Mae, will we go dancing?

I know that the next time my Dad calls me on the mobile it will mean that my Aunty Mae has passed away.

At this stage the vigil is happening with family and close friends spending the last hours of Mae’s life by her bedside as she struggles along getting weaker and weaker with every passing minute until the inevitable happens.

Early on Wednesday when the Liverpool v Manchester City second leg was top of my mind I received a text from my cousin, Tommy the Scouser saying that Mae was not well at all and the doctors feared the worst. The following day even worse news came through that she had deteriorated even more and basically her vital organs were failing.

I felt I better visit the hospital to see Aunty Mae and spent the first hour looking for her wandering from floor to floor until eventually I met her son in a corridor of the third floor. Mae was transferred from a room in the new wing on floor two to a “Personal Care” room in floor three of the old section of the hospital, room number 10. Fergal took me to her room where Uncle John was sitting by her side as well as her sister, my Auntie Nuala and her kids and some other people I didn’t really know.

“Greg is here to see you, Mae” her husband John announced as I arrived and I sat alongside her holding her hand while she struggled to breathe and to talk to me. It was really upsetting watching her as she struggled in and out of consciousness, breathing uneasily and occasionally trying to say something to me.

Uncomfortably I sat up when another visitor arrived who seemed much more capable than me of sitting next to Mae, holding her hand and chatting to her. I felt useless and totally unequipped to deal with this situation.

For the next few hours I watched uncomfortably as people came and went and interacted with Mae and each other.

At this stage poor Auntie Mae was becoming really agitated as she was very uncomfortable in the old hard bed. Uncle John, Nuala and another gentleman struggled with the old bed and tried to rearrange the pillows and blankets behind Mae to try and make her more comfortable but nothing was working. She called out in pain frequently and despite her condition she kept trying to get up.

While the others were desperately trying to get some nurse attention to sort out the bed and some medication to help make poor Mae more comfortable I watched as Uncle John lovingly rubbed Mae’s head and comforted her with reassuring words and gentle comments that “We’ll go around the corner to Reardens for a dance soon!“.

That sense of honour summed up both him and her as their’s was always a jolly and welcoming house. Her twin boys and her daughter lovingly held her hands and gently spoke to her and reassured her that everything would be ok.

Poor Mae was getting more and more agitated between her pain and her discomfort and it was heartbreaking watching her in the last hours of her life desperately needing simple things such as a soft mattress and some pain relief. The under pressure nursing staff ended up getting the brunt of a very upset family but it was clear that they were struggling with less than sufficient resources.

As the nursing staff arrived and tried to look after Mae I stepped out into the corridor and gazed around at the old surroundings and into the old rooms and the impact of being moved to floor 3, room 10 struck home to me …. This was the section of the hospital where you were sent when there was no more hope.

As we stood in the corridor Mae’s daughter returned with her husband and their young kids all to see their Gran for the last time … Too young to understand the seriousness of their Grans condition they entered the room full of enthusiasm …. they probably shouldn’t have seen her that way..

Uncle John stood next to me and kept repeating how great Mae was and explained to me that there was nothing more that could be done for her. He kept saying the same thing over and over as if it was a brand new conversation.

When my mum and dad (Mae’s brother) arrived I decided to say goodbye to poor Mae and to everyone else as they continued with the vigil, which is still continuing over a day later. On my way back to the car in the pouring rain I called my cousin, Tommy the Scouser who was really close to her.

Apparently earlier that day Mae who had been unresponsive for quite some time, perked up totally when her favourite nephew visited. They chatted like two old buddies for two hours .. Tommy explained that he wanted to remember her that way and would not see her again. He cried on the phone as he recalled how fabulous she had always been to him through thick and thin.

I remember Mae for her warmth, her jolly nature and how she would always complimented how I looked and always asked after the kids and Deirdre.

Mae, we love you and we hope you enjoy that dance in Reardens..

x

Greg Canty is a lucky nephew

Freedom to Fly !

When we talk about risk we nearly always think in terms of financial risk – financially what am I putting on the line if this project or job doesn’t work out?

It brings back a simple conversation that I had with one of my bosses many moons ago when I worked in Guinness. This guy was very senior, successful and I guessed very wealthy.

He had all trappings of success, a prestigious home in Dublin, a marque company car and quite a senior and highly respected position in the company.

