Épisode: plus d'une centaine de campagnes de financement
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Milgram s’installe au 645 Wellington
Fondation David Suzuki ouvre ses portes à Toronto
HIVER 2011
Le magazine des locataires du Fonds de placement immobilier Allied Properties
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UN MÉDIA INÉVITABLE Nouvel arrivé UB Média élargit son réseau d’affichage intérieur
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CONVERTING WEB TRAFFIC INTO ACTION Montreal’s Agendize adds functionality to web sites with click-to-action buttons that make calls, appointments for consumers to connect directly with companies. BLVD ST. LAURENT, MONTREAL / - Back in 2003, Alexandre Rambaud was reading something online and manually entering information into his calendar when he realized there could be an easier way for users to save and share information from Web sites. What if instead of writing information on an easily lost Post-it note, users could just click on a button that would send information by SMS, or automatically save it to their calendar, or address book? Maybe even allow them to contact a business directly. That’s the thought that spawned Agendize, a simple “click-toaction” tool any advertiser can add to a Web site to turn traffic into online and offline conversations. It’s a matter of conversion, explains Rambaud, a serial innovator who held senior positions in information technology for more than 20 years. Prior to founding Agendize in 2009, with Christophe Berge, Cédric Peyruqueou and Freddy Mini, he was executive vice president for international operations at Mediapps, a leading European software and portal vendor in his native France. “You can have millions of visitors on your web site but how do you convert that visit into a transaction,” he says, eyes lit with excitement as he details the mechanism he believes will add new relevance to the web, which in some ways has taken a back seat to the excitement surrounding social media. If you search online for somewhere to eat, for example, a restaurant’s site may invite you to click to make a reservation, click to call (where users enter a phone number and a server calls the restaurant that then connects them to your ringing phone) and even click to share, allowing you to send information about the restaurant to your Twitter or Facebook accounts. In an industry that is careful to track its numbers, Rambaud can see that two to 10 percent of visitors on a Web site using his technology take an action. “Web banners for example get two percent of users just moving a mouse over them. Whereas we are getting people to actually click on an action and push the interaction to another level,” says Rambaud. Agendize now has over 20 click-to-action buttons to convert clicks into real actions. Its white-label, self-serve platform enables online advertisers, interactive agencies and publishers to customize and deploy any click-to-action button by simply pasting a short line of code into any Web site, banner ad, video player, newsletter, email, social or business profile page. And Agendize’s platform provides fully detailed reporting on all actions taken. Since its 2009 start, with Rambaud setting up shop on Blvd St. Laurent in the Balfour building where his studio space accommodates nine people, the Agendize platform has provided click-to-action buttons to 2 million businesses in 25 countries.
Agendize.com
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Agendize permet une nouvelle fonctionnalité aux sites Web En 2003, alors qu’il entrait manuellement dans son calendrier des informations tout juste lues sur Internet, Alexandre Rambaud réalisa l’attrait que pourrait avoir un système qui faciliterait la sauvegarde ou le partage d’informations glanées sur Internet. Et si, au lieu d’écrire sur un Post-It qu’on risque de perdre, on pouvait simplement appuyer sur un bouton pour envoyer des informations par SMS ou les sauvegarder automatiquement dans son calendrier ou son carnet d’adresses? Ou même contacter une entreprise directement? C’est l’idée qui a fait naître Agendize, un simple outil que tout annonceur peut ajouter à un site Web pour que tous ceux qui se rendent sur le site puissent directement exécuter les tâches qui les intéressent tels appel téléphonique, rendez-vous ou transfert de données au dossier personnel. C’est simplement de la conversion, explique Alexandre Rambaud, un innovateur-né qui a occupé différents postes à responsabilité dans le secteur des technologies de l’information pendant plus de 20 ans. « Vous pouvez recevoir des millions de visites sur votre site mais comment les convertir en transaction? » demande-t-il. Si vous cherchez un restaurant sur Internet par exemple, le site du restaurant peut vous inviter à cliquer pour faire une réservation, pour envoyer des informations sur le restaurant à vos comptes Twitter ou Facebook, ou même pour passer un appel téléphonique : vous entrez un numéro de téléphone, un serveur appelle le restaurant qui ensuite se connecte directement à votre téléphone puis déclenche la sonnerie.
The specialized world of interactive marketing management is where theory meets practice. And where you need to keep sight of CLEARGOALS. By Micayla Jacobs
DELIVERY-FOCUSED EXPERTISE Using leading products from the Unica/IBM Enterprise Suite, as well as Marketing Datamarts, ClearGoals maintains a delivery-focused approach combined with expertise these two principals have acquired from their 15-year history of working in IT consulting. The firm found its start when Stephenson moved to San Francisco in 1999 and eventually joined Unica, a worldwide leader in marketing software. In 2007, Farinaccio and Stephenson formed ClearGoals, which is now a partner of Unica, and have offices Montreal and San Francisco. The marketing software develops answers to specific marketing needs such as campaign management. From working at the planning process and finding the right people, to tracking that process Domenico Farinaccio uses videoconferencing in his Montreal office to stay in frequent and seeing if sales increased due to the communication with his business partner Benoît Stephenson in San Francisco. marketing implementation, this is a very targeted process. BLVD ST. LAURENT, MONTREAL / - Every organization And while generally companies will purchase this software seeks to understand and meet the needs of its customers. from Unica, if they want a custom implementation, they turn And marketing, explains Domenico Farinaccio, is the to ClearGoals, which specializes in being able to properly science of finding what a client needs and then satisfying identify customer needs, and implement and control projects the shortfall between need and fulfillment. from start to finish. Sounds simple enough, but doing it on budget, on INTERNATIONAL CLIENTS Despite the distances between time and in scope is the hard part, and that’s the shortfall offices in Montreal and San Francisco, Farinaccio and Farinaccio and his long-time friend and business partner Stephenson are confident working across time zones and Benoît Stephenson sought to address when they formed with companies in different parts of the world. Among ClearGoals in 2007. some of the organizations they have helped, you’ll find Specializing in the implementation of interactive, Southwest Airlines, Bell Canada, El Salvador’s TACA on-demand and integrated marketing management Airlines and AXA Insurance Canada. With only a couple solutions, the firm essentially applies marketing science of organizations in Canada committed to doing the same to its clients’ projects. sort of work, there is room for growth nationally, but On the interactive marketing management side, for ClearGoals has its sights set much more broadly. example, it helps organizations collect and leverage customer If there is one piece of advice Farinaccio and Stephenson information (e.g., what the customer has purchased and what could offer in terms of marketing it would be to focus are their preferences) so that they can better understand their on the end goal. They’ve found that companies tend to customers and determine the best offer through the various get caught up in the technical aspects too early. “They marketing channels whether it’s direct mail, SMS, email or should just focus on what it is exactly that they want to a phone call. accomplish,” says Farinaccio with a smile, “and then let From a consulting perspective, ClearGoals also assists ClearGoals worry about the technical details.” marketing organizations in the management and implemencleargoals.com tation of enterprise marketing management infrastructure, as well as interactive marketing solutions. 3 • WINTER 2011
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APPLIED MARKETING
Part art and part science, understanding why and how people give has made Montreal’s Épisode one of the most sought-after, third-party fundraisers in the province.
