We’re Hiring a New Account Coordinator: Ready to join a great team?

Fairware provides socially and environmentally custom branded solutions to North America’s leading sustainable brands. We believe we can change the world through the simple act of buying. If you are looking to join a successful growing company with a great culture, you’ve found us. Check us out at www.fairware.com

If you're a changemaker, come work here.

About the job:

The full-time Account Coordinator will work closely with the Senior Sales team to support sales activity from quote preparation through to production. You will coordinate all aspects of the sales cycle ensuring that deadlines are met and clients are happy. You’re the keeper of accounts.

 

What you’ll be doing:

o   Supporting the sales team preparing quotes and proposals.

o   Preparing sales orders, purchase orders, invoices.

o   Working with artwork proofs, order tracking, shipping.

• Carrying out general office administration including answering phones, sending samples, filing etc.
• Assisting with special projects when needed.

o   Participating in daily and weekly, monthly meetings

 

What skills and experience you’ll bring:

o   Self-confident, very organized and team oriented.

o   Sales and/or customer service experience.

o   Able to work in a fast paced, entrepreneurial environment with deadlines.

o   Master of multi-tasking.

o   Great interpersonal skills both in person and on the phone.

o   Excellent oral and written communication and a good command of the English language.

o   Knowledge and interest in social responsibility; environmental sustainability and sustainable products

o   Comfortable working in Word, Excel and Outlook.

o   Working knowledge of Sales Force, QuickBooks, Photoshop, Illustrator an asset.

 

How to Apply:

Please send us a one page letter outlining your relevant experience and why you want to work for Fairware – attach it to a resume that captures your related experience and email it to jobs@fairware.com with the words Account Coordinator in the subject line, by February 10, 2012.  No phone calls please. Salary range: $27K-$30K depending on experience.

2011 in Review – Our Blog Stats.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,700 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Field Notes: What I learned on my way to buy a sustainable conference bag….

The following article has been re-posted with permission from the author, Shawna McKinley from Meet Green and originally appeared on the Sustainable Destinations Blog.

Yes, I know, I know. There are steps to take before getting to this point; the point of admitting you need a conference bag. You don’t necessarily want it, but, well, eliminating it entirely is not an option. And although it might be cool to experiment with an innovative BYOB program, for some events and attendees bag reuse programs are just not feasible. So, it falls to the planner to source the most sustainable option possible!

Myself and the event team for Canada Media Marketplace recently found ourselves in this situation. Here are some things we’ve learned on our way to buy a new (more sustainable) bag:

A recycled bag claim by any other name would be just as…unreliable. Greenwashing is alive and well in the recycled conference bag market, so it’s tough to be certain if your bag, in fact, used to be a pop bottle. Always look deep into manufacturer claims: ask what kind of recycled material the bag was made from (such as PET or polypropylene plastic), what percent of recycled content your bag includes and if it is pre- or post-consumer material. Alert the media if the distributor has a quick response as I found most do not have the information available at their fingertips. If they do, hey…score one for them for researching their supply chain! If they don’t hopefully they can easily find out for you.

Recyclable? Really? Some conference bags claim to be recyclable. But unlike soda or water bottles, they rarely have that number in a triangle sewn into the bottom to let you know if the bag can be recycled in your city. Many recycled bags are made of #5 plastic, which may or may not be recyclable in some locations. This means that in reality bags are recyclable only where facilities exist that can take them. Even if facilities exist, wear and tear on the recycled plastic fibres in the bag may limit your ability to keep it out of landfill years later if the material is poor quality. So before buying a recycled content bag ask what kind of plastic it is made from so you can tell attendees how to recycle it at the end of its life (if it even can be recycled). Better yet, see if it has a label that reminds them. Manufacturers may also have a takeback program that allows you to return bags at the end of their life cycle for recycling. Try to avoid mixed material bags that have clasps, strings and metal grommets that might prevent recycling, or at least make sure these can be easily removed.

Lead? Not in my recycled bag, sistah. Concern has emerged recently over the presence of lead in reusable bags. Who knew! Ask your conference bag manufacturer what kind of safeguards they have in place to make sure the bags you’re sourcing are safe and healthy for attendees. Specific questions to ask your supplier could include if they are aware of any standards that regulate the presence of lead or other toxic materials in their products. ASTM does have standards for lead content in manufactured products such as toys. Some states also have regulations governing the use of hazardous substances that may be cited. It is also important to ask if bag companies can provide documentation to confirm their products are tested to comply with these standards as awareness of standards does not automatically assume they are followed!

