Saturday, September 11th

Calling all Ad Women of Toronto!

This Year the ICA and the Ad Women of Toronto will be joining the Princess Margaret Hospital in The Weekend to End Women’s Cancers™.

We are participating in the first day only (Saturday September 11th) of this journey that will not only change your life, but through your hard work and fundraising could potentially help change the lives of other women.

Women’s cancers have touched the lives of all us in some way, be it through our grandmother, sister, mother, aunt, daughter, friend, colleague or just an acquaintance. Cancer also profoundly affects the people closest to the person suffering in unimaginable ways.

The Ad Women of Toronto are committed to work together to reach our goal of raising $25,000. How are we going to do it?

Sign-up - Every Ad Woman of Toronto is welcome to join the team and sign up with their friends and family to participate.

Fundraise - Sign-up to raise $1,250 for the 1 Day walk. As professional women, we have great ideas and interesting networks so let’s utilize our strengths to raise funds for such an important initiative. Let’s reach out to those around us and raise some money while having fun and reconnecting with the people in our lives, all for a good cause.

Walk - As a past walker I can tell you that this is a life changing event. One where people are able to work together and connect in a way that both invigorates and encourages everyone around them to do what they can to help fight women’s cancers.

How can Ad Women of Toronto Help? We’ll be providing sessions on what the walk entails, how to train, how to fundraise with tips on how to hold easy fundraising activities, as well as holding our own Ad Women of Toronto Fundraising Event!

What you’ll receive:

To join the Ad Women of Toronto team, please click here.

If you have any questions you can contact the Ad Women of Toronto Team Captain, Melissa Myers at mmyers@icacanada.ca - 416 482 1396 Ext. 226 or the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers Hotline at 416-815-WALK.

Ad Women of Toronto and the ICA are participating in the 2010 Shoppers Drug Mart Weekend to End Women’s Cancers™ and we want you to walk with us!

During one amazing weekend, thousands will join together to walk in the battle against women’s cancers. It’s a massive undertaking and that’s why your participation is more critical than ever.

This 2-day event on September 11th and 12th is an opportunity for you to discover what it is to be a hero in the fight against women’s cancers. You can join thousands of men and women for the Two Day 60 kilometre walk, or the new One Day 30 kilometre walk on Saturday only.

To participate you’ll need to raise at least $1,250 if you are taking part in the One Day walk or $2,000 if you participate in the Two Day walk. All proceeds will benefit the Campbell Family Institute at The Princess Margaret Hospital.

In one weekend, you can do something amazing. You can make a change for yourself, for your community and for the world.

We need your help to build the Ad Women of Toronto/ICA team! Friends and family are welcome to join the team as well.

To join the Ad Women of Toronto/ICA team, please click here to take you to the team page, then click “Join Team” or you can download and complete the registration form.

For more information, please contact your Team Captain, Melissa Myers at mmyers@icacanada.ca.

May 27, 2010 – Toronto, Ontario – The Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA), Ad Women of Toronto and The Globe and Mail are pleased to announce that Eileen Naughton, Director of Media Sales and Operations for North and Latin America, Google will be an Extraordinary Stories speaker on Monday, June 7, 2010 at Toronto’s Rosehill Venue Lounge, 1365 Yonge Street, from 5:00 – 7:30 PM. Her talk is titled, An Emigre’s View: the evolution of media, from ink on paper to data in the cloud.

Eileen will be discussing her career journey, which took her from the pinnacle of magazine publishing to the white-hot centre of digital innovation at Google. She will be touching upon her transition from president of TIME Magazine to Google, where as director of media and operations for the Americas she is helping drive a high-growth display advertising business at one of the world’s most dynamic Internet companies.

Eileen serves on the leadership team for Google’s Americas’ sales organization. As Director of Media Sales and Operations for North and Latin America, she is responsible for developing and executing an integrated strategy for sales, marketing and operations across Google’s display advertising businesses, including YouTube, the Google content network, mobile advertising and DoubleClick’s ad serving technology.

Eileen joined Google after a distinguished career at Time Warner Inc., where she was President of the global editions of TIME Magazine and the TIME Group. She was named a “Woman to Watch” by AdAge Magazine in 2007, and in 2009 was featured in “How Remarkable Women Lead,” a book focusing on successful female leaders by McKinsey & Company.

Tickets are $40 for Ad Women Members/$350 for 10 tickets, or $50 for non-members/$450 for 10 tickets.

Tickets include appetizers and cocktails following the presentation.

Ad Women of Toronto members can order their tickets now.