THE BUSINESS OF GIVING By Yvan Marston
BLVD ST. LAURENT, MONTREAL / - Every year, Quebecois donate about four billion dollars to charity and it is Daniel Asselin’s job to figure out where it all goes. No, he has nothing to do with Revenue Canada, rather, the energetic 52-year-old is part of a small cadre of consultancies specializing in the business of fundraising. His company, Episode, is one of three such enterprises in Quebec and functions much like a communications or lobbying firm, working for large fundraisers such as universities and hospitals to create connections with corporations, foundations, government agencies, small businesses and even individual donors. Its solid reputation as a key fundraising partner is based on its ability to gather information and understand the marketplace, says Asselin, whose degree in physical education led him from community work with the YMCA to becoming the Arthritis Society’s chief fundraiser in Quebec before he opened his firm.
BOTH AN ART AND A SCIENCE “Philanthropy is a reflection of who we are as a culture because the act of giving money is essentially an emotional act. And that’s important to understand,” he says, explaining that this is what makes fundraising both an art and a science. Much of his work is based on gathering market intelligence, understanding where the money is going and planning fundraising campaigns. There are approximately 25,000 organizations competing for charity dollars in Quebec and about 1,000 are large enough to engage the services of such a consulting firm. Studying the marketplace with the help of Leger Marketing, Episode is well known for its annual report detailing trends in charitable giving. And with 30 years in the business, Asselin has observed the way people give money changes about every five years. Currently, what is most popular, he says, are challengeoriented programs, where participants push personal limits, like climbing Kilimanjaro or running a marathon, in exchange for donations. alliedpropertiesreit.com • 4
“But that’s the 30- to 35-year-old demographic that is driving that,” he says, explaining that trends are harder to spot now because within each demographic are very different tendencies.
KNOWING THE MARKET Often, Episode clients will already have in-house fundraising departments, but the firm’s job is to help develop strategies that are in keeping with current trends and that resonate with their target market. And while in-house departments might know their marketplace, it is Episode’s job to bring in the broad focus. The firm runs about 25 major funding campaigns in a year and its efforts raise approximately $50 million dollars annually. It all starts with a feasibility study, where Episode’s team, most of whom have experience in the not-for-profit sector, examines a given marketplace and tells the client how much money they should expect to raise, factoring in the current climate, competition and the demographics of their target audience. (“Clients tend to overestimate their targets only about half the time,” says Asselin.) Next the firm reviews its database of 4,000 profiles to find the right CEO or VP to head up a board. “Always get a corporation onboard,” explains Asselin, “Even if they don’t give a lot of money, being associated with a corporation adds legitimacy to your cause and provides access to a VIP network.” It takes six to ten months to build a network, then almost a year to set up operations. And it’s only in the last six months that an initiative starts to collect funds. “There’s a lot of work that is done before any money can change hands,” says Asselin, explaining that a typical campaign will take two years from start to completion. Now that his network and reputation have been firmly established in Quebec, Asselin and his team of 22, including an event management firm Episode recently acquired, are setting their sights on English Canada. “We’ve established ourselves here, now if we want to grow, we need to look at being coast to coast.”
episode.ca
L’alchimie philanthropique : Moitié art, moitié science, Épisode a conduit avec succès au Québec plus d’une centaine de campagnes de financement. Chaque année, les Québécois donnent environ quatre milliards de dollars aux œuvres de bienfaisance et c’est à Daniel Asselin que revient la tâche de savoir quelles organisations caritatives en profitent. Non il ne travaille pas pour l’Agence du revenu du Canada. Cet homme de 52 ans débordant d’énergie fait partie d’un petit réseau d’agences de conseil qui se spécialisent dans les campagnes de financement.
Fondation de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal Campagne 2008-2012 au profit de la construction du Centre Intégré de traumatologie Objectif : 10 M$ Résultat : 10 385 931 $
Sa société, Épisode, est une des trois agences du genre à Québec. Elle fonctionne comme une agence de communication ou de lobbying et tente de créer des liens entre de grands organismes nécessitant du financement, comme les universités ou les hôpitaux, et les grandes entreprises, les fondations, les agences gouvernementales, les petites entreprises et même les donateurs particuliers. Épisode doit son excellente réputation dans les campagnes de financement à sa capacité à rassembler des informations et à comprendre le marché, explique Daniel Asselin, diplômé en éducation physique passé du poste d’organisateur communautaire au YMCA à celui de directeur de collecte de fonds pour la Société d’arthrite division du Québec avant d’ouvrir son agence. « Notre attitude face à la charité est le reflet de notre culture parce que le don d’argent est un geste qui fait appel principalement aux émotions. C’est un point qu’il est important de comprendre », dit-il en expliquant que c’est ce qui fait des activités de financement à la fois un art et une science.