For all the bags in China! Many of the recycled content bags marketed to event planners in North America are manufactured in China. That may concern those who seek to support businesses close to their home. However consider this: some distributors take the initiative to work with manufacturers globally to ensure sound labour practises are used. To ensure you’re working with a reputable company anywhere in the world ask if they inspect plants or work with ethical sourcing organisations to use factories that align with your desire to ensure fair and safe working conditions for the people who make your conference bag. Fairware has a good list of specific ethical sourcing organisations to look for to help with your purchase decision, worldwide.

Toot for jute. While some bags might use conventional or organic cotton, linen, flax or hemp, jute is arguably a more sustainable option for fabric bags. Why? According to Nexus Collections jute is a natural fibre that biodegrades, uses less water to grow and fewer chemical processes to manufacture into a textile. It also produces a usable wood by-product that can be used for other purposes. And when you consider 6.9 million pounds of chemicals are dusted on conventional cotton crops in California every year, that is something to toot about. Organic fibres can be a good option to address pesticide use, but can hide the use of excessive water and chemicals in other areas of processing.

One bag to rule them all! It’s a bit of a grey area and obviously a complex issue to consider, but TreeHugger has ventured an educated guess into which reusable bags are the best.  They reckon that it’s a toss up between polypropylene and polyester, both of which can be sourced with recycled content from some manufacturers. But obviously the difference narrows the more you reuse any non-disposable bag. So you know what that means:.+1 to reuse, +1 to planet karma!

Oh and on a side, note…

“You have enough sense to wash your underwear, right?” Okay all you hypochondriacs! You know those conference bags you may have avoided using for your groceries because they might harbour (eek!) bacteria? Well, in my research I came across Chico Bag’s take on the belief reusing bags may kill you. The short lesson: L2wash’em!

Will keep you posted on other useful info we acquire on the journey and welcome your insights! Happy (sustainable) conference bag shopping!

Bags for Event Camp Made from Reclaimed Materials from Another Event

Hope for calendar sales in the rain

Re-posted from the Hope in Shadows Blog with permission from Project Director Paul Ryan.

Over the next few months you might see Hope in Shadows vendors sporting new rain-proof bags, warm toques and large blue umbrellas.

The rain is more than annoying for many Vancouverites, but for the Hope in Shadows vendors, it’s more than an inconvenience – it really does affect sales. Vendors don’t have a choice if they want to sell the 2012 calendars as they are almost all sold on the street.

We’ve suspected for years that the rain affects calendar sales. In an effort to understand what was happening, we looked at the calendar sales results over several years and noticed a trend: when the “pineapple express” rain hits Vancouver in November and December (usually several fronts coming in from the Pacific Ocean, one after another causing many days of unrelenting rain), sales of the calendar dip. If the rains come in November, but we have a dryer December, November will be the slow month. If November is mostly dry, but December wet, sales will be slow in December.

The bags were made locally by Common Thread, a non-profit operated by the Kettle Friendship Society, also a location of one of our calendar vendor training workshops. Common Thread creates employment for groups such as newcomers to Canada and Aboriginal communities, and is also based in the Downtown Eastside.

I spoke to Common Thread’s vice-president and co-founder Jenette MacArthur who says the people making the bags were women who, like Hope in Shadows vendors, thrive in a flexible work environment. Melanie Conn, who coordinated the making of the bags says that they were made by people who, for a variety of reasons, wouldn’t fit into a formal manufacturing setting. Like Hope in Shadows, Common Thread has an overriding social purpose. “We don’t usually have a customer (such as Hope in Shadows) where we’re so in sync.”

Fairware, who sourced and branded the toques and umbrellas with the Hope in Shadows logo, is a local company dedicated to high standards both environmentally and socially.

The uniform purchase was a team effort. We were very happy to have the financial support of the City of Vancouver and the Betty Averbach Foundation.

“B” is for Benefit: Fairware joins the BCorp Community

Fairware recently became a member of the B Corporation Community. Certified B Corporations are recognized as using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems and are unlike traditional businesses because they meet specific criteria, including:

• Meeting comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards;
• Meeting higher legal accountability standards;
• Building a business constituency of good businesses.

