Our Marketing Manager, Jeff Carter is this week’s guest blogger who shares a recent experience many of us here at MLSE were able to be apart of.

“On Friday, April 20^th, me and 230 of my colleagues set out to participate in the City of Toronto Corporate Clean Up. This is the third year in a row that I’ve participated in this event and I’m amazed by how much waste we’re able to collect off the streets in just 20 minutes every year.

This year, we not only collected waste from around Air Canada Centre, BMO Field, The Ricoh Coliseum and our broadcast studio on Lakeshore Blvd, we also pitched in to help keep two of our former MLSE Team Up Foundation refurbishment sites clean; David Crombie Park and Ramsden Park.

When all was said and done, we collected more than 150 bags of waste! To put that into perspective, we process half that amount in waste after an average Toronto Maple Leafs game at Air Canada Centre. An amazing effort from my co-workers; I’m very proud to say that I work for an organization that values giving back to the community like this.”

- Jeff Carter – Marketing Manager, MLSE

Check this fantastic video feature put together by our own Marketing team highlighting the event:

A couple months back Real Sports Executive Chef Tony Glitz got wind of a competition – Toronto’s first annual Wing Festival.  The event was organized to celebrate all of the delicious chicken wing options in the city of Toronto and crown one Chef the Wing King. Eagerly he signed up his brigade for the competition and quickly went to work preparing for the event.

With twelve different sauces on the menu it was a a challenge in its self to narrow it down to a short list of three for the competition.  After much debate (and several taste tests) Chef decided to bring to the competition the Bacon Maple Mustard, RP Lime & Salt and his famous Thai Sweet Chili wings.  To prepare Chef Tony used MLSE Full Time employees as his guinea pigs one afternoon where a toonie for Team Up Foundation got us a sampling of each of the three competition flavors.

On Friday April 20th Chef and his brigade loaded up their gear and over 200lbs of chicken wings.  His opposition was steep competing against some of Toronto’s tastiest: Sneaky Dee’s, The Pour House and Hard Rock Cafe.  None of them could match the size, flavor and presentation of Chef Tony’s wings!  Working around the room sampling each of the competitors wings it was clear where my vote would go.  After all the votes were counted and the judges discussed, Real Sports and Chef Tony took two outof three awards on the night – People Choice for Toronto’s Favorite Wing and Most Exotic Sauce (Bacon Maple Mustard).

One of our many talented Chefs at MLSE, Chef de cuisine at our restaurant e11even Graham Pelley, and I sat down today. I wanted to understand more about his passion and leadership he brings to our successful fine dining establishment’s kitchen. And more.

Graham participates in one of the Leadership Learning programs I facilitate at MLSE; I’ve been really impressed with the wisdom he shares with us in our discussions on Leadership.

I find out that Graham spent much of his youth on a family farm near Fergus, Ontario and through those years growing up on a fully working farm he came to appreciate the importance of the land, and sustainable food. In fact, he attributes these experiences to laying the foundation for who he is today both personally and professionally.

Graham got into music in high school, and pursued music endeavours both in school music programs and as a member of a punk-rock garage band. He was drummer. The band actually had an album released and toured in Ontario and Quebec. Graham later pursued a post-secondary education in Audio Engineering, continuing his passion.

In terms of bringing up his team at e11even, a group of talented and aspiring Chefs, Graham encourages them to be confident and push themselves to get to the next step like he learned and his mentor encouraged him to continue to do. He believes in humility though, and maintains that there is a fine line between the two.

Oh, and not unlike most of our employees, Graham gives back to our Community. His next community endeavour will be as a guest Chef at a charitable culinary event Festival of Chefs in May.

Thanks Graham, for the leadership and passion you and your team bring to the sumptious cuisine you create at e11even, your patrons, our community, and our Company.

~Debra

When you PVR a game on Leafs TV do you fast forward the intro and get right into the action? Not me. I think the intro is the best part. The distinctive voice of Paul Hendrick outlines the stories that are about to unfold and the flashy graphics and images get the viewers excited for the fast paced action they are about to watch. Well those flashy, graphics and electrifying images that ‘excite every fan’ are all designed by Yopie Hage and his team of talented designers/animators.

From an early age, Yopie has been focused on design and animation, originally dreaming of being a comic book artist. He’s taken his passion for art, added some formal training (Graphic Design program at Sheridan College) and years of hard work (8 at MLSE) to become the leader he is today (Senior Broadcast Designer). Yopie has tons of energy, he’s positive, he’s fun and when he speaks, he uses hand motions and even sound effects to describe his animations. After meeting with him and his team, I left with some extra pep in my step, so I can imagine how his team would be motivated after a project briefing or meeting with him.

Yopie Hage, Senior Broadcast Designer

Remember the first time the game score and time clock were super-imposed on the screen during the game? Yopie’s team designs those too.

It’s not just broadcast elements they design, but also all the images and animations presented on the various digital signage displays throughout our venues. Think about the many shapes and sizes: scoreboards, 360 ribbon boards, field boards, octo boards, ACC Gate 1 random shape board (not the technical term) and so on. The aspect ratios are all over the place. This variation in screen specifications presents a huge challenge to Yopie’s team as they work to display a message across such a wide variety of mediums.