Fonds de développement du collège Édouard-Montpetit Campagne 2008-2012 Objectif : 5,3 M$ Résultat : 5 810 000 $
L’agence se consacre à 25 grandes campagnes de financement par an et le total annuel de ses collectes de fonds se chiffre à quelque 50 millions $. Une campagne débute toujours par une étude de faisabilité, étape pendant laquelle l’équipe d’Épisode, dont les membres ont pour la plupart une expérience dans le secteur à but non lucratif, étudie un marché particulier et explique au client combien d’argent il peut s’attendre à collecter compte tenu du climat économique du moment, de la concurrence et des données démographiques du public cible. (« Les clients surestiment leur cible dans 50 % des cas seulement », explique Daniel Asselin) L’étape suivante consiste à passer au crible la banque de données qui compte quelque 4 000 profils pour trouver le PDG ou le vice-président adéquat pour diriger le conseil d’administration. « La participation d’une grande entreprise est indispensable même si elle donne peu d’argent », affirme Daniel Asselin, « car le fait d’être associée à une grande entreprise donne une légitimité à la cause et ouvre l’accès à un réseau VIP. »
Défi Cardio 25 heures Événement organisé par Énergie Cardio au profit du Fonds Josée Lavigueur et d’Opération Enfant-Soleil Mai 2010 – 1ère édition Résultat : plus de 340 000 $
Il faut de six à dix mois pour mettre sur pied un réseau et ensuite près d’une année pour organiser l’opération. Et c’est seulement pendant les six derniers mois qu’une campagne commence à amasser des fonds. « Il y a beaucoup à faire avant que les dons affluent », affirme Daniel Asselin en expliquant qu’une campagne s’étale généralement sur deux années. Maintenant que son réseau et sa réputation sont fermement établis au Québec, Daniel Asselin et les 22 personnes de son équipe, qui comprend l’agence de gestion d’événements récemment acquise par Épisode, ont des vues sur le Canada anglophone. « Nous sommes bien établis ici donc si nous voulons nous agrandir nous devons élargir notre présence à l’ensemble du Canada. »
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Quelques campagnes Épisode:
NATURALSCIENCE Focused on the science behind environmental issues, the David Suzuki Foundation’s new Toronto office assesses the city’s ‘natural capital.’ By Yvan Marston
David Suzuki Foundation team members (l-r) Jode Roberts, Kathrin Majic and Amy Hu use Cisco System’s TelePresence, a donated videoconferencing system, to reduce the carbon footprint of travel between the national organization’s offices.
QUEEN ST. WEST, TORONTO / In 1989, David Suzuki aired a radio series that took a hard look at what the earth might be like in 50 years. It’s a Matter of Survival prompted more than 17,000 letters from listeners all asking to know how to avert this environmental catastrophe. Science Director, The following year, the David Faisal Moola Suzuki Foundation was formed, and in the last 20 years it has grown to become a well-recognized solutions-based organization with more than 60 employees and offices in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and most recently Toronto. At its start, projects tended to be international as the dollars could go further trying to protect indigenous people’s habitats in Brazil and Columbia, but now the focus is on fisheries, forestry and sustainability in Canada as well as health issues and protecting species at risk.
CREATING CREDIBILITY Suzuki leveraged his skills as a scientist and his reputation as a broadcaster to create this alliedpropertiesreit.com • 6
foundation with Dr. Tara Cullis that would provide solid, science-based research to balance groups doing straight public advocacy and activism. “Over the past two decades the David Suzuki Foundation has become one of Canada’s most trusted and respected environmental organizations,” says Jode Roberts, spokesperson for the foundation’s Toronto office, just north of Queen West on John Street. The foundation had always had some presence in Toronto, mainly working out of the Centre for Social Innovation on Spadina Ave., but wanted to bring a renewed focus to its work in Canada’s largest city. To that end, Faisal Moola, the foundation’s science director, has taken the helm here and the first order of business will be to examine the city’s ‘natural capital.’ “Similar to the idea of financial capital, natural capital is where you place an economic value on the benefits we derive from nature,” says Roberts, explaining that the city’s tree canopy, for example, creates a cooling effect that can be measured by the amount of energy saved in using less air conditioning.
STAGGERING ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS In a study released this fall, the foundation conservatively estimated that the natural capital in B.C.’s Lower Mainland (valuing farmland and green space) provides a staggering $5.4 billion a year, or $2,462 per person, in ecological benefits such as climate regulation, flood protection, water regulation, waste treatment and pollination. While not a new concept (in the early 1990s New York City chose to invest in protecting its watershed rather than build new infrastructure to filter its water. In doing so, the city has saved billions of dollars), it lacks exposure and the Toronto office will be looking to inject itself into discussions about how the GTA can accommodate its growing population without sacrificing the region’s remaining farms, fields and forests. RECONNECTING WITH NATURE The second part of the foundation’s work here involves the softer side of environmentalism, that is, reconnecting urban populations with nature in their neighbourhoods and communities. Photo contests asking people to depict their idea of nature in the city is one such campaign, as is the foundation’s efforts towards making Scarborough’s Rouge River Valley into a National Park. All the while, Suzuki helps to maintain the foundation’s profile with a documentary on his life and work, Force of Nature, in theatres and a book, based on the experiences in the film, due out this winter. And then of course, there is the Web site. Designed as a resource for anyone looking to lower their environmental impact, the foundation offers a number of ongoing tips, blogs and free toolkits.
