Vida J. Morkunas, MBA is the founder and principal of Vida Morkunas and Associates (VMA) - a technology marketing and communications firm which provides marketing services for all stages of a product's life cycle: awareness building, sales strategy and customer relationship management. Vida Morkunas and Associates Ltd specializes in project management, strategy, and marketing. Clients include Crown corporations, major consumer brands, financial institutions, and research institutes. VMA… Show more Vida J. Morkunas, MBA is the founder and principal of Vida Morkunas and Associates (VMA) - a technology marketing and communications firm which provides marketing services for all stages of a product's life cycle: awareness building, sales strategy and customer relationship management. Vida Morkunas and Associates Ltd specializes in project management, strategy, and marketing. Clients include Crown corporations, major consumer brands, financial institutions, and research institutes. VMA offers over twenty years of technology marketing experience, including over a decade of Internet marketing and eBusiness experience. Show less

I deliver foundation courses in Marketing and advanced courses in Entrepreneurship to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Business Administration program.

I deliver undergraduate courses in project management, technology management, technology assessment, international business, traditional marketing and internet marketing. I am also a capstone project advisor and supervise graduating students’ final projects. I also advised in our recent Technology Management program review and participated in curriculum reviews as well as accreditation QAPA reviews.Authored and published textbooks for the following courses: • Introduction to Project… Show more I deliver undergraduate courses in project management, technology management, technology assessment, international business, traditional marketing and internet marketing. I am also a capstone project advisor and supervise graduating students’ final projects. I also advised in our recent Technology Management program review and participated in curriculum reviews as well as accreditation QAPA reviews.Authored and published textbooks for the following courses: • Introduction to Project Management • Strategic and Tactical Uses of Internet Marketing • Technology Assessment - Disruptive Technology and Technology Roadmaps • International Marketing• Marketing Plans• Product Management Show less

I taught a semester-long case-based course in International Business to MBA cohorts in Vancouver as well as in Prince George.

Managed data asset consolidation project for BC Hydro's Communications department. Defined overall requirements with stakeholders; managed selection and hiring of consultant for detailed requirements design; managed solution selection, design and pilot implementation. Defined change management and governance processes to ensure continued success. CDAR is designed to be an easy to use digital asset management system with a defined taxonomy, metadata and controlled vocabulary. It will… Show more Managed data asset consolidation project for BC Hydro's Communications department. Defined overall requirements with stakeholders; managed selection and hiring of consultant for detailed requirements design; managed solution selection, design and pilot implementation. Defined change management and governance processes to ensure continued success. CDAR is designed to be an easy to use digital asset management system with a defined taxonomy, metadata and controlled vocabulary. It will manage terabytes of consistently tagged data (images, photographs, brochures, videos and b-roll) used by BC Hydro Communications teams and help control digital rights and media release forms for these assets.• Presented project scope, findings and next steps to Henry Stewart Digital Asset Management conference in New York City, May 2013 Show less

Managed five IT transformation projects to move operations away from customer call center to paperless self-service. Projects: Automated service for customers changing addresses when moving in and moving out; online self-service energy and payment data download; self-service reminder for bill payment; and self-service payment deferral requests and payment reporting. Led email service implementation, using one common platform across BC Hydro, with compliance to Canadian privacy and spam laws and… Show more Managed five IT transformation projects to move operations away from customer call center to paperless self-service. Projects: Automated service for customers changing addresses when moving in and moving out; online self-service energy and payment data download; self-service reminder for bill payment; and self-service payment deferral requests and payment reporting. Led email service implementation, using one common platform across BC Hydro, with compliance to Canadian privacy and spam laws and implemented email best practices.• Worked with Procurement to develop Requests For Proposals to select the vendors that implemented these projects;• Delivered online self-service functionality to help BC Hydro shift calls from its Contact Centre to online channels;• Led follow-on projects: updates to BC Hydro’s IVR system, project key performance metrics tracking, and led a complex migration between two credit card payment processing vendors;• Improved customer service, captured significant cost savings and increased paperless adoption. Show less

