Our Work

BPAO Initiatives to Support Black Physicians and Medical Learners

by milespollock

BPAO Initiatives to Support Black Physicians and Medical Learners

The Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO) continues its mission to support Black physicians, improve health outcomes of the Black healthcare community and set students up for success with the goal of increasing the number of much-needed Black physicians working within communities. Since the last Symposium, the BPAO has launched many significant initiatives. We worked with national and regional media outlets to amplify these programs to help drive awareness, registration and attendance:

Stay tuned for BPAO’s remote hub launch in Kingston and Hamilton in the next few months.

Generating Sales Leads: The Power of Content for Trilliant

by milespollock

Impactful content is one of the most effective tools to communicate with and educate both existing and potential customers. It is most powerful when customized and shared on multiple owned, earned and paid channels.

Trilliant wanted to communicate to customers and prospects the benefits of its powerful solution to combat Non-Technical Loss (NTL) — a critical problem for electricity distribution utilities globally.

We created content for the Solutions page on the company website and as an information asset, distributed at major global industry conferences, highlighting the offering and how it supports a utility’s ability to detect energy loss at the source. We also worked with the subject matter expert to develop a blog to illustrate how the solution is applicable for customers and prospects, and promoted it via the company’s social media channels.

Leveraging the power of our trade media reach, we pitched and placed a contributed article in Power & Telecom Industry, achieving even broader reach.

As a result of our integrated, multi-pronged outreach, Trilliant received inquiries about their solutions, including from a national utility who requested a demo of Trilliant’s NTL solution.

Beanfield Fights for Consumer Choice

by milespollock

On February 13, Beanfield went in front of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to discuss the issue of bulk arrangements/agreements and the importance of winding down such monopolistic practices to create a vibrant, sustainable and competitive telecommunications market.

Leading up to the hearing, we worked with Beanfield to develop messaging and a coherent strategy to  convey why bulk arrangements are anti-competitive and emphasize consumers deserve choice, no matter where they live.

A few weeks prior to the hearing, we arranged interviews for Beanfield’s VP of Policy and Communications Todd Hofley with key reporters, resulting in pieces timed to appear around the hearing that clearly presented the bulk arrangement issue, the implications for consumers and a call to action. The news was published in more than 100 outlets across Canada, including CP24, CBC News, The Globe and Mail, Financial Post, Toronto Star, CityNews, iPhone in Canada, blogTO, IT Nerd Blog, IT World Canada, Stockwatch, etc. The issue was discussed on BNN Bloomberg and CBC Morning Live with Heather Hiscox, among others.

Check out the articles below to see why it is important to outlaw bulk arrangements/agreements and for the CRTC to take action:

The Canadian Press – Beanfield argues bulk agreements create “monopolistic islands” where rival providers can’t compete for residents’ service as easily

See also Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail

360 Magazine – How Beanfield is trying to change the telecom customer experience

MobileSyrup – Beanfield wants the CRTC to take action on bulk agreements in condos

CBC News – Independent telecom asks CRTC to outlaw bulk deals between carriers and condo developers

IT Nerd Blog – Guest Post: Consumers deserve ISP choice, no matter where they live

Black Healthcare Professionals Network Launches a Directory to Bridge Gap

by milespollock

We worked with Black Healthcare Professionals Network to launch its BHPN Directory to help bridge the gap between Black healthcare professionals and patients. Additionally, we shared stories about how the organization helps these professionals navigate the world of entrepreneurship and start their own business.

Read this article in The Globe and Mail about how BHPN is helping professionals like Myriam Georges-Estigène, an Ottawa-based psychotherapist.

Listen to an interview with Dr. Nik Whyte, co-founder and managing director of BHPN, on CBC’s Here and Now about how the directory helps Black Canadians who struggle to access providers that understand their background. He also joined CBC’s Up North with Jonathan Pinto to discuss how the directory can also help Black Canadians in Northern Ontario find Black doctors and other healthcare professionals such as mental health practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, etc.

Watch Abena Addo, co-founder of BHPN, on CityNews Toronto where she discussed the importance of such directory.

Trilliant Showcase at DISTRIBUTECH International 2024

by milespollock

DISTRIBUTECH International 2024 (February 26-29) was an important showcase of our client Trilliant, and a great opportunity to acquaint prospective customers with their industry-leading Smart Grid and Smart Cities solutions for utilities and municipalities. Trilliant’s message is that they deliver “the essential pieces to complete the technology puzzle”.