We were chatting about career, success and life in general and I was asking him about his goals – he had a very colourful career which included some very senior international posts with Guinness and now he was settling back to a senior post with Guinness in Ireland.

In my view the new role he had, while quite prestigious seemed to be a little dull compared to his previous ones – he spoke to me quite eloquently and it was the first time I heard about the concept of a “fur lined mouse trap“.

Basically he was telling me that he wasn’t enjoying what he was doing but the rewards were so good that he could not ever consider leaving the job. What a huge price to pay?

Over the last few years we have had the pleasure of dealing with many new clients who through a mixture of redundancy or choice have jumped off their corporate treadmill and explored new possibilities in their own new businesses. All of them will admit to working harder than before but will also admit to a huge sense of satisfaction and achievement. Quite a common sentiment is “Why didn’t I do this earlier?“

I wonder is financial risk the biggest risk of all?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

At least this guy was making an effort!

My meeting had gone well, I was in a really positive frame of mind so I decided I would take the first step towards possibly ordering a new car for the start of 2012.

On the way back from my meeting I popped into a car showroom just to get a feel for the prices of the new cars, the second hand cars and of course what I would manage to get as a trade in for the Santa Fe that had served us well since the beginning of 2007 despite the high mileage.

I first spent some time looking at the “premium collection” parked outside, the collection of two and three year old cars all in great condition. Hmmm … not bad at all!

I then dared to venture into the showroom to look at the new models and I must admit feeling excited about the thought of being able to drive one of these beauties at the start of 2012. I was waiting for the approach from the salesman to start a possible conversation that could have resulted in a sale – a few of them were busy at their desks, a few walked past me with folders and a few were chatting to other possible customers.

I looked, I waited, I looked again and I must admit after a while that I was feeling a little deflated as car salesman after car salesman seemed to decide that I was an unworthy customer – did I look broke, did I look like a “tyre kicker”, did I look like another casual browser who was just going to waste their time? In any event I ended up leaving after about 20 minutes having spoken to no one.

Those who know me quite well will not be surprised that how I was feeling at that moment was shared on Twitter … “I must look like I am broke, the car salesmen didn’t come near me” I tweeted.

I know .... isn't it a beauty!

About 10 minutes later I received a call from a friend of mine who is in the motor trade who had spotted my tweet – he was initially concerned that this could have been his car showroom and that there was some issue with his customer service. I assured him that it wasn’t and that if my route back from my meeting passed his place I would have definitely have called in. Needless to say the conversation came around to me possibly being in the market for a new car..

I collected it beauty on the 5th January, it’s a beauty..

Who said twitter was a waste of time for business ..?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Are you Ready !!!!

I was 14, it was 1979 and I stood there in awe in a hot, sweaty and packed City Hall as Phil Lynott roared down at us with his fist shaking .. “Are You Ready?“.

Of course he was greeted by loud roars from the thousands of rockers. Again he roared “Are You Ready?” and he managed to increase the decibels even more from the devoted audience.

Once more he roared the same even louder and with the crowd now in a frenzy the band launched into an incredible version of the song “Are You Ready” and lifted the roof off the place!

I was mesmerised…to this day it must have been my best ever concert moment and it cemented my passion for music. Thank you Phil!

So, start of another year and to take a lesson from the Phil Lynott school of motivation … Are You Ready?

It’s a time for resolutions and of course we all have the very best of intentions so I just wanted to offer you a few of our Marketing & PR tips to help you on the way – if you’re as passionate as Phil about your business as he was about his music this will be valuable ..

