The 850 Race a crazy endeavour for a great cause. Support it.

The impact of Canada's imposition of visa restrictions on Mexican visitors in the middle of July has taken most of my time in recent weeks. It's been a very challenging summer to say the least. But I am an optimist and an entrepreneur. I am looking at Spain to pick up some of the shortfall. But that's another post.

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Today I want to call your attention to a crazy but admirable idea, one of those that create conversational capital for a destination. One of my followers, whom I also follow on the micro-blogging service, is the eco lodge E'Terra Inn, an award winning eco friendly luxury estate in Ontario's Bruce Peninsula, by an "ancient coral reef known as the Niagara Escarpment next to the diamantine waters of Georgian Bay." E'Terra alerted me to the 850 Race, a fundraising event whose website introduces as follows: "Think about doing the impossible. Dream. Raise one million dollars to help kids in need. Impossible? How is this for impossible? Run a marathon. Run two marathons, back to back. No. That is not impossible. It may be painful. But not impossible. How about running two marathons a day for six days in a row? Starting to sound impossible? One last thing, let’s not do it on a road. Let’s do it off road on trails..." Now, I am a runner myself and would say have excercised regularly most of my life. I once ran the full Mexico City Marathon and in recent years I ran a half marathon at the Toronto Waterfron Marathon. I am aware of extreme sports and, of course we all know Terry Fox's story. But no matter how you spin it, running two marathons daily (84 kms) for six days does sound like an impossible (and dangerous) thing to attempt.

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The 850 Race is a project in support of the Global Child Health Program which is the collective strategy for SickKids and partners in developing nations to address the Millennium Development Goal #4 - Reduce Child Mortality. David Battison and Brian Culbert are the men behind the 850 race. David, a well known coach in skiing circles, and Brian, an avid cyclist, are both avid extreme sports practitioners. Not the leisure runs I take around my home or in parks and cities wherever I travel. No, these guys don't excercise for health or fun reasons. They like crazy challenges. Apparently on day they were talking about coming up with new challenges and making a "bucket list." One of the items of the list was to run the entire Bruce Trail. Ah, but this not being enough of a challenge they thought "why not make it a race...in six days!" (my quotes).

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And so David and Brian are running as I write this. I would have loved to at E'Terra near Tobermory this Friday to see them cross the finish line (thank you E'Terra for inviting me), but other commitments and my work precluded me from driving up there. Best of luck with your feet (and knees, and ankles, and backs) guys. Godspeed!

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Please visit the 850Race website and support this worthy cause. Follow the race on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/the850race. Visit E'Terra's website to learn about this unique Inn in the Province of Ontario.

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Jaime Horwitz

www.canadamigos.com

Twitter.com/jaimehorwitz

Back to basics. Meet (or exceed) your customers/guests expectations.

A cool website can be a great marketing tool, but it can also create expectations. And marketers must make sure that those expectations are met (or exceeded). A recent travel experience reminded me of how important it is for businesses (tourism or otherwise) to manage customers' expectations. Last weekend I spent three days in beautiful Huron County in Western Ontario. My wife found the place where we stayed on the Web, but I had seen advertisements of Benmiller Inn before. The Benmiller Inn website indicates that the inn has been awarded a Four Diamond Award and that it belongs to Ontario's Finest Inns. The site and its content creates expectations in the mind of the consumer, and so it did in our minds. But when we got to our room the expectatons were not met. And our $200 dinner at the Inn's restaurant was a disappointment (except for the Carpaccio). My point here is not to criticize the Benmiller Inn, but rather to bring up the issue of creating and managing expectations. I must say here, that the Benmiller Inn was responsive to our comments. Kathy, at the front desk was very understanding in listening to our observations and conveyed them to the Innkeeper. The next day she came and found us and told us that they wanted to upgrade us to a larger room, which we accepted. The room was much better and looked more like the rooms pictured on the website.

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In the past, when customers' expectations were not met by a business (or product or brand), people had very few, if any, avenues to express their disappointment or complaints. But today, as most of us know now, people can Twitter, blog, write on their Facebook wall or their friend's walls. They can write reviews on Tripadvisor and many other sites. Today a complaint can go viral and it can definitely affect the bottom line. So don't forget the basics. Your website should NOT be better than your core offering (in this case the Inn itself). Don't over promise because you will generate expectations you won't meet.

