PandaRose

09/03/2026

Details matter.

It’s why several of us at PANDAROSE are rather fond of Anohka, and probably why we obsess over things most people will never consciously notice in our own work.

Also, proper glassware matters. This is not up for debate. 🥃

09/03/2026

AI has changed a *lot* since we ran our seminar series last year.

And I mean a lot.

Last year, most businesses were still figuring out ChatGPT, prompts, summaries, and whether asking AI to rewrite an email counted as witchcraft.

Now we have AI agents working through multi-step tasks, deep research tools, workflow automation, AI connected directly into business systems, far better document and data analysis, coding tools, sales and marketing workflows, and systems that can increasingly go away, do some actual work, and come back with the result.

Which is both incredibly useful and, occasionally, slightly terrifying.

There is also approximately 900% more AI nonsense floating around, so knowing what is genuinely useful has become even more important.

PANDAROSE is thinking about running another series of practical AI seminars this fall, focused on what has actually changed, what businesses can realistically use today, and what you can safely ignore despite somebody on LinkedIn insisting it will "revolutionize everything."

Interested?

Comment below or send us a DM and we'll add you to the PANDAROSE AI seminar mailing list.

If enough people put their hands up, we'll start putting the fall sessions together.

09/03/2026

**Kelly's thought of the day**

I got some private messages about Coconut Day that I thought I'd continue the trend. So here goes: apparently today is Skyscraper Day, which I guess exists because somebody looked at September 3rd on a year when it wasn't Labour Day and decided it needed more architecture.

It did make me think about websites, though, because a lot of business websites eventually turn into skyscrapers, but not in a good way. Not the beautiful, planned Art Deco skyscraper in New York. No, more like the Kowloon Walled City, where people look at the thing and wonder how it remained standing.

Nobody really designed the thing. It just grew organically. John added a page in 2019, the SEO consultant installed three plugins in 2021, IT bolted something onto the side in 2023, and Margaret made the contact form send everything directly to her inbox. Margaret left two years ago, and weirdly there haven't been any contact form submissions since.

We've all seen it: this enormous organic behemoth that everyone is afraid to touch because nobody knows what will fall over if they do. Yet most customers don't care about any of that. They just want to know what you do, whether you do it where they live, and how the hell they're supposed to get ahold of you.

So here's something actually useful you can do today: pull up your company's website on your phone and try to use it like someone who has never seen it before. Don't use muscle memory, don't pretend you know that the slightly lighter colour means the text is a link, and don't mentally excuse the weird bit because “we've been meaning to fix that.” Just try to call, book, buy, request a quote, or whatever it is you actually want a customer to do.

If you get annoyed, write down why. That's probably a better website to-do list than whatever came out of the last all-hands strategy meeting.

We're concentrating on quite a bit of web work around PANDAROSE this September, and frankly, a lot of good web design is just cleaning up years of accumulated nonsense. Dead pages, forgotten plugins, forms nobody has tested since 2022, navigation that made sense to the person who built it, and assorted digital archaeology. Make the important stuff work again.

Also, if your website has a pop-up asking for my email address before the page has even finished loading, I am closing it with considerably more aggression than the situation deserves and there's a decent chance I'm just leaving.

So, question of the day: what's the thing on a website that makes you immediately want to leave?

09/02/2026

Apparently today is World Coconut Day.

PANDAROSE does not offer coconut consulting. I checked. However, I do enjoy getting a nice young coconut while walking down Spadina on a hot day, and I can tell you the best vendors if you want that.

That being said, September has that very specific “everyone is back at work and suddenly all the things we ignored in July are annoying again” energy.

I know, we've gotten fewer calls all summer, and I'm pretty sure it's not because everything miraculously fixed itself courtesy of Microsoft.

You know the issues I mean. The Wi-Fi dead spot in the boardroom. The laptop that fell off a desk and now sounds like a jet fighter. The printer that works for Brenda, but only Brenda, and only on Thursdays. And the server everyone is pretty sure is backed up.

Right, Bob?

And most importantly, the website that was last given a proper update when Wordle was new.

That stuff.

So this month PANDAROSE is putting some extra attention on two things we already do a lot of around Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, Edmonton and beyond: Managed IT and website design.

If you've been following the blog lately, you've probably noticed the theme.

If there’s a technology problem in your business that everyone has simply learned to live with, tell us about it. Let's fix it and make your life so much easier.

You know, so it feels like a nice warm beach in Cuba, with a coconut.

(I worked it back in. ;) )

I would be willing to bet you don’t need a giant “digital transformation.”

You may just need someone competent to fix the stupid thing.

However, if you actually need help with coconuts, we’re probably going to refer that one out. Maybe to the nice vendor on Spadina, if he's still open.

09/02/2026

Where does your business get stuck?
Not the thing you've already bought software to fix.
The annoying thing.
The report someone rebuilds by hand every Friday.
The customer information living in three different places.
The website form that emails Steve, who then copies it into something else.
The spreadsheet everyone is terrified to touch because apparently Karen built it in 2017 and now it runs the company.
That stuff.
Rachel is at BizBash with the Franklin Chamber of Commerce today, and that's the question we're asking.
Because before PANDAROSE builds a website, connects a system, automates a workflow or brings AI into the mix, we want to know where the business is actually getting stuck.
Sometimes the answer is new technology.
Sometimes the technology you already have just needs to work together.
And sometimes Karen's spreadsheet is fine. Leave Karen alone.
Come find Rachel at the PANDAROSE booth at Garment Factory Events from 10–3 and tell us:
What's the one process in your business that makes everyone groan?

