Meet the Crew ...
What's with this nautical stuff? We love the waterways and everything about them. You'll find all the photos on this site are of places we have visited in our travels - and most of the photos will be of water.
The sculpture in the above photograph was created to honour all the sailors lost at sea off the Isles de la Madeleine, a small group of islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We, the principals behind WOW Communications & Training Corp., have visited there several times among our travels, and have always been moved by this remarkable scene.
To us, it also symbolizes a lot of what we do – offering help to others. In a business sense, we help those adrift in the complex worlds of marketing and sales. That's why all aspects of our business have a nautical theme. For us, in nautical terms, we like to say, "We create smooth sailing for our customers."
We believe we’re good at helping clients for several reasons. We have decades of successful experience in marketing and communications for business, non-profit organizations, governments and individuals. We have offered countless workshops and seminars to groups. We have continued to educate ourselves about the latest developments in marketing, training and technology. We have practiced fiscal responsibility – we have worked with budgets from $1,000 up to $350,000 and have never once come in over budget. We have shown again and again that we are problem solvers. We also watch and listen carefully to what our clients say so we can produce the best possible solutions for their individual problems and budgets, and, to accomplish that, we deal with every client on a one-to-one basis.
We also believe we provide solid strategy to our clients because we have open minds because we travel often and when we do and study consumer behaviour in other parts of the world. We pay keen attention to what’s happening locally, regionally and nationally, and apply that information to help our customers. We proudly call ourselves news and information junkies. We also travel abroad and study consumer behaviour in other countries. We bring these travel observations to our clients as we feel that a well-informed perspective helps us examine and deal with the increasingly complex challenges facing our clients.
WOW was created in 1994 and has operated out of its head office in Lethbridge. In 2005, WOW opened a branch office in Calgary.
Meet the WOW Crew...
Lynda D. Kavanagh
Dubbed by Lynda's clients and audiences as The "WOW" Gal, Lynda specializes in understanding consumer behaviour and how that knowledge can be transferred into her clients' sale and marketing activity. She has been helping people with sales and marketing issues since 1972 through coaching, training, published books and other resources. She is memorable that is why the WOW Gal stands for "Wildly Outrageous Woman".
Lynda's philosophy on life:
"My life will NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body. Rather, I'll skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other and a bag of chips under my arm. My body will be thoroughly used up, totally worn out and I'll be screaming "Whoo Hoo, what a ride!"
D'Arcy Kavanagh
We blame it on D'Arcy that everyone at WOW are news and information junkies. He has been a journalist and freelance writer starting in 1973, and continuing today. His has written for prestigious publications and blogs as well as small community newspapers. He has a wide range of topics that he writes on but specializes in travel, cycling and celtic music writing. He has taught ever type of writing that you could possibly think about in his 25 years as a college instructor. He knows writing and that's why he's called the "WOW" Guy - Wickedly Outstanding Writer". BTW he is also a great singer and celtic musician.
D'Arcy's philosophy on life:
"It's a good life if I can finish up with only a handful of regrets, including that silly evening involving too much cheap whiskey in a pub in the Highlands of Scotland when I mentioned something unflattering about a local's kilt."
First Mates...
Peanut, pet therapy in training
Peanut joined the WOW crew in 2006 and is considered the "diva" of the organization. Why? Because people love her. Peanut is a curly haired Jack Russell and has been trained in pet therapy. She started with visiting people in hospitals, then seniors homes and now she has moved into the training room. When the topic or mood is appropriate, Peanut comes with Lynda and/or D'Arcy into the training room to relieve stress and promote relaxation. It has been proven that dogs who are involved in a training workshop create an atmosphere that encourages increased retention.
Peanut's philosophy on life:
"Bark, Bark. Kane taught me how to love running in the coulees (it takes the edge of my Jack Russell mind). If I can run daily, eat bacon treats and have someone rub my tummy - then life is good."
Kane
Kane was involved with the company since its inception in 1994 and until his sad death in 2009. His duties were mainly security issues and he took those duties very seriously, especially with any mail or delivery person coming within 100 yards of the WOW office. Kane was the light of our lives and will always be missed.
Kane's philosophy on life was:
"Ruff, Ruff. I've lived a good life by running the coulees of southern Alberta. I chased porcupines and skunks, and although I didn't always win with those animals, I loved the fun! Life was good!"
Crew member
WOW purposely stays small because we like to provide individual attention to our clients. We never, ever , ever do work for anyone that does not encompass our full knowledge and expertise. Occasionally we may have a client who requires something that we are not 100% experts in, therefore we will bring in one of our tried and tested professionals.
A contract crew members' philosophy will always be:
"We pledge to provide the same dedication to our WOW clients as Lynda, D'Arcy and Peanut. We will not start any project if we do not have as solid knowledge, expertise and confidentiality in mind."
