Launching Pilot of Geo-Cruizing

by Doug

Rural communities continue to experience a serious growth crisis in today’s tough
economic market. We are all aware of the changes to the horseracing industry
and the impact that is having on our rural culture.

We are excited to announce that we are finally ready to go to market pilot of an
innovative new app for the social media generation called Geo-Cruizing.  This app is being designed to provide the user with a one-stop interactive site to discover about all the activities and adventures available to them in real time and within a short drive of their home.  Image being able to click one icon to find out what the heck is going on in and around your community of interest….or if you want to travel further, other communities in Ontario and beyond; then
socialize about your experience and earn valuable rewards for getting involved !

We have a great management team in place.  We are working with Fanshawe College for the development of the prototype app.  The community of Stratford will act as a living lab for our usability testing.  We are in the process of trying to sign up over 60 communities in Southern Ontario to participate in the pilot. We are now members of the new Accelerator Centre
in Stratford to allow us access to a host of mentors to make the program a
success.  Communitech in Kitchener /Waterloo have been very instrumental in guiding us in the development of the program.  Major industry players are stepping up to the plate to provide prizes that you can win for getting involved in the pilot. And we have a host of partners to help us make
Geo-Cruizing the app that will fuel a growth in our rural and small market economy and revitalize interest in outdoor activities!  Wow!

It has all come together.  We want has many people and communities as possible to get involved with the pilot.  It is your ideas and suggestions that will make this program a success.  More
information will be hitting the social network before too long……..keep tuned!

Revealing Research – Business London July 2012

by Doug

As stated in Business London July 2012, it’s a challenge many rural communities are facing. How do you stimulate the economy, find innovative and creative ways to build communities and keep youth engaged, living and working there?

That challenge has become even tougher in recent years as small communities deal with the loss of manufacturing jobs, demographic shifts to urban centers and a general decline in tourism.

But all is not lost. TecVana has been working with Fanshawe College students to explore new ways of engaging young people in rural communities. Specifically, TecVana wants to boost the outdoor industry by motivating young, digitally connected adults to seek and create outdoor
adventures through an innovative social media platform.

Of course any new marketing initiative must be grounded in market research.  TecVana needed to understand how to provide value and meet the needs of many audiences and stakeholders, including Geo-Cruizing participants, suppliers in the outdoor and tourism industries, rural administrative and business leaders, various levels of government and the investment community.
To help with the fact-finding and analysis, we turned to students of Fanshawe’s  business administration marketing program.

Certainly if you do get a chance, please read the complete article. The results of this survey as well as the recommendations of the students involved in the Creative and Innovative Business Solution program has led our team to focus on the development of a new app called Geo-Cruizing.

Get ready because we are now moving forward to develop the beta version of the app to test in S/W Ontario early in the new year. Our next blog will describe Geo-Cruizing in more details.

YouTube Video – What Did You Think?

by Doug

The YouTube Videoyou just watched is a cartoon depiction of the vision of TecVana - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEdfRcD7h54&feature=youtu.be   We need as many “likes” as possible to attract the interest of sponsors and investors to make this program a reality.  We welcome your comments and encourage you to pass the YouTube link onto your friends.  With your support, it won’t be long before we have the interactive app and platform built so you can earn rewards for getting outdoors!

During the development of TecVana we found that most people do want to get out and do things in and around their community.  It is just too difficult to find out what is happening in real time!  How often do you find yourself saying “I wish there was something to do today with my friends or with my kids…I just don’t know what!”

TecVana will be introducing a new mobile social networking app that will allow you to quickly access a centralized site to easily find out in real time about cool “reward-based” regional outdoor activities, community events and exciting adventures available for you to explore.  Multiple GPS co-ordinated journeys / trips will be shown with each indicating duration and reward points available for getting involved in local adventures. The app will connect the user to other community hubs on a regional, national and international basis.  Each of these hubs will have TecVana community ambassadors to share, chat and connect with the user about things to do in their neighbourhood.

Check-in rewards will encourage the user to visit participating small towns, businesses, events or attractions along the route. By scanning on-site QR codes, the user will receive instant rewards for their visit.  Social commerce will connect the user while on site to other special offers such as discounts, coupons, etc.  There will also be bonus points for people who take the time to engage in some outdoor activities while taking the journey.  Additional points will be awarded for sharing and socializing about the experience or developing new journeys for others to follow.

The app will provide the user direct access to a virtual store for redeeming their points for tangible merchandise, coupons or discounts from participating sponsors, businesses and communities.

Let’s make this a reality…..we need your “likes”.

Does anyone care about rural society?

by Doug

Well we know one thing for sure. Small cities, towns and rural communities are definitely concerned about their future.  The lost of manufacturing, jobs, demographic shifts to urban centers and the decline in tourism is creating a major growth crisis for many small communities.

Students of the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business, Fanshawe College, Research and Data Analysis course (third-year marketing program) developed the online survey to gather information from community leaders in Ontario. The questions in the survey related to rural economic development and tourism and the impact of changing behaviors of today’s youth related to these issues. Some of the results follow;

• 91% of communities have an interest  in new media to market their  community
• 83% find Geo-Adventures as very appealing
• 80% expressed strong interest in using technology to drive local economy
• 70.8% want to learn more about TecVana
• 62.3% identified they need help in developing social media programs that could be maintained locally or have 3^rd party manage
• 36% wanted to outsource the total social media program
• Many expressed serious concerns about the demographic shifts, especially amongst the younger population
• There  is strong interest in bringing rural society into the new age
• Interest in a new tourism model was overwhelming

Our biggest challenge is getting the support of FedDev to launch our program to drive economic change.  FedDev clearly states that they are funded by Canada’s Economic Action Plan to support economic and community development, innovation and to diversify the southern Ontario economy. As you know, this is what TecVana is all about.  TecVana brings together youth, technology, communities and academic sector to effect meaningful growth.

However, to get FedDev funding we need a term sheet from the angel investment community.  We are currently in the process of making our pitch to the angel network but find them to be at total odds with the objectives of FedDev.  Angel investors focus is not on the economy, communities, rural society, the outdoors, health and wellness, jobs, growth or the environment; they focus on how they can make money and what is the next killer app that can make this happen.

For us, technology is the enabler!  We continue to push to get this message across.