Blog

Dear Friends of T1;

I want to thank each of you for the magical support of my team and me. 

Today, T1 turns 28 years young. While the past two years have been demonstrably more challenging than the first twenty-six, we are alive and thriving.

We have you to thank for that. 

Thank you for your faith in us, and we ask for your continued support for the next twenty-eight years!

No birthday is complete without some exciting news, milestones, and updates!  

1. Today, we are no longer The T1 Agency – we are T1, with a new logo, new purpose statement, and tighter focus. 
2. Please check out our new logo and brand online.
3. Our new purpose, Sponsors of Impactful Brands™, is our beacon in supporting people and brands in their missions to impact people, communities, culture and society.
4. Coupled with our mission of uniting brands with people, we are doing all of this by being a Full-Stack Sponsorship shop with three areas of emphasis: partnership, activation and amplification.
5. If our focus is full-stack sponsorship, then it must be time to announce the relaunch of SponsorshipX with inspirational events, including Whistler this August and Ontario this Fall, along with training and development programs and a global communal platform. 
6. Plus, we have BIG news about the world’s favourite sport. As of May 16, we have a new division – T1 Futbol led by Managing Partner – Imran Choudhry and supported by Steve Coakley (VP, Global Partnerships) and Jorge Tatto (Sr. Director, Partnership Strategy)
7. As Imran is now busy on the pitch (pun intended), I welcome NithyaRamachandran as our (interim) General Manager. She joins Imran, Steve, Catherine Mass, and Christy Cusack (VP, Client Engagement) on the T1 Leadership team. 
8. Lastly, T1 is now part of MH3 Collective, a group of ventures bonded by a common purpose – Connecting people & ideas to make a social impact. 

While it is time to celebrate business, it goes without saying that I am so proud of the community-building efforts of our teams. To mark our birthday, we ask our friends to support our mission at our not-for-profit school Park Street Education which focuses on removing barriers to education for youth from underserved communities. Today we are trying to raise $28,000 (simple math 1k per year!) to help provide scholarships for two children in the 2022-23 school year. You or your company can donate here. If your social responsibility leaders want further details, please have them reach out, and I will connect them with our team. 

Again, please accept our heartfelt thanks from all T1ers, past, present, and future. 

MH3

Much of the work done in social justice focuses on correcting past wrongdoings.

Collecting information and evidence, dealing with pain and emotion, and searching for empathetic partners make Reconciliation a challenging activity. But unfortunately, history is not as straightforward as it should be.

Our future hurtles and even more hurdles than our past, beginning with the simple concept of uncertainty. As we look forward, there will always be factors out of our control, but we cannot use those as an excuse not to work to shape our destiny. The brave and bold say otherwise. They live intentionally and look forward to scripting a better tomorrow.

In Edmonton this July, you have an opportunity to bear witness to those who have a vision for how the African diaspora can build a prosperous tomorrow for our community. This discussion will be central to the C-Tribe Festival and its marquee event, the C-Afrofuturism Conference, July 20-24th.

C-Tribe is the creation of my Black Talent Initiative colleague – Sahr Saffa. He created C-Tribe to promote and champion the influence of many cultural forces on business, fashion, music, technology, and entertainment. Edmonton is his hometown, and proudly the northernmost metropolis in the world is also central to his platform.

Sahr believes in shaping the future, and that is his community. By creating a platform for many diverse people to assemble and collaborate, he brings it to life with meaning and purpose.

We live in a time when social posts and likes are not enough. Today actual change will only be made by those who want to do the work. Magically as hard as a result is, the journey is full of rewards. The roadmap may get fuzzy at times, but the compass never waivers.

Today it points North to Edmonton.

Suppose you have felt the need after two years of isolation and loneliness to gather with your entire self. To unleash your energy and meet others who wish to do the same, I encourage you to participate in the C-Afrofuturism Conference.

It promises to be a forum where you, your company, and your industry can genuinely support the Black community. As our community thrives, it has an amplifier effect on all communities. As a Torontonian, I can say that marketers focus too much on the 416. Canada is the world’s best country not just because of our largest city but also because of Halifax, Orillia and Edmonton.

Bring your soul, investment, and optimism to Edmonton this summer. I will be there to await you with open arms, a high five, and a challenge to shape the future—the Afrofutur of Canada.

I must talk about the NFL Draft too much.

Yes, I went to Vegas last week to enjoy the Draft. Yes, I last attended it in 2019, as we staged SponsorshipX alongside the event in Nashville. But, no, I have never been to the NFL Draft at any other time than those two years.

Yet so many people commented to me that I go every year. Nope. Although I plan to go in 2023 to Kansas City, and not just because it is fun, but because I think the Draft provides an excellent lesson for marketers of all types – tourism, media, brand, property, athlete and celebrity. I want to share three thoughts that come to mind from my trip last week.

1. We can all learn from Vegas Baby. It is incredible how Las Vegas is transitioning from being the capital of the unspoken escape to the sports entertainment capital. Vegas is taking its approach to attracting pro teams, new venues, and now significant events. It is filling gaps in its tourism calendar, leveraging residencies by stars such as John Legend, and expanding the footprint of the strip to new venues such as the Caesars Forum. Throw the hunger for the legalization of sports betting on top, and you can see how the Vegas approach to sports is consistent with its brand and a world apart from a classic sports town such as Chicago.
   
2. The Crossover isn’t just a basketball move. I was fortunate to be invited to the NFLPA Pitch Day, where entrepreneurs pitch the union to receive marketing and business support. The judges for the event ranged from Marshall Lunch to WNBA star Tamera Young and 1863 Ventures founder Melissa Bradley. Sponsored by Truist bank, the winner and all finalists receive business consulting support. The grand prize winner was Healium, a startup founded by Sarah Hill. Healium is a new approach to mental wellness that helps you self-manage without medication.
   
