newbies. Some of them were kind enough to reply (interestingly all first timers as well) and they recommended to post daily on all social media platforms and email previous clients. For a lot of them, the bulk of their backers were people they knew. The ones who seem to have more experience or a longer career in the field, seemed to be the ones who did better. One early participant was lucky to be featured on the Kickstarter newsletter and that helped boost her reach. Reach is probably one of the most important thing to focus on during a campaign. If you're lucky enough to be featured on a high traffic site, you'll be able to reach more people. Unfortunately I haven't seen a lot of promotions by Kickstarter about the #Make100 project other then a post about how many creators joined and maybe a handful of posts promoting some projects under this umbrella. I would have thought that for initiating the project, they would tweet about it a lot more often.

3. Reach out to more people on podcasts

I got a message from a former Kickstarter creator to beware of unsolicited messages selling campaign promotions at a high price. She suggested I take a look at Fiverr instead as there were more affordable options there. It's not something that had crossed my mind but so I decided to take a look and found a well rated online radio DJ who sold ads on his show for $12USD. I figured that would not be an expensive lesson to pay if it didn't work out, so I gave it a try. Three days later, I received the link to the show featuring my radio ad,  a download of the audio version that I could use as often as I like, a posts on his Facebook account (3400+ likes), a post on his Twitter feed (44,700+ followers) and a custom Google link to track traffic coming from his posts.

It's hard to say how much this has helped other than having a couple extra clicks from that specific url on my page. I only got 27 clicks from it so far and I don't suspect I'll get much more then that, unless I repost it myself. Since I already created my own custom link, it would defeat the purpose. The bulk of the leads coming from this ad would be by listerners searching for "100 cloud paintings" on Kickstarter, as it was the only way for his listeners to get to my page, and it's difficult to track. Still you can listen to the ad below, it's kind of fun to have a stranger create an add based on your content. It's a genius idea on his part to fund his show through Fiverr, but I think if I was to do this again, I would choose a radio show targeting a niche market interested in arts. Another lesson is that one tweet on a social media account of 44,7K followers doesn't make that big of a difference especially if there followers are not very engaged. Hindsight 20/20.

4. Track my own social media marketing efforts

Right at the beginning of my campaign, I decided to use a shortened Google URL across all platform to see what kind of traffic I'm getting from my effort. I could have used different URL for different social media platform to get a better idea of which is more effective, but I kept it simple with just one. This link is used on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and in my email signatures. Basically, any opportunity to insert that link and get people to at least go see the page that I could think of was used. What I've learned so far is that it's important to reach as many people as possible. One of the reasons why project may fail is that they are not seen enough. To date I generated only 53 clicks (+27 from the Fiverr service), which tells me that I need to work on that aspect of my campaign. It's not being seen by enough people online and I will have to think of other strategies to get it in front of the right people.

5. Track and update my Kickstarter page

I've only realized today that there's a way to track traffic on my Kickstarter page using Google Analytics! What gets measured get accomplished. In the remaining 19 days of the campaign, I'll be able to learn where traffic is coming from, what works and what doesn't work.  It will be a great way to get a better understanding of it.  I also keep updating my page with better photos, more videos and better description as I'm producing the artwork. I'll keep you posted on the progress and results from this experiment.

If you have any questions, comments or advice, feel free to post them below.

How working with artists and designers can boost your marketing efforts

Last weekend I went to see the Interior Design Show in Toronto.  I used to regularly travel to Toronto from Montreal to see the show a couple of years ago. It used to be an inspiring pilgrimage for me to see what new amazing products and design ideas were emerging. It has changed since the last time I was there. There were a couple interesting installations and booths, but one thing that caught my attention was how the exhibitors who collaborated with a creative person or team were a lot more visible on social media. The most obvious examples of this was between three paint companies present at the show: Beauti-Tone by Home Hardware, Premier paint by Canadian Tire and Benjamin Moore

All three seemed to have similar sized booths, but each took a different approach to essentially connect with current and potential clients. In an age where everything happens online, it seems like the first two had a better grasp on what to do to get people interested and talk about their products outside of the show. This led me to better understand the impact a creative person or team can have on a business and how collaborating with creatives can positively boost marketing efforts for businesses and products so they can stand effectively out from the crowd. Based on what I saw at the show and online, the winner was Beauti-Tone, closely followed by Premier. Unfortunately for Benjamin Moore, they seem to be lagging behind. Here's why:

Beauti-Tone grabbed people's attention by collaborating with a fashion designer

Beauti-Tone partnered with fashion designer Simon Chang and they came up with a unique and creative way to present their colour palette for 2017 : a wall of painted shoes using each of the trendy colours. By creating such a beautiful wall, they were able to reach more viewers online through social media. I actually saw a photo of it on Instagram before even seeing it at the show. I realized after clicking on the photo that it was part of the interior design show. It's such a original wall that many people (including myself) felt compelled  to take a picture and post it online, which resulted in free advertising for their product and brand.