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The Benmiller Inn is a very good Inn in the very small town of Benmiller, Ontario. Some people may not like that it's right next to the road, but once you are in the Inn proper this should not be an issue. The few staff we encountered were very friendly and attentive (except our dinner waitress who seemed somewhat aloof). The first room we stayed at was fine but the air conditioning was not working and it was a bit run down - it did not look the rooms pictured in the website. The second room/suite they upgraded us to was excellent, though we did not spend much time in it. The elegant restaurant has a cozy atmosphere. When we had dinner on a Thursday evening there weren't many customers there (maybe two other tables), but we were looking forward to the meal. Our expectations were high based on the Inn's website. We were not expecting La Pinsonnière, but we were expecting a very good high-end meal. We did not have it. The first steak I ordered was overcooked, my wife's scallops were dry and our daughter's cornish hen was just OK (according to her, I did not try it). We only had two glasses of wine total and the bill came to $200 plus gratuity. Not a very expensive meal (La Pinsonnière can easily be double that), but not inexpensive either. The issue was not the money, but the expectations. The next day we had lunch at the Corner Cafe in Blyth, a local diner in that charming Ontario town. Being a diner kind of place The sandwiches were great and the fries excellent our expectations were very low (sandwiches cost about $4). But we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. Our expectations were exceeded. (I had a Denver, my wife had a Club and our daughter had chicken). So given, these two experiences, we have decided that next time we're in the area, we'll eat at the Corner Cafe and not at the Inn.

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In conclusion, with all the talk about digital marketing and edistribution, Twitter, blogging, Social Media, Mobile marketing, etc., etc., we may forget that the first order of business is to remember what our core offering is and to deliver accordingly. What is the core competency of the business? What is the business', brand's promise? Get back to basics and be mindful of what kind of expectations you are creating in the mind of your prospective guests/customers.

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Jaime Horwitz MBA

One of Ontario's Top 100 Unusual Places To Visit

North America's Largest Outdoor Mural--Artists on site in August.

Midland, Ontario………………August 2008. As one of the top 100 places to see in Ontario, Downtown Midland should be on every visitors and residents travel list. Midland hosts North America’s largest outdoor mural and was recently listed in the Ron Brown first edition of Top 100 Unusual Things to see in Ontario released September 17^th 2007, Boston Mills Press. Brown labels the murals as a "Giant Outdoor Art Gallery". The murals depicting a scene from the Jesuits meeting Huron aboriginals for the first time is the largest outdoor historic mural in North America. Ron Brown is a Canadian travel writer and broadcaster who is the author of several books on unusual features to see throughout Ontario. His latest titles include Downtown Ontario; Unusual Main Streets to Explore, and Top One Hundred Unusual Things to See in Ontario. Toronto-based Brown also regularly contributes to CBC Radio broadcasts.

For the summer of 2008 our murals are continuing to be restored by 3 local artists with the financial aid of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Ruth Hurdle is recreating the Rotary Mural which was originally on the LCBO building. This mural will be relocated on the side of T & G Fabrics. Terri-Lee Milley will be recreating the S.S. Lemoyne mural which will be painted on location on the side of Homecoming beside St. Paul’s United Church. Sonja Rathke has been restoring all the murals located at the Town of Midland’s Harbour Master’s office at the bottom of King Street this summer. Please feel free to speak with them about their experiences.

Midland Ontario is 90 minutes north of the Greater Toronto Area, and 35 minutes North West of Barrie. Situated on the shores of Georgian Bay in historic Huronia, the Midland area is one of Ontario’s earliest developed settlements dating back to the early 1600’s and Samuel de Champlain.

WHERE TO STAY IN THE AREA: Hotels, Resorts and Historic Inns are available. See Midland Area Accommodation.

WHAT TO DO IN THE AREA. Exciting historical re-enactments and attractions, fresh clean beaches complement First Nations history, Georgian Bay Cruises and Great Lakes British Navel history and the towering Martyrs’ Shrine. http://www.georgianbaytourism.on.ca/S/Attractions.aspx

TOURIST INFORMATION: FREE full colour guidebook available by calling 1800-263-7745, or view Georgian Bay Visitor Guide on-line

For additional information on Downtown Midland and the Midland Mural Project contact Meredith Forrest at 705.527.7246,