His team needs to be proactive and think ahead when they begin building an animation “How will this animation transfer onto the 360 should the client request it?” The client; there’s another challenge for Yopie’s team as there are commonly several clients on a single project (ex: Marketing, Partnerships and of course the partner organization) all with their own ideas/vision.

Yopie has faced these challenges by emulating the work of one of his inspirations, Steve Jobs, whose success can arguably be attributed to his ability to design products whose greatest appeal was their sleek, elegant, streamlined, clean and functional interface design. Yopie has found a way to take any complex design/animation project and develop a sleek, elegant, streamlined, clean and easy to understand message that fits seamlessly across multiple mediums, while adhering to the instructions/guidance of several different clients. Impressive work.

Yopie is certainly dedicated to his team; instead of simply having his animators focus on projects aligned with their strengths; he allows them to work on different projects allowing them to grow/develop into well rounded designers. He channels his enthusiasm in order to motivate his team to push the boundaries and develop innovative ideas/techniques that are so commonly expected from MLSE.

Chyrons? Octos? Squeeze backs?

Clearly Yopie and his team speak a different language, but besides not understanding half of what he says, it was great getting to know Yopie, great to learn what makes him tick, what challenges his team and ultimately see what makes him a great leader at MLSE.

~Matt O’Brien, Manager Fan Loyalty

How many gallons of water would it take to fill Ricoh Coliseum? Well let’s see… if it takes 7, 851 fans to sell out the building, and Lake Ontario is just down the street, then… I don’t know what I’m taking about. But what I do know, is that Tanya Smither, Coordinator, Ricoh Coliseum/BMO Field Event Operations is the motor behind 3 grandfathered events: The Royal, The CNE and this week’s feature, The Toronto International Boat Show. A onetime part-time Event Supervisor with MLSE, Tanya has quickly matured into a fearless leader amongst her peers. Tanya was recently honoured as one of MLSE’s Stars of the Month (November 2011) for her relentless commitment and dedication to her craft.

Every event is different… make sure you’re proactive rather than reactive, and anticipate things before they happen. – Tanya Smither

Ricoh Coliseum is the world’s largest indoor lake! Coliseum… lake… not exactly synonymous with one another, but Tanya and her Operations team make the annual Boat Show a perennial success! Unlike the majority of events that pass through Ricoh Coliseum, The Boat Show runs for 10 days, not including the ever so important “load in” and “load out”. The transformation of rink to lake, and conversely lake back to rink, takes 1 week each just to set up! Suffice it to say, the event is an undertaking of considerable complexity…

Here are some cold hard facts for those wet behind the ears:

Liner is 250 feet long by 119 feet wide ♦ 12 Hours to fill man-made lake, 10 hours to drain it ♦ +65 Workers required to help convert rink into lake ♦ Water is 2ºC to 5ºC on average ♦ +500 Exhibitors at The Boat Show

Curious how they get the caramel inside the Caramilk bar (water into the Coliseum)? Watch Tanya’s explanation and takeaways below!

- Duke

Two of the most anticipated People Recognition events for our 2500+ Part-Time Operations & Event People at MLSE are the “Taste of the ACC” and “Part Time Skate.” This season we combined these events to one awesome evening of fun, food and recognition.

Traditionally the “Taste of the ACC” is an event held a few hours before a Sunday afternoon Raptors game where all of our Part-Time Operations & Event People are invited into the ACC to try some of the food we serve to our Fans and watch a “fashion show” of all of the great wears available to Fans at our kiosks on the concourse.  Many of our corporate partners come on board with the event supplying us with product samples.  Other kiosks are set up to try Burkie’s Dogs, chicken wings, popcorn and samples from Real Sports Bar & Grill and e11even Restaurant.  The “Part Time Skate” has been held on a non-event day where our People are given the opportunity to come down with a guest to skate on the ice at the Air Canada Centre and then come up to a concession stand for pizza and drinks.

This year’s event combined our two previous event themes and gave our staff the ability to share the “Taste of the ACC” and experience of skating on our ice with friends and family. Tickets were distributed for the staff to come down to one of  six skating time blocks.  On their arrival our People were greeted with tickets to an upcoming Marlies game before taken down rink side to lace up their skates.  After 45min on the same ice that the Maple Leafs and Senators played on the night before,  our People were off to the concourse where they had the opportunity to try some of our entrees (hot dogs, pizza and sandwiches), snacks (chips, popcorn and nachos) and desserts (chocolate bars, ice cream and funnel cake fries).

I’ve attached a couple of pictures of some of our Food & Beverage Managers hard at work preparing and giving back to the many People they lead during our games and concerts, at the event.  After all the skaters were through, raffle prizes were claimed and food was eaten it was time to clean up and start the planning for next years event!

Until next time-stay hungry my friends! ~Dusty

So…a blog. A web log. An opportunity for me to share my opinion with all who are willing to indulge me by reading it.