La Fondation Suzuki s’installe pour de bon à Toronto et s’intéresse au « capital naturel » de la ville. David Suzuki a mis à profit sa formation de scientifique et sa réputation de journaliste de radio pour créer, avec le Dr Tara Cullis, sa célèbre fondation dont l’objectif est de fournir des recherches rigoureusement scientifiques dans le domaine de l’environnement, une approche complémentaire à celle des associations purement engagées dans l’activisme auprès du public. « Dans les enquêtes d’opinion que nous avons menées, la Fondation David Suzuki a généralement la réputation d’être la plus crédible parmi les associations de protection de l’environnement », explique Jode Roberts, porte-parole du bureau de Toronto, rue John juste au nord de la rue Queen Ouest. La fondation a toujours eu une certaine présence à Toronto, où elle était principalement installée avenue Spadina au Centre for Social Innovation. Toutefois, l’équipe a souhaité faire davantage que des projets ponctuels et s’impliquer plus activement dans la plus grande ville du Canada. C’est dans cette optique que Faisal Moola, directeur scientifique de la fondation, a pris les rênes de l’équipe torontoise et sa toute première priorité sera de faire l’inventaire du « capital naturel » de la ville. « Le but est de donner une valeur économique aux profits tirés de la nature », affirme Jode Roberts en expliquant que, par exemple, les arbres de la ville, grâce à l’ombre qu’ils créent, ont un effet réfrigérant qui peut se mesurer directement à la quantité d’énergie économisée en climatisation.
davidsuzuki.org
CAN YOU REDUCE YOUR OFFICE’S ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT? How many people save email attachments in their mailboxes AND file a copy elsewhere on their computer? All virtual files actually take up physical space on a disk drive, which costs money, consumes energy and needs maintenance. Instead of running out to buy more disk drives, free up space by cleaning up what you already have. Other tips incude: • Unplug cell phone chargers, calculators, TVs and anything else with an LED display until you need them. As long as they’re lit, they’re using electricity. Plug equipment into power bars and turn those off until necessary. • Most computers remain idle for the greater part of the day, so get staff in the habit of turning theirs off when away from their desks for extended periods of time. Laptop users can change their power savings settings to turn screens and disks off. Source: www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/green-your-workplace
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In the last 20 years, the Foundation has grown to include more than 60 employees in offices in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and now Toronto.
TELL ME. SHOW ME.
LET ME TRY.
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WINNIPEG
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“Learning hasn’t changed, this is just technology being applied to help people connect with the things they need to know and do in the real world.” – Brendan Nagle
Winnipeg’s Technologies for Learning Group designs online learner-directed content for everything from employee orientation to standards-based certification. By Yvan Marston EXCHANGE DISTRICT, WINNIPEG / - From his Arthur Street offices, Brendan Nagle can see the future of eLearning. Though his company Technologies for Learning Group (TLG) has worked at the forefront of eLearning systems since 1998, taking them from glorified PowerPoint presentations to interactive module-based teaching, he expects teachers and textbooks to continue as a complementary part of online learning. “People learn more quickly when there are multiple learning systems,” says Nagle, a former college professor whose entrepreneurial spirit took hold when his notion of online learning began to diverge from that held by the traditional education sector.
SERVING THOUSANDS Today, Nagle estimates his 10-person shop serves hundreds of thousands of learners through its programs every year as it generates teaching systems for clients in aerospace, retail, manufacturing, tourism, health care, gaming and government. TLG has created hundreds of customized, self-directed and self-paced learning modules delivered on the Web, through client Intranets, on CD ROMs, and as print tools. As designers of custom content, it has produced learning on a myriad of subject matters using its “Tell Me, Show Me, Let Me Try” methodology. But its focus is workplace, corporate-based learning, explains Nagle seated comfortably in his third-floor office, where he is dressed tidily in jeans and a blazer, a full grey chevron moustache covering his upper lip. MEASURABLE LEARNING “There are learning developments and attention to content [in corporate-based learning], but it is also about efficiency and having measurables so that you can understand the return on your investment,” says Nagle, explaining that by tracking usage, companies can get a very real sense of whether a person will be successful, as much in
corporate training as in mission critical situations like the military (TLG developed software to manage online exams for naval officers). Another area of expertise is in the far more customized world of simulation such as how to build an aircraft engine with all its 30,000-something parts, or how to perform emergency room procedures such as defibrillation or chest, throat and nose intubation where users work on 3-D human torsos. “There is a separation between content producers and learning software developers and we’re one of the few companies that do both,” explains Nagle. Always building a learning system from a set of business goals they have established through close consultation with a client, Nagle and his team often suggest companies think big and start small. “Consider how this project can be a part of a larger system,” he says, explaining that every system is an opportunity for a company to learn how its employees learn.
CHANGING LIVES Making employees more efficient may be a goal of an eLearning system, but often it provides access to life-changing learning opportunities. One of the company’s projects, English Online, is a separate not-for-profit organization Nagle started for the provincial government to help newcomers with their English language skills. Most of the users are adults working survival jobs during the day and spending an hour at night honing the skills that will help them into more meaningful employment. “Learning hasn’t changed,” says Nagle. “This is just technology being applied to help people connect with the things they need to know and do in the real world.”
Tlg.ca
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PARKERHOUSE RULES
Calgary dining room serves Eastern seaboard comfort food dressed with Western hos
SIXTH AVE. SW, CALGARY / - Despite its elegant old world feel and the storied look of its bold Mahogany paneled walls and rich yellow table cloths, ParkerHouse Bar and Grill’s 9,000-square-foot dining room has more to do with the future that it does with the past. Tucked into the Sixth Ave. SW side of Calgary’s Lougheed Building, a circa 1912 classical commercial building that was lovingly restored and reopened in 2008, this two-year-old steak and seafood house is part of the vanguard of service businesses that envision growth north of Eighth Ave. Mixing New England culinary classics like clam chowder and lobster rolls with Western fare like beef and bison chili and a selection of steaks from different ranches, ParkerHouse expects its lunch service to expand considerably once the nearby 58-storey Bow tower comes online.
LUNCHTIME CROWDS “That’ll bring about 6,000 people into the area,” estimates Ron Salverda of CA Restaurants,
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which owns and operates ParkerHouse as well as TRIB steakhouse and Murrietta’s, two other establishments a few blocks to the south on Eighth Ave. “But people wouldn’t necessarily walk from [First and Sixth] down to Eighth Ave, so we wanted to find a location in this area,” he says, explaining that crowds from Bow Valley Square and the Suncor Centre currently fill the dining room at lunch hour. But with 220 seats, including a 40-seat mezzanine and a 50-seat private function room, they are expecting the midday dining to simply last a little longer (currently they serve 120 to 200 lunches daily).
