Marketing coordinator for Hockey Experts earns unique trip to Winter Olympic Games in Sochi

When Canadian Tire Corporation and its family of companies, including  FGL Sports , Sports Experts  and Hockey Experts  put the call out to employees last fall to send in video submissions showing their skills as potential reporters to cover the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Chomedey’s very own Michelle Pellerin put her thinking cap on.

 

Michelle Pellerin

Pellerin, who serves as the marketing coordinator for Hockey Experts, had a connection to Quebec Olympian in cross country skiing Alex Harvey. Using these contacts she reached him and arranged for a skype video interview. “It was 15 minutes, he was very sweet and I sent it in,” she told me last week. “In October the president of our branch came into the office and made the announcement that I was the winner for Quebec. I completely freaked out. I still can’t quite believe it.”

The selection committee was impressed with her creativity, personality, bilingualism and knowledge of sports.  Pellerin is, in fact,  an avid skier and a big fan of alpine ski racer Erik Guay. She  boards her plane for Sochi today and will spend a week  with three colleagues:  two from Toronto and one from Calgary. The employees will create unique content for Canadian Tire and Sports Experts’ social media platforms and an employee website, as well as capture photos and videos of their unique Olympic moments. She will have the opportunity to attend different sporting events and interview Canadian athletes, coaches and fans while experiencing Russian culture first hand. She will have access to Canada House, where she will be able to mingle with athletes and their families in a casual and relaxed environment.

“I had a test run in Ottawa recently when I attended the announcement for the flag bearer,” Pellerin says. “I interviewed Hailey Wickenheiser, Joannie Rochette and Jean-Luc Brassard.”

After graduating from both the Université du Québec à Montréal and the UniversitéPanthéon Assas (Paris II), Pellerin went straight to work in the tourism industry, with her last job in commercial marketing for Air France. Following her time there, she joined the FGL Sports family. She focuses her attention  on a multitude of projects, from social media content for the national brand, in-store visual materials to coordinating online campaigns with a number of key suppliers

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P.F. Chang's Canada announces elaborate Chinese New Year contest

P.F. Chang’s Canada has launched an in-store Discover Your Fortune campaign to provide their guests with good fortune in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
 

“Even in Canada, it is important for us to offer our guests the opportunity to celebrate the Chinese New Year, as part of delivering an authentic experience.” explained Michael Aronovici, president and CEO of Interaction Restaurants L.P.   “We are encouraging our
guests to try new items from our extensive menu.”

During the 15 day Chinese New Year period, guests will receive a randomly selected "Good Luck"  envelope to discover their fortune. Giveaway items include, but are not limited to, delicious Oolong Marinated Sea Bass, famous Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps, signature Banana Spring Rolls, lucky $88 ‘Be Our Guest’ cards and even Lunch for Six. 

After receiving their gifts, guests will be encouraged to share their good fortune online as part of the social #ShareYourFortune campaign. Both the in-store and online campaigns are centered on the good fortune stemming from Chinese tradition. All guests will be invited to return  to use their certificate in the six  weeks after the promotion period. Each store is giving away over $30,000  in promotional value.
 

There are three P.F. Chang's in Canada: one in Montreal, one in Laval and one in Toronto. Expansion is coming.

A great opportunity to learn how to blog: Ometz offers two courses

I have been blogging seriously for many years now. So often I meet someone who tells me, "Oh,  I wish I could do that too!"

Well, it is not particularly difficult. But yes, one needs some training. I am self taught. So are most of my friends and colleagues. For those who really want to get it right,  Agence Ometz has a fantastic program on tap.

On Wednesday, Februart 5 (5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) in the computer lab (#307) of Federation CJA ( 1 Carré Cummings Square/5151 Cote St. Catherine), you can learn the basic ins and outs of blogging by starting your own blog and learning how to effectively write and target your message. This course is perfect for anyone maintaining or starting a personal blog and those interested in managing existing corporate blogs.  Lesley Bishin  is the instructor. She notes that this first class is for beginners.

A follow up ntermediate level course is set for the same time and location on Wednesday, February 19. So this will be for  participants with some blogging experience and Internet proficiency who would like to increase their skills, expand their following/visibility and take a personal or corporate blog to the next level. Here you will learn how to harness Wordpress to effectively target your audience, add tags, categories, meta tags and learn about basic SEO. Hands on, this course is a comprehensive technical workshop which requires basic understanding of the Internet.  

The cost for both courses is $55 each.

