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“Players are expected to remember that hockey can be an intense and physical sport but everyone is participating to have fun.” - from the Rules & Regulations governing the 2008 Victoria Tech Community Floor Hockey Challenge.

It’s on… Team Metamend is taking on several challengers for the second annual Victoria Tech Community Floor Hockey Challenge, a fun filled tournament that lasts four weeks and tests the physical endurance of everyone involved. (We take our hockey seriously ’round these parts)

Our outward goal (aside from winning) is to raise money for various local charities while creating an environment in which local tech companies and workers can get together to meet and have a lot of fun. This year, we are playing to raise funds for The Mustard Seed Food Bank and the Boys & Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria.
Here’s a brief rundown of the schedule: (All games start at 6:30pm)
May 14: Reliable Controls vs. Metamend

May 21: Scheider Electric vs. Telus
May 22: Reliable Controls vs. Pareto Logic

May 28: Reliable Controls vs. Telus
May 29: Metamend vs. Patero Logic

June 4: Pareto Logic vs. Telus
June 5: Metamend vs. Schneider Electric

“I don’t want the whole world, I just want your half.” - Ana Ng, They Might be Giants, 1989

Yahoo! might have wriggled free of Microsoft for the time being but it is now getting closer to Google than many PPC experts are comfortable with. Yahoo!’s overt flirtations with Google proved to be the ultimate poison pill that turned away Microsoft’s uninvited attentions.

Most in the search marketing community were rooting for a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo!, not because we love Microsoft or dislike Yahoo!, but because we felt that the combined forces of the two mega-firms would provide a truly capable competitor to Google. That didn’t happen. As it stands today, we’ve transited from a potential to create greater competition to the very real potential of seeing far less competition in the lucrative PPC marketplace.

On yesterday’s Webcology show on WebmasterRadio.fm, we explored the Post MicroHoo environment with Search Engine Watch Executive Editor Kevin Heisler and WorldBenefactor.com co-founder Greg Meyers. (Greg also publishes the blog SEMGeek.com).

It was an interesting conversation. Kevin covered the business ends of the equation and Greg passed out several tips on PPC bidding strategies his non-profit WorldBenefactors.com site is adopting in the post MicroHoo world.

Yesterday afternoon, Metamend VP of Marketing, Murray Owen and Reputation Management Specialist, David Howell joined Dave Davies and I on our Webcology show on WebmasterRadio.FM. The topic of the conversation focused on the amazing recovery Metamend made within 48-hours of the fire that destroyed our Canadian head office in Victoria BC.

The show is worth a listen for organizations that have yet to write or implement a disaster management plan. Facing the toughest challenge our 10-year old firm has ever faced, the Metamend team had a well thought-out road map to follow. When the administration put the plan to action early Sunday morning, every one of the staff knew what they had to do and set about doing it.

By Monday morning, we were each working from our home offices with a communications backbone in place and access to our common files reassigned and thus restored. By Tuesday, the team was as close to reclaiming its general working rhythm as possible. Looking back on a Friday morning, it is now possible to see beneficial sides to what could have otherwise been an unmitigated disaster.

Fire destroyed several businesses sharing an office complex with Metamend Search Marketing early Sunday morning, April 27, 2008. The search engine marketing firm’s main offices were spared most of the fire damage however the building itself was rendered unsafe for occupation. No one was hurt during the incident.

Though Metamend’s offices are currently inaccessible, the company continues operating as normal. Working from home-offices, staff members are responding to telephone or email inquiries, and client engagements are continuing as usual while the administration is securing new office space.

Critical company assets, such as client and corporate data, are housed and stored off-site where it is both secure and accessible to Metamend staff. Metamend’s search engine marketing services will continue without interruption or hindrance. Metamend expects that customers are unlikely to notice any changes in service delivery over the upcoming week.

“Fortunately, because of the nature of our business, our staff and administration is able to work remotely until new office space opens later this week,” said Metamend President, Glenn Convey. Convey continues, “Metamend will execute a disaster management plan for its facilities. With current technology and investment made over the past year, our administration has been able to re-establish operations quickly and efficiently. Fortunately, no one was hurt from the fire and the damage is confined to facilities only.”