To attract visitors to their booth, StrategicAmpersand developed a short animated video to tell the ‘technology puzzle’ story and encourage booth visitors to enter a draw to win valuable prizes. The video played in the booth throughout the show, and we also developed an accompanying data sheet to complete the Trilliant story.

The show was a great success, and the video and data sheet will be used going forward for Trilliant’s content marketing campaigns.

Nikon Sips A Cup of Tech for the Holidays

by milespollock

It’s always great when we secure a podcast interview for our client, especially for Nikon as part of their Holiday Campaign. Une Tasse de Tech, a French-language podcast hosted by tech journalists Alain McKenna and Pascal Forget, interviewed Stéphane Bédard of Nikon Canada to discuss Nikon’s Z series of mirrorless cameras and share a variety of useful tips for capturing holiday memories.      

In addition to mainstream podcast platforms and YouTube, the episode appeared in the podcast section of 18 stations in Cogeco Média’s C23 network, including Rythme 98.3, Planète 99.5 CHRL and CIME 104.9.      

Watch the interview here

Nikon célèbre les fêtes de fin d’année avec une tasse de tech

C’est toujours un grand plaisir lorsque nous obtenons une interview en balado pour nos clients, en particulier pour Nikon dans le cadre de leur campagne des Fêtes. Une Tasse de Tech, un balado en français animé par les journalistes techniques Alain McKenna et Pascal Forget, a interviewé Stéphane Bédard de Nikon Canada pour discuter de la série Z d’appareils photo sans miroir de Nikon et partager une variété de conseils utiles pour capturer les souvenirs des fêtes de fin d’année.

En plus des plateformes de balados populaires et de YouTube, l’épisode est apparu dans la section balado de 18 stations du réseau C23 de Cogeco Média, dont Rythme 98.3, Planète 99.5 CHRL et CIME 104.9.

Regarder l’entrevue ici

Read more stories about Nikon

Procore: How We Build Now in Canada

by milespollock

In order to make the Procore How We Build Now survey relevant to the Canadian media, we suggested the integration of compelling Canadian topics.

We developed a Canadian narrative covering local issues such as the labour shortage, digital maturity and the state of housing across Canada.

We focused on regional differences, timed media outreach around local events and used third-party experts including leaders from educational institutions and regional associations.

We garnered national and regional coverage in the business press and in construction trades (ranging from large and small general contractors to subcontractors to public sector to urban/city development to other special trades, in both English and French). We also secured front-page stories in construction association publications and multi-page feature pieces in trade outlets.

We generated 40+ original articles, reaching more than 170 outlets across Canada (not counting newswire pickups), receiving more attention by all counts for the survey report than all the other international regions combined.

Holiday Tech Talk with Nikon Canada

by milespollock

Just in time for the holiday season, Nikon announced a powerful full-frame mirrorless camera with a cool retro design. We arranged for renowned tech journalist Marc Saltzman to speak with Nikon Canada product and training manager Chris Ogonek to learn about the Nikon Z f and an ideal camera for all kinds of photographers.

The insightful interview was included on Marc’s Canadian radio show, Tech Talk on Newstalk 1010 CFRB, Newstalk 610 CKTB, Newstalk 800 CJAD, 680 CJOB, 580 CFRA and AM 800 CKLW. It was also featured on Tech It Out, a radio show that is syndicated across the U.S.

Listen to it here.

Read more stories about Nikon

Black-led Groups Act to Move Asylum Seekers to Shelter in Toronto

by milespollock

Chenai Kadungure, executive director of Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO), took action when a group of asylum seekers slept on the street in Toronto, directly helping support a 35-year-old woman in dire straits. In addition, BPAO provided health kits and health checks at Black Creek Community Health Centre with volunteer assistance from BPAO’s medical residents and international medical graduates.

We reached out to independent journalist Olivia Bowden for her to speak with Chenai and the woman to share her harrowing experience, perhaps helping others in need.

“We’re a community that’s always going to have to stand up for each other,” Kadungure said. “Because one night sleeping on the street is one night too many. We need to do something, now.”

Read the article here on CBC News and Chenai’s post on LinkedIn.

State of Connectivity in Canada

by milespollock

We worked with Cradlepoint to explore the impact of connectivity on Canadian businesses. In May, we shared key insights and survey results. As the one-year anniversary of the historic service provider outage neared, we provided recommendations from the subject matter expert to help businesses better protect themselves from future outages.

Read more in ITWC (English, French) and Mobile Syrup.