The Ottawa office of Thornley Fallis & 76design has been selected as a finalist for Ottawa Professional Services Firm of the Year in the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards.

Winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner on Thursday, November 20th at Tudor Hall.

Other finalists in the Professional Services of the Year category are:

• Gansen Lindsay Design Consultants Inc.
• Genivar
• Gladstone Aerospace Consulting
• Hendry Warren LLP Chartered Accountants
• Herzing College
• Royal LePage Performance Realty
• Stevenson & White Inc.

I just received my welcome package to Fairmont President’s Club Premier.

I don’t normally get excited about stuff like this, but this was a very impressive, first rate effort by Fairmont.

Included in my package (shown spread out on my desk in the photo above) was:

• My 2008 Membership Card,
• Three room upgrade certificates,
• Two certificates for $25 off lunch or dinner, and
• Three luggage tags with my name on them and a Fairmont phone number and email address. If someone finds my bag(s), they (presumably after removing any valuables ) can contact Fairmont who will contact me to arrange for my luggage to be returned.

This is the type of customer service/relations that guarantees I will always look to stay at a Fairmont Hotel when travelling.

I travel a bit, sometimes more for my volunteer activities than for my work (sorry, kids!)

A recent trip left me with a great impression of Detroit, and I never even left the airport.  Indeed, the last time I travelled to Detroit in 2003, I did not really think much of the airport, or of the city. 

This time, however, I was impressed with the quality of the airport facility itself and with some of the little touches they have that indicated to me that the airport authority is thinking about marketing the city frequently.

Airports are the welcome mat to your community, and that’s why they are such a key piece of infrastructure.  People who don’t travel often may not appreciate it, but airports have an impact on investment decisions, on future partnerships, and on a whole host of intangibles that you would not sense from looking solely at the airport — itself — as a business.

Detroit’s welcome mat is now very impressive — bright, airy, modern and spacious, with a look and feel of a city on the move.  Kudos to the designers, etc., although there’s probably been cost overruns, and other challenges, as there always are on these types of projects.

To be honest, however, the thing that stuck with me was the number of languages the airport used to broadcast the kinds of general announcements airports always announce — you know, the “the Detroit airport is pleased to offer a non-smoking environment” ones.  They announced these in six languages, and that told me Detroit thinks of itself as a city of the world.

So why does that matter?  It matters because that’s where the world is going — major urban centres that will thrive are the ones that can welcome diverse cultures and welcome the business they bring.  Airports are hubs of economic and social activity, and they must demonstrate a recognition of their role as a network hub for a world in motion.

In short, I think Detroit gets it, and for all of the city’s challenges in recent times, the airport – at least — told me the city was headed in the right direction.  Indeed, it made me want to come back and visit, and when was the last time you said that about an airport?

A while back I posted about how ePost had got together with Canada’s banks and credit unions to make bills received through ePost available within online banking.  I commented how it was unfortunate, from a convenience and waste perspective, that many of companies I receive bills from (e.g. Home Depot, Hydro Ottawa, Enbridge, Sears, Best Buy, Future Shop) don’t give me the option to stop receiving paper bills.

This morning I signed on to online banking and got another pleasant, paperless surprise.

I can now view images of my cleared cheques online.

Not that I use cheques that often anymore.  In fact, with being able to email money around (which incidentally is what I signed on to do), I use cheques very rarely, and had opted out of receiving cleared cheques in the mail some time ago.  However, there have been a few occaisions in the last couple of years where I had used a cheque (small amounts) and when it cleared my account I didn’t know / couldn’t remember what it was for.  It would have been nice to have been able to see it online.  Now I can!

In terms of convenience and waste reduction, this is a good move by CIBC.

In my volunteer life, I’m the chair of the Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer Association — so I clearly don’t agree with Chuck Klosterman about soccer.

Having said that, I do recognize that soccer is a relatively new sport in this country, and that there are not a lot of people with experience to coach the 3,400 or so young players we have in the association.

I am still surprised, however, that of our 200 or so teams, we probably had to recruit some 15 to 25 per cent of our coaches under duress (i.e. we need a coach or there’s no team).

I’m also surprised at the number of familiar faces I see in the larger group of eager volunteers — hockey coaches coaching again in soccer season, scout leaders coaching, etc. And when we put out the call for coaches in our panic, the people who stepped up were the ones who usually do that other stuff.

In fact, one woman we called gave me a list of activities she and her husband were involved in that was so complete they had one night a week they could devote to coaching soccer, but they would do it if we really needed them.  We told them that, thanks, we’ll make sure we find someone else who isn’t giving quite so much.

So, my pitch is this: if you’re not volunteering right now for something, please think about doing so.  You don’t need to become a coach for the Dragons — although, if you’re interested, we could use the help.

What I’d really like to see is a group of people getting together to figure out how they can help each other help out.

I don’t have a home telephone.  My wife and I decided several years ago that since we both have cells, there wasn’t much point in having three phones for two of us.

Unfortunately, we still get the occasional telemarketing call. I can only imagine how many calls people with land lines get, but I have to say getting telemarketing calls on your cell is really annoying.  Particularly the ones where they are selling home (land line) phone plans or features, when my household has already decided we don’t want/need a land line.

I usually hang up during the three second delay between the time I say ‘Hello’ and the person calling mispronounces my name.

I currently hang-up because I know the Do-Not-Call Registry is not in place.  I can’t wait to be able to stay on the line and immediately ask to be added to their do-no-call list.

Why is the CRTC taking so long to implement the Do-Not-Call Registry?

