September 11, 2007
In this issue:

Mighty Fraser Country Tourism Partners – Save the Date!
“New Old” Manager, Community Development at Tourism BC
Conference Update: Is Your Company as Prepared as They Can be for a Crisis?
Environmental Tip of the Month
Meet the Creatives Behind the Hottest Tourism Design Projects

Mighty Fraser Country Tourism Partners – Save the Date!

On Monday, October 1, 2007 Vancouver, Coast & Mountains will be conducting a meeting to encourage networking and discuss issues that are directly related to our partners in this area. While an official invite will be coming out later this week, mark your calendars to be at Tradex in Abbotsford from 10AM – 1PM to join an informative networking session you don’t want to miss.

Agenda items will include topics such as the integration of Mighty Fraser Country into regional and community marketing with Vancouver, Coast & Mountains, high definition videos that are available and upcoming, ideas for sector marketing (golf, outdoor experiences, First Nations) and touring marketing (Circle Farm Tours, Scenic 7, First Nations), BC 2008 Rivermania and much more!

Stay tuned for more information, including the official invite and agenda, later this week!

“New Old” Manager, Community Development at Tourism BC

Here is some great news regarding the recent competition for the Manager, Community Development at Tourism BC. Laura Plant was the successful candidate! For the new employees that have just started in the past year, Laura used to hold this position until she left the corporation to travel to Asia for a year. It's terrific that she wanted to return to Tourism BC!

Laura will be starting her "new old" position on October 3rd. She can be reached at laura.plant@tourismbc.com if you wish to send her an email to welcome her to the team.

Also a big thank you to Trevor Kier for all his hard work and contributions in the past year. If anyone would like any information on where to stay or dine in any of the 42 communities Tourism BC is currently working with in the Community Tourism Foundations Program, Trevor is the person to ask.

Best of luck to both Laura and Trevor as they start their new roles.

Conference Update: Is Your Company as Prepared as They Can be for a Crisis?

Does your company have the answers to difficult crisis situations such as another SARS outbreak or a viral pandemic?

What would your company do if a large percentage of its workforce fell ill during a flu pandemic?

The Hospitality and Tourism Industries are unique and will have to deal with crisis situations differently than a manufacturing company. Come learn from your industry peers and experts in the hospitality and tourism industries that have dealt with crisis situations. Come and participate in a tabletop simulation facilitated by an international crisis management company.

This conference can help you GET PREPARED!

Crisis Management in Hospitality and Tourism: Getting Prepared: A conference for the Canadian tourism community and for those who protect it.
 
Events such as 9/11, SARS, and the heightened probability of a looming global flu pandemic have reminded everyone in tourism and hospitality that organizations need to prepare a proactive and comprehensive plan to manage the unexpected.  This conference will prepare leaders in your organization to plan and implement strategic crisis management initiatives to mitigate the risk of the unexpected while simultaneously sheltering the organization’s employees, clients, shareholders and other stakeholders from potentially ruinous business disruption, interruption, and other unsustainable practices. It is also intended to give first responder policy makers a chance to understand what the public will expect of them. 
 
Conference Purpose and Overview
This event will provide a comprehensive venue for industry executives to learn, network, and share established best practices from national and international experts in all facets of crisis management applicable to the hospitality and tourism industry. 
  
To culminate the lessons learned and provide tools for the ‘Getting Prepared’ purpose of the conference, attendees will benefit from a balanced program mix of:
keynote plenary speakers
professional networking opportunities
a concluding experiential learning activity
The Conference will open on Monday morning with a welcome networking breakfast followed by interactive plenary sessions.  Monday afternoon showcases the industry best practices panel with ‘survivors’ from the foodservice, accommodations, suppliers and tourism sectors.  Monday concludes with dinner and an information fireside chat with speakers.  Tuesday is filled interactive plenary sessions on planning and recovery strategies.  Tuesday afternoon will engage participants in an experiential learning activity that promises to assist in corporate preparedness planning once attendees return to their organizations.             

Who Should Attend?
This conference is targeted specifically at hospitality and tourism industry executives who are either currently, or contemplating becoming involved in the roles of visioning, planning, policy, operations management, and implementation of crisis management initiatives within their respective organizations. 

Conference Content Sessions:
Experts from Canada, the U.S., and Australia will highlight how you can meet the global challenge of getting prepared for safety and security events that the hospitality and tourism industries are being faced with on a daily basis.
Check the website for speaker profiles and the full program.  

