Clients

“Laurie Kennedy was first contracted by Rogers Media to Project Manage the transition of Sportsnet, acquired from CTV, to existing Rogers systems.  It was expected to be a challenging effort, both because of the natural reluctance of an acquired property to change “their” systems and processes and because their physical location remained within the CTV facility for the first number of years.

Laurie came to mind due to her technical and industry knowledge, but it was her capability in change management that really made a difference on this project.  I have no doubt that we would have eventually succeeded in the conversion without Laurie’s expertise …. but I equally have no doubt that it would have taken longer, had several false starts, and been much more contentious!  Laurie managed to complete the conversion in a short time-frame while simultaneously creating lasting relationships with the various operational departments affected.  So much so, in fact, that she was retained directly by Sportsnet to manage several significant broadcast operations initiatives immediately thereafter.

Laurie has completed a number of engagements for Rogers Media over the last 9 years, both for our corporate departments as well as several of our broadcast properties.  In each she has been a strong contributor to success.”

Jim Diederichs
Vice President IT and CIO
Rogers Media Inc. 

April 2010

“Sapphire Leadership has been involved with Rogers Media on numerous successful projects during a span of more than 6 years,  covering multiple disciplines in Radio, Television and IT.    Laurie Kennedy, the principal of Sapphire Leadership has played key roles in projects such as;  Broadcast Management (Programming, Sales, Traffic) systems, Newsroom video server selection, MAM/DAM implementation and the relocation of broadcast facilities.

What she was able to bring to all of these challenges was a high level of energy and attention to detail.    Her knowledge and experience in workflow analysis  played a vital role in project scope development, project management,  system proof of performance and user acceptance testing;   these are just a few of the items managed on behalf of Rogers.  Further to this, when it came to implementing new technology, she worked closely with us to identify cost effective training programs that lead staff to being better prepared for their new roles and being prepared for the future. Lastly, Laurie’s ability to mediate between 3^rd party vendors and Rogers resulted in many valued added components being supplied to Rogers (effective scope/ requirements management).   

It was a pleasure working with Laurie and I look forward to future ventures.”

Frank Bruno
Vice President TV Engineering
Rogers Broadcasting Limited

April 2010