GAS FIREPLACES AND CHERRYWOOD FLOORS A mid-priced option for both lunch and dinner, ParkerHouse brings Bostonstyle comfort food to the downtown east office population. With pasta, pizza and sandwich options in the mid-teens and a hormone-and-antibiotic-free 12-ounce rib eye topping out
CALGARY
spitality (and steaks). By Yvan Marston
the dinner menu at $43, it’s easy to see why the place has grown so popular, so quickly. Indeed, its leather chairs, gas fireplaces and cherrywood floors make it look like an expense-account-only boys club, but the open layout and lively atmosphere make it an inviting place for an after-work rendezvous. Salverda says the location itself contributed to the notion of opening a restaurant with an East coast feel. “This building looks like it belongs in Boston so we started looking at Boston and the food they served there,” he explains.
REVIVING FORGOTTEN RECIPES During his research, he came across the Parker House roll, a dinner roll invented in Boston’s Parker House Hotel. He and his team, now led by chef Chris Grafton, sought “forgotten food” recipes with roots in the Boston school of cooking that mixed traditional
French techniques with American cuisine to come up with creations like a Sloppy Joe made with beef ragoût. Steak, of course, has a place on the menu, not once but twice. Diners have a choice between three cuts from two ranches, one a Reserve Angus aged 28 days (only the top 8% of all Canadian Angus beef receives this grade), and the other from Spring Creek Ranch, which produces a completely natural beef, free of hormones and antibiotics. Lately, ParkerHouse has been keeping its bartenders busy in the lounge area shucking fresh Glacier Bay oysters flown in from Caraquet, New Brunswick every Thursday. Indeed, as much as it draws on the traditions of the past, ParkerHouse’s position as a mid-priced dinner option that hosts a full-house at lunchtime leaves it poised to take advantage of the neighbourhood’s future.
Parkerhouse.ca
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Photo: Dawn Kish
Photo: Brian Huntington
Outfitter Patagonia Opens First Canadian Store on King Street West
Photo: Tim Davis
Interior of Patagonia’s first flagship retail store, Great Pacific Iron Works, in Ventura California.
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Outdoor retailer’s 28th location aligns with emphasis on preservation and sustainable development KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - The city’s outdoor retail landscape is undergoing some change as Patagonia, a Ventura, California-based clothing manufacturer and lifestyle outfitter once named ’The Coolest Company on the Planet’ by Fortune Magazine, opened its first Canadian store in December at 500 King Street West in premises formerly occupied by Mini Downtown. “We selected Toronto for our first Canadian store because of the large community of outdoor enthusiasts, their passion for outdoor sports and the environmental consciousness of area residents,” said Patagonia’s vice president of Global Retail, Robert Cohen, in a release. “We’re looking forward to introducing Torontonians to the Patagonia brand through this bricks-and-mortar presence.”
Each Patagonia store has its own grant budget in the form of money and product, to help environmental groups in their own backyard. As part of the store’s environmental mission, and in celebration of the first store in Canada, Patagonia Toronto will be accepting nominations from customers for local environmental organizations to be considered for the store’s first environmental grant. Forms and further information will be available at the store, and store employees will select the group based on the company’s environmental guidelines. Group selection will be announced in February, 2011.
OUTDOOR CLOTHING FROM CLIMBING TO PADDLING Patagonia will occupy the first floor of the facility where it will offer a wide selection of its own line of outdoor clothing, technical apparel, footwear and children’s clothing, including cold-weather layering systems, rock climbing and skiing gear, as well as fly fishing and paddling equipment. Beyond the appeal of the neighbourhood for this its 28th location, the Patagonia team liked that their store’s presence would continue to revitalize this heritage neighbourhood. (The space itself is in the former Gurney stove factory, built in 1872.) A HISTORY OF RECLAIMED STRUCTURES Setting up shop here is in keeping with the company’s philosophy of seeking reclaimed structures for its retail locations, leveraging historic and cultural value of these spaces and providing an opportunity for adaptive reuse that aligns with the company’s emphasis on preservation and sustainable development. While Patagonia is well known among outdoor enthusiasts for its product quality, it also has a demonstrable commitment to environmental activism. It operates a garment recycling program (many of its products are made with synthetic fibres), and since 1996, it has used only organically grown cotton in its clothing line. It is also a strong financial supporter of environmental causes, donating one percent of its sales (which last year were over $330 million USD) to environmental groups every year. Since 1985, it has given away in excess of $38 million USD to more than 1,200 environmental organizations.
patagonia.com
First and only clothing manufacturer to recycle competitors’ garments Patagonia’s fleece pullover has long been the gold standard in rugged outdoor warmth and for more than 17 years, the company has manufactured it using post-consumer recycled plastic soda bottles. It is also the first and only clothing manufacturer to recycle competitors’ garments, as well as its own, through a program that accepts worn-out fleece, organic cotton t-shirts and Capilene® (long underwear) products. The donated garments are recycled into new fibers to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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TORONTO
Patagonia seeks nominations for Toronto store’s first environmental grant
GLOBAL WORKSHOP Founded by academics and focused on new technology, SwissVBS produces the bulk of its international eLearning content from its Toronto facility.
ADELAIDE STREET WEST, TORONTO / - When a multinational insurance company noticed that it was losing a large percentage of its salespeople after their first year of employment, it soon discovered that many of these ex-salespeople reported feeling poorly trained and ill-prepared for the work. “They had trouble anticipating certain sales scenarios, so we created a virtual environment that mimicked those scenarios, using video actors and 3D imaging to create typical and atypical insurance situations that grabbed the learner’s interest” says Lonelle Selbo, a producer with Swiss Virtual Business School, an international eLearning company whose 3,000-square-foot studio on Adelaide Street West serves as the multinational firm’s main production facility. The numbers are still out on the effectiveness of the insurance company’s new program, but participation was almost at 100 percent and the anecdotal feedback is all very positive, says Selbo, who along with 30 others form the Toronto employee base for SwissVBS, as it is known.
