Proud to Thank Canada’s Physicians for 50 Remarkable Years.

OTTAWA, Sept. 26, 2019,/CNW/ – MD Financial Management Inc. celebrates its 50th year today as the only national financial services firm exclusively dedicated to the financial well-being of physicians and their families. To mark this milestone, we are proud to give thanks where it is due – to Canada’s doctors.
Canadians are invited to join us and recognize a doctor who has made a difference in their life by signing a digital thank-you card at ThankYou Doctors.ca. Add your voice to the many Canadians who have already said thank you.

MD Financial Management ThankYouDoctors Kiosk in Toronto, Ontario (CNW Group/MD Financial Management Inc.)

Every day across Canada, physicians care for patients in remarkable and life-changing ways.

One of MD’s own wants to thank the doctor who helped save the life of her son when he was just three months old:

“I want to give my heartfelt thanks for the treatment and care that the physicians at CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario) gave to my son and my family,” said Rebecca Ford, Organization Development Coordinator at MD. “My son was admitted to the ICU with severe dehydration and, ultimately, he needed an emergency intraosseous infusion procedure to stabilize him. After many tests and sleepless nights, he was eventually diagnosed with a severe cows milk protein allergy. Hearing that your three-month-old has to live with a potentially life-altering allergy can be overwhelming for anyone. But thanks to the planning, guidance, and monitoring of the staff at CHEO, he is now a healthy 4½-year-old with absolutely zero allergies or intolerances — who enjoys as much cheese and milk as his mom lets him get his hands on!”

We’re proud to say thank you to Canada’s physicians

“We recognize that doctors make some of the most important moments and milestones in our lives possible,” said Brian Peters, President and Chief Executive Officer of MD Financial Management. “We are proud of our 50 years of experience exclusively supporting physicians at every step of their lives and careers — from medical school through retirement. Inspired by how they work tirelessly for their patients’ well-being, we continue to work with them to help them achieve their financial goals.”
While much has changed since 1969, one thing has remained constant: MD’s commitment to acting in the best interests of Canada’s physicians.

About MD Financial Management Inc.

With 50 years of physician-focused experience, MD Financial Management has one main goal: to help Canada’s physicians achieve financial well-being.

MD has more than $50 billion in assets under administration as of September 20, 2019, and is dedicated to serving Canada’s physicians and their families. MD Financial Management provides financial products and services, the MD Family of Funds and investment counseling services through the MD Group of Companies. For a detailed list of these companies, visit md.ca.

MD Management Limited was the first of the MD Group of Companies to be founded, in 1969. MD Financial Management Inc. wholly owns MD Management Limited. For a detailed list of the MD Group of Companies, visit md.ca.

SOURCE MD Financial Management Inc.

For further information: Media contact: Yali N’Diaye, External Communications Manager, yali.ndiaye@md.ca, 613 813-7361

Source: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/proud-to-thank-canada-s-physicians-for-50-remarkable-years-805394500.html

BIG DIGITAL WANTS TO MAKE EVENT SIGNAGE ‘BEAUTIFUL’

  Serial entrepreneur Mike Girgis has returned to digital out-of-home advertising with a new startup media shop slash experiential agency, formally launching this week under the name Big Digital.

Rather than wading into the already crowded market for digital outdoor, Big Digital plans to focus on portable, temporary and small-scale activations for conferences, retail pop-ups and seasonal displays. It won’t just provide screens, but will consult with clients to design custom content for them.

Girgis told Marketing he got the idea for a service-oriented OOH shop back in his days at OneStop Media, the OOH network he co-founded in 2005. Retail and event-focused clients OneStop worked with couldn’t always make big investments in high-tech, big-screen displays that they only planned to use a few times a year. But, there weren’t opportunities for renting that kind of equipment either — all the digital signage companies OneStop looked into working with only had pricey permanent displays available.

Another big pain point for clients that wanted digital displays for conferences was that they had to coordinate the effort between the AV team that owned the equipment, the creative agency that designed the content, and whoever showed up on site to set everything up, Girgis said. Most of the time, they were doing it without any way to measure its effectiveness.