1. Positive Intent – before I go into all of the practical stuff it is vital that you have this and that your let your team know that you want them to have the same. This should be the driving force behind every thing you do. You will be amazed the opportunities that come your way and will appear when you have this mindset.
2. Get in the game on-line by being found – this is the low lying fruit guys. These are the punters who are already looking for your products or services. Test it – try a few searches and see how you perform (for example PR firms in Ireland should hopefully bring a listing for Fuzion). If you are not found for your priority keyword searches you should optimise your website and maybe consider a pay-per-click advertising campaign on Google.
3. Online Communication – if you decide to communicate to all your customers, previous prospects and other contacts right now could you do it? If not consider adding an email newsletter service to your communications and let people know of changes to the business, new products, new services, awards and other news on a regular basis. This is easy to set up and it is easy to capture new contacts for your newsletter directly from your website.
4. Social Media – one of my buddies gave me some guidance recently gently advising that I was too concerned about online. I’m sorry, when I see an opportunity maybe I just point it out until I see it being grasped! Online gives you an opportunity to amplify your existing efforts – In truth very people in business today are using the popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and even Facebook properly. There are a few who are thriving by using these very cleverly – thankfully we are one of these and to be honest we could always do even better. Social Media Consultancy is a thriving industry because there is a huge appetite to learn by those who have spotted the importance of this communication medium.
5. Good stories – one of our motto’s at Fuzion with our clients is Never waste a Good Story. If there is good news happening in your business, if there are interesting personalities, if there are changes that should be publicised and great products then get them out there with a strong PR Plan. Every business has good stories – don’t waste them. PR can be a very effective and economical way of getting your message out there.
6. The Mirror – have a good look in the mirror for your business. Does your branding, signage, website and other tangible visible elements properly reflect the quality of your business, products and services? Right now take a glance at your business card! It may be time to refresh your branding and put your best foot forward.
7. Advertising & Promotions – If you have pulled back on activity in this area then maybe it is a time to revisit this activity. There is terrific value to be had if you do this in a very planned way, securing great prices and also negotiating promotions and editorial coverage. The chances are your competitors have cut back on their activity – time to steal a march on them?
8. Marketing Plan – Map out all of your Marketing & PR activity including your budgets for the year and share this with your team. Try to ensure that there is a constant stream of activity so that your business is always very visible with your target audience.
9. Measure – Track the performance of your activities, giving each of them a proper chance to seed so that you can properly assess their effectiveness. Flex your plan where necessary.
10. Be Ready – Be ready to grab those new opportunities as they come along – they will!

Have a great year and we should leave the last word to Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Get up earlier and roll the sleeves up!

At the early stages of the recession I heard the great and inspirational Louis Copeland (King Louis!) being interviewed on the radio offering the following advice to anyone in business – Get up earlier, roll up your sleeves and work harder.  I took this advice on board fully along with a determination to stay positive within ourselves and for our clients. It has thankfully served our business really well.

However this approach comes at a personal cost – I have got up earlier, I have worked my socks off, I have approached every situation with determination and positivity and I have seized opportunities as they came along.

Unfortunately this had to mean big sacrifices in terms of personal time. Both Deirdre and my kids in particular have suffered and I even missed a pile of Liverpool matches (some may say that is a good thing!). In reality there was nothing I could do about this – that’s what you have to do now to have any chance of surviving and thriving but I did feel towards the end of 2011 that I let my own personal resources run dangerously low.

My New Year’s resolution is to continue with this positive and hardworking approach but to make sure I make more time for everyone that is close and special to me.

That’s probably easier said than done but at least lets make it a real goal!

Happy New Year!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Are you following your passion?

I started telling this story in a previous blog post “Breaking Bread Together” , but there was a separate story there which I felt warranted its own stage so here goes eventually for the one I intended writing in the first place..

Fuzion Friday had arrived again – on Fridays our team at Fuzion share a meal together at lunch time. This is something we all look forward to as it is a highlight of our week when we all let the hair down and shake off some of the stresses of the week.

The chat starts off at around 12, “where will we go for lunch today” and after much discussion (Mary normally getting her way!) a restaurant is chosen and while the intention is to get there before 1 to avoid places being too busy we normally find ourselves trekking out the office door at about 10 past 1 because someone is always finishing something!

On this occasion it was me that was delaying proceedings so eventually I told the bunch to go ahead to Cafe Bar Deli and I’d catch up in a few minutes. As always I underestimated the 2 minutes it would take to finish what I was doing and I could see the “where the hell are ya” phone calls coming through to my phone.

Eventually I finish what I am doing and I race down the stairs and make my way quickly towards the restaurant. Heading quickly towards Oliver Plunkett Street I start to hear a really beautiful sound coming towards me – at a street corner I am greeted by the sight of this very tall gentleman dressed in a tuxedo singing the most beautiful version of “The Town I Loved So Well“. Despite the rush I was in I just had to stop and listen to this gorgeous performance, which was a rare treat not to be missed.

A few people did stop to listen, while other busy shoppers shuffled by going about their business. I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket but I ignored it as this moment was too previous to miss. Eventually I had to move on (I could start to imagine the earful I was going to get by the crew) but only after first shaking this man’s hand and thanking him for a beautiful moment in an otherwise crazy busy week.

