MH3 Business, Business Lessons, Marketing, TrojanOne, Work

Home Run

I often wonder what people are thinking when we get in front of them to make a new business pitch.

We had a couple going on last week. Big ones. Agency game-changers in fact.

Each is with blue chip companies. Good-sized budgets. Great brands. Plus a history of doing interesting experiential and event work. Which makes me both excited and nervous.

Often people ask me to provide them examples of our best pitch ever. Hard to say. Perhaps because the process is like speed dating meets job interviewing. Continue reading “Home Run” →

MH3 Life Lessons, Living Life

56 Berwick

Do you ever drive by your childhood home to kindle some nostalgic embers?

What about old residence dorms? Summer camps? Or the first house you bought?

Well the other day as I was booting about town, I was shocked to see the first Toronto address I ever possessed was now reduced to rubble. It was 1988 when me and my buddies moved into 56 Berwick, fresh from university and ready to hit our first jobs. Continue reading “56 Berwick” →

MH3 Business Lessons, Marketing, TrojanOne, Work

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

There is an old poem, author unknown, which includes a key stanza by which I have always lived my life. It goes like this:

Make new friends,
But keep the old.
One is Silver,
The other Gold.

I have tried to live most of my life and my career this way. Like any principle, it’s easier said than done. But it’s probably the most valuable one I have professionally. Continue reading “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old” →

MH3 Business, Business Lessons, Canadian Sponsorship Forum, Events, Marketing, TrojanOne, Work

Tour de Montréal

It’s a bit of an oxymoron, but lunching with Andy Nulman is a gas. If you don’t know Andy Nulman, he is the über-charismatic president of the Just for Laughs Festival. It’s his second stint with JFL, the first starting after he was fired as a journalist at 23 and then in 15 meteoric years rose to CEO of JFL. Then left to start Airborne Entertainment, sold it for $110 million, then bought it back for way less, and then returned to JFL in 2010. Wow… And what have YOU done in the last 20 years?
Last week, I jammed a whirlwind dose of Montréal into a 27-hour window. It’s amazing to me that despite the fact I go to the village formerly known as Hochelaga quite often, it never feels often enough. That’s good news for Porter, as I need to go back again soon. What I have realized is that it’s more than the charm of the city and the lure of its events that keeps me coming, but rather it’s the people that provide its spark. Continue reading “Tour de Montréal” →

MH3 Events, Marketing, Properties, Sponsors, Sponsorship, Sports

NHL All-Star Weekend Rocks

My apologies to Allstar Weekend for borrowing their URL to entitle my blog! But it was the first title that popped into my mind, and I am too pooped to come up with something else, so I don’t give a poop if they don’t like it. Besides, I have no idea who this band is…

Just kidding!

Nevertheless, “NHL” All-Star Weekend does rock in countless ways. You may not understand unless you’ve had a chance to be part of more than just the game. The NHL has taken this weekend and elevated it to a major, major, major league marketing extravaganza.

Whether it be the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fair, or the Energizer Lithium Lounge at Saturday night’s party hosted at the Molson Canadian Hockey House, there is something for young and old. Continue reading “NHL All-Star Weekend Rocks” →

MH3 Business, Living Life, Opinion, TrojanOne, Work

Not Another “Year in Review”

It seems this time of year, journalists get even lazier than normal and run endless versions of Year in Review, Year in Photos, Year in Quotes, Year in Tweets, etc.

So as a casual blogger and wannabe scribe, am I going to hold myself to a higher bar? Heck no. My middle name is “Bandwagon,” so look out because I am jumping on. Continue reading “Not Another “Year in Review”” →

MH3 Coaching, Life Lessons, Living Life, Sports, Travel

Hey, Bus Driver!

Riding the bus to Detroit this morning.

Big game at Joe Louis Arena today, playing the Trenton Cobras with a 4:30 puck drop. Wonder how big of a crowd we will get?

The Cobras are from Trenton, Michigan. We are the York Mills Minor Peewee Select Rangers. York Mills being the “skiers league” in Toronto. These Rangers in particular are my son’s team.