Big Digital claims it can do all three. “If you could take an AV company and a creative agency and mash them up, that’s probably Big Digital,” Girgis said. “We’ve got digital strategists in-house, and we’ve been doing digital out-of-home for fourteen years, so we understand the tech.”

EMPHASIS ON PORTABILITY AND EASE

If you still think of out-of-home as a traditional media format, you won’t after seeing Big Digital’s standup displays. The team has spent the past 18 months building and testing a range of modular sets that combine up to 12 widescreen LCD screens, as well as LED backlighting, 3G network connectivity, and wifi access points for communicating with nearby devices.

The standard format displays are all named after friendly famous elephants, to make them more memorable and less intimidating. But the modularity gives them a lot of flexibility as well, Girgis said. The aluminum frames can be quickly resized and the signs can be adjusted to create entranceways, digital shelving, or in-store endcaps. Big Digital took inspiration from IKEA’s do-it-yourself philosophy — they’re designed to be set up and taken down in under an hour, by anyone who can read the instruction booklet.

They’re also all brandable, with space for the client to physically white-label each sign with a logo and company name. “We want it to look like the client has spent a lot of money,” he said.

ALL-IN-ONE CREATIVE AND ANALYTICS

Rather than pitching itself on tech, Big claims its approach is consultative and content-first, more like an experience design agency. In-house strategists figure out what the client’s goals are, whether it’s putting a product or brand on display in high-definition or getting conference attendees to approach and engage with a booth or sponsorship activation. Then, they customize the physical display and design the client’s content around those goals.

The last, crucial component to its service is analytics. According to VP and co-founder Jeff Wismer, Big Digital uses wifi hotspots to track when people (or more accurately their mobile phones) are dwelling near the display. Post-activation, Big Digital will report on how many people engaged with a client’s displays, which activation performed best, and when each one saw the most traffic.

Wismer said for a lot of event organizers, analytics usually extend to number of tickets sold and no-shows. For such a big investment, marketers and sponsors want to see measurable results. Foot traffic heatmapping — the same kind that retailers are starting to do to figure out which of their displays and products are performing best — can add a lot more measurability to events, he said. Big Digital’s reports tell clients how many people showed up, but also what time they showed up, what presentations and showrooms they attended, and when they headed to the bar.

“We’ve heard the numbers from some of our clients, who build these booths and have 50 shows a year,” said Girgis. “You think about the number they’re spending — with no analytics!”
Beyond conferences and events, Big Digital sees an opportunity in the growing popularity of temporary storefronts and pop-up shops. The idea is Big Digital’s one-stop offering is an easy way to add digital flare to a pop-up at a mall or festival, plus the kind of measurability that big-box stores are starting to add. For Me2We’s pop-ups, Big Digital’s screens add an extra layer of big-brand credibility, plus the ability to put a number to the passersby that were drawn inside.

Big Digital’s also experimenting with interactivity, using Kinekt, as well as screens that can stand up to outdoor exposure. Girgis said he sees temporary digital billboards in the company’s future.
Big Digital will run alongside Girgis’ ongoing content analytics venture with Deborah Hall, Dive Networks (formerly Performance Content Group).

Source: http://marketingmag.ca/media/big-digital-wants-to-make-event-signage-beautiful-144719/

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY RENTAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS

When you are exploring technology rental for your business you want to ensure that you’re not just using cutting-edge solutions to impress; you want to explore your options and make sure that you are using the technology that will meet your specific needs. Here are some tips to help you choose the right technology rentals for your business.

Ease Pain Points

Whether you are planning a pop-up boutique, participating in a trade show or looking at options for an event, understanding the pain points of your customers is the first step to making the right decisions. Pain points will vary based on your client relationship. B2B clients share common issues, including spending, productivity, processing and support. The consumer will share concerns about spending, but this is not always a driving force. Although saving money is always desirable, it is not always the most important factor for the consumer, especially if you sell a high-end brand or offer a high-end shopping experience. Other considerations for the consumer should include how quickly they can check out; convenience; and selection, such as finding the colour and size they desire.