I took a photograph of this guy and noticed the sign by his feet complete with phone number and web address – his name was Peter D Walls, www.peterdwalls.com and his number (086) 7728344.

Over lunch I could not get this guy out of my head – what is his story? He was clearly very talented and here he was singing on a street corner, which surely was something “beneath him”? At least this is what my immediate reaction would be.

Intrigued I decided to check out his website and learn a little bit more about this street singer. With the help of Mr. Google I found his website, I found a YouTube clip of a street performance and I listened to an interview that someone did with him. It turns out he does this frequently, he appears in Thomas Street, Limerick every Saturday and he performs in Dublin during the week also.

Is this beneath him, surely his talent deserves a much better stage, why is he doing this, why is he putting himself in the mix with other buskers, who to be fair would not lace his musical boots?

Looking desperately for an answer to this question I found a simple quote on his website -

“It’s never too late to follow your passion“

..does it really matter what you are doing and where you are doing it as long as you are following your passion?

Happy New Year!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

I has a Great 2012 because ....

Well – how did you do?

Did you achieve what you set out to achieve in 2011?

Did you make ambitious plans and fall short of them or did you make any plans at all? – If you did, well done!

I don’t know about you but making plans and actually achieving them is always challenging and at the start of the year I find myself at the start of that loop all over again making promises than often will never materialise!

Last year I wanted it to be a little bit different and I had my own creative and quite practical idea, which was inspired by a book I read called “The Art of Possibility” by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander (a really interesting motivational book by the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and his wife who is an executive coach).

This idea is rooted in the power of visualisation – the principle behind this is that if you visualise what you want to achieve then there is a much better chance of it actually happening.

Here goes ..

Take a pen and paper and simply write your diary entry in advance for your last working day of the year ..

Imagine just before you switch off the lights in the office, before you head out the door to do some last minute shopping and enjoy a well-earned rest, you quietly write your diary entry.

It might go like this..

23^rd December, 2012

Wow, that was some exciting and really fulfilling year!

It was a great year because I really achieved what I set out to both personally and professionally and even more besides because of those opportunities that cropped up that I wasn’t even expecting. At least I had my eyes open and when they occurred I spotted them and grabbed them.

I started the year with a few really clear goals including (go for it, be specific – list at least 5!)

I thought these goals were going to be really challenging, but I achieved these as I made a few important changes in my life that were necessary such as (be honest – what needs to happen for you to achieve those goals – your conditions for success).

It wasn’t all plain sailing and I had a few setbacks but I kept a clear focus on my goals, I kept a positive outlook and by digging deep and having a clear belief in myself and my abilities I managed to achieve them all in the end.

I’m glad I kept a positive outlook and kept my eyes open for those genuinely unique opportunities, which I know will only present themselves in this challenging economic climate – it made a huge difference to my business this year, which I wasn’t expecting.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,  2013 – Bring it On!

Your signature (make sure you do this)

Put this in an envelope, place it in your top drawer and have a peep at it on the first day of every month (set a reminder in your computer to do this) and see what happens.

We did this with our full team at the end of 2010 and I can tell you it worked out quite well, thank you very much!

We will do it again this time round – I’ll let you know how we got on in about 12 months’ time.

By the way I’ve just ordered a really nice new car – guess what was on my list last year!

…what are you waiting for?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

I love this show !

I must admit that I never wanted a dog – It was part of the deal that had Deirdre emigrating from Tralee many moons ago!

“I’ll move to Cork as long as we can get a dog” she declared most definitely.

I agreed to this request in the genuine hope that she would forget about it in time. This strategy worked for about 9 months but unfortunately she did not forget and the day of reckoning finally arrived .. she ganged up on me with Ellen, my daughter and I started to receive emails at work with pictures of  ”rescue” dogs, each with very sad tales.

I gave in eventually and we made the trip to the West Cork Animal Rescue Centre and chose the poor quiet fella in the corner who already had the name “Bing”. He had short hair – we were told be wouldn’t grow much bigger and that he wouldn’t shed much and true to their word neither came true! He grew to quite a size and he has totally destroyed the house with his light dog hair.

Now, I have eventually grown to love him but he is definitely Deirdre’s dog. He is quite a funny fella and one particular quirk of his is that he loves watching TV – if there is an animal on a programme he gets particularly interested but he likes plenty of other stuff. As I write he is actually glued to the Mel Brooks war movie “To be or not to be”  (check out the photo – he has good taste Mel Brooks is hilarious!)

