Social media opportunities available for development

Most people have heard that New Brunswick is the second most export-dependent province in Canada (as measured by exports as a percentage of GDP). But what most of us don't realize is that this statistic only includes the export of hard goods such as commodities and manufactured products. It does not include the export of services.



Angela Campbell and Spiros Nicoles work in the Business Window Call Centre on McAllister Drive. The province's history in the call-centre industry could play an important role in enhancing New Brunswick's position in the social media sector.












If we expand the definition of exports to include anything outside the borders of the province (in Canada and beyond), New Brunswick is also benefitting from the export of services - particularly telephone and e-mail-based customer-contact activity.

While we don't have complete data on the full scope of the customer-contact centre industry (because it is not an industry per se, it cuts across multiple sectors of the economy); we do know that somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 New Brunswickers spend their days interacting with customers in Toronto, Calgary, Dallas, Sao Paulo and hundreds of other locations covering activities as wide ranging as hotel reservations and jet fuel purchases. There are millions of customer interactions each year between New Brunswickers and the world.






New Brunswick call centre workers, such as those above, have experience which could help develop the social media sector.





Using the 'administrative and support services' industry as one proxy, New Brunswick has witnessed explosive growth over the past 20 years. In 1991, there were roughly 5,000 people working in this industry. In 2009, that had grown to almost 19,000 people. New Brunswick has more people working in this industry, as a percentage of the workforce, than any other province in Canada by a wide margin. The finance and insurance sector in New Brunswick has also witnessed above average growth driven by the financial services customer contact centres in the province such as TD Insurance, Royal Bank and Cooperators Insurance.

This rapid growth has pushed up wage rates. The average weekly wage in the administrative and support services industry is up 41 per cent in just the past decade (compared to 27per cent across the economy).

As long as there has been a customer contact centre industry in New Brunswick, people have been worried about its longevity. The fear is that migration of customer interaction to the Internet will pose a serious threat to the New Brunswick industry. Because these companies are not capital-intensive (compared to a pulp mill or an auto manufacturing plant) it is relatively easy for them to downsize and then close their New Brunswick operations as the demand for direct interaction with customer service staff declines.

This is certainly a threat and it is very likely the customer contact centre industry in 2020 will be substantially different than the industry today.

However, I argue that the New Brunswick customer contact centre industry should be a leader in adopting these new Internet-based customer service channels. Instead of an apocalyptic vision where companies close up and move away, I see New Brunswick remaining a global hub for customer interaction in whatever new models that emerge.

A number of our firms, for example, are already processing e-mail and Internet 'chat' customer interaction from their New Brunswick facilities. One company has their national computer support centre in New Brunswick.

The rise of social media portends another big challenge for the New Brunswick industry. Increasingly, companies are migrating their customer interaction into the Web 2.0 social media world and that requires a different business model and a different set of human resources skills.

The demand for social media jobs across North America has exploded. The U.S.-based Social Media Influence report found more than 21,000 social media-related job postings in 2010 up from only a few thousand in 2005. The study found that social media-related job postings have risen 600percent in the last five years.

The Twitter feed 'Social Media jobs' (@socialmediajobs) tracks new jobs in the social media area on a daily basis. Each day there are new jobs with titles such as Online Community Manager, Mid-Level Copywriters, Social Media Manager and Assistant Editor (Online Media).

Hopefully New Brunswick's contact centre industry will be innovative and respond to the rise of social media. It is not too much of a leap to envision the millions of customer interactions now via the telephone and email migrating to social media platforms.

However, I am not sure this will happen without leadership. We need to get out front of this. We need to view it as an economic development opportunity.

The economic development application would involve trying to convince the firms already here to put their social media interaction teams here and to make the province attractive for firms outside to locate this activity here.

We need to build the value proposition for those investments. For example, we could develop a community college diploma program in social media interaction. We could ramp up diploma programs in copywriting and editing. We could also offer a tax credit program to help companies invest in social media technology and we could become a test-bed for new social media activities.

We could also support the development of innovative new social media applications. New Brunswick's Radian6 is one of the best known social media monitoring firms in North America. In addition, Moncton-based Lymbix has developed a tool to check the tonality of text-based communications. They call it an 'emotional' spell checker. I see this product as essential to effective social media interaction between companies and their customers both as a way to assess the tone of incoming communications and ensuring that outgoing communications will not offend customers. The New York Times agrees and named Lymbix one of its top 10 big ideas for 2010.

One of the most endearing features of New Brunswick is that its people are considered to be nice, decent and honest. I can't think of a better workforce for social media interaction.

Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are trying to build their animation and multimedia/gaming clusters. Maybe New Brunswick could lead in the area of social media.

The window of opportunity is now but it is rapidly closing. Soon there will be dozens of jurisdictions fighting for this business and we will end up playing catch up. As we learned with the customer contact centre industry, there are distinct benefits to being early into the game. We should apply that lesson to the social media industry.

David Campbell is an economic development consultant based in Moncton. He writes a daily blog, It's the Economy, Stupid at www.davidwcampbell.com. This is the second in a series of five columns looking at emerging industries that could be used by New Brunswick to foster economic growth over the next decade.

50 to 60 homes completely lost

ST. GEORGE - Kathy Rogers has trouble picking out her favourite childhood haunts as the small plane she is in flies low over the Lake Utopia region in southwestern New Brunswick.