You can register  here for the February 5 course and here for February 19.

For more details call 514-342-0000 #3329.

CHOM's Jason Rockman launches unique new music/talk program on CJAD

Popular CHOM FM evening show host Jason Rockman, he of Amped with the Rockman, launches a completely new and refreshing program on Saturday, January 25 (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) on CJAD. It is called On the Record with Jason Rockman. Every week he will welcome a different celebrity to the show to talk about how music has influenced their life. What was the first concert they ever went to? What was the first album they ever bought?  

 

Sugar Sammy

Stepping into the studio first will be the one and only stand   up  comic Sugar Sammy. “He is a real romantic,” Rockman told me.  “Sammy is into a lot of stuff from the 80s.”

The show will feature a mix of talk and music. “We have a lot of interesting people lined up,” Rockman said, mentioning  Ivan Doroschuk from Men Without Hats, Kelly Osbourne and Allan Thicke to name a few.

Jason Rockman

Rockman, 43, has been with CHOM full-time for four years now. He also does weekly segments on CTV News Channel and with Aaron Rand on CJAD. Prior to his on air career,  Rockman was the lead singer for a band called Slaves on Dope which toured with OZZFEST and were even signed to Ozzy Osbourne’s record label.  “I actually sent my original radio demo to Virgin Radio,” Rockman says. “Patrick Charles, who was working there at the time actually redirected it to CHOM. I had never really thought of that, but it did make sense. My band had won the CHOM Esprit contest and  I was friends with  Too Tall, one  of their longtime hosts.”

CJAD Program Director Chris Bury is very pleased with this new addition to the lineup: “We love the concept for On the Record," he says. "It’s a talk show, but it allows us to dabble in music. I think listeners are going to enjoy the mix and they’re going to hear a side of celebrities they haven’t heard before. I think Jason is the perfect host for this. He’s hard-working and connected. He’s also a musician and can talk about so many different artists and styles of music with authority.”

Forget about ratings statistics for Quebec: we are lucky to have four anglo stations on our radar screens

I have never put much faith in the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) ratings, especially the method whereby a random selection of individuals are given diaries and asked  to write down their radio listening or television viewing habits. For the former it has  been the introduction of Portable  People Meters (PPMs), pager-sized devices which allows broadcast signals to be encoded with inaudible signals as they air or stream live, which seem to have added a little more reliability. We understand it is coming for TV here soon.

BBM TV ratings came out last week. For news programs it was no surprise to see the perennial champions,  CTV Montreal,  still way ahead of the pack for the supper hour period.Their 6 p.m. one hour newscast, with Mutsumi Takahashi and Paul Karwatsky, has always been a powerhouse with over 100,000 viewers.  CBC has three separate newscasts with Debra Arbec and Andrew Chang, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. while Global's Jamie Orchard as the anchor desk from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

 

Global Morning boss Robert Ostiguy with Dagenais  and Ross.

In the mornings, both Global and newcomer City have breakfast shows. While the ratings show that Canada AM on CTV has the most Quebec viewers, there is definitely something to be encouraged about for the others. The Global program has been on the air for just over a year, with the trio of Camille Ross, Richard Dagenais and Jessica Laventure. City's Breakfast Television, with Alexandre Despatie, Joanne Vrakas, Catherine Verdon Diamond, Laura Casella, Wilder Weir and Elias Makos only debuted last August. Global did have a morning show a number of years ago, but essentially there is a process taking place now and that is conditioning more folks to turn on their TV's first thing in the morning.

I believe it is working. Global's numbers, while not at the level of Canada AM, have improved dramatrically while the BBM's show City closely behind them.  I make it a point to watch all three: Canada AM to get a quick look at the national headlines and then Global and City to get some local flavor. To me, if you have a TV in the kitchen it is a no brainer to turn it on and get up to speed on trending news stories, weather and  traffic.

 

Casella, Despatie and Verdon Diamond.

When I sat down with Global station manager Karen Macdonald last summer to ask her about the incoming competition from City, she sincerely welcomed their presence. I guess she was right as her morning show's numbers did increase. So clearly what we have here is an evolving new morning show audience. Both shows are getting out to the community with live broadcasts - Laventure for Global and  Weir and Casella for City - and this definitely increases awareness.

"I really do think the competition is good," Macdonald says. "There is a  lot of talk in the community about morning TV. We know that it really takes a while to change the viewing habits of people."