They didn't stop there. Their booth was beautifully appointed for an interior design show. They had a space showcasing their paint in a dining room. They also took the time to create a shelving wall featuring various items painted in their feature colour for 2017. The lady at the booth was very welcoming, she made sure the we took one of the paint samples and a nail polish of the same colour before we left. Not only did they appear on many social media accounts, they also created a lasting effect in people's mind because that nail polish is basically mobile advertising for them whenever they use it. Genius!

They left a great impression in my mind and I'm definitely going to use their paint and nail polish. What makes them the winner for me is that they extended the attention on their brand by giving each visitor something to go home with and showcase online.

A couple days after the show, doing a search for #beautitone, I found these pictures of  women showing off their colour trend nail polish, essentially continuing to advertise for Beauti-Tone.

It took someone from the fashion industry to come up with a unique way for the paint company to increase attention towards their brand

Premier got people using their product by partnering with a design firm

Premier paint had a great booth for people to spend time in and interact with the paint. They collaborated with  Citizens and Collaborators, a design firm, to create an interactive mural enabling visitor to paint on the wall and essentially get a feel for their paint while having fun. They also had a really beautiful rainbow ceiling and a juice bar featuring some of their colours through juices. Again, their booth was advertised quite a bit through social media from people taking pictures of the ceiling and the evolving wall, as more people came to add more colour to the wall. It was a very inviting space and the people at the entrance of the booth made sure to ask people carrying magazine if they needed a bag to hold them. Their also won an award for best booth design. They came in second for me because they didn't have something like Beauti-tone to keep their brand on people's feed after the show ended.

It took a design firm to come up with a fun and effective way to get potential clients to try their products.

Benjamin Moore didn't get much attention online

I was a little disappointed by the booth from Benjamin Moore. Their paint is so much better then how it was presented at the show. As you can see below, there were a couple painted squares on a white wall to showcase their colour palette, a giant poster featuring the colour the year and a sitting area that reminded me more of an office and a box for people to pick up a bag on the outskirt of their booth with the word Shadow on it. Womp. Womp.

The booth was kind of boring. Everything looked very "corporate" and there was nothing special enough to grab people's attention or entice visitors to take multiple pictures and post them online for extra reach. I only found 3 photos of visitors standing next to the colour trend wall : giant paint swatches. They weren't even mention on the official Instagram of the show (at least I didn't find them), which to me says a lot. They would benefit a lot from partnering with creatives to come up with unique and inspiring ways to showcase their products and make their booth more exciting, because we creatives are great at thinking outside of the box.

Here's what I thought about when I saw their booth :

1. Why didn't they make better use of the their featured colour?
Shadow is such a dramatic colour. Instead of embracing the drama by using the colour in larger quantity, the only had it on a small narrow wall with their logo on it. Also, flanking the poster with white paint on each end takes away from the drama. Perhaps having more wall or even recreating one of the scene from their brochure using their colour of the year, so that visitor can really feel what it's like to be in a room with that colour would have given them a more memorable experience, and something to share online. It feels like they missed the opportunity to impress the visitors.

2. Why didn't they collaborate with other exhibitors?
Another way to stay in people's mind is to be in as many places as possible. One thing they could have done with their feature colour is to offer exhibitor to paint their wall in exchange for a shoutout. A product such as Gweilo light by Partisans would have been an ideal partnership. It's a great product featuring a sculptural light that is best seen against a dark background. They didn't have one so their product didn't show as well as it could have. Benjamin Moore could have provided them with a simple painted partition wall and floor with a discrete sign identifying themselves and the name of the paint. The light fixture would have stand out more. Beside,  how cool is the analogy of having Shadow paint to feature a lighting product!