If this is not your first event, you can get more specific and speak to staff who participated and interacted with customers at the last event. This will allow you to determine if expectations of the customers were met, challenges they might have encountered from a service standpoint, and technology that could help improve engagement for visitors. This can help you focus on issues, so you can try to address them and make the second time around more successful.

You can also speak to staff about details such as set-up and planning. For example, did they encounter issues with the last technology company they used? Did the technology meet expectations? Did they find they were spending too much time troubleshooting to get the technology to work? All of these questions can help you determine what changes can be made to ensure their jobs are easier and help them focus on the customers’ needs instead of wasting time troubleshooting.

Leveraging previous experience your team might have gained with other companies can also be helpful if this is your first event or pop-up. Speak to your team to learn more about their background, whether it was working with a competitor or planning other events. You can even gain valuable knowledge based on your team’s experience on the consumer side shopping at pop-ups or attending trade events.

dentifying all pain points will allow you to come up with the best solutions to overcome shortfalls, become more proactive in foreseeing customers’ needs and avoiding downtime due to poor technology choices.

Consider your Purpose

The strategy behind your event is also key to what digital technology you want to rent. Some possible strategies might include:

• Attracting new customers
• Collecting email addresses for marketing new products or events
• Providing a brick and mortar experience to help to convert abandoned shopping carts into sales
• Geotargeting to gain market share in a new location
• One-on-one personal experiences to see and touch your product
• Demonstrating the launch of a new product or service
• Creating an experience or event to gain media attention

All of these scenarios create different needs that will affect your technology decisions. Understanding your purpose will allow you to prioritize your needs and make sure those needs fit within your budget.

Team Requirements

There are a few considerations when it comes to your team requirements. For example, if you will be in a very busy venue, such as a high profile trade show, having large screens available to draw attention to rolling digital demos is a must, in addition to tablet solutions, touchscreens and a social media wall. However, a smaller venue with less traffic might just require tablets to encourage one-on-one interaction with customers in tandem with a large screen to attract passersby.

Your team will also bring varying levels of familiarity with the technology you might require. Consideration should be given to how much training is required so that you do not put your team in a position to be embarrassed should they be unable to handle the technology you have chosen. Understanding how technology will impact your team will help ensure your choices provide support while meeting their skill level. If you choose technology that requires training, this will also have an impact on your budget. You will want to avoid technology that causes disruption in one area in an attempt to resolve a problem in another.

If you are going with new technology, make sure the digital technology rental company provides onsite support should you encounter any issues during the event. You can also decide if you want to partner with a company that can provide resources or if you want to consider a special team you can train specifically for your event or pop-up.

Understand What’s Available

Doing some research upfront will introduce you to some of the leading edge technology that’s available. Technology rentals cover a wide variety of options that each have pros and cons.

Some of the technology rentals available for events and pop-ups include:

• Video Wall Designs: This is perfect to create impact and show off products, but also create brand awareness.
• Social Media Walls: This allows people to post what they are experiencing at an event directly to social media in real time. Large projections attract people at the event, but posts will also help attract more people to the event when they see what they are missing.
• Projection Mapping: This is ideally to create interest using visual projections on any surface from buildings to fashion runways and stages to actual water.
• Touchscreens: These are perfect where interaction is encouraged from pop-up retail stores to trade shows and events.
• Diverse Tablet Solutions: This provides your team with access to information required from ordering to checking inventory and access to product specs to running one-on-one demos.

Other common solutions might include Indoor and Outdoor LED Displays, Outdoor Signage and customized tech solutions designed to meet your specific needs.

There truly is no limit to the technology available to make your event memorable and successful. Technology rentals should be designed to provide solutions to help meet your ultimate goal. This means having a strategy in mind that helps you choose the right tools to help you meet your core objectives.

To find the best solutions to meet your technology rental needs, contact us here or call us at 416-645-5186.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PROJECTION MAPPING EVENTS

Let’s face it: many people have event fatigue. After going to the same conventions, concerts, and pop-up shops all utilizing the same effects, organizers must constantly find new and creative ways to impress their audiences. If you’re tired of outdated strobe lights and boxed contraptions, then consider projection mapping.
With projection mapping, your guests can feel as though they’ve stepped into a completely different environment. Transform a cold, barren convention room into a wilderness escape. Or turn your grand opening event space into a winter wonderland. For real marketing impact, use projection mapping to splash your company’s message on a building facade instead. The possibilities are endless with this innovative technology that’s changing the event planning landscape.