In his post today, a version also ran in the Ottawa Citizen, Michael Geist says:

The unconscionable delay is part of a larger trend of Ottawa failing to set reasonable ground rules to protect Canadians from unwanted marketing.  Not only does Canada trail badly in the creation of a do-not-call registry, but it also stands virtually alone among developed countries in not taking any legislative steps to address the mounting spam problem. Given the near-universal public support for a do-not-call registry, the existence of a law mandating its creation, and successful implementations around the world, there is no valid excuse for leaving this call on hold.

What a joy it was to be appreciated on a recent business trip to Toronto.

Instead of flying into Pearson, I opted to take Porter Air to the Toronto City Island Airport. From the moment I checked in at the counter in Ottawa, and through each encounter with a Porter Air employee, I was greeted with a smile along with a please and thank you. What a difference an airline makes!

The last time I traveled Ottawa to Toronto return on the other carrier, there was not one employee smile. And there wasn’t anything else either, full stop. Over the PA system came an announcement there would be no inflight service due to the short route. Over at Porter, everyone’s served a snack and the beverage cart rolls by at least once during the 45 minute flight.

I will definitely be a return customer. Now - if only they could offer Porter Points.

A well timed knock on my front door gave me a polite and truthful reason to say goodbye to the telemarketer who was interrupting my enjoyment of a Senators playoff game. But I hesitated. What if that knock was someone was trying to sell me yet something else? Perhaps I should have turned off the lights to give the illusion I wasn’t at home. Or run the shower, and wash my suspicions away. 

My hunches were right. It was someone peddling something else. I felt it my civic duty to answer the door though. But the id bearing university student wasn’t actually selling anything, except ideas. His first bright one- handing over a few free compact fluorescent bulbs (CFBs) from Project Porchlight.  By changing one regular light bulb per household for a compact fluorescent one, the average Ottawa resident will save $50 in energy costs on their hydro bill over the lifetime of the bulb. 200,000 bulbs replaced citywide will result in 100,000 fewer tonnes of greenhouse gases emitted. And replacing just one old fashioned lightbulb with one new cfb in every household across Canada is the equivalent of taking 66,000 cars of the road. Now, that’s change within reach!  And just like Saint Nick pulling presents from his sack, this canvasser surrendered even more goodies from his EnviroCentre backpack. It’s an effort to help citizens use less energy and decrease their water usage. In other words, reduce our carbon footprints. Even Queen Betty’s getting involved. 

The EnviroCentre off loaded two 2 low flow showers heads, a kitchen faucet aerator, two bathroom faucet  aerators and foam tubing for my hot water pipes. By lessening the load in his backpack, he helped me lessen my carbon emissions.   

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a less than positive experience I had when making a purchase from Rogers, including the hassle of the mail-in rebate process.

This time its Staples.  Now Staples at least allows you to complete the rebate online.  I thought this was a good thing.

However, they make you type in a 12 digit UPC barcode number, a 6 digit rebate offer number and a 17 digit ID number.  The latter, they call an “Easy Rebates ID Number” because keying in 17 digits without error is so easy.  Anyway, whatever, I did all that and hit submit.

What happened next is the annoyance.

I made the purchase and completed the online rebate on March 7^th.

On March 8^th, I received the following email from Staples:

Rebate Claim Number XXXXXX

Thank you for submitting your rebate claim online.

Over the next few days we will confirm your purchase details and you will receive another email updating you on the status of your rebate.

Thank you,

STAPLES Business Depot Rebate Centre

If you have any questions, please do not reply to this message. You may contact the Rebate Centre on the web at staples.rebatestatus.ca, or by phone at 1 (866) 464-1122.

A day later (March 9^th), I received the same email again:

Rebate Claim Number XXXXXX

Thank you for submitting your rebate claim online.

Over the next few days we will confirm your purchase details and you will receive another email updating you on the status of your rebate.

Thank you,

STAPLES Business Depot Rebate Centre

If you have any questions, please do not reply to this message. You may contact the Rebate Centre on the web at staples.rebatestatus.ca, or by phone at 1 (866) 464-1122.

Then later in the day on March 9^th, a second email.  This one confirming that I had indeed bought the product – thanks for confirming Staples! – and notice that I will be receiving yet another email updating me on the status of my rebate in (quick order) 4 weeks. 

Rebate Claim Number XXXXXX

Details of your rebate claim are as follows.

Department: XXXXXX
Submission ID: XXXXXX

We have confirmed that you have bought this product. We are in the process of verifying that this rebate meets all terms and conditions (i.e. Limit per household criteria, returns, etc).

You will receive another email updating you on the status of your rebate within approximately 4 weeks.

To access the status of your submission during processing, you may contact us at:

Online: XXXXXX
Customer Service: 1 (866) 464–1122

Thank you,

STAPLES Business Depot Rebate Centre

If you have any questions, please do not reply to this message. You may contact the Rebate Centre on the web at http://staples.rebatestatus.ca, or by phone at 1 (866) 464-1122.

To date, I have had to submit some information online (fine), but I have now received three emails, am expecting a fourth and I’m sure at least a fifth after that. 

All this to get a $20 rebate they could have easily just knocked off the price I paid at the cash register.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a less than positive experience I had with Rogers when purchasing a new Blackberry Pearl.

Today, I received this email asking me to join the new Rogers Advisory Panel.  Two undoubtedly unrelated events.

I have joined the panel, which means I will be contacted up to twice a month to participate in short online surveys to help Rogers “better understand what customers like me want, both right now and in the future.”

I’ll see how it goes and will report anything of interest here.