APPLIED LEARNING SOLUTIONS Founded in 2001 by professors from the University of St.Gallen, located in northeastern Switzerland, SwissVBS was originally a spin off of the university as part of a bid to provide “applied
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learning solutions.” (The founding professors still serve as directors on the company’s board and regularly engage other highly respected professors from Wharton School of Business, INSEAD, and University of St.Gallen in the further developing of SwissVBS.) While it stands one foot planted firmly in pedagogy, it continues to grow its global reputation as a high-end web-based-training provider in an industry that, in 2010, was conservatively estimated to be worth more than 38 billion Euros worldwide. To better serve a growing list of North American-based global clients such as World Economic Forum, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Marketwire, SwissVBS opened its production facility in Toronto, a known centre of e-learning, in 2009 to run in parallel with their fully functioning Swiss office. Selbo explains that one key to coping with organizational change is to ensure consistency across all of the company’s implementation processes, from public service communications to compliance training. As an added benefit to many corporations, eLearning enables learners to develop or practice some of the technical skills and competencies that are essential in many digital working environments. SwissVBS has been instrumental in providing clients
with dedicated programs that can fulfill their various strategic training mandates, along with the flexibility to update content as necessary.
ACCUMULATING EXPERTISE SwissVBS’s very first product was a twenty-hour online module in strategic management that proved to be highly successful with executive managers. Soon after, curriculum development in the areas of finance, accounting, and marketing evolved to university certification programs with a blended learning approach (a combination of online learning and in-class lectures). As more and more institutions began to incorporate eLearning into their teaching models, SwissVBS sharpened its focus on customized corporate training solutions as well as the selling of their own, in-house produced educational courses, which can also be taken by individuals to further their education and advance in their careers. As the eLearning industry has grown and expanded, SwissVBS has accumulated knowledge and expertise in the sectors of banking, insurance, health care and compliance training. Keeping teams up to speed with advances in information, essential skills, and compulsory industry updates is a constant requirement in an increasingly
competitive corporate environment, says Selbo. That’s why SwissVBS puts a lot of emphasis on its high standards of pedagogical integrity, creative conceptual approaches, and cutting edge media—as well as the ability of the medium to adapt with minimal disruption or expense. “In addition to our team’s experience and talent in eLearning, we have a lot of additional competencies in-house, and those skills come into play when a client needs help developing a fully-integrated online learning solution, tailored to meet their specific needs,” says Selbo, whose own background includes journalism and advertising.
SOPHISTICATED MEDIA And as the demand for eLearning grows, so too does the sophistication of the product. With each leap in technology, SwissVBS’s courses come to use more dynamic 3D, video, and Flash-based solutions to deliver media-rich instructional design. “The media we use is cutting edge, but first and foremost it’s about providing a pedagogical solution,” Selbo says. “In the end, the user has to walk away from the module having learned something. All other competencies we have are purely supportive.”
swissvbs.com
15 • WINTER 2011
TORONTO
From its 3,000-square-foot studio on Adelaide Street West, Swiss Virtual Business School develops high-end web-based training for the international eLearning industry that, in 2010, was conservatively estimated to be worth more than 38 billion Euros worldwide.
THE NETWORK Montreal’s UB Media is building its market presence in the indoor advertising frontier. By Yvan Marston
AVENUE ATLANTIC, MONTREAL / - All advertising Restaurants and bars are where the duo first conceived the seeks to capture an audience’s whole and undivided attention idea of competing in the indoor ad business and here they hold for just a few seconds. That’s why washroom advertising has 25 percent of the city’s market share. The smallest of their become a very important tool in the marketing mix. networks is in the health and fitness sector, but they are looking to technology and event management as areas of growth. “Every type of media has its advantages,” explains Michael Minicucci, president of UB Media, a two-year-old indoor UB Media made significant inroads into the market by advertising firm that, in its short existence, has developed securing a network with Guzzo Cinemas, Canada's largest significant networks in Montreal’s independent theatre chain with 45% cinemas, restaurants and bars, as well of the Montreal market. (Montreal is as campuses. the only major Canadian metropolitan “The ability to target by gender, area where Cineplex has a significant Marketers look to indoor advertising and the ability to have a longer competitor.) for its ability to segment by gender and ‘conversation’ with the consumer demographic. Placing an ad for a new “Once we started working with are key benefits of our product.” razor in the men’s change room of a Guzzo, we knew we had something gym, for example, will ensure that different that our competitors could – Michael Minicucci 100 percent of the people it reaches are not offer. However, they still had one in the advertiser’s target audience, says offer that we didn’t – so we started Minicucci, who along with business partner John Caruana looking to partner with universities,” says Minicucci. runs UB Media from offices at 400 Avenue Atlantic. UB Media won an RFP from Concordia University in the “The ability to target by gender, and the ability to have fall and launched their newest network, UB Campus. a longer ‘conversation’ with the consumer are key benefits Using more than 600 basic boards, 40 large-format mega of our product,” says Minicucci, explaining that indoor boards, and with a digital board integration underway, UB advertising, which includes signage and video screens, have Media now holds the second-largest market share in campus high ‘dwell time’ during which consumers interact with the media in Montreal, marking the first time a new competitor advertising more than in other media. has exceeded either of the two national suppliers in market presence in any major metropolitan area.
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MONTRÉAL
LE RÉSEAU UB Media a su se tailler une place importante dans le marché montréalais de la publicité intérieure ainsi que de la publicité cinéma. Les spécialistes du marketing se tournent vers les médias publicitaires intérieurs pour leur capacité à segmenter le public en fonction du sexe et du type de population, explique Michael Minicucci, qui dirige UB Media avec son partenaire John Caruana depuis leurs bureaux du 400 avenue Atlantic. Par exemple, afficher une publicité pour un nouveau rasoir dans les vestiaires hommes d’un club de sport permet de garantir que 100 % de la population ciblée, en l’occurrence les hommes, est concernée par le message. « La capacité de cibler par genre, ainsi que la capacité d’assurer une conversation plus longue avec le consommateur sont des avantages clés de nos produits », explique Minicucci. Il mentionne aussi que la publicité intérieure, qui inclue des affiches statiques ainsi que des écrans vidéo, permettent un temps d’exposition fort supérieur à la moyenne – en comparaison aux autres types de médias – durant laquelle le consommateur se trouve à interagir avec la publicité.