3. Surprise and annoyance are as exciting as surprise and delight. People love sports because of the absence of a scripted outcome, the result being the performance of players and coaches, shaped by officials, weather, and luck. The Draft is highly unscripted, despite every team entering armed with months and years of player evaluations. But their plans are intertwined with all of the other franchises. Each decision-maker has ten minutes to make their selection after the previous team’s choice, some of which will generate celebrations and others a heap of aggravation. But both generate an ongoing response from their fans and months’ worth of media debate. Brands like to surprise and delight; maybe they should ponder how they can rile up their devotees!

Dissecting the success of other properties is a recommended practice for any sports league, entertainment property, or even a charity event in building an off-season marketing moment like non-other. Do you have a tentpole activity that four months before the season begins creates headline news, electrifies a city, engages its fan base, and collaborates with every business partner? Could your brand benefit from conducting a pre-launch, much like the sales campaign for condo development with ‘Fall 2022 Occupancy’ messaging?

The recipe is right there for the leveraging even though it might take your property time to get there. Even the NFL didn’t expect TV audiences to come when it started broadcasting nationally on ESPN in 1980. The current event format only came about in 2015 after the league turned it into a travelling property. But every property has the elements:

– Future stars and celebrities
– Passionate fan bases
– Activation-starved partners
– Hospitality industry supporters
– News hungry media

Of course, the scale of the NFL may be quite different than yours but think of yourself as the local establishment borrowing secrets from a multinational. It is time for you to do the same.

I want to thank all the volunteers in my life. It is National Volunteer Week, after all!

Every day of my life, I get to collaborate alongside people raising funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto, organizing events for CAMH, growing professional networks for the Black Talent Initiative community and advising our team at Park Street Education.

Every day.

If I had written this blog a few years ago, I would have talked of the football coaches in my life, the robotics coaches in our younger son’s life, the rugby coaches in our older son’s life, etc.

Volunteers lead the world to a better place and conduct rescue efforts when it is not so good. They understand they have a skill set and capacity that many organizations cannot access. Yet, inside many volunteers exists a pain point that gnaws away at them daily unless they get out and do something about it.

In short, the best volunteers are making the world, your world, a better place to live.

Take the time this week to salute the volunteers in your community. Please give them a gold star or buy them a Starbucks. Share their story on social because they are likely not apt to. Tell them to thank you in as many words as it takes—the better.

It is also time for you to remind those that don’t volunteer that it is their turn. Time pressure, personal finances, or perceived ability are irrelevant. Many opportunities to engage without it being a precursor to a significant donation or an unwieldy time commitment. If you can’t commit fully, buddy up, or Bonny up, on a role. You’re needed, wanted, and valued.

The world does not have enough volunteers. It has too many critics. The idiots who used to scream at my youth football coaching decisions but never offered a hand even to set up the bench. The climate protesters who don’t think about getting involved in a rideshare to help transport those without cars. The person at work thinks it is the receptionist’s job to unload the staff dishwasher or the social poster with lots to say about what other people are doing wrong.

Wow, this post took a dark turn, didn’t it?

But there are indeed more critics than contributors out there. So please celebrate the latter this week. I encourage you to find someone in your neighbourhood in your company in your circle of friends and surprise them with your own National Volunteer Week award. Need ideas? Check out the site Volunteer.ca. Need Inspiration – ask any of my friends who volunteer.

Need motivation? Just look outside. The world needs you!

This blog may be a not-so-subtle commentary for my teams as it is for the external world. However, as we head into spring and students across Canada are nailing down their summer roles, I wonder how many have secured great internships to help launch their careers. Not only students but anyone who is looking to accelerate their career.

Suppose you were fortunate enough to have a great summer internship when you were younger, or your organization has a great internship program they deploy. In that case, I don’t have to convince you how hard the past two years have been on people looking to secure relevant work experience. The summer of 2020 was the year without internships. Just twenty-four months ago, many companies abandoned their plans to bring on talent for the summer. A year ago, the 2021 internship return was a broken-down golf cart of its former self.

It means that for us in the privileged position of bringing interns on board for 2022, we need to do the best of our financial abilities and the best of our capability to create a fantastic internship experience. Universally we can all agree that purely remote internships, as many were in 2021, suck at best and, at worst, are outright discouraging. So a few thought starters for the talent and hiring partners to think about this summer.

# 1 – It is not too late. If your company hasn’t finalized their plans for the summer, a plethora of young talent is still available. I know because they are flooding our inboxes daily. One of my competitors had five-hundred applicants for their internship program. I know they didn’t hire them all.

# 2 – Prioritize safe engagement. My actual bias would be to implore you to create 100% in-person internships, but I recognize that we need to privatize safety. That said, ensure your interns have human connections. Notice I didn’t say get them into the office. The office is just one part of it. By planning walking meetings, outdoor contacts, phone calls (yes, the phone) and some onsite days, you can create an excellent experience for your interns. If you are a talent securing an internship this summer, demand it. Maybe make a bubble of fellow interns who work together?

# 3 – Avoid the parent trap. Here is where I will get in trouble, but I am going here. Few things are less appealing to me about an applicant than when your parent asks on your behalf. I am amazed this happens with close friends and people who have done nothing for me in my entire career. I have zero interest in hiring someone who can’t write their application letters. If your parents offer to lend you a hand potential intern, let them know they should wait to applaud you for landing the internship on your own.

The next few months will be very telling as we think about how all of our businesses re-engage. The employee experience is one of the most confounding elements of future business planning, and I am sure you are constantly searching for answers. While on this quest, don’t forget interns and their impact on our ventures for the future.