I make sure to watch all three suppertime TV newscasts each day. While I cannot possibly watch them all live, it is wonderful to know that they are all pretty much accessible online. That folks is how TV viewing has changed in this decade.

In the case of CBC it is great to either turn the news on at 5 p.m. from the office or home and get an early peak at the developing stories. And all three also have late night newscasts.

My message to TV viewers is this: give each show your undivided attention. We are living with a Parti-Québecois government which is no friend to the anglophone community. The fact we havefour English-language TV stations bringing us live news shows is a luxury we need to encourage.

Mercuri Rising: veteran restaurateur finds a home at P.F. Chang's

There are a lot of reasons to explain the incredible success of the PFChang’s China Bistro locations at the central Decarie/Jean Talon location and at Carrefour Laval. Michael Aronovici, the president of Interaction Restaurants and the man who brought this popular chain to Canada, knows how to pick his operating partners: Louie Mercuri at Decarie and Elie Sucar in Laval.

Mercuri is indeed an experienced restaurateur. In 1993 he opened a Nickels Deli in St. Léonard and followed that up eight years later with a fine dining Italian restaurant in the Plateau area called Giorno e Sera. In 2004 he was hired as regional director for Les 3 Brasseurs,  moving on in 2008 as general manager for St-Hubert Rotisseries Corporate Division. When the opportunity came about to join the prestigious PF Chang’s brand just over a year ago he jumped at it.

 

Louie Mercuri

“I was familiar with the American Brand from my travels in the southern states,” Mercuri says. “I received a call from a couple of contacts within the restaurant industry who referred me to Michael Aronovici and after a couple of meetings I was onboard this wonderful journey!”

Mercuri was born and raised in St-Léonard to a tradional Italian family. He attended Pierre de Coubertin Elementary School and  Laurier Macdonald High School.   

P.F. Chang's, of course,  is an international brand that features a unique dining experience within an elegant, contemporary and family-friendly setting.  With over 230 restaurants globally, each P.F. Chang's restaurant is a culinary journey inspired by the cuisine of the five regions of China, from Mongolia and Sichuan, to Beijing, Shanghai and Hunan.  Each restaurant also features a variety of signature cocktails and unique desserts. 

P.F. Chang's menu items are cooked-to-order in traditional Chinese woks, using only the freshest ingredients delivered to the restaurant every day.   The won ton and egg drop soups are traditional starters. But the chicken lettuce wraps remain the true signature dish. The Mongolian beef, crispy honey shrimp and chicken and double pan-fried noodles are house favorites.

At P.F. Chang’s,  big celebrations are planned  for the Chinese New Year, which begins January 30 . There will be $30,000 in prizes given away at the two locales. Folks need to look out for the lucky red envelopes.

92.5 The Beat FM: GM Mark Dickie steps down; promotions director moves to CTV

Some big changes have occurred at 92.5 The Beat FM, with general manager Mark Dickie stepping down  from his post and promotions director Linda Fraraccio moving over to CTV Montreal.

Dickie confirmed to me that he is  headed back to Corus Entertainment - the former owners of The Beat predecessor Q92. "I am under contract to not disclose where I am going," he shared with me. "However, my wife Louise and I will be leaving Montreal and Quebec. I have been here 26 years almost to the date. I start my new position on February 3. I am certainly going to miss the great team we have at  The Beat."

Mark Dickie

Dickie was the mastermind behind the major format change, moving from the Q92 light rock format to The Beat's hits from the 80's, 90's and today. He made the dramatic move of not renewing favorite Aaron Rand's contract, choosing instead to pluck personalities away from rival Virgin  Radio such as Cat Spencer, Cousin Vinny and Nat Lauzon.

I personally appreciated my dealings with him. As to where he is headed, it is clearly another market.  Program Director Leo Da Estrela will step in as interim general manager.

 

Leo Da Estrela

Fracaccio is particularly good at what she does. She was hired at Q92 five years ago, leaving a similar post at Global TV.  “After nearly five years learning the ins and outs of radio, the opportunity to go back to TV – my first love – was one I could not pass up," she told me. "As I say goodbye to my friends at 92.5 The Beat, I take comfort in how well the station is doing, allowing me to focus on new and exciting challenges at CTV Montreal.”

At CTV Montreal, Fracaccio will serve as Manager of Creative Services, Promotions and Marketing.and work with such pros as promotions guru Jason Devine, himself a former Q92 staffer.. She is the second  impressive appointment CTV Montreal has made in recent months. Local sales director Wayne Bews came over from TSN 690 Radio.