From more than 1,000 feet in the air, the devastation is clearly visible -- several roads still end in water; highways stretch precariously across flooded fields, belongings are strewn around damaged homes. At one spot, the top of a shed appears to be floating in a newly-created cove.

Rogers, chairperson of the Charlotte County Disaster Relief Fund, is getting a first-hand, bird's-eye view of the trauma and distress she is hoping to relieve through a major fundraising campaign.

"For me, it's one thing to hear about it, but this has given me a whole new feeling and appreciation for what these people must be going through," says Rogers, a Charlotte county native who has several relatives in the area affected by the flooding.

"I know the waters have receded, but it's just unbelievable how widespread the flooding has been...I have never seen the water as high as it is in the Canal and Bonny River and Second Falls in my life."

Pilot Glenn Tremblett volunteered part of his Christmas Eve to fly Rogers and several others over the stricken area. He knows this part of New Brunswick well, but it has a new topography since the flood.

"That was the first time I've been up since the flooding - it's amazing to see the difference," Tremblett says.

The flight was volunteered by Blue Skies Charter Services and owner Marcus DeWinter - one of many New Brunswick companies that's stepped forward to volunteer time, service or cash to help people recover from the severe weather events that have walloped the province.

Early in December, the north shore community of Charlo was soaked by a storm surge.

Then, about a week later, southern New Brunswick communities were flooded after two days of non-stop, torrential rains.

Last week, the east coast of New Brunswick was pounded by storm surges and high winds.

Today, another major storm is expected and with it the threat of more storm surges along the east coast.

So far, the storms have forced more than 150 people to leave their homes.

Rogers says she has been told that 50 to 60 homes in southwestern New Brunswick have been completely lost.

The province's emergency officials anticipate damage will top $50 million.

"None of these people is getting insurance money," Rogers says of people who have lost homes or suffered major damage.

"The insurance companies have said this is a natural disaster and it's not covered under their policies. I don't think a lot of people understand that. You know, $4,000 is great, but it's not enough to replace homes worth $150,000 to $200,000, vehicles and belongings. It's devastating for the affected families."

The province has offered $4,000 in advance payments for homeowners in need of immediate cash. More is coming once damage assessments are finalized.

Meanwhile, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has pledged federal disaster assistance relief as a result of the storms.

In a news release just before Christmas, Toews said Ottawa will offer financial aid to repair damaged infrastructure, if there is a need.

"The Government of Canada is monitoring the situation in the Maritimes closely. Should there be a request, we stand ready to help affected provinces should assistance be requested," the federal minister said in a statement.

"Our government is committed to helping provinces in their efforts to respond to and recover from the damage and destruction caused by recent storms, and to ensure that communities are able to begin the process of rebuilding."

The provincial government has announced that New Brunswickers affected by storm damage will be eligible to apply for federal-provincial compensation.

As well, the Red Cross has launched a cross-country public appeal for donations.

Canadians wishing to donate financially can do so by calling 1-800-418-1111 and specify NB Flood December 2010.

"These are humble, hard-working and respectful people who are our neighbors," Rogers says.

"They will rebuild but they need our help. I am asking people to open their hearts and wallets. Even a dollar will help," Rogers says.

Anyone willing to help can reach her at krsw@nb.sympatico.ca.

Donations are accepted in person at Red Cross offices during business hours or cheques can be made out to the Canadian Red Cross and earmarked NB Flood December 2010 and mailed to the Canadian Red Cross Donation Processing Centre, Box 39, Saint John, N.B., E2L 3X3.

Visit www.redcross.ca to make an online donation.

Rogers says J.D. Irving Ltd. has stepped up to aid the Red Cross with its flood relief efforts. The company has donated clothing, winter boots, tissue products, flood kits, lumber and firewood.

As well, she says Cooke Aquaculture has been "outstanding" and started the relief fund with a $50,000 donation, along with time, manpower and materials.

"Donations are coming in from the U.S.A. and Europe and all other parts of Canada," Rogers says. "Some gave up their Christmas and donated what they would have spent and gave it to the relief fund."

Man dead after car runs into house

SAINT JOHN - A man in his 50s has died after his car crashed into the side of a house on Douglas Avenue Sunday morning.

The man had turned onto the street from Chesley Drive just before 10 a.m. when his vehicle crossed the oncoming lane of traffic and smashed into a apartment building near the railroad tracks, said Sgt. Chuck Elgee of the Saint John Police Force.

The Saint John man died a short time later in hospital.

The major crime and traffic units are investigating the crash, and Elgee said he didn't know if health issues may have played a role.

Melissa Hodges was sleeping in the apartment upstairs when she felt the loud thud below.

"I thought, 'Holy crap, part of the falls if falling off,' " Hodges said Sunday in her apartment, which sits next to the Reversing Falls.

When she looked out the window, she saw the car had crashed into the foundation of the building, and she ran downstairs to help, telling her boyfriend to call 911.

A jogger who had witnessed the crash was already with the man, who looked unconscious and grey, Hodges said.

She said it was sad for someone to die suddenly so close to Christmas.

"It's a sin. It's horrible," she said.

By early afternoon, the scene had been cleaned up, except for some broken car reflectors and debris from the damaged building.

The impact of the car left a dent, snapping away pieces of the ivory siding and wood framing.

The man's name is not being released pending notification of his family.

Photo's of the rare eclipse