They also missed an opportunity to collaborate with  DEKKO Concrete (right behind their booth) who could also have benefited from a dark floor to enhanced their light concrete wall and their beautiful fire pit.

There was also a sculptor on the other side of the exhibition room called CEK who had these amazing concrete sculptures, some with light, which would have looked amazing against a dark wall, and again it would have been an opportunity for Benjamin Moore to show how their featured paint colour can enhance light coloured furniture and artworks.

3. Why didn't they do something a little more creative with their colour palette?
The large coloured square on the wall is so uninspiring. I would think most people would pass by it and keep walking. It's not much different then seeing it on the catalogue. One simple way they could have make it more interesting would have been to used 3-D shadow boxes instead of flat squares and put fun objects inside the boxes, painted the same colour to give a bit more interest, texture and interest in the colour. Imagine if they would have taken random items painted the same colour as the boxes and create a story within the boxes that somehow connects to the name of the colour. I think that would have been shared on social media.

By not collaborating with creatives, they missed a lot of opportunities to increase their reach and consequently increase their sales.

Overall it was a great experience for me to visit the show as I'm getting a better understanding of how art plays an important role in businesses and how the return on investment when it comes to creativity can be quantified. Don't underestimate the power of creativity and how it can positively impact your business's bottom line!


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STAR WARS Identities: The Exhibition

  1. Please pre-purchase tickets online prior your visit to ensure that you secure a timeslot for entry into the exhibition. Each guest is limited to five tickets per purchase.
  2. Due to space constraints within the exhibition, kindly note that strollers are not permitted into the exhibition. Designated stroller parking areas are available on various levels in the museum. Please enquire at the Visitor Experience Counter at level 1.
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Jan – 25 Jul 2021
Daily: 10am – 7pm (Last admission at 6pm)

Ticket Ticketed Admission

Singapore Residents:
Adult: S$25
Concession: S$20
Family: S$80
Please pre-purchase tickets online prior to visit. Applicable for SingapoRediscovers Vouchers redemption daily.
Exhibition Zones Exhibition Zones

In a galaxy far far away…

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ArtScience on Screen: Season of the Force

ArtScience on Screen: Season of the Force

30 Jan - 30 May
Expression Gallery, Level 4

The Season of the Force is a film programme that accompanies ArtScience Museum's new exhibition, STAR WARS™ Identities. The creator of STAR WARS™, George Lucas has noted that the exhibition "will engage that connection where fantasy meets reality, with a dash of reflection and adventure.”

The Season of the Force will illuminate the cinematic universe that inspired the exhibition, through screenings from the series, plus film presentations which explore the storyworlds, ideas and visual styles which influenced George Lucas. The season showcases the timeless appeal of the iconic space opera series, as well as providing insight into the films, directors and aesthetics which shaped George Lucas' art and provided the blueprint for the canon’s universe. Season of the Force begins in January and will culminate in May around Star Wars Day – May the 4th.

Please visit Facebook event page for more information.

Admission details

Free admission on a first-come-first-served basis, limited to capacity. Online pre-booking of seats are encouraged here. Booking goes live on 30 Jan.

Walk-ins are accepted on a first-come-first-served basis, subject to capacity. Please present your STAR WARS™ Identities exhibition ticket to our Visitor Experience staff upon entry to film screenings.

Our Partners

Lucasfilm Ltd.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is one of the world’s leading film and entertainment companies. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, it is a privately held, fully integrated entertainment company. See more
In addition to motion picture and television production, the company’s global businesses include visual effects, sound, video games, licensing and online activity.

View details

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
Founded by philanthropist and filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will inspire current and future generations through the universal art of visual storytelling. See more
The museum will present permanent collection and rotating exhibitions for diverse public audiences which will feature illustrations, paintings, comic art, photography, and an in-depth exploration of the arts of filmmaking (including storyboards, costumes, animation, visual effects, and more). Extensive education programming designed for all ages will explore innovative ways for visitors to engage with narrative art. Designed by renowned architect Ma Yansong and under construction in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, the museum will feature new public green space, state-of-the-art cinematic theaters, numerous spaces for onsite education, restaurants, retail, and event spaces.

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X3 Productions Inc.
X3 Productions is a Montreal-based creative company who has extensive expertise to offer turnkey project solutions that reflect the challenges faced by museums around the world. See more
X3 Productions is committed to redefining the modern museum experience by developing and promoting interactive blockbuster touring museum exhibitions. With a focus on creating innovative concepts, gathering unique collections and developing content-driven experiences, X3 aims to provide a new kind of museum experience, one that engages, educates and entertains visitors in innovative ways.

