On January 27th, my son Peyton and I will be participating in the Ottawa Senators Foundation first ever Energizer Night Skate along the Rideau Canal as part of the NHL All-Star Weekend. Thousands of skaters wearing Energizer LED Headlights will light up the Canal as they skate 5km from Somerset Street to Bank Street and back.

All funds raised from this event will assist the Senators Foundation (the sole benefactor) with their plans to construct outdoor, natural NHL sized ice rinks in priority neighbourhoods throughout eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

The Senators Foundation believes in creating community resources, delivering programs and funding charitable organizations that provide healthy and safe sport & recreation opportunities to children and youth so they learn and grow outside of school hours.

You can show your support for this initiative by sponsoring me here: http://energizernightskate.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1003640&supId=350029343

If you don’t like me (highly possible), but still want to support the initiative, you can sponsor my son Peyton, who is 3 and will spend more time in a stroller than skating, here: http://energizernightskate.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1003640&supId=350029344

Any contribution you can make is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for supporting this great community initiative by the Senators Foundation.

When Ford of Canada’s Vice-President of Sales, Scott Cauvel, was in Ottawa in late September to speak at OCRI’s ExecTALKS event, Thornley Fallis Account Coordinator Samantha Hartley (@msshartley) arranged an interview between him and CTVs Kate Eggins, which led to this great report on the health technologies for drivers that Ford is putting in its vehicles.

[Ford of Canada is a client of Thornley Fallis]

We will be running on our client’s team, the Textron TAPV Team.

Here are pics of the team shirts that we designed and will be wearing.

On Wednesday, September 28, 2011, Scott Cauvel, Vice-President of Sales for Ford Motor Company of Canada will speak at OCRI’s execTALKS event at the Chateau Laurier. The event runs from 7:30am to 9:00am.

Paul Brent, Senior Communications Strategist at market2worldcommunications, will moderate Mr. Cauvel’s presentation – Driving the Future: A New Era for Innovation – in which he will share insight into Ford’s technologies, including research and development, engineering and what is next. Consumers not only want technology in all aspects of their life, including in their vehicles, but they demand it. Ford listened to consumer demands and as a result has developed the latest and greatest in safety and smart technologies.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

About Scott Cauvel:
Scott E. Cauvel is Vice President of Sales for Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited, appointed to the position in June 2009. During his 21 years at Ford, 17 of them have been in field-based dealership sales and marketing positions. Cauvel began his career at Ford shortly after graduating from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa. where he completed a degree in International Business and Economics.

For two-and-a-half years prior to joining Ford of Canada, Cauvel worked as the Ford U.S.’s National Field Operations Manager based in Dearborn, Mich. Before that posting, Cauvel was General Manager for Ford’s Mid-Atlantic Market Area based in Washington, D.C. responsible for all sales and marketing activities from the New York to the North Carolina border.

“I’ve worked for Ford my entire career and have relocated 10 times across the United States,” said Cauvel. “I am grateful for the opportunities to grow personally and professionally and contribute to the success of Ford.”

Cauvel was born in Franklin, Pa. on October 29, 1966 and grew up in nearby Oil City, Pa. where his love affair with classic cars began.

“In Pennsylvania, I truly grew up in the automobile business, with my grandfather, uncle and father spending their entire careers in the retail end of the car business.” His understanding and the love of the business runs deep, including having owned a Ford classic. “I owned a red 1966 Mustang convertible, which I loved,” said Cauvel. “For 45 years, the Mustang has been the definitive statement of what Ford represents in the market.”

Cauvel is married with two children; an 11 year old son and an 8 year old daughter. He enjoys cycling and is an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

“Sports are a big part of our family, including soccer, swimming, football and hockey,” said Cauvel. “The values that are learned through sports include honesty, integrity, teamwork, perseverance – those are the positive standards I share both at home and at Ford.”

About Paul Brent:
Paul enjoyed an award-winning career in the news business prior to joining to market2world.

Since 2001 he was CTV’s technology specialist, covering the technology industry in his popular Tech Now weekly program that looks at consumer innovations that permeate daily life. He reported from aboard the space shuttle, inside a Japanese car plant, the country’s top tech labs and the streets of Silicon Valley, California. In 2001 he was named Technology and Science Reporter of the year by Canada’s largest tech organization, the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance.

In 2005, he won the award for “Best News Story” of the year from the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation. In 2008 Ottawa Life magazine named Paul one of Ottawa’s 50 Most Influential People.”

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Cost:
(For planning purposes, pre-registration closes at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday September 27, 2011)
$40.00 – OCRI/Ottawa Chamber of Commerce members (plus 13% HST)
$60.00 – Non-members (plus 13% HST)
$25.00 – Students (plus 13% HST)
Students must register via fax or via email.

Table of 8 (Includes 8 tickets and a table sign with company logo)
$280.00 – OCRI/Ottawa Chamber of Commerce members (plus 13% HST)
$480.00 – Non-members (plus 13% HST)

Cancellation Policy:
Only cancellations received in writing by fax/email two working days prior to the event date will be refunded, less 10%. Substitutions are permitted and notification prior to the event date is appreciated.

