Optimum PR

GAP “SPRIZES” VANCOUVER BY TURNING ROBSON STREET UPSIDE DOWN

Retailer Announces New Customer Program Pilot Named ‘Sprize’ that Turns the Traditional Shopping Experience on its Head
VANCOUVER, B.C., NOV. 5^th, 2009 - Traffic came to a standstill today as passersby stopped to see Robson Street transformed. There were upside down cars, trees, fire hydrants, bikes and a hot dog cart lining the street leading to the Gap store at 1121 Robson. The store itself had also been transformed - from the upside down Gap logo out-front, to merchandise and mannequins hanging from the ceilings inside.

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 For Immediate Release: August 6^th, 2009

Twenty-two teams have selected the region as their training grounds for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and officials announce new Mountain Sport Centre funding today

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- Future Shop provides opportunity for Richmond secondary school with leading resources in the classroom -

BURNABY, BC (September 9, 2009) Future Shop, in partnership with the Richmond Board of Education, opened a Future Generation Tech Lab in the Richmond School District today, solidifying the company’s commitment to secondary students and schools across Canada and addressing one of their leading challenges. With an increasing demand for digital tools in the classrooms, principals have reported that funding for computers and related equipment is an ongoing challenge*. In response, The Future Generation Tech Lab program, established in April 2009, contributes $50,000 donations to each of the selected schools to upgrade classrooms into leading edge technology centres.

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  Media Advisory

Trevor Linden, Wendel Clark & Ian White lead Midnight Madness events in Toronto &Vancouver

(Toronto, ON/Burnaby, BC) September 9, 2009 - In addition to millions of Canadians waiting for the puck to drop on the start of the 2009-10 hockey season, gamers and fans are also looking forward to scoring a copy of EA SPORTS NHL 10, the number one selling console videogame in Canada*.  Future Shop, Canada’s largest retailer and etailer of consumer electronics, has teamed with EA SPORTS to celebrate the launch of its highly-anticipated NHL 10 videogame at “Midnight Madness” launch parties in Toronto and Vancouver on Monday, September 14. Hundreds of fans are expected to participate in a party atmosphere to play NHL 10 on Xbox 360, meet current and former NHL stars Trevor Linden (Vancouver), Wendel Clark and Ian White (Toronto), and be among the first to receive NHL 10.

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A Forum for Digital Marketing Thought Leadership

Part of Vancouver Digital Week, Convergence 09 is a gathering of leading experts in digital marketing and communications from across North America. This year the focus is on digital branding through social media.

Cossette West invites editorial media, bloggers and podcaster covering digital marketing and communications to attend Convergence 09. This exciting and informative day will provide participants with the opportunity to listen to world-class business leaders and industry experts, participate in practical easy-to-apply workshops, and define the best digital strategies for the coming year. Attendees will learn innovative ways to stay competitive in the ever-changing digital world.

DATE Monday, May 11, 2009
TIME 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
LOCATION Vancouver Exhibition and Conference Centre (expansion site)

KEY NOTE SPEAKER
Obama’s Unsung Hero
DAVID PLOUFFE
Campaign Manager, Obama for America

Additional details on the agenda and confirmed speakers are available at http://www.cossettewest.com/convergence2009/

Media interested in attending Convergence 2009 should complete and return the attached form to Brendan Bailey at brendan.bailey@cossette.com or fax to 604.662.4503 by no later than May 1, 2009.

Please note that to qualify as media, you must cover the digital media industry, business or marketing sectors, or are press local to Vancouver. Because of space constraints at the venue, Cossette West reserves the right to limit the number of editors / writers representing a single outlet and the number of spaces available for media accreditation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

BRENDAN BAILEY OPTIMUM PR
D  604.647.2985

Download Media Accreditation Form.

Top-ten finish for Canadian Chef David Wong at global culinary showdown
Title sponsor Moxie’s Classic Grill congratulates Team Canada on a job well done at the prestigious Bocuse d’Or

Calgary, AB, January 29, 2009 - Moxie’s Classic Grill is proud to announce that Chef David Wong and the Canadian Bocuse d’Or team achieved success placing in the top ten at this year’s Bocuse d’Or in Lyon, France. With a ninth place overall finish for Bocuse Team Canada, Chef Wong’s apprentice Grace Pineda won top honours for “Best Commis (Apprentice).” Their participation at the most prestigious culinary competition in the world has helped foster worldwide appreciation for the quality and character of Canadian cuisine. This rewarding experience for Team Canada is a culmination of years of hard work from Chef Wong and months of support from title sponsor, Moxie’s Classic Grill.

“On behalf of the entire Moxie’s family, I’d like to congratulate Chef Wong and his team for their performance at this year’s Bocuse d’Or,” said Laurids Skaarup, President of Moxie’s Classic Grill. “We’re a fiercely proud Canadian company and these are fiercely proud Canadian competitors. At Moxie’s, we have always known that Canada is blessed with tremendous culinary talent, evidenced in David’s top-ten placement and Grace’s award for “Best Commis.”

Leading up to the 2009 Bocuse d’Or, Chef David Wong spent the past six years training to perfect his craft. After winning the Canadian Bocuse d’Or nomination in 2007, David put his instructor duties at The Art Institute of Vancouver on hold to prepare full time for the Bocuse d’Or competition.

“This has been an incredible journey, and it was truly a privilege to represent Canada at the Bocuse d’Or. The competition is unbelievably fierce, and the opportunity to compete at this level is something I will never forget,” said Chef Wong. “Moxie’s dedication gave us advantages no other Canadian competitor in the history of Bocuse has enjoyed - we were able to train full time in the months leading up to the competition, work with young Moxie’s chefs across Canada, and share our story with Canadians.”

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Vancouver’s BuildDirect is reaching out to its global customer base in a whole new way. As one of the world’s leading online wholesalers and manufacturers of building products they have always focused on using leading edge technology to stand apart. Now the company co-founder Jeff Booth, and his executive team, are engaging in direct conversations with their customers from around the world.

The company recently launched a series of corporate blogs covering everything from how to pick the best bamboo floor, to insights on green building and how to successfully build a new business. All of the company’s department heads are now blogging in their areas of expertise, and they have also started micro-blogging on Twitter. In addition to this, employees, customers and suppliers are joining in to become fans of BuildDirect on Facebook, and their executive team is starting to shoot videos of their work around the world to share online.

BuildDirect has always taken an innovative approach to the building products industry,” said BuildDirect president and CEO Jeff Booth. “Very early on we understood the value of making all of our products and detailed product information available online, and we definitely understand the value of communicating differently with our customers. One of our early initiatives was the creation of BuildDirect University where customers could find online articles about installation, product selection and maintenance, and last year we became one of the only companies in the building products industry that allows users to leave unedited product reviews on our site for every product we sell. When we started this dialogue with our customers we got some great input that has helped us improve our customer service and expand our product offering to include more of what our customers were asking for. We learnt a lot of valuable lessons from those conversations and that is why we are really focusing our efforts on expanding the conversation even further.”

Blogging, Twittering and Facebooking are new initiatives for BuildDirect, but they are already finding that new social media connections are helping them connect with new customers and the media. By staying on the leading edge the company has continued to grow its sales this year, even as the US housing and construction market has experienced a significant downturn. They have expanded from their base in Vancouver, to now do business in 60 countries on 6 continents, and by using social media they now have a whole new way to keep in touch with their growing customer base.

Want to talk to Builddirect? You can follow them on Twitter (@BuildDirect) or check out company president and co-founder Jeff Booth’s blog Building Into the Future.