Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to all the SAP Partners who took the time to join me this year and attend one of my workshops.
Whether it was an SAP Business One focused sales or pre-sales workshop, one of my marketing enablement sessions or one of the SAP Partner Marketing Catalyst workshops I ran this year, I would like to say thanks to all of you for investing your time and effort and putting your votes of confidence in me by promoting and/or attending the sessions and putting the things you learned in to action.
At this time of the year we traditionally give gifts and so I would like to give all of you a gift from me and I wanted to make sure that it would be a gift that would benefit those in the communities in which we work and some where we don’t yet.
So I have decided to donate $1000 on behalf of everyone in the SAP Business One community and partners that attended my sessions this year to Oxfam – a charity that specialises in sponsoring people around the world to help make a difference in their communities through their own actions.
You’ll be pleased (I hope) to know that you’ll be helping people in Sri Lanka start their own small businesses, communities in India with programs to help them feed themselves and their villages, help orphans in South Africa suffering from the terrible effects of AIDS , provide clean water for children at a school in Cambodia and as I know as many of you during the SAP Partner Marketing Catalyst Programs thought that I was teaching a methodology from Duck Tape Marketing – yes it is actually Duct Tape Marketing – I have purchased on your behalf 10 ducks and let’s face it, you can never have too many ducks.
This is especially so for the families living in Africa who will receive your ducks. Not only will they provide eggs, but ducks also eat insects, making them a great, sustainable and natural form of pest control.
For all my SAP colleagues, I have purchased on your behalf a calf for a village in Sri Lanka.The humble calf is one of the world’s biggest weapons in the fight against poverty. Cows provide manure, milk, transportation and the ability to cultivate a herd. The money from selling milk is an important supplement to a poor family’s income. Men and women who become skilled milkers can earn a reasonable living. An added benefit is that families are able to use the cow dung as organic fertilizer for their home gardens, and in some cases they can sell it to earn a living.
If you would like to know more about Oxfam and how they help communities around the world please visit http://www.oxfam.org.au/
Once again have a safe and enjoyable holiday season, thanks for your commitment to SAP and SAP Business One, your commitment to learning and taking action and I look forward to helping you become even more successful in 2012 and beyond.
Richard Duffy
SAP Partner Coach, SAP Business One Evangelist and Duct Tape Marketing Consultant
