Q4 is Hiring Account Mgrs, CSS/HTML Devs and Quality Control

March 9th, 2010 by Darrell Heaps
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Over the last couple of months we’ve been fortunate to add new clients at record breaking levels. In order to respond to this demand we’re now looking to add a handful of people to our implementation and client management group. The Q4 office is a fast paced, collaborative and exciting environment. We offer a competitive salary, health benefits, stock options + other perks.  AND we’re located in trendy Liberty Village in downtown Toronto.

If you’re interested in any of the positions below them please send us an email at careers@q4websystems.com and include the position you’re applying for.

Account Managers

We’re looking for experienced account managers to work with our clients on their corporate and investor websites and corporate social media activities.  We’re looking for people experienced in managing website design & development. You need to have at least 5 years experience on the web and be very comfortable with website design & development best practices.

This is a client facing position so you need to be great on the phone, have a professional appearance and be able to present both in person and over the web.

CSS/HTML Web Developers

This position is working alongside our product team on implementing custom web designs to run on top of our on-demand web content management system. We are looking for 2+ years experience in using CSS, HTML, Javascript (jquery) & Photoshop to develop custom websites.  We’re also looking for deep experience in cross browser compatibility solutions (IE. 6,7,8, Firefox, Safari, Chrome) a strong work ethic and the ability to work on multiple projects in agile environment.

As part of the recruiting process you will be required to write a number of code tests to ensure your skills are up to par.

Quality Control

We are looking for someone with strong quality assurance background, very good knowledge of cross browser issues and 3 -5 years experience with front-end client interfaces (CSS, scripting, HTTP, Web 2.0, etc). The expectations of this role are to ensure all implementations are executed to perfection and meet 100% of client requirements.

This is an internal role working with product and implementation teams in an agile environment. You will have to be comfortable working on multiple projects and with multiple teams.

Again, if you’re interested in any of the positions please send us an email at careers@q4websystems.com and include the position you’re applying for.

Thanks and we hope to meet you soon!

Rivel Research: Transparency Key Factor in Buy-side Definition of Superb IR

February 24th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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Rivel_logoEarlier this year, I wrote a blog post that recounted a discussion that ensued on #irchat regarding one of Rivel’s research findings in late 2009 regarding IR’s role in a company’s valuation.

An interesting discussion developed when Dan Dykens, CEO of Meet the Street and host of #irchat asked “What do you think about Rivel Research’s buy-side survey which suggests that the valuation differential between good and bad IR is 35%?”

This question stirred up quite a debate, especially since no one had access to the methodology or a definition of what constitutes “good” vs “bad” IR.  So the responses were based on the information we had.

Shortly thereafter, Brian Rivel, president of Rivel Research Group, the firm specializing in perception research for public companies posted the following comment:

Glad to see that this data sparked such a debate! One of our most popular findings, as you might imagine. Just as an FYI, the study goes on to define what IS superb IR, according to the buy-side. That result can’t be looked at in a vacuum. I would be happy to provide more flavor to anyone who is interested.

With that, I jumped at the chance and contacted him for an interview:

Read more…

Webinar Replay – The Current State of Social Media and Investor Relations

February 17th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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On February 14, Darrell Heaps, our co-founder and CEO, and one of North America’s leading authorities on social media for IR hosted a guided tour of “The Current State of Social Media” webinar in which he walked through a current snapshot of what’s happening in the use of social media for IR and why it’s important to your investor relations program. Here is the full replay of the session and the Q&A, it’s 1hr15mins long:




The Current State of Social Media and Investor Relations – A Q4 Webinar from Q4 Web Systems Inc. on Vimeo.

During the session participants were provided with an interactive demonstration of how social media is helping other public companies mitigate share value erosion, dramatically increase their website traffic and broaden their reach to potential investors.  As part of his guided tour he also revealed:

  • Which social networks are being adopted by companies for IR first and why.
  • How these companies are using social networks and deriving value from them.
  • Tips to enhance engagement and streamline quarterly reporting.

Darrell’s presentation was loaded with over 50 examples and case studies of how public companies are using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN and blogs to enhance their IR program.

If you’re thinking about if, when and how to integrate social media with your investor relations program, you should watch the video version of the presentation.

I’ll also be providing an overview of the session with lots of links in an upcoming blog post…stay tuned!

Sheryl

A Discussion of the Risks and Compliance Issues Associated with Using Twitter

February 5th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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Twiiter_complianceIn their article “Is Your Company Tweeting Towards Trouble?”, attorneys Julie Jones and Cynthia McMakin, discuss some of the risks and compliance concerns public companies need to consider when using Twitter.  In particular they state

“Due to Twitter’s innovative, yet immediate and informal, nature, tweets made by public companies and their employees may create a higher risk of violating US securities laws because the substance of each tweet may not be as thoroughly vetted as information that is disclosed through traditional channels of communication. Twitter’s appeal as a tool for companies to use to quickly dispense information to the public heightens these risks”.