Date  
Monday, October 1st, 2007 – Conference Day One
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 – Conference Day Two

Venue
Renaissance Toronto Airport Hotel
801 Dixon Road
Toronto, Ontario
M9W 1J5   Canada

To view speaker profiles, full program and registration details, please go to:
www.tiac.travel/english/crisismanagement.asp

Environmental Tip of the Month

Tour operators and other tourism businesses may want to look at their vehicle idling habits after reading this month’s Environmental Tip from ‘One Day’, a City of Vancouver program with tips on reducing energy consumption (www.onedayvancouver.ca): 

TURN OFF YOUR ENGINE WHEN YOU ARE PARKED.  
Unnecessary idling wastes fuel and money, pollutes the air we breathe, contributes to climate change and fouls your engine.  After 10 seconds, idling your vehicle uses more fuel than restarting the engine.

COMMON IDLING MYTHS

Myth: Shutting off and restarting your vehicle is harder on the engine and uses more gas than if you leave it running
Extensive testing on behalf of Natural Resources Canada has proven that idling for periods as short as ten seconds uses more fuel and produces more greenhouse gas emissions than stopping and restarting your engine. Recent tests by Air Care confirm that this finding also applies to other forms of air pollution. This is because oxygen sensors on today's vehicles are electrically heated, preventing the engine from running too rich upon restarting and the catalytic converter does not cool down enough while the vehicle is shut off to justify idling the vehicle.
In addition, frequent restarting has little impact on engine components such as the battery and starter motor which are designed for many thousands of cycles over their lifetime. Component wear caused by restarting the engine is estimated to add $10 per year to the cost of driving, money that will likely be recovered several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling.  

Myth: The engine should be warmed up for long periods before driving and cooled down afterwards
Idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in colder weather. Modern engines circulate oil throughout the engine quickly and the best way to warm up the lubricants in transmission etc. is to drive your vehicle. Even diesel engines in very cold weather (rarely seen in the Lower Mainland) require no more than 30 seconds of idling before starting to drive.
Under normal city driving conditions, turbo chargers do not need to cool down after use. If you have been driving a vehicle with a turbo charger at high-speeds or pulling a heavy load, you may want to idle it a few minutes before shutting it off (if recommended in your owner manual). 

Myth: Idling is good for your engine
Excessive idling can actually damage your engine's components, including cylinders, spark plugs and the exhaust system. That's because an idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means that fuel combustion is incomplete. This leaves fuel residues that can condense on cylinder walls, where they can contaminate oil and damage engine components. For example, fuel residues tend to deposit on spark plugs. As the amount of engine idling increases, the average plug temperature drops and plug fouling is accelerated. This can increase fuel consumption by 4 to 5 percent. Excessive idling can also allow water to condense in the vehicle's exhaust, which can lead to corrosion and reduce the life of the exhaust system.

Meet the Creatives Behind the Hottest Tourism Design Projects

Picture this: a gorgeous glossy advertisement, full of bright colours, vibrant images, and your fabulous logo right there for all to see. Imagine how it looks even better when the page right beside your sexy ad is dull, boring with lackluster images. How did you know that your ad would be so stellar? Because Leanne and Angela helped you out!

If you haven’t heard of it yet, West 2 Design is a boutique-style design studio specializing in the hospitality, tourism and golf industries. They take pride in producing clean, simple marketing materials that are visually strong and achieve results. If you are currently a client of W2D, Leanne and Angela would like to thank you for your continued work and support, and if you are in need of some design assistance, here is a little more information about this dynamic duo!

Leanne Von Hollen is the creative director and came to West 2 Design over 6 years ago with a background in both advertising & publishing. Her training is in both Design & Digital media and Fine Arts from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton. Leanne’s work has been as varied as her client list, with projects ranging from corporate branding to billboards to bus sides for national advertising campaigns. Leanne loves to travel (don’t hesitate to ask her about her camel ride this summer!), and also enjoys reading, big mugs of coffee (she is one of Starbucks' VIP customers) and answers to “Mom” when addressed by her feline baby, Shadow.

 

 

Angela Haggman joined the West 2 Design team in January 2007. She has a BFA in Visual Communication Design from the University of Washington. Her previous experience includes working at an advertising agency, an architecture and design magazine, and a multi-disciplinary design firm. While she is positively stoked every year for Thanksgiving to get her fix of her favourite dessert, creamy pumpkin pie - Angela certainly doesn’t sit around and wait for October to get her tasty fill (she has been know to have pumpkin pie birthday cakes!). Her other interests include travelling, ancient cultures, fitness & nutrition, and she definitely plays a mean round of yo-yo!

Still curious about the dream team? Please feel free to contact Leanne and Angela for a quote or a chat. They can be reached at leanne@west2design.com or angela@west2design.com.