It sure is quiet around the office this time of year. I hope all those who have already had some vacation and all those presently on are enjoying themselves with family and friends. We miss you and hope you are being safe and taking good care. Are there any stories you want to share with us? A funny happening, a strange incident, a new place visited? I’d be happy to post any pictures.

Take care and hope to see you all back soon. Enjoy!

As I said earlier this week in a memo thanks so much for all those involved in the Elton John sale under the leadership of Peggy Dooley. Most any day can present challenges but that particular day was I’m sure the granddaddy of them all.

The unfortunate part was we only had 23,000 tickets to sell. This left so many disappointed persons out there who desperately want to see Elton John. Obviously if you did the math and all ticket purchasers bought their 4 tickets approxamately 5,300 people were happy. This left 10s of thousands of disappointed fans. Living in a global environment these tickets were purchased by computer savvy purchasers all over the world who will unfortunately resell them at a profit. This is the world we live in.

To all of you involved in the Ticket Atlantic process, a huge thank you. You were all so professional in trying times. You are the best!

I am pleased to announce thatSandy Gordon has been chosen as the winner for the monthly contest.Thanks to all that participated.

Sandy I hope you and your friends enjoy the fabulous lunch at the wonderful Maxwell Plums in downtown Halifax.I`m available just in case you were looking for someone to  join you and spend all your money.

Attached you will find a recent article in the Herald written by our communications manager Barb Stegemann. Barb really understands what has to happen in our community for it to be healthy and positioned for growth. I thought you would enjoy reading it. Thanks Barb, well done!

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Search/1062348.html

How about that Hugh Derby. What a great job he is doing to organize the walk/run for Prostate Cancer on Fathers’ Day. There he was yesterday along with Doris and Mary selling all that wonderful fudge and candy (don`t tell JoAnne I bought any) to raise funds for a much needed cause. Thanks Hugh to you and the team that will walk on Sunday. What a great group of people here at Trade Centre. I am proud of all of you. Thanks so much.

This month the featured department is Catering. Get three correct answers to the questions and you will qualify to win a major prize: a $100 gift certificate to the exciting and wonderful Maxwell’s Plum. Enter and win! Good luck. Maybe it will be you taking your friends for lunch?

WTCC Catering Trivia Questions

Not only did we have Prime Minister Stephen Harper attend an IIHF game here in Halifax, but read the letter he sent to his host Grant MacDonald. (I suppose now we will have to bow in Grant’s presence.)

PMO’s letter (PDF)

I must apologize for my lack of blogging recently. So many great stories to be told and just not finding enough time to sit and update you. The World Men’s came and went so quickly. Where did the time go? I was so proud of our entire team: you rose to the occasion and showed the rest of the country that Halifax continues to be the place to hold these types of events. Thanks to all of you.

This week I was in Toronto to present our bid for the World Junior Hockey Championships 2010. It was a great presentation prepared by Events Halifax and the team. We presented along with Scott Ferguson, Grant MacDonald, Darren Crosser (Hockey Nova Scotia) and Ian Fowler from the city of Moncton. We are up against a bid from Winnepeg and Saskatoon. It becomes increasingly difficult as we compete now against much bigger facilities. However we have a great track record in Halifax and I know we will bring more of these events in the future.

As if we were not busy enough, we had Angela Dennison in Greece at the Sport Accord event representing Halifax. What happens but a major earthquake. I am happy to report we got her out and she is back home safe and sound.

Then we have our Barb Stegemann who is always working on opportunities for the betterment of our community. She encouraged Terry David Mulligan and Jason Priestley to bring their television show Hollywood and Vines to Halifax to promote Clipper ships, our award-winning executive chef Christophe, Nova Scotia wines and Taste of Nova Scotia. A brilliant idea that will help grow our Nova Scotia economy as they feature all of this on their internationally televised program.

And if you think that is enough try the Around the World Clipper event organized by our Events Halifax team. From breakfasts to luncheons to dinners and press conferences and barbeques, Grant and his team are straight out every day.

Put five performances of Riverdance on top of this on the weekend and yes we are BUSY! But I must say, positively busy. Thats what we’re here for. Hats off to all and enjoy any or all of the events this week.

It was great to see all those happy smiling faces participate again this year in the downtown clean-up. Thanks to all for recognizing the need and doing something about it. Just another example of Trade Centre Limited and its employees doing wonderful things that benefit our community. Many thanks to each and every one of you.

Enjoy the pictures of our TCL Stars.

Attached you will find a great story of a person’s visit to Halifax for the Men’s Worlds. The email was sent to Joe Leary, host of the morning show on HAL FM. We have so many wonderful people here in Halifax but Louise is exceptional.

Greetings from Dusseldorf  (PDF)