Sizzling In The City With Erin Rayner

I got lost on the way to this year’s Sizzling Twenty under 30 reception. The event was at the Lexus of Edmonton dealership—and has been for four years—and yet I still managed to get lost. After responsibly pulling over to search my BlackBerry for the exact address, I arrived in time for the recognition ceremony and was reminded of the impact a meeting of the minds can have. This event is hard to explain to those who’ve never been. It is like walking into a firestorm of over-achievers.

The first people I bumped into were Ben Block and Krista Turko, a couple—literally—of 2007 Sizzlers who met at the reception two years ago and are now working together at Sundial, Ben’s graphics, print and marketing company. On the way to the bar to grab a glass of wine, Ward 5 City Councillor and 2008 Sizzler, Don Iveson, wandered by wearing his newest accessory—baby Dexter Chan Iveson in a Snuggly.

Winding my way through the crowd, I spotted 2006 Sizzlers Rishi Patel,and owner of Keeran Systems and Twist Ultra Lounge, and Chris Bolivar, owner of Optamedia. They were discussing the economy and its effect on their businesses. Despite the downturn both are expecting a strong fourth quarter.

Having profiled the club late last year, I was curious about Twist. Although it is beginning to get some recognition, the conversation quickly turned to the club’s website. Until now, it hasn’t had a web presence to speak of, aside from a logo on the landing page at twistultralounge.com.

Flash forward: When I got home, I googled “Twist Ultra Lounge”. My search results were a clubzone listing with very basic contact information and a facebook group promoting $3 highballs and a list of Twist’s upcoming events. There is no way to make reservations or buy tickets to events (like the Hallowe’en Party) online, something Rishi’s clientele are demanding. A website is a basic tool the club needs. Without a fully functioning website, Twist is not part of the online consumer conversation.

Chris and I had a great time teasing Rishi for knowing the importance of the web for direct e-mail marketing and generating leads, but not yet devoting the resources to capitalizing on this opportunity to continue Twist’s high-end branding. It takes skill and knowledge as well as time, money and creativity to make your online marketing campaign effective, but it is one of the most measurable tools we marketers have to work with. Later, Rishi and I discussed the benefits monitoring the website to measure which pages have the highest traffic and how long visitors stay with the information. He made a very good point that monitoring the online traffic flow allows you to treat your online customers similar to those who visit your bricks and mortar location.

Moving through the crowd I chatted with Jason Reiniger, owner of Gravity Events and sibling of 2007 Sizzler Carissa Reiniger. His colleague Brady Hedlund, owner of Life Before Work Tours, mentioned they recently launched a new event inspired by the infamous Full Moon parties in Thailand. Apparently, later that week, their second Full Moon Party sold out at the Edmonton Events Centre.

Just before I left, I met Lori Rebalkin from Magic 99 who was kind enough to introduce me to another 07 Sizzler Jesse Lipscombe of P.H.A.T. Training. The entrepreneur/athlete/artist has so many projects on the go, I don’t have space to name them all. Except to say that he and his wife Shannon Tyler of Magic 99 are expecting their second child in January—a playmate for son Chile.

Basically, my night with the Sizzlers reminded me that anyone who calls Edmonton “Deadmonton” doesn’t feel the sizzle of these up-and-comers.

Erin Rayner is president of ED Marketing and Communication Inc.

Contact: erayner@edmontonians.com