Thornley Fallis and CIRA won an Award of Excellence for Brand Communications

As Agency of Record for CIRA since August 2010, Thornley Fallis worked closely with the CIRA team to develop and launch a brand awareness campaign around the .CA product. The campaign included print and online advertising, an online brand video, an awards program and a community engagement program. The campaign launched in November 2010 at the meshmarketing conference in Toronto with the announcement of the .CA Impact Awards via video produced by Thornley Fallis.

Thornley Fallis and CIRA also won an Award of Merit for Publication Design

To ensure CIRA members are engaged and value being a member, Thornley Fallis worked with CIRA to create a New Member Kit. The kit includes a printed booklet with a branded USB card adhered with removable glue. On the USB key (which pulls out from the USB card) is an interactive PDF. The kit is filled with information on benefits for members, the value of .CA, background information on CIRA, and a QR code that takes members to the newly created CIRA member web portal.

CIRA’s Board of Directors has a unique role to play in setting policy and strategy to help CIRA continue to be a leading-edge organization that strives for excellence as a registry and supports Canadians in building their presence in the global digital economy.

Becoming a CIRA Board Member is a unique opportunity to work with Canada’s Internet leaders as they develop strategy and policy that position .CA for operational excellence. You’ll gain valuable insight and experience around technical innovation, Canada and international Internet policy and organizational governance.

Members of CIRA’s Board of Directors are remunerated for their time and reimbursed for expenses. For more details visit http://cira.ca/board-compensation

The yearly commitment from Directors include five in-person meetings in various cities across Canada and committee work.

CIRA is looking for professional Canadians with Board experience and/or an interest in technology and the Internet. Expertise in one of the following would be an asset: accounting, law, marketing and communications or technology.

Submit an application by June 10. CIRA’s nomination committee will review applications and select the Final Nomination Committee Slate, which will be voted on by CIRA Members during the September.

For more information and to apply visit: www.ciraelections.ca

Should you have any questions, please contact Julie Lepine at nominations2011@cira.ca.

About CIRA

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the member-driven organization that manages Canada’s .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada’s Internet community, and represents the .CA registry internationally.

.CA’s growth since CIRA’s founding just over 10 years ago has been dramatic. More than 1.6-million .CA domain names have been registered and we continue to experience a healthy annual growth rate of 18 per cent.

As stewards of the .CA domain space, CIRA plays a mission-critical role in ensuring that key parts of the Internet’s infrastructure in Canada are continuously and securely available. We do this for the benefit of all Canadians.

CIRA continues to grow and mature as it moves forward from its early goal of establishing Canada’s key Internet infrastructure, to a longer-term vision of being the preferred domain choice of Canadians. This vision is underpinned by our commitment to a world-class .CA product, best-of-breed customer service and internal processes and policies that characterize a mature and professional organization.

CIRA’s Board of Directors plays a key role in this.

To learn more, visit www.cira.ca.

I purchased my Playbook from Staples last week and, to date, have been thrilled with it.

Here I am reading a document on my Playbook in my office this morning.

First off, it was really easy to set-up, figure out and start to use right out of the box. Setting up Internet tethering and a bridge to my Blackberry Torch was also really easy – I was able to access my business email on my Playbook within minutes of taking it out of the box.

Here is what I like about the playbook so far:

• The interface and navigation are great, as is the touch screen.
• The screen delivers super rich images and pictures.
• The audio was very clear and loud, surprisingly so in fact.
• The Browser is fast and easy to use.
• Downloading and installing apps from App World takes only seconds.
• I have never been able to type effectively on smartphone touch screen keyboards due to the small screen size and my fat fingers, but typing on the Playbook (with the larger screen and very responsive touch screen keyboard) has been a breeze.
• The 3MP 1080p HD forward-facing and 5 MP 1080p HD rear-facing cameras take great pictures and video.
• The HDMI port.

Great screen, interface and navigation!

One of the frequent criticisms I have seen about the Playbook is the lack of apps currently available from App World. I find this to be an odd criticism given the Playbook launched less than a week ago. Obviously, more and more apps will come. That said, there were already quite a few apps in App World. In fact, more than I expected to find given this frequent criticism.

[as stated above, RIM is a client of Thornley Fallis, the communications agency that I am President of]

Winners of  a .CA Impact Award will receive $5,000 and the visibility that comes with winning a national award.

Entry submissions can be completed in less than 15 minutes.

There are four broad categories to enter: E-Learning, Small Business, Not-For-Profit and Web Technologies.

There is no entry fee.

The deadline for entries is March 25, 2011.

Winners will be announced at an awards reception at mesh in Toronto, May 25, 2011.

With over 1.5 million .CA domain names and counting, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) understands that the Internet is more than technology – it is a significant force, a catalyst, and a powerful agent of social change. That’s why the first ever .CA Impact Awards has been created to celebrate the impact of .CA websites and applications.

The .CA Impact Awards are designed to recognize youth, educators, not-for-profit organizations, small businesses, technology developers, and web designers for their innovation, quality of work, and the impact of their .CA websites and applications.

More About .CA

.CA is Canada’s Internet identity, reserved for Canadians, recognized and trusted worldwide. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) manages the registry for CA’s over 1.5 million domain names.