Read more…

The Current State of Social Media and Investor Relations – FREE Webinar

February 4th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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SM_IR_logoJoin us on Thursday, February 11th from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. EST for a guided tour by Darrell Heaps, CEO of Q4 Web Systems, and one of North America’s leading authorities on social media for IR.  If you are thinking about if, when and how to integrate social media with your investor relations program, you can’t affords to miss this interactive demonstration of how public companies are using the social web for IR.

Register now if you would like to learn:

  1. Which social networks are being adopted by your peers for IR first and why.
  2. How these companies are using social networks and deriving value from them.
  3. Tips to enhance engagement and streamline quarterly reporting.

Register today for this free webinar and learn how social media is helping other public companies mitigate share value erosion, dramatically increase website traffic and broaden their reach to potential investors.

If you have any questions that you’d like us to address please leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to answer during the webinar.

The Use of Social Networks to Engage Investors During the Quarterly Reporting Period

January 29th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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Quarterly reporting is a key part of communicating a company’s financial story to the investment community.  As many companies are in the midst of another earnings season right now, I thought it would be timely to highlight some of the interesting things they are doing to interact and engage their shareholders in the quarterly reporting process.

Right now, the social network predominantly being used to share this material is Twitter.  So what follows are concrete examples from our Twitter for IR report we issued in November 2009.  However, I will also be highlighting a company or two that reported in January of this year who are trying new approaches to engage investors during the quarterly process.

A number of interesting ideas came to light from our research and I have categorized them into three groups: 1) Proactively engaging shareholders before the quarterly call; 2) Keeping shareholders engaged during the quarterly call; and 3) Providing additional commentary after the quarterly call has ended.

Read more…

IR Website Best Practices Webinar Wrap-Up

January 19th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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IR Website Best Practices

IR Website Best Practices

Last week, Catherine Crofton, Q4’s VP, Sales & Marketing hosted a second webinar on IR Website Best Practices.  Interest was high as we had another great turnout with people from around the globe in attendance. I also tweeted the event so if you were unable to join us, you can do a search on Twitter #Q4BP for a feed of the conversation.

This presentation was a follow up to a webinar Catherine conducted on this topic in April of last year in which she discussed five common barriers that block potential investors from understanding a company’s investment story.  Click here to view last year’s presentation and listen to the audio. 

Read more…

Webinar Replay – IR Website Best Practices

January 15th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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On January 14, Catherine Crofton, Q4’s VP Sales & Marketing hosted an IR Website Best Practices webinar.  Her presentation focused on how to build investor confidence through effective online communications.  The presentation includes a lot of great examples of companies using best practices and how they can be applied to your own IR website.

In particular she outlined some critical improvements to make to the IR website in 2010 including:

  1. Key information to include for potential new investors in this economy.
  2. Using social media effectively to increase your reach (and website traffic) and to protect your share value – with case stories and examples.
  3. New interactive technologies – what kind of technologies increase user engagement and add value.

If we weren’t able to get to your question during the webinar, please feel free to post it in our comment section below or email sherylj@q4websystems.com.

TVI Pacific Discusses ROI of using Social Media for IR

January 11th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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TVI_logo“My sole objective, and the only bullet on my job description, is to get the share price of TVI to a fair and sustainable value, PERIOD.  I decided the way to do that would be to use all things social media and set some benchmarks for Return on Investment (ROI) so I could measure the results.  Indicators such as increased web traffic, improved liquidity, increased institutional holdings and improved investor sentiment, would all result in a fair share price.”  – Rhonda Bennetto, Executive Director Investor Communications, TVI Pacific Inc.

TVI is still a relatively new user of social networks and in conjunction with the launch of their new website in mid-November 2009, they have reaped some interesting results thus far:

  • Website visits are up from 100/mth to 4,000/mth;
  • 83 followers on Twitter (as of Jan 11);
  • Photos have been viewed on Flickr 1,519 times and they have 696 views of their videos on YouTube; 
  •  Average daily trading volume has increased 55%; and
  • Their share price has risen from $0.06 prior to launch to $0.12. 

Read more…

IR Website Best Practices – FREE Webinar

January 8th, 2010 by Sheryl Joyce
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IR_BPs_Jan14_10_imageTimes have changed but have your web communications kept pace? Today’s more discerning investor is more open to portfolio diversification – which may mean that you need to provide different information than you are offering now.

Join us on Thursday, January 14th at 4:00 p.m. ET as we share top IR Website improvements to meet today’s challenging economic environment.  If you’re involved in your company’s IR website, this webinar will show some great examples of best practices from the world’s leading organizations as well as innovative small cap companies and how you can apply them to your own website.

Register now and learn 3 critical improvements to make to your website in 2010:

  1. Key information to include for potential new investors in this economy.
  2. Using social media effectively to increase your reach (and website traffic) and to protect your share value – with case stories and examples.
  3. New interactive technologies – what kind of technologies increase user engagement and add value.

If you have any questions that you’d like us to address please leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to answer during the webinar.