Responsible for the project management, planning and installation of the Power Smart Village for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Power Smart Village showcased ten venues at BC Hydro's headquarters at 333 Dunsmuir in Vancouver: two 18' Coast Salish Welcome Figures, a Paralympic Celebration area, a Voice of Youth area featuring a 7' x 11' infrared expression wall, a Home of the Future constructed from shipping containers, a BC Hydro historic pavilion, a Power Smart Theatre with… Show more Responsible for the project management, planning and installation of the Power Smart Village for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Power Smart Village showcased ten venues at BC Hydro's headquarters at 333 Dunsmuir in Vancouver: two 18' Coast Salish Welcome Figures, a Paralympic Celebration area, a Voice of Youth area featuring a 7' x 11' infrared expression wall, a Home of the Future constructed from shipping containers, a BC Hydro historic pavilion, a Power Smart Theatre with a live feed of the Olympic Games, the GM Chevy Volt electric car and an energy-producing dance floor called Club Energy.The project was initiated in late summer 2009 with facilitated sessions with project stakeholders across BC Hydro to gain scope consensus and was delivered on time and on budget to BC Hydro’s and visitors satisfaction. • Created and managed project plan with milestones, budget, staffing plan, safety plan, and responsibility matrix.;• Managed the implementation of all creative and marketing elements of the Power Smart Village; • Prepared and secured all necessary building and electrical permits and other utility needs of the Village;• Engaged with all main BC Hydro stakeholder groups to ensure all departments' interests were considered;• Wrote RFPs then selected, contracted and managed over 50 vendors for all required goods and services;• Created a staffing plan for the Power Smart Village (employees and volunteers) and provided daily oversight during festivities;• Oversaw the building, operation and demobilization of the Village physical infrastructure;• The Power Smart Village obtained 187 media mentions locally as well as internationally;• Successfully contributed to the greenest Olympic Games ever through a platform for broad public engagement around energy efficiency. Show less

Managed the first phase of the BC Hydro web site transformation project. Provided a leadership role in coordinating all agencies involved in the project. The major components of the project included a new visual design, web site layout, content migration to a new CMS, reskinning of applications and development of new conservation content. The project employed eleven external project partners, and engaged up to 77 people over 22,000 project hours. Solidified the business requirements and… Show more Managed the first phase of the BC Hydro web site transformation project. Provided a leadership role in coordinating all agencies involved in the project. The major components of the project included a new visual design, web site layout, content migration to a new CMS, reskinning of applications and development of new conservation content. The project employed eleven external project partners, and engaged up to 77 people over 22,000 project hours. Solidified the business requirements and project goals. Finalized the business case; defined partner, supplier and team roles. Managed complex procurement, budgets and contracts. Provided BC Hydro management with regular status.The new web site launched in late September 2008 and garnered extensive positive feedback from web site visitors and management. I then managed a portfolio of follow-on projects, and prioritized requirements for the following phases of redesign. I helped define partner, supplier and team roles and managed complex agreements, budgets and contracts. Show less

Managed and delivered large projects for well-known client brands (Nike, Electronic Arts, Anchor Blue, VISA, Jenny Craig et al) on budget, on time, and to the clients' satisfaction. Led multidisciplinary project teams through all phases of the project life-cycle providing coaching, motivation and inspiration. Led multi-disciplinary project teams of up to 35 people in Agile and Waterfall projects. Managed all aspects of project: scope, risk, schedule, budget, quality, and communication.… Show more Managed and delivered large projects for well-known client brands (Nike, Electronic Arts, Anchor Blue, VISA, Jenny Craig et al) on budget, on time, and to the clients' satisfaction. Led multidisciplinary project teams through all phases of the project life-cycle providing coaching, motivation and inspiration. Led multi-disciplinary project teams of up to 35 people in Agile and Waterfall projects. Managed all aspects of project: scope, risk, schedule, budget, quality, and communication. Prepared project documentation: project plans, project charters, schedules, status reports, risk assessment plans, quality plans, change requests, and resource requests. Provided strategic leadership to my teams. Responsible for project revenue management and reporting. Managed all project related requests with my clients, reported project status to my senior managers.Participated in client pitches and proposals by preparing project budgets and related materials. Leveraged project knowledge and client relationships to enable revenue growth within each account. Show less

Developed a marketing strategy to commercialize GVRD’s digital GPS system for GVRD’s Engineering and Construction Department. Developed competitive analysis, assessed product marketability, surveyed prospective users, defined licensing and pricing structure and proposed marketing channels for the product.

Defined and implemented web redesign for leading destination photography service provider (hotel, cruise-ship and amenities photography). Managed six vendors to revamp rich media web site.

Reporting to the Chairman/CEO of Lignum as Director of eBusiness, led a high-priority eBusiness department for a $300 million forestry company. Developed and executed an integrated web strategy for Lignum’s intranet, extranet and public sites.As project lead, sourced and recommended all development partners, negotiated all partnership agreements and managed a diverse team of external vendors as they developed these projects.The completed customer extranet allows Lignum to… Show more Reporting to the Chairman/CEO of Lignum as Director of eBusiness, led a high-priority eBusiness department for a $300 million forestry company. Developed and executed an integrated web strategy for Lignum’s intranet, extranet and public sites.As project lead, sourced and recommended all development partners, negotiated all partnership agreements and managed a diverse team of external vendors as they developed these projects.The completed customer extranet allows Lignum to coordinate vendor-managed inventories online with its largest clients. Oversaw the launch of the enhanced Lignum corporate Web site. Managed a six-vendor team that contributed content and creative for the new web site. Tripled traffic to the site by using online and traditional promotional campaigns. Show less