May 27, 2010. QMI AGENCY / Stefania Moretti

The Bay is not looking to include discount stores as part of its future strategy and instead is hell-bent on selling brand name fashion and home furnishings not available at the competition, the iconic retailer’s president and chief executive said Thursday.

The department store’s No. 1 priority is to up gross profit per square foot, The Bay President and CEO Bonnie Brooks said at a speaking engagement hosted by Ad Women of Toronto. The event was the third in series called the Extraordinary Stories Speaker Series organized by the Institute of Communication Agencies.

Read the entire article at Canoe.ca’s Money section.

There was also mention of Bonnie’s talk at Toronto Life’s The Goods blog — read the post titled “More red mittens, more luxury at The Bay”.

Tim Williams Founder and President of the Ignition Consulting Group.

Agency 2.5 is a fast-paced seminar that explores what agency professionals must do to deliver the solutions that clients need to compete in the new digitally-enabled, economically-challenged marketing environment.

This workshop looks at the traditional agency functions and discusses what to relinquish, what to rework, and what to reinvent. We’ll explore the new emerging functions that are reframing the agency skill set, including social media, analytics, user experience, and reputation management.

Specific tools, methods, and approaches you can employ to become more relevant and valuable to clients will be examined, including:

• Online reputation management and social media as an agency function
• Fully integrating interactive into the fabric of the agency
• How to bring more accountability through analytics
• Becoming as expert in one-to-one communications as mass communications
• The imperative to moving away from exposure to engagement
• Skills and functions needed to move from “push” to “pull”
• The importance of separating ideation from execution
• Developing branded content instead of advertising
• Thinking multi-channel production instead of ad production
• Charging for thinking, not just doing

Agencies preach disruption to their clients. Now it’s time for agency professionals to disrupt the way they do business themselves.

DATE: June 17, 2010

LOCATION: The Hart House Music Room 
                           Hart House, University of Toronto’s St. George Campus

TIME: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

PRICING:
ICA Members - $295.00 for 1 person & $500.00 for 2 people
Non ICA Members - $395.00 for 1 person & $700.00 for 2 people

Register Now!

For more information on the event, please contact Stacey Farber at sfarber@icacanada.ca or 416-482-1396 Ext. 223.

Yujia has just completed her first year of undergraduate studies at Queen’s School of Business. After having attended Advertising Week’s Next Generation Day Event, she felt her career aspirations were confirmed.

Yujia is one of our newest Ad Women of Toronto members, and has this to say:

The ICA provided an unparalled opportunity for more than 200 young people to spend a day working in one of the top 20 advertising agencies in Toronto. The Ad Women of Toronto also held a Fashion Show later that week, allowing attendees the ability to connect with the Who’s Who in communications while having the most fabulous time with all the high-class enjoyments.

Follow my blog at www.7daysatcannes.com as I saunter on the sandy red carpets of the beautiful Côte d’Azur and update you on the Oscars of advertising CANNES, with special mentions to the incredible talents, world-class workshops, extravagent galas….and the exquisite French culture!

13 APR 2010: While most viewers who sat transfixed in front of the TV last February watched the winter Olympic games, it turns out the Canadian Tourism Commission was watching them. “Our strategy was not to focus on spectators but the 3 billion viewers who watched The Games,” said Michele McKenzie, president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission.

McKenzie shared insights on the Olympics at a new exciting speaker series for ad execs and media planners hosted by the Institute of Communication Agencies and Ad Women of Toronto, a new group worth checking out for those in sales and marketing.

So how do you get those clients?

Start with a five year plan.

McKenzie is no stranger to Canadian tourism. She’s lived from coast to coast, worked in top jobs like Nova Scotia’s deputy minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, and in 2004 when she accepted the top position to steer Canada’s tourism office, one of her first tasks was to create a Winter Olympics media plan.

Read the entire article and interview at Travel Industry TODAY, an online travel news publication.

Bonnie Brooks

The ICA and The Globe and Mail are delighted to announce that Bonnie Brooks, President and CEO, the Hudson’s Bay Company will be an Extraordinary Stories speaker.

The Bay is the country’s oldest department store and operates 94 stores across Canada. Ms. Brooks has over two decades of extensive prestige brand and department store experience. Ms. Brooks has spent more than 25 years building prestige retail formats around the world, like Holt Renfrew, Lane Crawford, Harvey Nichols, and leading designer brand stand-alone stores in Asia.