What the heck is a “skiers league”? In essence, it’s a hockey league populated by families that have other priorities. Schedule-wise, it looks like a normal hockey league, until the snow falls and then all games and practices are essentially held on weeknights. Weekends are held sacred for downhill pursuits.

So how will this would-be group of Crazy Canucks do against the Cobras? I have to admit to looking for some info about them online. Does that make me an overzealous, hockey-mad parent? Because I Googled a team of 11-year-olds playing tier-three select hockey? Continue reading “Hey, Bus Driver!” →

MH3 Cause/Fundraising, Marketing, Sponsorship, TrojanOne, Work

Movember’s over. What Next?

Tonight marks the official end of Movember, at least in mo’ world, as I head off to the big Gala Parté at Kool Haus.

It’s been a record year. Last I heard, the Canadian fundraising total was over $32 million and I bet by the time you read this, the number will start with a three, and end above a five (Yes, I am predicting at least $35 million, if my bad word puzzle didn’t make sense).

With over 240,000 people supporting Movember, it has to be one of the largest fundraising events in the country, if not one of the greatest movements of our time.

I am very proud of our company team, MojanOne, chasing our $20,000 goal and our current ranking of number 87 in the ‘Top 100’ corporate teams nationally. Unreal. Super heartfelt thanks goes out to Jody Facchini, our MojanOne team captain. She was elected by her MojanOne teammates to lead our internal committee and knocked it out of the park… like with everything she tackles. She even got my family dog on board!

Also, a HUGE thanks to all of you who supported my own fundraising efforts. As of press time, I was at THREE-THOUSAND, THREE-HUNDRED AND  SIXTY SMACKERS!  Wowee! Thankee!

If you don’t read this until Saturday or later, by that time I will be clean-shaven. I am debating between drunkenly shaving it off myself tonight after the Parté, or waiting till the a.m. to go see Alfred, my trusty barber on Mount Pleasant Road. Any advice amigos?

So now what? It took me a while to get into the swing of things this year, despite my being on the Movember Toronto Committee (Big shout out to Jordan Vader & Casey Rovinelli for their leadership, not to mention Movember Canada national director Pete “Bomber” Bombaci!). In fact, I really didn’t start canvassing hard until mid-month.

Subconsciously, I think I needed to be emboldened by my ‘stache. Once it started to come in… it was almost like I was granted hairy super powers. Because strand by strand, I raised more and more money… to the point where I am now wondering whether this hairy lip was my personal long-lost elixir?
So what’s next? Once my lip turns from black (and grey) to itchy red, what do I do? Can you believe it? Movember has created a new side effect. A post-Movember mood, in the month of December.

What will now galvanize our company? What will dominate water cooler chat? What will we discuss for the first fifteen minutes of every meeting we are in? What will replace the office chirping the growth-challenged have faced?

Perhaps the holidays? Year-end budgets? Office parties? The first sign of snow? School breaks? The race towards NFL playoffs? Boxing Day shopping? New Year’s parties? Resolutions for 2012? All of the above?

Whatever it is… I hope we can all take a wee lesson from Movember. Our time on this earth is precious. Many people will face issues like prostate cancer. Serious, deadly issues. Let’s do our best to conquer these issues. Whether they are personal, physical, or professional.

But along the way, let’s have fun.

MH3 Blog, Cause/Fundraising, TrojanOne, Work

Mo’ Money

I was called out Monday at our company-wide meeting – internally known as ChalkTalk – for not having raised enough money for our MojanOne Movember fundraising efforts. Ouch!

The other day someone said ‘How come you’re not blogging about Movember?’ Double ouch!

Then I looked online at my totals. Oh boy. Triple whammy.

So it’s time to rev up the engines and generate some Mo’ Money!

That’s where you come in. This is the one and only time I will hit you up all year for a direct pitch. But of course, if I want you to open your wallets and share your Front of the Line Amex or your Team Visa or your Priceless MasterCard numbers with me, I need to give you something in return… or at least provide valid reasons why you should donate to the cause.

So here goes… ten reasons for you to donate to my Movember Mo Space page on behalf of my company team. Continue reading “Mo’ Money” →