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Pico Pro Pte Ltd
A global leader in total brand activation, Pico Global specialises in engaging people, creating experiences, and activating brands, with a network spanning 35 major cities around the world. See more

Pico Pro, a fully owned subsidiary of the Pico Group, focuses on event IP creation and management, creating and producing relevant and memorable live events and experiences.

Pico Pro is a strategic company with rights to unique intellectual property, global talents and assets that maximise brand objectives for our sponsors and partners, and one that puts the end-users’ experiences at the heart of our business.

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Agility Fairs and Events Singapore
Agility Fairs & Events is the recognised leader in full-service, end-to-end management of fine art logistics. Agility provides a convenient “Single Point of Contact” fine art logistics services for the movement of fragile, valuable and priceless art & museum pieces.See more

In performing tasks as varied as arranging the transportation, packing, crating, rigging and installation of artworks for art exhibitions, auctions, museums, art galleries and private collectors around the world, our teams of well-trained, experienced and dedicated staff plan and co-ordinate each shipment to ensure that artworks and valuable pieces arrive on time and in good condition.

Together with an extensive network of offices and partners ranging from galleries to museums, Agility provides total logistics movement of fragile, valuable and priceless cargo around the world. Agility is the first logistics company in Singapore and Asia to be ISO-certified specifically for visual and fine arts logistics.

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Allen Brothers

In conversation with Jelte Liebrand: The tech-savvy navigation entrepreneur

by Mark Jardine 6 May 05:44 PDT
A conversation with Jelte Liebrand © Savvy Navvy

savvy navvy is the boating app that puts all your essential marine information in one place: tidal graphs, weather forecasts, automatically updated chart data, routing, GPS tracking, marina information and more. We spoke to founder Jelte Liebrand...

Jelte was a software engineer at Google so we asked him about his experience of being on the inside of 'big tech':

"It is probably one of the best places as an engineer to work. I got in to Google via an acquisition as I was working as a Director of Engineering at a company called Quickoffice, which made an office suite for mobile phones that caught the attention of Google ChromeOS.

"Google is big, but it behaves like a smaller company. It also is a company where the engineers are king; you get paid very well and you get treated very well - you're not just a number, your opinion counts. If you want to try something out, you can try it out. If it's crazy and radical then build what you want to build, so as an engineer it's fantastic.

"There is an element where the big organisation is different from the start-up I came from, as a start-up is far more stressful. Before my time at Google I was an insomniac, whereas in my years at Google I have never slept so well in my life - it's a very different environment!

"So, it's a great company but, having come from the start-up world, I did miss that excitement."

Jelte got into sailing when he was eight years old and his grandad taught him the difference between "stuurboord" and "bakboord" (he's Dutch). But it wasn't until he took a sabbatical at Google and took part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, that the idea for savvy navvy started. Once back from the race, and while Jelte continued working on Google Docs, Chrome, Surveys and Maps, he became more eager to do his own thing:

"When I did the Clipper Race, especially down to Panama, it was really strategic with the wind dying and shifting ocean currents. I was down below, trying to figure out the best route through it all and was dumbstruck how much of that I had to do myself. I was on a multi-million-pound boat with laptops and computers onboard, with GRIB files and sliders which I could move backwards and forwards, pretending to be a meteorologist, but it seemed crazy to me because at the end of the day, especially coming from Google, for the computer not to be computing the route for me, with me doing it myself and the computer showing me a pretty picture, was mind-boggling. That's where it all started from.

"When I came back to Google after the race, I wondered to myself how much of that was a Clipper 70 in the Pacific problem, rather than an every day sailor issue. So I spent a lot of time afterwards, talking to other sailors asking how they did their navigation, and it was eye-opening to find this was a common problem. People who could be enjoying so much more of their sailing weren't because the routing was too difficult or intimidating."

So as an engineer, Jelte asked the obvious question of why he was doing a specific task that computers are inherently much better than humans at, letting the computer do the heavy lifting while you can have your eyes out of the boat, enjoying the experience more:

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying 'get savvy navvy and you never need to learn how to do this', just as you don't drive on the motorway without getting a driving licence; you need to understand what navigation is. But, a computer can compute millions of different combinations of routes, which manually you'd never be able to do.