What is Projection Mapping?

Simply put, projection mapping involves projecting images onto a surface. You’ll often see this technology used at NBA games to bring a basketball court to life. Other times, companies will orchestrate a projection mapping show to reveal a new product and get people talking.
The projections can be as simple as flat indoor stage graphics or as complex as moving video on industrial landscapes. Common objects are often turned into interactive 3D displays. Music or other sound effects are also incorporated to enhance the experience. Regardless of how projection mapping is utilized, there’s no doubt your audience will take notice.

Why is Projection Mapping Beneficial?

As mentioned earlier, many event goers are tired of seeing the same presentations over and over again. Projection mapping allows for creative flexibility, given that the technology can be used in multiple ways. Below are some reasons why you should consider it for your next event.

• Portability: A traditional display system can be heavy and difficult to move. Projection mapping devices, however, are quite small and lightweight. This is especially useful if your business is putting on an event or advertising your product in multiple cities. Any company can easily transport these portable projectors from place to place. If you’re lugging around a large LED panel and decide it would look better against a different wall, the contractors will charge extra to move it. With projectors, you can simply pick it up and place it in another location.

• 3D capabilities: Projection mapping goes beyond displaying 2D graphics on a flat surface. Use stunning 3D imagery to make your audience feel like they’ve been teleported to a different time and space. Your guests will be able to interact with your displays, encouraging them to feel connected to your brand. This type of engagement is only possible because of projection mapping’s 3D capabilities.

• Eliminate wasted props: Whether it’s an anniversary celebration or a new product launch, companies spend tens of thousands of dollars purchasing decorations and stage sets for various events. But once the engagement is over, what happens to all these props? Chances are they get stored away somewhere never to be seen again. Or organizers end up hoping all this “stuff” can be reused at another function. With projection mapping, however, there’s no tangible waste. A company doesn’t have to buy new projectors each time it wants to update material. Simply erase the current graphics, and design a whole new presentation using the same projectors instead.

Creative Uses for Projection Mapping

Do a quick search online and you’ll see some extravagant examples of projection mapping. But don’t be intimidated. Never feel pressured into competing with what’s on offer at the top end of the price and size spectrum. Work with your team to create a presentation that’s meaningful and relevant to your brand. And although 3D imagery is spectacular to look at, 2D graphics can be just as mesmerizing with some thoughtful design.
An AV equipment rental firm like Big Digital can help you create an immersive experience using this groundbreaking technology. From interactive floor experiences to complex building installations, anything is possible with the right team. If you’re ready to incorporate projection mapping into your next event, ask yourself these questions to get the ideas flowing:

1. Do you have a budget?
You may perceive projection mapping as expensive, but it can actually be done very affordably. Be realistic about your budget and try to stick to it during the design process. If your budget is limited, consult your AV team to see what’s feasible within that price range. The experts can advise the best route possible and ways to get the most bang for your buck.

2. How large is your event space?
The larger your venue, the more projectors you’ll need, raising the costs considerably. Don’t feel obligated to completely transform your event space for guests to have a good time. Choose a few focal points and pinpoint your projection efforts there instead.

3. What will you be projecting?
Depending on the detail and complexity of your images, the cost of projection mapping will go up. If your budget is limited, consider projecting high-quality imagery on a smaller surface. For example, display effective video projections at individual tables instead of splurging on a flashy wall mirage.
Whether we’re driving down the street, watching television, or scrolling through Facebook, we’re bombarded with ads every minute of the day. Everywhere you look, someone is trying to sell you something! Because of this reason alone, it’s important to increase the wow factor of your brand. Make your audience pause for a moment with stunning imagery that’s interactive and effective. With projection mapping technology, the possibilities are endless. Create an event that your guests will talk about for years to come.

For more information about projection mapping, call Big Digital at 1-888-339-1815 or contact us here