Follow Friday: Entreprenuer Enthusiast, Dammy Og
by Erin Gee in Follow Friday on October 29th, 2010
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TweetOne of the most connected people I know is Dammy Og (@DammyO), founder of Reach Magazine. He knows everyone, restaurateurs, fashion designers, internet start-ups, you name it, he knows them. While his life may sound glamourous, knowing everyone worth knowing and getting invited to tons of events, he’s still one of the hardest workers in the city. Always on the go, Dammy has late nights and early mornings, trying to make Reach run smoothly.
Why should we follow you?
“Don’t follow me, follow @ReachMagazine.” That’s the warning I’ve got under my @DammyO profile bio. People who follow @ReachMagazine are either entrepreneurs, or individuals who care about entrepreneurs. We are a business lifestyle magazine that focuses on entrepreneurs in Vancouver. Our plan is to capture the interests of those who enjoy new innovations, fashion, social issues, entertainment, technology – and any other industry that gives entrepreneurs a stage to be unique and creative. So if you are into all that, make sure you follow @ReachMagazine. Oh, and if you love free stuff… follow us.
Where did Reach Magazine come from?
Reach Magazine was developed out of the need to provide a stage where entrepreneurs could promote themselves. I used to work for an Investment Promotion company that only dealt with big businesses.
Throughout my travels across Canada I met a lot of small businesses – entrepreneurs – who created fantastic and amazing innovations or services. I remember it was November 2008, sitting down in the Hyatt in Toronto, I started asking myself why there was no medium that showcased the businesses of your everyday entrepreneur. Not just showcasing a business, but also educating the readers about how ordinary individuals create and run their own business. The highs and the lows. We don’t care about how much someone makes, so far you can answer the questions why you love being an entrepreneur – that goes a long way.
Not too long ago you hosted an Entrepreneur Meet-up, what’s that about, and why should people go?
The Buzz. In August, I created an entrepreneur mixer called The Buzz. I’ve always wanted to bring the Magazine to life. It’s cool to read about someone and their achievements, but meeting the entrepreneur behind that achievement is pretty amazing. We experience that everyday at Reach when we sit down to talk to cool entrepreneurs, and we wanted to share that feel good factor with everyone. I honestly thought that the August Buzz event was just going to be a one off, but the feedback we got after the Summer Buzz event was immense. We had entrepreneurs that missed the event pleading with us to host another one ASAP. The event was featured on the BC Business Social List and we also had numerous entrepreneurs approach us with plans to host another Buzz Event at their respective venues. We understand that Vancouver is one of the most connected cities in the world, and there are a lot of great entrepreneurship meet-ups that are organized monthly. However, the feed back we received showed us that an event such as The Buzz event was needed. We kept it very casual, and we have entrepreneurs such as Ryan Holmes (Invoke Media and creator of Hootsuite), and Devon Brooks (creator of Blo Hair Dry and Innovation Director for the FWE) telling people why they love being entrepreneurs. Yes, you can read about these entrepreneurs, but its a different feeling when you actually get to meet and talk to them.
With all that said, I’m happy to tell you that we’ve decided to bring back The Buzz. Not only have we hooked up with VancityBuzz.com, but we’ve also decided to host it every 3 months at different venues and locations. The event coming up will be hosted by Charm Modern Thai Lounge, on the 25th of November, 2010. At the end of the day, it’s about showcasing the entrepreneurs that we are lucky to meet through Reach Magazine. We already have an awesome list of entrepreneurs lined up. We can confirm that Andrea Baxter (Bratface Marketing, and Smart Cookies) and Milun Tesovic (Metrolyrics) will be at the upcoming Buzz event, so we hope you’ll be there too.
What do you look for in a Tweeter? What makes you want to follow someone?
This is a good question. I’ve got two answers for you because I sometimes tweet from two profiles, my personal profile @DammyO, and the business profile @ReachMagazine. I love entrepreneurs, so if you are one, or you are an individual that writes awesome articles about entrepreneurs, you can bet that you will get a lot of love from @ReachMagazine.
Now when it comes to my personal profile, @DammyO, I love people who are funny and informative. I am a huge Arsenal F.C. Fan, so you’ll get a lot of love from me if you support Arsenal or love football (soccer). I don’t like people that Re-tweet their Follow Friday Mentions.
That what I generally look for in a Tweeter. Funny, love sports and be informative. And if you RT your #FF, I’ll stop following YOU. Ha ha.
What is your favorite quote?
I don’t have one. What I find is that my love for specific quotes usually changes when specific things happen in my life.
Colour photos by Mike Chatwin, black and white by Tinu Adesugba.
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