Having decided to quit Google and take the plunge starting savvy navvy, the question was how to fund development:

"I don't think I'd thought that through!" he laughs.

"If you'd asked me at the time if I understood all the different funding vehicles out there then - such as bootstrapping, Venture Capital (VC), Business Angels, crowd-funding, loans and grants - I would have told you that I did, but there are so many little nuances about the different vehicles which you have to understand. I thought we'd start by bootstrapping and then just get funded!

"Coming from Google opened a lot of doors for me, I was invited to do a pitch at an ex-Google pitch day with a lot of VCs in the room. We had a number of discussions and even got close to a deal with one of them, but in the end we walked away as we had a different vision of what savvy navvy would become to how they would have liked it to be.

The whole process taught us how VCs really require hyper-growth from the companies in their portfolios. There's nothing wrong with that, but it also didn't feel right to change our business model to accommodate that. There is a lot of room to build a sustainable business with a lot of return, without becoming the next Facebook.

It is clear that Jelte, as an entrepreneur, wasn't willing to hand the direction of the business over to a VC, due to the business model with VCs and the hands-on approach of many Angels:

"These are things we had to learn the hard way, as we wanted to build a sustainable business, leading us to finance savvy navvy through bootstrapping and ultimately crowdfunding, with a handful of angels who've 'led' these funding rounds. There are Angels who are hands-on, but bring something to the table and others who just want regular updates. Picking the right Angels to carry a Crowdfunding round is what we found to work best.

"The crowdfunding was amazing, not just because of the number of people who were willing to invest in our product, but the enthusiasm, comments and feedback we received, was the first big moment where we said, 'Ok, we're really onto something here'."

With this belief, Jelte and his team had all the motivation needed to push forward with development:

"We had launched our beta version prior to crowdfunding as a free version with the clear message that it would become a pay-for product. Knowing that our early adopters were happy to invest in savvy navvy gave us huge encouragement."

There are other apps out in the market which do a similar thing, so savvy navvy had to have a differentiator:

"The biggest thing which we have said from the start, and learned more and more as time has gone on, is that the apps out there can be great for one particular aspect of boating, but they perhaps lack a cohesive solution for people being out on the water. For super-detailed charts Navionics is a great product on many levels, but if you want to do weather routing then you'd switch to PredictWind, iSailor or NavX - each one focuses on a little bit of the puzzle. If I'm going from A to B then I want to know all the factors which are involved - the hazards, the anchorages, the marinas - all in one place, and that is where we come in.

"The other key is making savvy navvy intuitive. I believe sea navigation apps are where land navigation was 10-15 years ago before Google Maps became ubiquitous."

So, it all came back to Jelte's Clipper Race experience, seeing some great tools available, but a lack of integration:

"If a tool comes with a 400-page manual then something is wrong."

Recently we have seen an explosion in boating participation, to get out to sea, enjoying the freedom and fresh air. For those new to boating, they want their apps to act in a familiar way to what they are used to.

As of last year, savvy navvy have also added motorboat functionality which users have taken to quickly:

"It's been a massive boost. Part of our roadmap has always been to add support for motorboats - we started with sailboats as that's our background. When we added the functionality at the end of last year, we saw an amazing uptake in people using the app and converting to the paid version as it was clearly what they were looking for. We know this from user studies, A/B tests and collecting data from within the app, checking that it is doing what it is intended to do.

"First-time boaters expect their experience to be the same as what they're used to on land, and when it's not, that's where we come in, making novices' experiences better."

Helping make first-time boaters' experience as familiar and seamless as possible is in the interest of the whole marine industry, as any way we can help keep them in the boating lifestyle is beneficial to us all, whatever type of water activity they decide to do:

"Absolutely. First you might be paddleboarding, then you might try kitesurfing or dinghy sailing, then you might be buying a boat. Anything we can do to make those steps less intimidating and remove the barriers to entry, the better it is for everybody in the industry."

With savvy navvy being an app, developments and functionality upgrades are happening all the time:

"As I mentioned earlier, we do a lot of A/B testing to make sure what we're putting into the product works, and the whole pipeline was developed from the ground up to do that. We can roll out features to subsets of the users to get their feedback, which means we can update the app on a daily basis. It's a constant development process and is absolutely crucial."

savvy navvy has taken an inclusive approach with regards to working with marine industry organisations, such as insurance companies and marina management businesses:

"We work with a number of different organisations; as a young business in this industry we like to collaborate with other players. We don't proclaim to be able to do everything ourselves, and working together with others helps the whole industry get better. When it comes to insurance companies, anything we can do to help people make the right decisions when they go out is a good thing and can help with reducing claims.