Looking to the future, Minicucci believes digital technology will advance the medium. “Our new screens use state-of-the-art high definition that allows the flexibility to have static banners and video playing at the same time,” says Minicucci, who expects to integrate Bluetooth technology to allow information downloads to portable devices as well as the use of QR codes (digital barcodes smart phones read to display additional information). It is the kind of interaction a cinema patron in a line up or a student on campus might undertake because these are indoors spaces where people congregate, explains Minicucci. It is also why UB Media has undertaken managing promotional events such as their work for cellphone providers Koodo and Telus, mainly in Guzzo Cinema space. “Cinemas are great for these events because people are there on leisure time, they’re not running downtown to their next meeting,” he says. As for Minicucci and Caruana, they expect to be running to meetings more frequently in Toronto where they are in the process of establishing another office. “We are at a point where we need to develop a presence in Toronto,” he says. “You have to have a network there because that’s where most of the national media buying decisions are made – but UB will always have a pied-à-terre in Montreal.”
ubmedia.ca
Cela se vérifie notamment dans le domaine du cinéma, où UB Media a consolidé sa place en remportant un contrat avec les cinémas Guzzo, la plus grande chaîne de cinéma indépendante au Canada avec 45 % du marché de Montréal. (Montréal est la seule grande région métropolitaine au Canada dans laquelle Cineplex compte un réel concurrent.) « Cela nous a permis de mettre un pied sur le marché montréalais et de là, nous avons commencé à chercher des universités partenaires», explique M. Minicucci UB Media a remporté l'appel d'offres de l'Université Concordia, et ont lancé à l’automne dernier leur réseau le plus récent, UB Campus. Avec plus de 600 petits panneaux, 40 méga panneaux, et l'intégration en cours de panneaux numériques, UB Media détient maintenant la deuxième plus importante part de marché des médias publicitaires dans les campus montréalais. C'est la première fois qu'un concurrent direct excède la présence des grands concurrents nationaux sur un marché dans une grande métropole.
Caruana
Minicucci
17 • WINTER 2011
TOTUM TIPS
EAT RIGHT. RIGHT THROUGH WINTER. Totum’s nutritionist dishes on the best ways to stretch your energy when the days get short. This winter, try not to fall prey (too often) to the rink side snack bar and the steamy goodness of its chunky fries and overly rich hot chocolate. Instead, get some produce. It’s easy to become lethargic in the winter with shorter days and a lack of vitamin D being major contributors to this sensation. But much of this effect can be countered by eating properly, which starts with making sure you are getting enough nutrients says Sarah Maughan, a registered holistic nutritionist with Totum Life Science at King Street West. In the summer, we crave raw fruits and vegetables more often as we seek their cooling, thirst quenching properties, she says, but in the winter, we sweat less and therefore don’t think about it naturally.
totum.ca
5 Rules for winter workout eating 1. Eat 5 times. This includes breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner.
2. Eat good protein. Each meal should include some healthy form of protein like nuts, seeds, lean chicken, legumes, eggs, yogurt, or wild fish.
3. Carbs BEFORE your workout. Use a low GI carb like steel cut oats, wholegrain ‘spelt’ toast (made from unprocessed flour), or a piece of fruit.
4. Protein AFTER your workout. You can still have carbs here if you want but the important thing is protein. It helps regenerate and rebuild the muscle tissue you just stressed to make you stronger. Try yogurt and berries, bean salad, or a fruit smoothie with a good quality protein powder.
COLOUR YOUR WORLD Dark mornings and nights that start before the day is done can be a major downer, so Maughan suggests brightening things up by adding as many coloured vegetables as you can to your meals. “Look for those bright oranges and reds like sweet potatoes and different colour bell peppers that are in season, to make your food more visually stimulating and fun, after all enjoyment is half the reason we eat,” says Maughan whose background also includes psychology. “When you’re making a stew, for example, always add extra vegetables,” she says. And “Try sautéing spinach or kale,” she suggests, “cooked spinach actually allows you to absorb more iron and calcium than when it is eaten raw.”
FIGHT THE SPIKE Of course, true high carb comfort food will always enter the picture at some point in the winter because it’s easy to get and feels good in your belly. Just know that these refined foods are high in fast-digesting carbohydrates, which hit the bloodstream quickly causing insulin spikes that will make you tired shortly after your burst of energy. “Try not to go for more than three hours without eating, four is the maximum,” says Maughan, who advises her clients to always include a healthy fat or protein every time you do eat something (these could include lean chicken, wild fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, and avocado).
HELLO LOW GI Eating foods that have a low glycemic index (or GI) will leave you feeling satisfied and energized longer because their higher levels of protein and fibre will take longer to release from your stomach and into your bloodstream than a processed carb. “When you have whole grain brown rice, you have the fibre from the bran. If you remove the bran, that’s when it becomes refined, loses the fibre and releases too quickly,” she explains.
5. Avoid most energy bars. Most of these are just sugar alcohol and artificial ingredients offering a quick jolt with protein but little nutrition. The best bars, such as the Elevate Me Bar, are made with things like whey protein and dates “Which are pretty much things you can put together yourself,” opines Maughan.
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SEE THE LIGHT Above all, getting some vitamin D is going to help ward off the winter blues with which most of us are commonly afflicted. Getting out into the daylight for 15 minutes a day or eating salmon or eggs, or drinking cow’s milk can also help keep up your stores, suggests Maughan.
MONTRÉAL
NOUVEL ARRIVANT: Milgram, spécialiste de la logistique s’installe au dernier étage du 645 Wellington
Work continues on Milgram’s 37,000 square feet to bring it up to the caliber of some of the 645 Wellington’s other tenant spaces (right).