To become a B Corporation, Fairware had to achieve 3 things:

1. Take and pass the B Impact Rating System which sets a benchmark for the social and environmental impact of good companies.
2. Adopt the B Corporation Legal Framework to incorporate the mission of Fairware into our legal structure.
3. Sign a Term Sheet that makes our certification official.

By successfully completing these steps we have joined the ranks of Patagonia, Aspen and other partners of the B Corporation Community recognized for CSR leadership. The media has been shining a light on this little known corporate structure of late with recent articles in FORBES, Christian Science Monitor, and GOOD.

For Fairware, becoming a B-Corp was driven by a few factors. First and foremost, we view the changes to our incorporation documents and shareholder agreement as an act of advocacy, of walking our talk and of sending a signal to the world that there is a different way to do things.

The B Corp rating system and questionnaire process was also a good internal ‘gut-check’ or audit – it highlighted some gaps in our own systems (e.g. while we do corporate giving in practice, it’s not guided by any policy or framework).

And finally, it serves to send a signal to our customers, vendors and peers that we’re committed to a business model that reflects community and environmental priorities. In an increasingly crowded space of ‘green’ or ethical companies, it provides us with a 3rd party stamp of approval that we’re the real deal.

We’re proud to be a B-Corp and we’re happy to announce we will be offering a 15% discount to other B Corporations on orders over $1000. We are thrilled to be working with the BCorp community!

Fairware is Growing & We’re looking for a fabulous Sales Account Representative

Fairware is Growing & We’re looking for a fabulous Sales Account Representative

Fairware provides high impact socially and environmentally responsible promotional products and our team is growing. We are currently seeking a Vancouver based, results driven Outside Sales Account Representative to develop new and existing business in the US and Canada.

Role Overview

• You will acquire, manage, retain and grow a dynamic client base in both the US and Canada.
• You will use your creativity to develop promotional campaign ideas that are “out of the box” and help clients align their promotional products with their social and environmental values.
• You’ll research, understand & communicate the social and environmental attributes of our products and our unique company strengths and position.
• You’ll be confident in prospecting warm and cold clients on a regular basis to set up meetings and introduce Fairware to new clients (e.g. averaging 50+ calls per week).
• You’ll provide accurate quotes and create product sales proposals that highlight the business values of our service and products.
• You’ll build, implement and drive a targeted sales plan.
• You’ll deal professionally with clients, suppliers and vendors to ensure order fulfilment.
• You’ll participate in team meetings and you’ll assist with special projects when needed.

Skills & Experience Required:

• You have 3-5+​ years of successful outside B2B sales experience.​
• You have experience with prospecting, developing and closing new accounts
• You’re outgoing, self-confident and self-motivated.​
• You have networks with progressive businesses and non-profit organizations.​
• You’re able to leverage your existing relationships and develop new relationships.​
• You can multi task, thrive and have a willingness to learn in a fast paced entrepreneurial and deadline driven environment.
• You have strong presentation and communication skills in person and on the phone.
• You have strong organization skills and good attention to detail
• You have knowledge and an interest in social responsibility; environmental sustainability and sustainable products.
• You are proficient with Word, Excel and Outlook ( working knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator an asset).
• Experience with CRM systems such as Salesforce an asset.
• Willingness to travel as needed.
• Experience selling printed products, apparel, and promotional products preferred.​

Compensation

Base Salary + Commission and Benefits.

How to Apply:

Please send us a one page letter outlining your relevant experience and why you want to work for Fairware – attach it to a resume that captures your related experience and email it to jobs@fairware.ca with the words Sales Rep in the subject line by September 09, 2011. No phone calls please and we’ll only be contacting suitable candidates. Learn more about us:

WEB                       www.fairware.com

TWITTER                @fairwarepromo

Embarking on a path to climate neutrality – Fairware takes first step with the Climate Smart Program

Fairware recently completed the Climate Smart Program. Delivered by Climate Smart, a social enterprise based in Vancouver, the Program helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) measure and reduce their carbon emissions.

It’s a unique and valuable program because SMEs generally aren’t a focus for emission reduction initiatives. All current regulation and major federal programs focus on large businesses.

An example of this is the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), a pending cap and trade system that will affect western states and the majority of Canadian provinces. The WCI requires reporting by businesses with more than 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (C02e) in direct emissions. Business with more than 25,000 tonnes C02e in direct emissions will be required to participate in a cap and trade system.