"If we can help people understand what the tide is doing and when they should and shouldn't be going out, all of this helps achieve better boating. We're not saying 'Don't learn how to do this', but we can help you make fewer mistakes, fewer human errors. The tie-in with insurance companies is an obvious one for them, and for us it is a great way to get to boaters."

Talking to Jelte as an entrepreneur, I had to ask him where he saw things going with the marine industry and savvy navvy in the next few years:

"I think there are a lot of really exciting things happening right now: seeing the development of electric engines in the marine environment, with exciting players such as X-Shore in Sweden and Pixii in the UK, which is fuelling the move towards smarter boats. Rather than just having a wind vane and a depth sounder, we're moving towards, dare I say it, a 'savvy boat'. The possibilities of tailoring individuals' routes due to their preferences, such as not wanting to sail above a Force 4 wind or wanting to avoid upwind sailing, gives smarter solutions to your boating, leading to even more enjoyable experiences for boaters. There are a lot more exciting and customisable solutions that can happen. I believe that within five years we'll see far more of these new and innovative features and developments coming together."

"I am a big believer in collaborations, with smaller companies trying to disrupt and breathe life into this industry. That's the exciting future I see for the marine leisure industry."

Find out more about Jelte, his team and savvy navvy here...

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2. NEWS

  3. Costa Cruises cancels 2020-2021 South America program
Costa Cruises cancels 2020-2021 South America program

Costa Cruises cancels 2020-2021 South America program

Today Costa Cruises has announced the cancelation of its South America season 2020-2021.

The company announced that all cruises on board South America's Costa Fascinosa, Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica ships with boarding scheduled for the period from November 2020 to April 2021 will be canceled.

The Italian brand is also opening sales in South America on Sept. 8, for the 2021-2022 season. The company will have two ships operating in the region from December 2021 to April 2022.

"Costa Cruises has been sailing in South America uninterrupted for 72 years and we are committed to continue operating here. We look forward to resuming operations in the region in the 2021-2022 season with two ships, continuing to offer the best of Italy on board our ships and a unique and yet exclusive experience for our South American guests,"  said Dario Rustico, executive president of Costa Cruises for Central and South America.

The Costa Favolosa will have its first daily cruise departing on December 5, 2021, with embarks in Santos, and will sell 17 itineraries from six to seven weeks.

Confirmed for another summer in the waters of South America, the Costa Pacifica will offer seven- and eight-night journeys through the Prata region, with embarks from Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Maritime Business World

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40: Professor Jan-Benedict Steenkamp provides a master class on global branding

Jan-Benedict Steenkamp

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Jan-Benedict (J.B.) Steenkamp is the C. Knox Massey Distinguished Professor and Area Chair of Marketing at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. A highly regarded expert in his field, he specializes in global marketing, branding, and emerging markets and strategy. In addition, he is the author of three books, the latest of which is titled “Global Brand Strategy: World-wise Marketing in the Age of Branding.”

In this podcast, Steenkamp, while discussing topics and ideas from his most recent book, provides a sort of toolkit for marketers, including four key takeaways: (1) The need for diverse leadership teams in managing a global brand; (2) Clear accountability and quantifiable metrics; (3) The need for local flexibility within a common framework; and, lastly, (4) How Frank Zappa got it right — we’re only in it for the money.

When asked what draws him to marketing, he says, “Marketing is the interface between the company and the customers. And I’m interested in activities that span boundaries…and marketing is such a boundary-spanning activity.” He goes on to add, “I’m really interested in the combination of managerial relevance and academic rigor.”

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today” podcast include:

  • Living in the age of branding. (2:36)
  • How we define a global brand. (5:41)
  • “COMET” — Five ways global brands provide value to a company. (11:23)
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Our July 2021 Employee Spotlight: Aaron Anaya

Our July 2021 Employee Spotlight: Aaron Anaya

Meet Aaron!

Aaron has been with us for just over 3 years now and manages our warehouse. He takes care of the demand of the material from the techs out in the field and if a tech needs any assistance with the need, finding the availability, or identification of a part, he’s their guy!

