‘Virtual Trade Mission’ To Jamaica A Success, Except You Miss Out On Jerk Chicken
HALIFAX — Who would have imagined the Centre For Women In Businesses’ most successful trade mission would be the one where no one leaves their house?
The centre and its partners have been running trade missions to Jamaica for five years, helping Atlantic Canadian businesses make connections with some of the region’s most important business leaders.
And they were planning to run another to Kingston and Miami this year until Covid-19 forced them to scrap the trip.
But faced with a group of disappointed business owners the centre’s executive director, Tanya Priske, “realized very quickly that we couldn’t let the opportunity go by.”
So the CWB and its partners began planning how to make the trip virtually and were shocked by the interest their post-Covid pivot attracted.
‘That’s never happened before’
Usually when an event gets moved online people see it as a compromise and take for granted that something will be lost.
But shifting their trade mission to a virtual format changed the game for CWB. Suddenly, what was once a major commitment became far more accessible, and interest soared.
Instead of taking months to scope out and sway business owners to sign on, the event filled up in a single day — with a multi-industry slate of 14 delegates representing all four Atlantic provinces.
“That’s never happened before,” Priske says. “Usually you’re out kind of gauging people, talking to people, but it’s a commitment, it’s time away from the business, it’s time away from family.”
“That’s what was different about this year. For the same price … you would get all the advantages and not have to spend money on travel or time away,” she says.
Flora MacLeod is the vice-president of business development at Ven-Rez, a Halifax company that sells classroom furniture.
She was thrilled to learn the mission was moving online because it means she can now participate in the full process. The Miami market represents a huge opportunity for her business but she wouldn’t have been able to commit to the two weeks out of the office she would need to participate.
Now, she can still get those important contacts without missing too much time at work, and without the expense of travel and hotels.
“It’s a nice solution,” she says.
Even though delegates won’t meet their counterparts in person, Priske says technology allows for many of the same face-to-face interactions that are seen as crucial to successful connections.
“When you’re sitting there looking at that person and you can read their reaction and you can build a little more of a rapport, I think it makes it more desirable. And today that’s doable,” she says.
MacLeod agrees.
“I think a few months ago I would have been more skeptical, but having spent the better part of my [recent] life on Zoom and GoToMeetings it’s getting better and better and people are getting more and more used to it,” she says.
“I always like to shake people’s hands and meet them face-to-face, but this is certainly the second-best solution.”
She says in-market missions can be very valuable but that their packed schedules mean you sometimes miss out on important follow-ups and that the virtual format will make following up much easier.
What Does A Virtual Trade Mission Look Like?
The CWB and its partners are still hammering out the fine details of the mission. There’s no question it will look dramatically different from a traditional trade mission but Priske wants it to provide just as much value.
From mid-July to mid-September, each delegate will get 6-8 meetings with “qualified leads” in the two markets the mission is “visiting.”
Delegates will also be in contact with one another throughout the process through pre-mission welcome events, in-market receptions, and periodic group check-ins. They’ll also connect for a de-brief at the end of September.
The biggest challenge, Priske says, will be how to recreate the more intangible aspects of a trade mission: the cultural exchange and experience of doing business in another country.
“We’re working on those components as we speak. We know virtually it won’t be the same as in-person, but how do you make it the best experience?” she muses.
CWB has been leading a mission to Kingston for five years. Priske says the worst part of its virtual transformation will be missing out on reconnecting with the “Jamaican family” she’s grown close to over the years.
“That will be the one part that will be hard about this, not being able to solidify those relationships in person. And of course the jerk chicken,” she says with a chuckle.
MacLeod has been on the CWB trade missions in the past and says she will miss the in-person interactions. But she admits part of her is excited to not have to deal with the exhaustion.
“Part of the mission is meeting all those people and getting ideas from them and bouncing ideas off each other and just socializing, frankly, and making new friends. It’s really hard to replicate that, and I do like that part but… it’s very time-consuming,” she says. “I don’t know, to be honest, how much I’ll miss that.”
Transforming Future Trade Missions
Adapting their trade mission to Covid-19 will mean members of the CWB will miss out on some relationship-building (and local delicacies). But it has also forced the organization into some serious innovation.
Priske says this year’s virtual pivot will almost certainly transform how the CWB runs its trade missions in the future.
“I think Covid has presented its challenges, but it’s also made us very aware there are many more opportunities,” she says. “It has challenged us to look at things differently and I think there are elements that will be able to add to trade mission in the future to really expand what we do.”
MacLeod says she is incredibly impressed with the CWB and ACOA for turning what would have been a cancelled mission into an interesting new opportunity.
“The creativity they showed – it never would have occurred to me to take this mission virtual. When I heard about it, I was like, ‘that is such a brilliant idea,’” she said. “Nobody knows what will happen so we have to adapt, we have to keep moving on.”
Priske expects to run an in-market mission once again in 2021, but she now envisions following up those in-person meetings with virtual check-ins later on. She’s also excited to mull over how the CWB can best take advantage of the accessibility of a virtual mission.
“We’re just so excited. This is all groundbreaking and we can be as creative as we want to be on this to make sure the delegates have really good meetings,” she says. “We know that we’ll probably take a few wrong turns, but that’s all part of the lesson of what we can do bigger and better next time.”