WCI Partners and Observers

By comparison, data from Climate Smart suggests emissions reported by SMEs are on average less than 1000 tonnes CO2e, with most businesses reporting emissions closer to 200 tonnes of CO2e.

An art installation from the 2009 UN climate talks was created to help people visualize what a ton of CO2 “looks like”.

Climate Smart grew out of the recognition that SMEs, the largest part of the economy and 98% of Canadian businesses, are largely overlooked by climate change policy and that this dynamic sector can play a key role in addressing climate change.

Here’s a quick overview of our experience with the program, which consisted of 3 half day sessions spread over 3 months, broken down into the following 3-step process:

Step 1: Measuring our emissions

The first session gave a succinct overview of climate change – the basics of greenhouse gases, sources and implications – and an introduction to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the most widely used international accounting tool for quantifying and managing greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the Protocol, companies undertake a greenhouse gas inventory that covers scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (see image below) over a one-year period.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 emission sources under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol

While consideration of scope 3 sources isn’t required, it’s recommended that companies include them as they can represent a relatively large source of emissions and by extension may represent a significant contribution to a company’s GHG risk exposure.

This inventory process is repeated annually to track progress against the baseline year.

Below is a first draft of Fairware’s operations and emission sources (color coded for the 3 scopes) completed in session 1:

With this visual of our greenhouse gas emissions in hand, it was just a matter of identifying data sources for gathering the required details for each source.

The session ended with a tour of Climate Smart’s slick online app and tools for compiling and calculating emissions by source. With an invitation to contact the Carbon Hotline (604-CLIMATE…love it!) with any questions, session 1 came to a close.

Session 2: Reducing emissions

The second session was the most motivational and began with a visioning exercise that asked participants to “think big” and imagine the headline they’d like to see their company recognized for in 10 years.

We were also presented with impressive case studies from prior Climate Smart participants including Tinhorn Creek Vineyards and YWCA Vancouver.

Perhaps best of all was the discussion with fellow participants. We shared ideas for reducing one another’s emissions, talked about potential challenges and geeked out on the research, news and innovative strategies people had come across in their day-to-day.

We left the session feeling a lot more knowledgeable and inspired to create a plan for reducing the emissions of our own businesses.

Session 3: Offsets

This session was info-packed! The main message – offsets shouldn’t be considered an easy-out or sole strategy to achieve carbon neutrality.

Companies should first be avoiding carbon intensive activities where possible, next reducing the emissions they do create, replacing carbon intensive activities/processes where possible, and finally, considering offsets for the emissions they’re not currently able to address through these 3 steps of avoidance, reduction and replacement.

Carbon Management Hierarchy

We looked at the concept of cap and trade and discussed existing voluntary and compliance markets.

Graphic describing cap & trade from the Washington Post

Another key message was that not all offsets are created equal.

There are 4 main types of offset markets – energy efficiency, renewable energy, methane capture and biological sequestration – each with advantages and challenges to consider.

Beyond the type of offset, there are considerations to be made regarding location, strategic alignment, price and more. While these details may seem confusing, overwhelming even, there are widely accepted criteria and standards that can help companies find high quality, verified offsets.

Some of these standards include the Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard and Climate Action Reserve among others.

We were also directed to some great resources to assist us with offset decisions, including Purchasing Carbon Offsets: A Guide for Canadian Consumers, Businesses and Organizations by the David Suzuki Foundation, which has done considerable research in the carbon market field.

The session concluded with a discussion of internal and external communication strategies for gaining employee support and public recognition.

Conclusion

We thoroughly enjoyed all the Climate Smart sessions and, while we realize there will be challenges, are psyched to embark down a path to climate neutrality.

Beyond a better understanding of our carbon footprint, the data collection we undertook to complete our inventory provided some valuable insights on our shipping and travel patterns, and useful data for both carbon and cost reduction steps.

An additional benefit to completing the Climate Smart Program is becoming a part of the Climate Smart Alumni and gaining access to the regular learning and networking events organized by Climate Smart.

We’ll be documenting some of our reduction initiatives here. We’re keen to hear your ideas and feedback!

New Fairware brochure – nice pics, even nicer words

We recently printed a number of Fairware brochures highlighting a few of our recent projects.