Reporting to the Vice President, E-Commerce, built an Internet marketing department for Future Shop’s ecommerce website. Managed a team of four Internet marketing managers and analysts, and oversaw five contractors. Responsible for usability, increasing site awareness, branding, customer segmentation, loyalty program and site traffic building. - Exceeded corporate targets for revenues, traffic and return visitors every quarter.- Increased awareness of the Futureshop.ca site across… Show more Reporting to the Vice President, E-Commerce, built an Internet marketing department for Future Shop’s ecommerce website. Managed a team of four Internet marketing managers and analysts, and oversaw five contractors. Responsible for usability, increasing site awareness, branding, customer segmentation, loyalty program and site traffic building. - Exceeded corporate targets for revenues, traffic and return visitors every quarter.- Increased awareness of the Futureshop.ca site across Canada from 1.9% to 50% within three months.- Quadrupled newsletter subscribers; launched French & English email newsletters- Selected PR firm, an online newsletter provider, and an affiliate management firm; partnered with top Canadian web sites and information portals and negotiated promotional agreements with them.- Responsible for FutureShop.ca Internet marketing strategy, Internet business direction and all press contacts. Show less

Reporting to the President, created a new consulting division specializing in identifying and delivering intranets and public web sites for Emerge’s larger Canadian accounts. Managed teams of strategists, project planners, content writers, designers and developers. · Developed high-level web site architectures, defined online promotional strategies, and analyzed web site traffic for clients (intranets, extranets, B2B and B2C ecommerce sites). Clients included banks, hospitals, provincial… Show more Reporting to the President, created a new consulting division specializing in identifying and delivering intranets and public web sites for Emerge’s larger Canadian accounts. Managed teams of strategists, project planners, content writers, designers and developers. · Developed high-level web site architectures, defined online promotional strategies, and analyzed web site traffic for clients (intranets, extranets, B2B and B2C ecommerce sites). Clients included banks, hospitals, provincial health agencies, retailers, distributors and multinationals.· In-demand speaker with over twenty keynotes, seminars and TV interviews about Internet marketing, web site strategy, ecommerce and web site visitor tracking. Show less

Managed new and existing accounts in Western Canada for software engineering service provider: identified new business opportunities, negotiated contracts and hired qualified engineers for outsourced projects.

Early partner in pioneer ecommerce web site: Athletica sold well-known, well-branded nutritional products for endurance athletes. Defined and implemented a marketing strategy to capture top of mind and generate revenues. Developed media plan, bought ad space on web sites and in traditional media, created online communities, launched bi-monthly email newsletter. Founded and managed a virtual training club for online registered visitors, created online training groups; sponsored international… Show more Early partner in pioneer ecommerce web site: Athletica sold well-known, well-branded nutritional products for endurance athletes. Defined and implemented a marketing strategy to capture top of mind and generate revenues. Developed media plan, bought ad space on web sites and in traditional media, created online communities, launched bi-monthly email newsletter. Founded and managed a virtual training club for online registered visitors, created online training groups; sponsored international athletes, teams and race events around the world. Sold Athletica.com to Joes Direct in July 1998. Show less

Defined sales channel program and promotional activities for KEA software program in North America, Latin America and Europe. Managed three direct reports. Responsible for trade shows, seminars, reseller training, end-user training, direct mail, advertising, and public relations initiatives. Localized product for European and Latin American markets. Worked closely with Attachmate distributors, resellers, end users, and launched two new KEA products. Increased the worldwide market share of KEA… Show more Defined sales channel program and promotional activities for KEA software program in North America, Latin America and Europe. Managed three direct reports. Responsible for trade shows, seminars, reseller training, end-user training, direct mail, advertising, and public relations initiatives. Localized product for European and Latin American markets. Worked closely with Attachmate distributors, resellers, end users, and launched two new KEA products. Increased the worldwide market share of KEA products by 300% within one year. Show less

Defined sales strategies for satellite ground station installations and functional upgrades, image processing software and other GIS applications in Europe and in Latin America. Relying on my fluency in French, German and Spanish, promoted products and services to new and existing clients in twenty-three countries. Qualified prospects, hired and managed in-country distributors and agents, wrote proposals, negotiated agreements and pursued follow-on business.

Provided solutions and technical and installation support for new users of AS/400 and RS/6000 systems to large organizations, universities and government agencies. Created and delivered a full-day course to IBM marketing representatives, describing the hardware and software features and benefits of the AS/400 series of computers. Earned an IBM VIP award for work excellence.