April 7, 2011
We recently moved in to our new home at 150 Dufferin Ave. and have received a lot of new and cool things on the way!
The first new addition to the office was the foosball table. Lunch hours will never be the same. Tune in from 12-1p.m. almost any day to catch all the fast paced action at foosball.rtraction.com
March 15, 2011
Attention Fanshawe CPA students:
All Your Base Are Belong To Us
Please come join us for our next Games Day at rtraction!
Thursday March 17 at 1:00p.m.
We’ll be spending the day playing video games, board games, and foosball. There will be non-stop action and friendly competition on everything from Halo to Rock Band.
January 25, 2011
It’s no surprise that Word of Mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to increase brand awareness and grow your customer base and now Facebook has made it that much easier.
Currently when a friend checks-in or performs other brand-related activities it shows up in the user’s news feed and can be easily missed if the user isn’t on Facebook at that moment. ‘Sponsored stories’ will take that wall post and place it on the right hand side where the ads currently run. This allows for considerable more brand exposure to that user’s friends. Marketers can purchase the ‘sponsored stories’ spaces similarly to ad spaces at a pay-per-click (CPC) or pay-per-impression (CPM) rate.
The underlying idea is that word-of-mouth, especially through friends, is the best way to market a product or service. If your friend went to a mechanic and ‘liked’ them, wrote about their experience in an app, or checked-in to their location on Facebook you are more likely to consider that mechanic next time you’re in need of a tune-up. Instead of having that update disappear into the abyss of a constantly updated news feed, ‘sponsored stories’ allows the company to purchase space to display that update in a more visible spot.
While this all is great news to marketers, what does this mean for the average Facebook user? Unfortunately they don’t have the option to disable their posts from being advertised, and might be shocked to find themselves promoting a business they thought they were only giving slight appreciation to. However, Facebook will honor privacy settings so that the sponsored stories will only be advertised to friends (as long as that’s the user’s privacy setting). We’ll have to keep an eye on this new feature and see if its introduction reduces the number of people liking pages, or checking-in on Facebook.
All in all this provides an exciting new way to leverage the power of the personal recommendation but like everything, it starts with a good, quality product or service, one that people will want to talk about, will want to like, and will want their face used to advertise.
October 7, 2010
1. A successful application includes a well thought out and extensive cover letter and resume which are submitted to the appropriate company personnel in the method indicated on the job posting followed by a follow-up phone call one week later.
2. Always dress in business-appropriate and professional attire at the office. Men – wear ties, women – wear slacks, and no open toed shoes!
3. Arrive early, before your 9 a.m. start time, be prompt with your 30-minute lunch break, and leave at 5 p.m. (or later, but never before!).
4. Leave your phone in your bag, and turn it off or keep it on silent mode.
5. You probably won’t ever see the boss as they have a top-floor suite so you may not need to worry about this one – but do not speak until you’ve been spoken to, especially from the boss.
6. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT spend any time whatsoever checking facebook/tweeting/reading personal emails.
7. Odds are you won’t get to know your coworkers for several months, if ever. You probably won’t be invited to company outings, and if you are it was probably only because they were being polite. But don’t take it personally.
8. You will spend most of your day photocopying, filing, typing, and making phone calls.
9. Your work day will be highly structured with little opportunity for creativity and experimentation. People will tell you what to do, and pile papers high on your desk with things they don’t want to do themselves but they can get you to do because, after all, you’re the intern.
10. You must wear shoes at all times….
ummm.. wait. scratch that.
What To Expect With An Internship At rtraction
A successful application includes a well thought out and extensive cover letter and…
1. Be proactive. I got to know some of the people working for the company and the company itself before applying, albeit through twitter. That being said, just because there isn’t a formal job posting doesn’t mean they don’t want you!
Always dress in business…
2. Well we still dress professionally, it’s true.. but no ties or slacks required, jeans appear to be acceptable (although I haven’t been officially informed of that.. uh oh)
Arrive early, before your 9 a.m…
3. Let’s just say I’ve enjoyed a few rounds of Halo during lunch breaks. I’ve even managed to accomplish my goal of not finishing in last place – and it’s only been three weeks! (and punctuality is still a valued attribute here at rtraction)
Leave your phone…
4. Phones.. what are “phones” these days anyways? Mini computers, that’s what they are. And we are in the digital and everything related business – so phones are cool. Especially iPhones it seems..
You probably won’t ever see the boss…
5. *Flashback* First Day
Enter: David Billson, President and Co-founder “Let’s just grab a desk from storage and bring over a laptop, and we’ll be good to go” The desk gets brought up and gets placed, you guessed it, right next to his desk in his office. Now, this probably seems like an intimidating situation – and you’re right, despite the fact that David is one of the most approachable and down-to-earth guys I’ve met, it’s still kind of intimidating sitting right next to the “head honcho”.
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT spend any time whatsoever checking tweeting…
6. Twitter is practically a requirement of the job.
Odds are you won’t get to know your coworkers for several months…
7. I have already had the opportunity to get to know several of my new coworkers – from wandering the streets during Park(ing) Day London, to playing Halo in the boardroom at lunch, to after-work beers at Crabby’s. I’ve worked for a reasonable number of companies in my eight or more years of being employable – and I can honestly say that I have not met a more cohesive and dynamic group of people who are fun to work with and expert at what they do.
You will spend most of your day photocopying…
8. I’m not entirely sure there is photocopier here..
Your work day will be highly structured with little opportunity for creativity…
9. We’re in the business of creativity and innovation! What would work be if there was no room to experiment and grow. This is the place to be for all things out-of-the-box.
You must wear shoes at all times….
10. nik: 