In the 10 years that we have had him I have become quite used to most of what comes with the whole package of having a dog except for … you guessed it, dog mess!

It’s bad enough that the garden is destroyed (grass cutting was always a pain but now it is a very perilous operation) but the worst moments are when we are out walking him and he decides to mortify you in public. To be fair to him he reserves this embarrassing practice for grassy areas but I absolutely cringe when he has his moment of glory (sometimes I think he does it deliberately to me) just as someone is passing by.

They never say anything as they pass but you know exactly what they are thinking as they pass: “Disgusting, and I hope they clean up the mess that their dog has made“. Of course they are right to think this and quite correctly there are laws to back this up.

According to the 1997 litter laws  - It is not an offence to allow a dog under your control to foul in a public place, however it is an offence to let your dog foul and fail to remove and dispose of the foul subsequently. 

The horrible reality behind this law is that when you walk your dog in public places you must be armed with your little plastic bag and when your precious four legged one decides to do his business then you have some awful business to do. This is one of the most horrible things to do and when it happens I insist that the ownership laws are applied strictly, “Deirdre – He is your dog!”

As horrible as this task is, it makes sense and as law abiding citizens we need to be fully responsible.

Quite simply..it’s your dog, so its your mess and you are expected to clean it up.

Imagine if every mess was sorted out in this way..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Where will we go to lunch today?

Every Friday the team at Fuzion go to lunch together – we call it Fuzion Friday!

No matter what happens, no matter how busy we are we keep Friday precious and break bread together. Its a time when we chill out for a while, chat about the week, relax, crack a few jokes and simply bond over a bite of grub and yes, if we’re not too much under pressure we will share a bottle of vino.

We started this tradition a number of years back when it was just me, Dee and Ali in the team and somehow we never stopped and now the whole bunch of us go – that’s 9 of us when we are all together! Sometimes we might bring a client along and even the odd brave journalist has been known to join us. When things were very tight financially (when aren’t they!) the crew came to us and suggested that maybe we should stop this practice as it was probably costing us too much.

For us the ritual of sharing a meal together and de-stressing, just for a while every week is too precious and worth too much not to do.  I look forward to it so much – it’s a simple ritual that signifies we have pulled together as a team through another busy week. After all what is the point if we can’t do this?

I have worked in small companies and I have worked in large organisations and for me the most important thing is being happy – we spend so much of our time in work it is vital that we enjoy who we work with and that we enjoy a happy atmosphere together. For the most part my working life has been in good places with a good atmosphere but I have also experienced the total opposite. If that is you then “get out” – it will eat you up.

Now, don’t get me wrong – we do have our moments when we are under stress and everything isn’t Utopia (invoice day!) but to be honest they are more the exception.

I work with a great bunch, I will always protect the positive atmosphere because I just couldn’t bear the opposite – life is just too short to be unhappy at work.

I started this blog to share a particular story with you but realised half way through that the story of breaking bread together was worth a stage all of its own. I’ll tell you the other story next week!

Break bread with your team this week .. 

Greg Canty is a  parter of Fuzion

We are all responsible

I was chatting to a buddy of mine last week who was all torn up because he had to face the prospect of letting a staff member go due to a series of blunders that had cost the business a lot of money.

Being responsible he knew it was something he had to do, to protect the business but he did feel really badly for the individual and the fact that Christmas was around the corner made it feel even worse.

Responsibility and timing..

Aviva decided that it will move a huge chunk of its workforce from Ireland to the UK to save money and increase profits. Is Ireland a market worth supporting if you expect to do business here?

Responsibility and timing..

FAS senior staff get 5 weeks extra leave to acclimatise to their impending retirement. Has this issue been taken on?

Responsibility and timing..

Should 100% of speculative bank debt be covered by the taxpayer?

Responsibility and timing..

Should the tax office be aggressively chasing interest and penalties for late payments when it is clear there is very little liquidity in the marketplace.

Responsibility and timing..

The Government need to squeeze the annual monetary deficit due to agreements struck with the EU and because our country needs to regain its financial independence – there has never been a better opportunity for sorting out excess, inefficiency, unfair & outdated arrangements and crazy work practices. These obvious but thorny issues must be tackled as a priority and then we’ll be happy to take our fair share of pain.

Responsibility and timing.

Timing is critical and never has it been so critical – if we want to progress from where we are we must all act with responsibility.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion