In an attempt to reduce the cost of its annual report, The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) engaged 76design and Thornley Fallis for our unique concept of a paperless report. Highlighting achievements and documenting successes,  World Class Care (TOH’s 2008-2009 Annual Report) contains a special feature allowing readers to create their own versions of the report including only the sections and stories appealing to them.

For some, those stories include the 6808 hospital births, the woman who was paying it forward by donating her kidney to a stranger because her own husband was receiving one from an anonymous donor in Ottawa – who had selflessly stepped forward to transplant hope, or the CF soldier, blown to bits in Afghanistan after coming into contact with a land mine. He died. Twice. The second time he was resuscitated during his evacuation flight. He arrived at TOH doped up on morphine. Months of therapy and compassionate care in the Rehabilitation Centre got him back on his feet- running in fact – he recently took part in The Olympic Torch Relay Race, with a new ‘bionic’ leg.

Allow me to cast the awards spotlight on other members of our talented team, who took those stories and turned them into an attention grabbing report: writer Bradley Moseley-Williams, who’s never met an adjective he can’t love, web developers and code masters- Brett Tackaberry and Steve Lounsbury, Mr. Shaun Search Engine Optimization Scanlon, ‘video is the new media’ Ryan Knuth, Resource and Account Manager Laura Mindorff, video killed the radio star LeeEllen Carroll, and top 40 under 50 SVP and GM Keelan Green.

A very special thanks to TOH’s CEO Jack Kitts and VP Nic Ruszkowski for renewing their investment in TF and 76 by inviting us back to partner on their next online annual report.

Here’s to more success stories for The Ottawa Hospital, Thornley Fallis and 76design, our peers at IABC and everyone in our communications community.

[Ford is a client of Thornley Fallis.]

On Saturday May 29, nearly 200 Ford Mustang drivers came out for Dupuis Ford Lincoln’s Mustang Poker Run and helped raise $101,666 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. The grand total was double what they expected and surpassed last year’s record donation. The tears of joy I witnessed at this event gave me enough goose bumps to lift the hair off my skin.

Breast cancer research ranks amongst the top causes Ottawans support and will do anything for – including running a marathon to raise money and awareness for what matters most: the women they love.

Six years ago, Dupuis Ford Lincoln in Casselman decided to take their fundraising initiative for CIBC’s Run for the Cure to a whole new level. For decades, marathon and Race Weekend participants have ran, biked, or rollerbladed across the Eastern Ontario region. A dealership stocked with horsepower and  transmissions, Dupuis Ford Lincoln has a need for speed and a commitment to one of the longest community support initiatives in the Ottawa  area. It was their passion and support from the community that helped create their unique and innovative fundraising event, the Mustang Poker Run.

The 6th edition Mustang Poker Run covered the Eastern Ontario region for a distance of nearly 230 km. Participants stopped at five stations and collected playing cards in attempt to win the grand prize with the best poker hand. Entertainment for the whole family included, “Show & Shine,” “Ford talk,” contests, games, a used books sale, and live performances from local band Hometown.

The fun-filled day was complete with caring families and their beautiful Mustangs, sports car drivers sporting shirts saying “Je t’aime ma femme” or “Je t’aime ma maman,” and stories of survival, honour and praise.

Time spent at the Mustang Poker Run proves there’s more to the pink ribbon campaign than just tying up laces or revving up engines:  there are real people, true stories, and thousands of battles worth fighting.

R to L: Nicole Bourgeois (Cancer survivor and pace car driver), Marie-Claire Ivanski (Organizer), Martin (Son of Nicole), Sylvie (Daughter of Nicole)

L to R: Nicole Bourgeois (Honourary guest), Marie-Claire Ivanski (Organizer), Carole Séguin-Millaire (Organizer)

Michel Dupuis (Owner of Dupuis Ford-bottom right) and Mustang Poker Run team

Mustang Poker Run participants

"Show and Shine"

[Ford is a client of Thornley Fallis]

On Wednesday, May 26^th, Kirk Joseph of Donnelly Ford demonstrated Ford’s Active Park Assist Technology on CTV Ottawa with reporter Paul Brent.

Check out the clip:
CTV Ottawa – Ford Active Park Assist

[Ford is a client of Thornley Fallis]

On Friday, May 7^th, Dave Rossy of Lincoln Heights Ford Lincoln demonstrated Ford’s Active Park Assist Technology on A Channel Morning with Co-host Angie Poirier.

Check out the clip.

Disclosure: Enstream / Zoompass is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to demo the Zoompass Tag for CTV Ottawa’s Technology Reporter Paul Brent. 

Here’s the CTV Ottawa Report

Disclosure: Lockheed Martin is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.

Earlier today, the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter rode more than 41,000 pounds of thrust to a vertical landing for the first time, confirming its required ability to land in confined areas both ashore and afloat. News Release here

Disclosure: Lockheed Martin is a Thornley Fallis client and I manage the account.

Yesterday afternoon, the first Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter passed overhead at 40 knots (46 mph) prior to making a slow, near-vertical landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.  The flight was one of the last missions before the aircraft’s first vertical landing, and confirmed the jet’s power and controllability at very low speeds. The aircraft’s short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) propulsion system generates more than 41,000 pounds of vertical thrust, and enables airspeeds from zero to Mach 1.6. 

Keelan Green and Leisha MacDonald holding the Olympic Torch in Ottawa on December 9th.

I am pleased to announce the launch of Thornley Fallis & 76design’s new online presence.

Our new websites, conceptualized, designed and developed by our team of creative masterminds and technology all-stars, exemplifies our capacity to push the limits of innovation in the world of social media and digital marketing.

Thornley Fallis & 76design is made up of individuals with fun, smart and professional personalities; personalities that have all contributed to the success of marketing & communications projects. To fully demonstrate the range of personalities, talent and intelligence our team has to offer, we’ve done something a little outside the box. Something very brave… or maybe something very stupid – we’ll let you know

We’ve created a live LifeStream for every one of our employees. This is more than just a standard funny profile picture and biography. It is an aggregate of their work and online profile, intended to paint a picture of who they are, what they do, what they think and what they are interested in.

To explore the diverse and unique characters at Thornley Fallis and jokers at 76design, take a look through our people profiles and find out who you could be working with on your next project.

Not only is our team exceptionally talented (and good-looking), we are experienced & passionate about the work we do. While adventuring through our People pages, zoom over to the Work & Services sections to see what Thornley Fallis & 76design has to offer.

My colleagues and I hope you enjoy perusing through our new sites.

Oh and one more thing… if you like what you see, don’t hesitate to call us, we’d love to hear from you!

Readers can consider this a blog post by popular demand. The blogosphere and twitterscene (a word I hope I just coined) are small places; look around and you’ll see a familiar handle.

Futurecasting—something I enjoy as a mild hobby—is a career byproduct. Most PR counsellors practice it at some level. As a lazy blogger (I want to, but I find I don’t make time for it) I have been encouraged to blog more, worry about it less, and go for broke.

This, therefore, is broke. This is what I am following, noticing, observing and paying attention to across various media, scenes, sites and places:

The world’s greatest ponzi scheme is unfolding; Bernard Madoff (which google) is in jail and the legal entities of the United States and Elsewhere are now eyeing his family’s assets with narrowing eyes and a sceptical expression. In a time when many people are questioning how oversight bodies (SEC et al) failed to catch a theft of such magnificent proportion it behooves government agencies to now—perhaps “at last”—step in and show that they are up to the job at hand. That means that la famille Madoff can expect a large team of forensic accountants to exhume every cheque, chit, IOU and other financial instrument going back to who-knows-when and—I hereby predict—confiscate anything that isn’t nailed down. (Even the family piano, according to one report, is under threat of immediate confiscation.) Taking possession of Mrs Madoff’s piano will not nullify her husband’s crimes, but it looks good (the optics of it, if you will) for a public eager to see justice served no matter how late or cold.

Live cheaper to live better? When times get tough people turn to kith and kin for solace and comfort. What is more comforting than a home-cooked meal? A pleasant stroll through a local bookstore conglomerate reveals the new reality of kitchen fun: Cookbooks promoting casserole cooking, slow cooking (see: Futurecasting) and all manner of delectable meals on the cheap are currently in vogue. The very notion of “cooking” is now back in vogue after a long-ish hiatus as a pleasant pass time for busy people. Cooking—the dreary need to prepare meals for yourself or family—was a basic fact of life through much of history. In the latter end of the 20th century, however, cooking—the bane of housewives for eons—morphed into a soci0-economic totem of the good life. Cooking became an activity for couples to share as they entertained on weekends with artfully turned out meals paired with the proper wines, artisan cheeses and unique appetizers. By the turn of the century (that is, 1999 into 2000) fast food, take-out, home delivery, personal chefs and “assembled meals” had taken precedence at the family table and cooking was firmly established as a hobby.

Luxury that shows is no longer desirable. Famous brands (Royal Daulton, Waterford Crystal, Wedgwood) that reigned for the longest possible time in the finest homes and dining rooms are facing the sad fact that they are in trouble. Public Luxury—which used to something most people aspired to—is now unfashionable. While it is possible to hide your luxury at home (you can drink beer in a Waterford goblet if you draw the curtains) it is impossible to hide your luxury in public. Famous automobile marques (Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Bentley and so forth) will sit longer on the showroom floor while a careful public reconsiders its values. Marketing luxury in an economic storm requires a deft touch; the focus needs to change to “value” and “craftsmanship” and there can be no references to ego-features (custom stitching on leather seats, say, or engines with 8 more cylinders than are strictly required) as in the good old days of joyful and exuberant conspicuous consumption.

This blog is dedicated to Jason Ashton.