View an electronic copy online HERE.

The brochure is filled with nice pics and even nicer words from our clients including Patagonia, Aveda, Vancity and Nature’s Path Organics.

We’d love to hear what you think of it.

We just want you to like us

Fairware recently joined Facebook. Check out our shiny new page HERE.

About time? Behind the times? Maybe. But while we’re late arrivals to the Facebook scene we’re psyched to finally be connecting with our customers and supporters through the fun that is Facebook.

Check out our new online digs for updates from the Fairware Team (we’re talking small responsible business in a big promo product world), the latest and greatest in ethical and sustainable custom products, pictures from some of our favourite projects, the Fairware office, outings and more. Ask questions, provide feedback, or simply say ‘hello’.

If you like what you see, click the ‘like’ button (yeah!) and become a fan of ours. We promise not to inundate your Facebook stream with updates (we dislike it when companies do that too).

Good Design and Promo Products – Oxymoron?

Font Geek / Flickr mat_honan

I had a rare chance to read an old copy of the Sunday New York Times recently and was struck by an article on a t-shirt design contest at Oberlin College in Ohio. The article touched on something we’ve known all along – gone are the days of sticking your corporate/school logo on something and expecting someone to wear it. Rather than the college name emblazoned on the front of the shirts (boring), stylized and iconic symbols of life on campus are screened to perfection. Hallelujah.

So, what up with the promo product world? A lot of companies and non-profit organizations still seem to think their brand is enough to convince folks to pull their t-shirt over their head more often than all the others in the drawer (or grab their re-usable mug, their tote bag, you get the idea).

But, seriously, when was the last time you put on a t-shirt with something like Deloitte Consulting, Kaiser Permanante or Safeway on the front of it?  I can think of a few cool killers offhand & here is a short list:

1. Brand Police. We’re often presented with brand guidelines in advance of doing work with a client. By and by, the brand guidelines were designed for letterhead and AGM reports. They’re useful for getting the pantone right and for figuring out what the black & white version of a logo is really suppose to look like.  But too often they serve as the final word on creativity – thereby rendering the creative expression of a brand to it’s logo and nothing more. Brand guidelines are party poopers when you want to have a little fun.

2. No Time to Design. Last minute planning means folks aren’t empowered to drift from what they know their boss will approve without blinking. I can’t tell you the number of times we start a conversation rife with creativity only to default to the standard logo in the standard place because the time wasn’t there to get approvals and buy-in to designs that fall outside the box.

3. Lack of Clear Marketing Objectives/No specific audience. Too often purchasing  promotional products doesn’t come under the same rigor as other marketing spends. Without understanding your audience, intended outcome or call to action, the opportunity to align messaging with a clear outcome is lost. And understanding who your intended audience is can inform design.

In the case of t-shirts, the real challenge for companies is creating a true ‘wearable’ vs. another give-away t-shirt. All of us have a dozen (or more) shirts in our drawer, and all of us wear the same 3-4 over and over. So how do you get someone to pick yours as part of their favorite stash of tees?  You get them with design, people, you get them with design. Here are a few of our favorite and tips:

1. Secret Messages. Consider printing your core messages/logo/branding inside the t-shirt, under the flap of the messenger bag, ect (and use the main real estate for a cool graphic that has a chance of being work again and again). I’m sure the marketers are cringing, but imagine – it’s like a private conversation and reminder to your core customer that you love them every time they pull your shirt over their head. At a minimum, keep it subtle. Think left sleeve not front chest.

2. Be Cheeky. We did a run of t-shirts for a client called Pulse Energy who specialize in building management energy management software. Instead of a basic logo print on the shirts we printed ‘check my pulse’ on the front with a subtle logo hit on rear nape of the shirt.  Fun, especially when worn by their cute, fit staff.

3. Design first, Logo Second. Consider starting with a cool concept or design first and worry about incorporating your logo later. Here is a great execution of that concept by BC Based coffee roaster Saltspring Coffee. They printed a series of coffee molecules on their travel mugs for the true java junkie – their logo is a subtle link in the ‘chain’.

Pantone Mugs. Lovely. / Flickr elizabeth.graeber

There are very few brands cool enough to get away with just being themselves. Pantone is one of them. The “world’s authority on color”  goes so well with your morning coffee – their mugs get picked first, I’m sure of it. For the rest of us, think about design first, your logo second.