The Kuzina Cup
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Theresa
We're thrilled to announce the upcoming Kuzina Cup, to be held on Friday, September 6th, 2013. The Kuzina Cup is held in memory of Terry Kuzina, Fusion's founding partner and long time Creative Director who passed away in 2011. Thank you so so much to everyone who supported the 2012 event, it was tons of fun and a huge success! With matching grants we raised nearly $25,000 to support The Terry Kuzina Memorial Student Award for Graphic Design.
This year's award has gone to Red River College 2nd year graphic design student, Andrea Tria. She is exceptionally talented and incredibly grounded. We recently had the pleasure of meeting Andrea at the awards event. She told us a bit about herself and then asked a ton of questions about Terry, about his style, his favourite projects and what he was like as a person. It was wonderful to be able to share a bit of his wisdom with this aspiring young designer.
The theme of this year's Kuzina Cup is "One more round for Terry". A round of golf, a round of drinks, one more time.... the 2013 event will be the 2nd and final tournament. The proceeds raised from 2012 and 2013 will be enough to sustain the Memorial Student Award for years to come, thank you so much for your suport!
Tickets are now on sale for golf as well as a limited number of dinner only tickets. Sponsor partnership opportunities are also available to help support this great event. Hope to see you out!
Love letter to great clients.
Posted by
Theresa
We are a lucky bunch over here at Fusion. I truly believe that we are blessed with working with many of Winnipeg’s best clients. The agency/client relationship is a unique relationship, it’s a people-based relationship, not a transactional-based one, emotions, egos and subjectivity come into play. Like any good relationship, for it to last it takes work and needs to build on a solid foundation.
So why do I think we have the best clients?
For starters, there’s a high level of trust with our clients. We’re able to do amazing work, because our clients place high trust in our insights and expertise, knowing that we’re always working in their best interest. Our clients are open to our ideas, even when they push the boundaries.
Our clients see us as partners, not suppliers, working with them, not for them. As partners, our great clients share their visions, dreams, plans, expectations, opinions and goals. They indulge important information, confide in us and consistently keep us in the loop, knowing that this relationship helps them achieve their vision. We collaborate together and share ideas because there’s mutual respect and trust.
The backbone of any strong relationship is communication. Our clients are clear in their expectations, are fair, and ensure we can succeed together. They work through briefs with us, ensuring we’re all on page with agreed upon strategy before the creative process begins. And hey, when the going gets tough, honest conversations happen and only serve to strengthen the product and the relationship.
And finally, our clients rely on us to do our jobs, get the job done, and get it done right. We love being trusted to make sure everything is perfect from start to finish.
The success of the work ultimately depends on the strength of the relationship. And because of the faith and trust our great clients place in us we give the love right back with enthusiasm, passion, creativity, motivation and dedication in our work each and every day.
Lots of love at The Kuzina Cup!
Posted by
Theresa
The carts are returned, the scorecards are in and Julian from Visual Lizard took home all the prizes, the first annual Kuzina Cup has wrapped for 2012!
It seems like only yesterday the idea of creating a student award in Terry’s name was born. Fast forward one year and I can’t believe it’s over. It was a crazy adventure creating a brand new tournament; I can honestly say I had no idea what I was getting myself, and the committee, into!
Looking back though things couldn’t have gone better. From the initial brainstorm sessions with the committee, coming up with the name, logo and website (thank you Morris, Brooke, Florence and Visual Lizard), creating lists of prospective golfers and sponsors to finally acknowledging that I needed to bring in the professionals (thank you POP Sports & Entertainment), it was a lot of fun, and a lot of work to get us to September 7th.
The tournament itself was really well attended, the weather sort of cooperated, the dinner was just sentimental enough and everything ran smoothly. I had a blast seeing everyone at the Half Pints Hole! Uncle Newt made a great MC, son Curtis was auctioneer extraordinaire, student Christian was a pleasure, mom Debbie gave a great toast and sister Vanessa with her tear-jerking performance. From the feedback we’ve received, I’m hopeful that 2013 will be a much-anticipated event!
So many individuals and businesses helped create a successful tournament and I’m so very thankful for each and every one of them. We had dozens of fantastic prize donors, several generous personal donations and of course our amazing sponsors:
Gold – The Winnipeg Free Press
Silver – Fusion Communications, Sun Life Financial, Visual Lizard
Delicious Lunch – Diversity Catering
Delicious Wine – Payworks
Print – Prolific Group
Signage – Lightvisions
Hole – Assiniboine Credit Union, Brunswick Steel, CBRE, Dave Lowery & Associates, Eaton Financial Services, Grant Thorton, Half Pints Brewing Co., Mondetta Charity Foundation, POP Sports & Entertainment, PRA, The PR House: A division of The MediaBank, Tag No.5 Vodka, Terracon Development Ltd., Tripwire Media Group
I don’t have the final tally yet, but I can definitely say that as a result of all the support this tournament received we’ll be making a sizeable donation to The Terry Kuzina Memorial Student Award for Graphic Design. What a great way to start the endowment fund and ensure that Terry’s memory lives on and great graphic design continues to thrive!
Hope to see you next year – mark your calendars for September 5th, 2013!
Day Three: Serendipity
Posted by
Theresa
With Michelle and Jody at the Business Fair
Looking back at the day that was is a reminder that we’re always exactly where we need to be in that exact moment. What a day. So many amazing entrepreneurs, very excited about the possibilities.
Day Two: The Outlet Mall is the new 18 holes!
Posted by
Theresa
The WBENC conference isn’t what I anticipated or prepped for, it’s better in many unexpected ways. When Jody, Michelle, the Fusion team and I were prepping to come, we geared up for power meetings with major corporations who were looking to do business with women business owners in the services our two companies provide. But an outcome that I didn’t expect or ‘prepare’ for was the opportunity to connect with so many inspiring female business owners from across the country.
Over the last two days we’ve formed a bit of a kinship. It’s amazing how quickly relationships can develop in such a short period of time. There are 3000 people attending this conference and yet we continually cross paths with familiar faces from coast to coast. There must be a reason for that and I’m excited about the possibilities.
In our short time together we naturally discuss our respective businesses, the products and services we offer, the problems we solve for our clients, our unique perspectives and ideas, and how there may be mutual benefit in working together. Business is being done. And then we grab a glass of wine and talk about life balance, supportive families and partners, challenges we’re facing, advice we can offer and shoes, definitely shoes. And bags. Business is being done.
I’m quickly realizing that women have a different, special and powerful way of doing business together. The women business owners I’ve met are driven and passionate, persistent and smart. They’re unwilling to take no for an answer and are succeeding in achieving their goals. As women we’re creating this success by earning and building trust and loyalty through relationships, intelligence and a true belief that we can put our talents and expertise to work to help each other grow and succeed. Powerful stuff.
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