CITÉ MULTIMÉDIA, MONTRÉAL / - Les travaux ont commencé en octobre au quatrième étage du 645 Wellington où quelque 37 000 pieds carrés sont en cours de rénovation pour pouvoir accueillir au printemps Milgram, spécialiste international de la logistique proposant des services de courtier en douane, de fret international et de transport de surface. Cette entreprise prospère et progressiste, qui a de gros besoins technologiques et un désir de rester dans le quartier du port, est installée rue McGill depuis ses débuts en 1951. Ses 200 employés répartis sur trois étages et demi et son souhait de trouver à s’agrandir tout près de son QG d’origine ont conduit Milgram à s’installer dans ces nouveaux bureaux au coin de la rue. « Je crois que l’équipe a également apprécié le fait que d’autres entreprises prestigieuses soient installées ici comme Morgan Stanley et SAP », affirme André Plourde (Groupe Immobilier) qui a participé aux négociations. Les nouveaux bureaux permettront à Milgram d’avoir accès à quelques places de stationnement situées en face au 700 rue Wellington. Le nom et le logo de la société seront affichés sur le mur extérieur de l’édifice. Les employés de Milgram jouiront également d’un ascenseur privé qui les emmènera directement aux bureaux administratifs alors que l’ascenseur de devant, rénové, sera réservé aux clients et autres locataires. L’installation d’un générateur de secours (ses clients et partenaires étant internationaux, sa technologie se doit d’avoir le plus haut degré de fiabilité) et le besoin de renforcer une partie du sol pour son ordinateur central et son système de classement des dossiers ajoute à la complexité du projet de rénovation qui devrait s’achever en mai. «L’équipe de Milgram emménage dans un édifice rénové de catégorie I, mais elle bénéficiera aussi de tous les avantages d’un grand complexe », explique André Plourde, « y compris la gestion de qualité qui va avec.»
Logistics Provider Milgram Taking Top Floor of 645 Wellington CITE MULTIMEDIA, MONTREAL / - Work started in October on the fourth floor of 645 rue Wellington where a 37,000-square-foot floor plate is being renovated to accommodate the Spring move of Milgram, an international logistics outfit with services in customs brokerage, international freight forwarding and surface transportation. A fast-growing and progressive organization with high technology needs and a desire to stay in the port area, Milgram has held offices on nearby rue McGill since its formation in 1951. But with its 200 employees spread out over three-and-a-half floors and an interest in trying to find contiguous space, the company’s search lead it to this locale just around the corner. “They’re moving into a renovated Class-I character building but they are getting the benefit of being part of a much larger complex,” says Plourde, “And that gives them access to the sophisticated management that comes with it.” says André Plourde of Groupe Immobilier, which helped put the deal together.
19 • HIVER 2011
QUEBÉC
ORIENTER, VISER ET VISIONNER Plus que de simples locataires du quartier, Paradigme affaires publiques a organisé le premier Sommet Actions Saint-Roch en novembre.
NOUVO ST-ROCH, QUEBEC / - Stéphane Dion a passé dix ans à Montréal à divers postes prestigieux du secteur public avant de revenir à Québec en 2007 pour créer Paradigme affaires publiques. Quand il a commencé à chercher des bureaux pour son équipe de six personnes, il avait une certitude : c’était Saint-Roch ou rien. « J’ai passé une partie de mon adolescence ici. C’est un quartier que je connais très bien. J’y ai connu la mauvaise période. Et puis quand je suis revenu, j’ai vu à quel point le quartier avait changé. Il était en pleine renaissance et je voulais participer à cette renaissance-là. » Plus que de simples locataires du quartier, Stéphane Dion et son équipe ont organisé le premier Sommet Actions Saint-Roch en novembre, une conférence d’un jour qui rassemble gouvernement, entreprises et diverses institutions pour définir des défis communs et trouver des solutions visant à assurer la revitalisation continue et systématique du quartier. Avec l’ex-maire de Québec Jean-Paul L’Allier, qui a prononcé le discours d’ouverture, les 120 personnes présentes ont entendu parler du problème de manque d’habitations et de l’accès au quartier en autobus et en voiture. Paradigme, dotée d’une vaste expérience dans les relations publiques, a fait preuve pendant cette rencontre de ses talents dans la gestion d’événements, de son expertise dans le domaine de l’immobilier commercial et de son sens aigu des relations avec le gouvernement. « Nous offrons des services complets axés sur l’image
de nos clients auprès du public sans oublier leur marché cible. Il est aussi important de tenir compte du public, des partenaires, des fournisseurs et du gouvernement », explique Stéphane Dion en ajoutant que le contexte compte aussi. Paradigme se spécialise dans la communication d’entreprise, les relations publiques (relations avec les medias et conférences de presse), et les relations gouvernementales, un des points forts de son expérience passée. Bachelier en relations industrielles de l’Université de Montréal, Stéphane Dion a gravité dans la sphère politique québécoise, où il a conseillé étroitement les chefs de l’opposition officielle, Daniel Johnson et Jean Charest, de 1997 à 2000 sur de grands dossiers socio-économiques. Il est ensuite passé au palier municipal pour devenir coordonnateur et conseiller du maire de Montréal (20012003). Il a agi à titre de vice-président du service Politiques et Partenariats à la Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain, et par la suite, il devient consultant et pilote des dossiers d’envergure en développement des affaires pour le compte de Viger DMC International Inc, Le Groupe Maurice, la Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain tout en conseillant les dirigeants de la Mairie de Québec et de différents ministères québécois. Dans le cadre de ses mandats, il assume depuis 2008 les fonctions de directeur régional pour la région de Québec de l’Institut de Développement Urbain.
Paradigme-ap.com
Le Sommet Actions Saint-Roch en pleine action.
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www.alliedpropertiesreit.com alliedpropertiesreit.com • HIVER 2011
Avez-vous une histoire à raconter? Écrivez-nous au news@alliedpropertiesreit.com Rédacteur en chef: Yvan Marston • Graphisme: Gravity Design