The Cape Breton office of Innovacorp is offering a series of virtual meetings featuring leaders in communications and strategy free of charge in order to help entrepreneurs understand the importance of story-telling.  

The series, which is open to anyone, is designed to help entrepreneurs with their marketing skills, and features an array of international experts who are leaders in their fields. The speakers are friends of Cape Breton Entrepreneur-in-Residence Permjot Valia, who organized the sessions in collaboration with Innovacorp personnel Bob Pelley and Holly Chisholm.

"When this [pandemic] is all over, we're going to need a group of good, strong companies that can drive growth," said Valia in an interview. "These speakers are the best in their fields and they can help companies develop messaging to help them during the recovery."

The meetings are held every two weeks and are a mix of presentations, workshops and interviews that aim to boost attendees’ story-telling skills. The first session, The Art of Evangelism by Theo Priestly has already occurred, but there are three remaining sessions:

Activating Your Audience with Richard Mulholland
Mulholland will discuss how to find the best channels to reach your company’s audience. Mulholland started South Africa’s largest presentation firm, Missing Link, and co-founded 21 Tanks, South Africa’s first perspective lab.
When: Friday, May 22 between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm via Zoom.
To register for Activating Your Audience, click here.

Winning in a Crisis with Alastair Campbell
Alastair Campbell’s experience as U.K. Prime MinisterTony Blair’s chief spokesperson and strategist during 9/11 and the war in Iraq has made him an expert in communicating and leading during a crisis. In his bestseller, Winners and How They Succeed, Campbell examines winning tactics and other insights. 
When: Friday, June 5 between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm via Zoom
To register for Winning in a Crisis, click here.

Delivering Under Pressure with Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson
Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson is one of the U.K.’s most successful athletes. She has spent her career working under pressure, whether competing as a professional athlete or working in politics. She is the most decorated Paralympian in the world and one of the subjects in Alastair Campbell’s book, Winners and How They Succeed. In this interview, she will share how she managed to cope with the stress of expectations and become a global ambassador for disability sport.
When: Friday, June 19 between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm via Zoom
To register for Delivering Under Pressure, click here.

Valia said he is planning another session, at a time yet to be determined, that will feature Jamie Constable, CEO of London-based RCapital, one of Britain's leading recovery funds. The theme of the talk will be how to turn around a troubled business, which Valia said could be especially relevant as we emerge from the recession.