When he’s not at work, he loves spending time with his family, specifically his daughter and wife. Seeing them at the end of each long day gives him the energy and motivation to do it all over again the next day!

Something he’s taking time to work on now is perfecting his lawn. It’s his new hobby and saves him a little money too!

When asked about something that made him smile recently, he says, “my daughter waving goodbye to me as I left home to work.”

We appreciate you and are so thankful to have you on the team, Aaron!

If you’re interested in joining our team, visit our Careers page to browse current openings and submit your resume!


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Indian Rocks Beach Personal Injury Attorney

After experiencing the devastating nature of a car or motorcycle accident, you may be left with long-term injuries requiring a lifetime of care.  Florida law makes it possible for you to pursue compensation when negligent actions like texting while driving caused you harm.  Compensatory damages are in place to help accident victims recover from the many costs associated with a car or motorcycle accident.

But while you are trying to recover from the physical trauma and financial hardship of the car accident, insurance companies will do their best to minimize your compensation in any way possible.  Adjusters may misconstrue something you said about your injuries or claim that you are not as hurt as you claim.  Hiring a personal injury lawyer who serves Indian Rocks Beach to represent your claim can help ensure you receive the money you deserve that meets the scope of your losses and injuries.

Car Accident Injuries in Indian Rocks Beach

Some of the most common causes for car or motorcycle accidents in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, involve reckless driving habits, intoxicated drivers, and distracted driving.  Depending on how severe your crash was, you might have suffered numerous injuries that have left your health, finances, and future in ruins.

Typical injuries you might sustain in a motor vehicle accident could include:

  • Broken bones;
  • Whiplash;
  • Loss of motor function;
  • Internal bleeding;
  • Concussions;
  • Memory loss;
  • Paralysis;
  • Organ damage;
  • Spinal cord injuries; and
  • Traumatic brain injury (TBI).

If you suffered a motorcycle accident in Indian Rocks Beach, you may have suffered catastrophic injuries.  The lack of protections on a motorbike leaves riders exposed to more dangers on the roadway, like debris and negligent drivers.  Motorcyclists also face a higher risk of ejection from the vehicle when involved in accidents.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted that in 2018, Florida highways experienced over 3,000 traffic fatalities, of which 531 involved motorcyclists.

How Florida Personal Injury Compensation Works

The purpose of receiving compensatory damages is to restore you to the financial state you were in before the accident occurred.  Compensatory damages include compensation for any economic losses you suffered, whether because of personal injuries or property damage, from the other party’s negligent actions.

Florida is a no-fault state and requires that you to carry personal injury protection coverage (PIP) of $10,000.00 to cover 80% of your medical bills and 60% of your lost wages.  Any additional accident-related costs that are not covered by PIP, including damages that exceed your $10,000.00 coverage limit, require a personal injury claim or lawsuit to recover the remaining owed compensation from the at-fault party.

Personal injury claims in the Sunshine State are subject to a pure comparative fault method when determining the amount you may recover in damages.  If you hold any responsibility for your accident, your award amount will be reduced by the percentage by which you are liable.  This type of system requires a skillful Indian Rocks Beach personal injury attorney to ensure that insurers and at-fault drivers alike do not attempt to deflect some of their negligence onto you.

Total awards can include both economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages include:

  • Medical bills;
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  • Loss of earnings or loss of future earnings;
  • Cost of future medical care;
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  • Funeral costs.

Non-economic damages include:

  • Mental anguish;
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  • Personal enjoyment;
  • Wrongful death; and
  • Loss of consortium or companionship.

Contact Our Indian Rocks Beach Personal Injury Lawyers Today!

If you received injuries in an Indian Rocks Beach, FL car or motorcycle accident, understand that you do not have to shoulder this experience alone.  Adding the pressure of negotiating with insurance companies and meeting state deadlines to file your suit may seem overwhelming.  If you or a family member are victims of a negligent driver’s actions, do not let insurance companies push the blame onto you.  You have the right to hold these individuals liable for their carelessness, and you deserve fair compensation for the harm they have caused you.  Work with knowledgeable Indian Rocks Beach personal injury attorney Frank P. Marsalisi to pursue the damages and losses you have incurred due to the accident.