08/01/2026

We’re so excited for our next team building event!

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1EyKU2MMfa/

07/28/2026

Doctors make terrible patients. Mechanics drive questionable cars. IT companies sometimes discover that the “temporary” development server has quietly become production.

That happened to us.

A power outage exhausted the UPS, the drive failed, and we discovered that the machine’s actual importance had drifted far beyond the way we were still treating it.

The good news is that the layers worked. Git preserved the code. Backups gave us a foundation. Replication and other records filled in the gaps. A data recovery specialist recovered almost everything else.

The bad news is that recovery was far more manual, expensive, and irritating than it should have been.

The real failure was not the hard drive. It was allowing a system’s responsibilities to change without updating its monitoring, backup, recovery, and replacement plans.

Your version may be a server. It may be a spreadsheet, an old accounting computer, a shared mailbox, or one employee who is the only person who knows how something works.

Temporary systems have a habit of becoming permanent.

We wrote about what happened, what worked, what did not, and what we changed afterward:

There is a running joke that doctors make terrible patients, mechanics drive the worst cars, and contractors live for years with unfinished work in their own houses. IT companies have their own version of this. We spend our days providing managed IT support and telling clients to replace aging equip...

07/11/2026

Parkland MP, Dane Lloyd, Spruce Grove-Stony Plain MLA/Minister of Children & Family Services of Alberta, Searle Turton, Parkland County Mayor, Rod Shageic, Mayor William Choy -Town of Stony Plain, and Mayor Jeff Acker, City of Spruce Grove met with the Greater Parkland Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee for breakfast this morning.

It was an absolute pleasure connecting with all five gentlemen. The energy made for a truly engaging, informative, and enjoyable atmosphere. There is so much value in these conversations, and given the tremendous synergy today, it is clear that regular touchpoints will be highly beneficial for us all.

Thank you so much for your time, insights, collaboration, friendship, and partnership.

07/09/2026

FUN, LAUGHTER, CAMARADERIE, STUNNING PRIZES, and NETWORKING GALORE, at the Greater Parkland Regional Chamber of Commerce 7th Annual Golf Tournament!

Panda Rose Consulting Studios Inc. said present by being the occasion's TROPHY SPONSOR, besides providing our very own extraordinary, seasoned & incomparable golfer, Mr. Paul Bohuch.

Everyone had a blast, the weather was perfect, the networking lucrative, and the mulligans plentiful. Thanks to All for a most successful event! ⛳🏌️‍♂️🎉

It was a terrific day of championship golf, delectable banquet, exceptional hospitality, and just enough friendly and healthy competition to keep things a tad interesting!

• Many came for the networking... some stayed because their ball landed in another postal code...

• Many made big connections and memorable shots... some made occasionally unintended course tours...

• Many left with new contacts... some left with different balls to the ones they'd started with...

• It was an elite opportunity to network with many of our area’s key influential pros... though some of them spent a long time in the bunkers...

• There were plenty of prizes, skill contests, and on-course activities... like golfers finding their lost balls... and clubs...

• Some networked like pros... some swung like nobody was watching...

Whether Guests played a nice round or simply enjoyed the good vibes, their presence meant a great deal to the Chamber and business community served by it.

A big THANK YOU to the generous sponsors and community partners. Without their continued support, events like this simply wouldn’t be possible. Such investment allows the Chamber to bring biz leaders together, build strong networks, and most importantly, give back to the region we all care so much about.

TITLE SPONSOR for the occasion was the Mighty Myshak Group, a true stalwart company in our region!

A special recognition to the GPRC's hardworking Board of Directors, dedicated Ambassadors, more than willing Volunteers, fantastic Acting Executive Director, Charlene Bell, and new Office Manager, Amy Kolumbus.

From organizing every detail, to being at the course by 6:00am with coffee in hand and smiles on their faces, they went well above and beyond the call of duty to make this event a roaring success!

The funds raised from the event will go directly back into supporting businesses across the Greater Parkland Region. Whether through advocacy, training, networking events, or economic development initiatives, folks' participation helps continue building a stronger, more resilient local economy.

Thank you once again for everybody's support, spirit, and swing! We're sure that everyone present, and all those who couldn't make it, are already looking forward to next year's 8th Annual Chamber of Commerce tournament!

07/06/2026

At the Spruce Grove City Centre Business Association's first (out of a fortnightly four) "SUMMER AT THE CENTRE" event of the season, and what a massive one it was!

Thousands of people and over 100 vendors flooded the City of Spruce Grove - Your Local Government's downtown McLeod Avenue and Main Street, to celebrate and support local businesses, as well as have one heck of a fun and entertaining time!

The three next "SUMMER AT THE CENTRE" dates are Saturday, July 18th, Saturday, August 1st and Saturday, August 15th.

* "FALL INTO FUN WITH YOUR COMMUNITY" - Upcoming CCBA events:
- FALL FEST: Saturday, October 24th, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
- CHRISTMAS VENDOR MARKET: Sunday, November 29th, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm