Why are National TV networks and newspapers so keen on reporting on ~70 protesters for “Occupy Bay Street”, but unwilling to provide coverage of “Occupy New Brunswick” where momentum is building at a much more rapid pace?!

What is “Occupy New Brunswick?” Its comprised of a group of individuals who are focused on creating jobs and giving back to the community.

Who’s leading Occupy New Brunswick? The Top 1%, although it doesn’t stop there.
New Brunswickers – entrepreneurs, angel investors and community supporters – like Gerry Pond, Marcel LeBrun, Chris Newton, Gururaj Deshpande etc…

Occupy Toronto and its ~70 protesters that marched down and occupied Bay Street get all the news…

… while a group of entrepreneurs who hired hundreds of employees (for many many days) and parlayed relatively small investments into over $650 million on value (via two acquisitions by industry heavyweights) … and are giving back to the community get little press…

If you want to improve (not simply “CHANGE!”) the economy – such that those that are willing to work hard and train for expanding fields will find employment – then it strikes me as important to identify and promote the most successful case studies and learn what was done right. The media hasn’t completely acknowledged that screaming “we want change” without any clear plan doesn’t do much for the economy or jobs – although it does lead to 3,370 articles being generated. Negatively wins. Success isn’t cool anymore.

It is true that Radian6 and Q1 Labs did get solid press when Salesforce.com (CRM-NYSE) and IBM (IBM-NYSE) respectively announced their intent to acquire them. However, little follow up was done to highlight what those companies meant to: employment growth, government tax receipts, wealth, spending, future investment, and contribution to the community and the local university in New Brunswick. It strikes me as the type of case studies that absolutely need to be promoted given the current difficult economic backdrop. Covering protests are fine… however, highlighting keys to job growth seems like a priority to me.

This is the era when Jersey Shore leads TV ratings. The media would rather showcase drama than promote well thought out ideas. Do you really want to make a positive impact? Then put together a series highlighting these stories – all of which “occupied” New Brunswick in a span of only seven months:

• Salesforce.com acquires Radian6. New Brunswick Innovation Foundation makes 28x its original investment. LINK
• IBM acquires Q1 Labs. “If you look at the skills that they have in Fredericton, they’re world-class,” said Robert LeBlanc, senior vice president of IBM Middleware Software.” LINK
• UNB to get centre for innovation. UNB alumni and serial entrepreneur Gururaj Deshpande, along with former NBTel CEO and Radian6/Q1 investor, Gerry Pond, made a multimillion-dollar donation to UNB. The “1%” are giving huge sums of money to create a much needed Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Giving back, creating jobs. The 1%. Little press. LINK
• UNB and Cisco Canada team up for innovative technology partnerships. Cisco provides $2 million endowment to establish a chair in “advanced learning technology”. Giving back. Creating future jobs. LINK
• New Brunswick Information Technology Council unveils “Blueprint for Tech Rejuvenation”. They get it “The ICT sector is the engine for growth as it has been growing at double the rate of the Canadian economy as a whole since 2007″ LINK
• “N.B. company looks to commercialize drug” LINK
• Bathurst based Sentinel Systems Ltd. signs a deal that distributes its disaster planning technology to 900 municipalities in Quebec. LINK

I’d like to challenge the CTVs, the CBCs, the Globes and the National Posts of this great country to be a part of the solution and lead with stories showing what can be done to get the economy going again. Repeating the same stories about complaints about the “system” and never highlighting solutions to the problem doesn’t appear productive, although likely keeps ratings high.

Follow some New Brunswickers that are part of the solution. The idea generators:
Marcel Lebrun, Chris Newton, Kurt Peacock, Susan Holt, Steven, David Campbell, Rob Hoadley for a start…

And kudos to UNB President Eddy Campbell and the remarkable impact he has made on the University in such a short time period.

Celebrate those who innovate, work hard and give back.

Let’s make success cool again.

Note: I wrote the majority of this post last weekend. I see that a recent Daily Gleaner article written by David Murrell (UNB Department of Economics professor) has addressed some of the themes above.