As a proud member of the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association, Mr. Marsalisi has consistently succeeded in helping his clients get the personal injury compensation they need to recover financially after sustaining injuries in a motorcycle or motor vehicle accident.  Marsalisi Law has an attorney fluent in English and Spanish, allowing you to communicate your needs or questions and get the answers you need.  Contact our office online today or call (727) 800-5052 for a free case evaluation to learn what your rights are and how to proceed with your case.

Marsalisi Law is Where Law Gets Personal!

The National Trial Lawyers

– Practice Areas –

Motorcycle Accidents

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Pedestrian Accidents

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Wrongful Death

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Auto Accidents

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Bicycle Accidents

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– Testimonials –

“You can’t go wrong with Frank Marsalisi!”

Frank was referred to me by a former client of his after my accident with nothing but great reviews, both professionally and personally. From day one there was a level of comfortability and trust built based on what would be in my best interest moving forward. Never once did Frank make my case about what was in it for him but about healing my injuries in order to move on as normal as possible with my life.

– Karlie

“One of a kind lawyer …brilliance!”

Frank has exceptional auto accident liability law abilities and he is also very well-versed in state auto insurance laws. One of the things I like about Frank is that he never tried to sugar coat anything for me. If we were headed for trouble, he would let me know what the trouble was and what our options were. I always appreciated his honesty. This is trait that I do not find in many of today’s lawyers but Frank has performed integrity well beyond his means.

– Ms. C. M. Fraser

Avvo Rating Superb - Top Attorney Car Accidents

Avvo Rating Superb for Top Attorney Motorcycle Accidents

Avvo Clients' Choice 2015 for Motorcycle Accidents

Read More Testimonials on Avvo

 Areas we serve:

Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Polk County, Pasco County, Manatee County.


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Port of Long Beach Secures $4.8 Million Security Grant

September 03: The Port of Long Beach, the second-busiest seaport in the US, will receive a grant of $4,777,500 from the US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, to enhance safeguards and upgrade its infrastructure network.

The funding from the FEMA Port Security Grant Program was announced this month and will pay to upgrade cyber security, increase the number of cameras and sensors around the harbor, and continue the Port’s investment in its fiber and wireless network infrastructure.

“Securing the Port requires state-of-the-art technology to monitor activities on land, on the water and below the water. This grant will help us enhance our domain awareness and maintain our readiness to protect the harbor” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero.

The Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) is one of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) grant programs that directly support maritime transportation infrastructure security activities, to implement the US National Preparedness Goal.

Last year, the Port of Long Beach was awarded $4,197,480 under the Port Security Grant Program.

The port is connected to one in five jobs in Long Beach, sustaining a local workforce that continues to drive economic growth across the region, according to a new study.

“Trade at the Port of Long Beach supports 2.6 million jobs around the nation, and the Harbor Commission is thankful for this federal funding that helps us ensure the smooth flow of commerce” said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Bonnie Lowenthal.

Source: Safety 4 Sea

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Classic stick of great hardness

Made entirely with our traditional wood and selected for its hardness, a classic that still convinces.

Handle: Beech Handle

Thickness: 34mm (thick)

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About Deborah Wexler, MD

Deborah J. Wexler, MD, MSc, is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, the Associate Clinical Chief of the MGH Diabetes Unit, and Clinical Director of the MGH Diabetes Center. She received her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, her MSc from the University of Oxford, and completed her internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Wexler’s research focuses on clinical effectiveness in type 2 diabetes. She is the MGH site Principal Investigator and is on the Executive Committee of the GRADE Study, a NIH-funded multicenter trial to determine which second hypoglycemic drug, added to metformin, is most effective for patients with type 2 diabetes (http://gradestudy.com/). She is also multiple-Principal Investigator of the REAL HEALTH-Diabetes trial, which is translating the Look AHEAD lifestyle intervention for type 2 diabetes into usual care at community health centers. She served on the American Diabetes Association’s Professional Practice Committee (2014-2016) and was a co-author of the ADA-EASD position statement on management of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes. Dr Wexler is on the Editorial Board of Diabetes Care and is a reviewer for multiple medical journals.

Departments, Centers, & Programs:

Clinical Interests:

Diabetes Unit
50 Staniford Street
3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02114-2517
Phone: 617-726-8722
Fax: 617-724-8534

Medical Education

  • MD, Yale University School of Medicine
  • Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital

American Board Certifications

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, American Board of Internal Medicine

Accepted Insurance Plans

Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.