Much excitement at the new offices of Q Media Solutions

April 18th, 2008

Much excitement at the new offices of Q Media Solutions as evidence of the other side of the business (not everything is about Get Involved, unbelievable as it may seem…) strolls through the door. Brian Melo, last year’s winner of Canadian Idol has dropped by to record a special announcement to be broadcast at a meeting of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. Turns out mellow Melo was a member himself back in the day. And not just a drop-by-once-in-a-blue-moon kind of member – a genuine, showing up, taking part, involved sort of guy. And now there’s going to be a scholarship in his name. We’re all suitably impressed and, okay, a little star struck. He’s such a real-live, real nice guy.

Melo is clearly proud to partner up with Boys and Girls Clubs – and so are we. And it’s easy to see why; Boys and Girls Clubs are an absolutely vital part of Canada’s Not For Profit social network. With so many single parents, so many working families, Boys and Girls Clubs provide a safe and supportive place for kids to drop by after school, take part in their own community, to learn new skills, find a ear to listen, a shoulder to lean on – or even just a place to have fun.

They’re going to become one of our partners too – one of the special organizations we’re teaming up with right off the top to design and tweak our organization member profiles. Boys and Girls Club is the perfect partner – an easy no-brainer for all of us to demonstrate how the “Connection” point of the Get Involved not just works, but really works. When individual members of the Get Involved web site (children or adults) come on looking for family resources, child care resources, counseling resources – virtually every kind of kid-related support you can imagine - by checking in to the Children and Education community, a few key strokes identifying a few key words will link them straight to Boys and Girls Clubs. There they’ll find all the information they can use – the where and what and how and when of the programs – as well as pictures and even video really showing and describing how members can interact. Maybe they need the resources of the clubs – maybe they have resources to offer – the interactions can all take place on-line as easy as pie.

Speaking of pie… I’m hungry! Once Brian leaves I slip down to the Berkeley Castle coffee shop (where they already know my name!) and they ask me if it’ll be the usual. (Coffee and a BLT…) I feel so at home!