In 2008, Smart Dolphins was crowned “Member of the Year” by VIATeC. We are huge proponents of VIATeC so this was a big honour. In fact, we still promote this wonderful recognition in our email signatures to this day. Hopefully, we’ll be changing our email signatures soon…

We’re very excited to announce that we are one of two finalists for Employer of the Year at this year’s VIATeC awards! One of my objectives for Smart Dolphins was to create a great place to work. So even being a finalist is wonderful validation of the efforts put in thus far.

Of course a company does not become a great place to work or win awards because of one person (at least certainly not because of just me). So a big thank you to the whole team for making Smart Dolphins a great place to park our careers.

The VIATeC annual awards are going to be held at the Victoria Conference Centre on May 31st. For anyone who hasn’t ever been, you need to understand that this is not just a regular awards ceremony. To give you a flavor, here is a video from the conclusion of last year’s awards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F50dNLNBTy0

We’re excited to be a part of the party! Will we see you there? If so, stop by the Smart Dolphins table.

People and companies have a tendency to repeat patterns. Some patterns are positive and helpful; others, not so much.

I meet with a lot of business people who are in a lot of pain. There is lots of evidence of their pain when we dig in and examine their technology. The good news is, technical challenges are fixable and it isn’t hard finding someone who is competent enough to correct most issues if they’re given a chance.

The interesting thing is, most don’t recognize that the technical pain is not the root problem. How did the mess really come to be? How can the company avoid ending up in the same situation in a few years? Swapping out a server and/or buying some new workstations doesn’t fix the long term problem.

From our nearly-twelve years of experience, these situations are very common. It is our belief that the root problem is a lack of proactive technology leadership. Technology is hard. That is why a business needs dedicated, talented and experienced resources to LEAD the technology functions on an ongoing basis.

Smart Dolphins can fix a problem, install a new server and relieve immediate pain. More importantly, we break the pattern that many companies repeat: we bring Proactive Technology Leadership to the table.

As a part of our ongoing bragging about being an Award Finalist for this year’s GVCC Awards, I’d like to share another letter of support from my mentor and good friend, Jim Ralph (former president of Roger’s Chocolates):

 

February 6, 2012

The Selection Committee

2012 Business Awards

Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce

Dear Committee Members

It is my pleasure to strongly support Smart Dolphins in the Business of the Year Category for the 2012 Business Awards presented by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce.

I first came into contact with Smart Dolphins at the2005 Business Awards. Dave Monahan was a finalist in the Young Entrepreneurs category, and Rogers’ Chocolates was a finalist in the Lifetime Achievement Category. The young and the old awards were won by Dave Monahan in the Young Entrepreneurs category, and my company at the time, Rogers’ Chocolates, won in the Lifetime Achievement category. Since that time I have kept up a friendship with Dave, and have followed the success of Smart Dolphins.

I have personally met most of the staff. The fact there has been very few staff changes over the years speaks very highly of the company. They believe in strong customer service along with an outstanding commitment to the community. Being past president and director of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, I can attest to the financial support and time that Smart Dolphins has given to the organization .Many of the Smart Dolphins staff are on boards, and can be found at many charitable fundraising events. A company policy to be actively involved with the community, and to run an honest and successful organization are the reasons Smart Dolphins have been so successful and respected. I have recommended Smart Dolphins to other companies and have heard nothing but praise for their service and IT support.

Over the past five years I have been a mentor and friend to Dave Monahan. I have developed a huge respect for his strong and ongoing focus on self improvement, and business excellence. It is very rare to find a CEO that is more committed to his business, family, company, and the community.

I fully support and applaud the nomination of Smart Dolphins in the Business Excellence Category.

Yours sincerely

Jim Ralph

Past President & General Manager

Rogers’ Chocolates Ltd.

Thanks Jim!

As mentioned last week, we have been honoured as a finalist for the GVCC annual awards for the “Business of the Year (11-25 Employees)”. As part of the application process, each nominee submission could be accompanied by Letters of Support.

Receiving these letters was one of the most rewarding parts of this process. Over the next few weeks, I will share some of the letters that we received.

A big thanks to Vicky and the folks at Hansbraun for this wonderful letter and so many great years of working together.

Enjoy.

February 6, 2012

To Whom it May Concern:

Re: Chamber Award reference letter

We are pleased to offer a whole-hearted recommendation for Smart Dolphins, to the Chamber of Commerce. Hansbraun Investments is a property management/real estate development company, operating in Victoria, BC. We formed a strategic partnership with Smart Dolphins eight years ago that has, and will continue, to serve us incredibly well.

We recognize the importance of technology and information in business today. While our business is not large enough to have IT support on staff, Smart Dolphins provides us with key competencies that allow us to maximize our effectiveness, efficiency and bottom line.

Smart Dolphins have earned a level of trust from us that I believe is rare in the business world. Quite simply, they provide us guidance, support and advice that we follow without hesitation. We don’t question their advice and we don’t question the cost. They have earned this trust through top-notch service and excellent communication; and because we know they value our relationship as much as we do. We are confident that they will always treat us fairly and work in our best interests. As I said, this is a rare sort of relationship in business; and Smart Dolphins is a rare sort of business.

In addition to what they do for our business, we love how much Smart Dolphins cares about, and gives back to, our community. As a business, and their staff on a personal level, we regularly see them working on different initiatives, such as fundraising for the Mustard Seed, to benefit our community.

Thank you for this opportunity to share our thoughts; we sincerely feel that Smart Dolphins deserves this award. If you would like any further information, please feel free to contact me at the above number, or at ###.

Yours truly,

Victoria Shannon, BCom
Vice President

HANSBRAUN INVESTMENTS LTD.

We’re finalists!

Smart Dolphins has been chosen as one of two finalists (cheers to our companions for this honour: Cairnview Mechanical) for the Annual Greater Victoria Business Awards. We are up for the Business of the Year Award (11-25 employees). We were runner up for this award in 2008 – could this be our year???

A big thanks to our very special partners and clients who supported our nomination with wonderful letters of reference. Over the coming weeks, I’ll share some of these letters through the blog here. I found these letters to be very reaffirming of what we have done and what we are trying to do. THANKS!

The winners will be announced at the award ceremony on April 27th. It will be exciting to see if we win, but, as cliché as this sounds, we really can’t lose. We get great publicity and most don’t remember who won and lost. More importantly, the recognition is very nice. The Pod has worked very hard over the past few years and to have an external panel of business professionals judge that we have something special going on really fuels the fire. Regardless of the result, we’ll be celebrating.

I’m personally a little crushed by what turned out to be poor planning on my part: I am going to be away for the award ceremony.

Lastly, a big thanks to our team. There is always a part of me that is a little surprised when people keep showing up day after day, nevermind the fact they pour their blood, sweat and tears into a “job”. Thanks for throwing yourself at this, my fellow Dolphins. I hope you all feel a HUGE amount of pride for this recognition and for the amazing things you do every single day.