Stories From The Gift Box

Cooperation once again triumphs. Last week Saul Good along with Eclipse Awards hosted an open house and green roof mojito party for our clients, associates and friends down at our green office space in the Strathcona Green Zone in Vancouver, BC. We wanted the opportunity to show our clients what we've been up to this past year, developing corporate gifts, recognition items and promotional products that say more than 'thank you', using sustainable materials and fair labour practices to create memorable and meaningful gifts that tell a story. Over the last couple years my strategy in this space was to throw a local, organic, wine cheese and chocolate tasting party for my clients to let them have a taste of what we have to offer in terms of our gourmet gift baskets, hosting the party in the fall leading up to holidays, giving ideas for corporate Christmas and holiday gifts. We reincarnated, made fresh mojitos, added a green roof and an amazing space and the 1st annual green roof mojito party was born.

I just got back from what may have been the best business conference ever, the Social Venture Institute at Hollyhock on Cortes Island. Besides the breath taking land, mountains, ocean and forests, everything about it was all good. The sessions were first class and their format succinct and relevant. Learning from experts in the fields of branding, social enterprise, social media, strategy, business development, raising capital, basically all the things you need to have together to build a successful social mission based business. World class particpants and up and coming super stars, I feel lucky and privilaged to have been a part of it. Business is a lot more than about making money and this conference proved it. You need to have it together to be successful and profit is only a piece of success.

Getting Started

Over the past few weeks I've been chugging along as Saul Good's second employee and learning the quirks and charms of working in a sustainable corporate gift business. With a long and diverse list of projects, I've had to learn a lot on the fly, but I've found the challenge of doing something totally new nearly as rewarding as getting it done right.