In Canada, Ms. Brooks is best known for her roles at Holt Renfrew where she was Executive Vice President/General Merchandise Manager and Senior Vice President of Marketing. In these executive positions, she had complete responsibility for strategic planning, all marketing functions, all merchandise buying, designer brand acquisition, and more. She has also served as Editor-in-Chief of FLARE, Canada’s largest fashion and lifestyle magazine and has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

DATE: Thursday, May 27, 2010

Michele McKenzie is the President and CEO of Canada’s national tourism marketing organization, the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC).  The CTC markets and promotes Canada’s extra-ordinary travel experiences internationally to increase export revenues in Canada.

Michele joined CTC in 2004, leading the Crown Corporation to its new home on the west coast of Canada, Vancouver. Under her leadership, Canada’s new tourism marketing brand was developed and launched internationally. Canada’s country brand recognition and tourism appeal has since risen from 12th in the world, to 6th, to 2nd place.   

In 2009, CTC was named “Marketer of the Year” in Canada, a first for a Crown Corporation, a first for a west coast corporation, and a great tribute to Michele’s vision.

Backed by the Government of Canada, Michele is leading her team to execute and deliver on an ambitious five-year strategy to help ensure that Canada’s visitor economy is the greatest beneficiary of the 2010 Winter Games.

Michele is Ontario born, grew up in Nova Scotia and is a graduate of Dalhousie University.  Michele served as Deputy Minister for Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage and has been an active Director on several Boards over the course of her career.

Tickets are $40 for Ad Women Members/$350 for 10 tickets, or $50 for non-members/$450 for 10 tickets. Tickets include appetizers and cocktails following the presentation.

March 2, 2010 – Toronto, Ontario – The Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA) and Ad Women of Toronto are pleased to announce that Jill Nykoliation, partner and lead strategist of Juniper Park — Toronto based advertising agency and recent CASSIES winner — will present Marketing to the New Economic Powerhouse: Women on Thursday, March 25th 2010 at Toronto’s Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West, from 5:00 – 7:30 PM.

Forget the term “gatekeeper” - women are much more powerful today when it comes to consumption. Women now account for more than over 50 per cent of jobs and dominate the purchase influence and decision in nearly every single category. Yet, most women still feel their needs have gone unmet by the majority of marketers. At this must-attend presentation, Jill will go past well-trodden insights to share new learnings on how women communicate, and how marketers can use the knowledge to better connect with this invaluable consumer.

In three years, Jill and her firm Juniper Park (www.juniperpark.com) have achieved unprecedented growth. Recognized as a finalist for Agency of the Year by Marketing magazine in both 2008 and 2009, Jill was named to Ad Age’s 2009 Women to Watch list, and the company swept the 2010 CASSIES, winning the Grand Prix and two Golds. Juniper Park is an agency that brings the disciplines of strategy, design and advertising together for its enviable North American client roster, which includes Frito Lay US, Quaker US, Virgin Mobile, Chicago Tribune, Astral Media and EOS. Jill’s passion for creating brand platforms was cemented through her work at Kraft Foods as co-creator of Kraft’s award-winning CRM initiative, in addition to other brand management roles. Jill is a graduate of Queen’s Business School.

Tickets for this must-attend event are on sale now and are $40 for Ad Women Members/$350 for 10 tickets, or $50 for non-members/$450 for 10 tickets. Tickets include appetizers and cocktails following the presentation.

About Ad Women of Toronto
Launched by the Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA) in January 2009, Ad Women of Toronto is a unique initiative that enables women of all career stages to participate in, and contribute to, the marketing communications industry in a completely new way. Linking women through mentorship, education and entertainment, members include a diverse group of leading women in communications, advertising, and media. By facilitating diversity and debate, Ad Women of Toronto encourages various points of view, shared experiences and knowledge, and the promotion of unique talents and skills to propel future leaders to the top. For more information please visit www.adwomentoronto.ca.

About the ICA
The Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA) represents Canada’s communications and advertising agencies. ICA members collectively account for over 80 per cent of all national advertising in Canada, with an economic impact worth more than $20 billion annually. ICA serves as a leading source of information, advice and industry education, promoting thought leadership, best practices and the elevation of professional standards. ICA-led initiatives include thought leadership events, such as FutureFlash and Advertising Week, professional development forums such as Ad Women of Toronto and certification programs, such as the CAAP accreditation and the Master’s Certificate in Brand Communications. More information about the ICA and its initiatives can be found at www.icacanada.ca.

MEDIA: To RSVP, for more information or to arrange an interview with an ICA or Ad Women of Toronto spokeswoman, please contact Susan Willemsen, Renee Lalonde or Danika Lochhead at The Siren Group Inc.
Tel: 416-461-5270. Fax: 416-778-9047.
E-mail: info@thesirengroup.com or www.thesirengroup.com.