Kirk Cornelius blogs about his colleague Nathalie Ollson

When this assignment of getting to know Nathalie Ollson landed on my desk, my first reaction was ‘cool, I create/build/nurture new relationships every day.  I’m in Sales’. Then I thought, ‘what is being asked of me? What am I supposed to get out of this?‘. And ‘what can I offer?‘  I felt this assignment was deeper and more profound than it appeared to be at first glance.  Maybe that is a little dramatic, but I felt I was expected to gain more out of this experience than just trying to find out what Nathalie’s favourite song is or the name of her first crush.  It was about revealing a new avenue to learn about the company and its many facets. Moreover, I believe its purpose is to reveal something about yourself and how you fit into this well-oiled machine that is MLSE.

Heywood Broun once said “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.” which is very fitting for a progressive organization like MLSE to encourage and promote these sort of encounters. I certainly learned a lot from Nathalie over a few emails and an enjoyable lunch over at RSBG. Our format was simple: broad, open-ended questions allowing for honest and insightful answers.

First Day – September 1999…too long ago to remember the actual day

Full Name – Nathalie (Burri) Ollson

Department & Title – Event Operations – Ricoh Coliseum & BMO Field–Manager, Event Programming & Event Services MLSE

1.       What does your work give you? The freedom to manage and lead my team under my own innovation and creativity.  The ability to take risks on events to create successful partnerships where everyone from the promoter, the fan and MLSE wins.   What keeps me going is seeing an event come to fruition and bringing smiles to people’s faces. 

2.       What path did you take that led you to MLSE? After working for the first part of my career in the Food & Beverage industry in various stadiums and arenas in the city, including Air Canada Centre, I realized that although I had at one point wanted to pursue a career in teaching, my love was for the world of Sports & Entertainment.  After taking a year off following graduating from the University of Toronto I went back to school to further my education in Event Management & Sports Marketing.  This post graduate program allowed me to branch out from F&B and ended up on the Events team at Ricoh Coliseum in 2005 and the rest is history. 

3.       What drives you every day personally and professionally? The idea that everyday could be your last so you need to try to accomplish as much as you can during your time on the earth.  This is my motivation for work and life.  You can always sleep when you’re dead.   Work hard, but always find time to have fun.   Life is yours to control so make of it what you wish.

4.       How would you describe your department / team in 20 words or less?  Driven, passionate, small but mighty.

5.       Most interesting/exciting thing that has happened to you in your tenure at MLSE? Being part of the team that executed the first and quite possibly only concert to play BMO Field– Genesis.

6.       What is Event Programming & Event Services?  We are the engine behind all of the events that get booked and executed in all 3 venues outside of our teams.  We are the “E” in MLSE.

7.       What keeps you going outside of your professional life – most important things to you?  Family and Friends – work life balance is important, always make time for family and friends…even if it means a few less hours of sleep.  Oh yeah…and my dog Georgia, she makes me smile every day, her love is unconditional.

Nathalie, her Nephew Mikey and pup Georgia

8.   As a leader at MLSE can you offer advice to all the young professionals just starting their career with MLSE?  Things don’t happen overnight, be patient but work hard and things will fall in line.  I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career at MLSE and have always been given the opportunity to learn and grow.  I have had the chance to work with great leaders who were always willing to teach me as much as I was willing to learn.  It has taken time to get here but I feel that I have accomplished a lot and look forward to the path my career is going to take me down.

9.   One fun fact about Nathalie that very few people know…but you don’t mind sharing.  I was born on a mountain in Switzerland where I lived for the first 2 years of my life before coming to Canada on a boat.

10.   How do you feel you live out our V&V (Vision & Values) in your everyday life – personal or professional, or both? I always stick true to my morals and what I believe in.  I am an advocate of giving back to reciprocate every opportunity or act of good faith I’ve had throughout my life and career.   Similar to the concept of “paying it forward” whether through leadership with my team, or giving back to the community through volunteer opportunities it is always a focus.

So I accomplished what I set out to do with this assignment – I learned something about Nathalie. In the process, I also learned a little more about myself, the company we work for, and the impact it has on our professional and personal lives.

MLSE does not build character, it reveals it.

~Kirk Cornelius, Manager, Media Sales

*A quick note…since Kirk wrote this Peer Blog about Nat, she has since been promoted-transferred into a new role at ACC as Manager, Venue Programming & Live Events, at the Air Canada Centre. Congratulations Nathalie!

Have you heard about the upcoming concert at the Air Canada Centre? Chances are you have and this is because of the hard work and dedication that our 2 time Player of the Month and former MLSE MVP (MLSE Employee Recognition Awards) Kelly Meehan achieves in her role as Manager MLSE Live (@MLSELive)Marketing & Public Relations.

Kelly joined the MLSE family on March 6, 2006, the same day as myself and Brian Colangelo. What a great day for MLSE!  Kelly brought with her 9 years of marketing experience working with House of Blues/Molson Amphitheatre and Scotia Bank.

During the first couple of years Kelly’s dedication to her job and MLSE was evident by the success of the events in which she was instrumental in Marketing and Promoting such as MLS All Star Week, an incredible 5 sold out nights of Bon Jovi at the ACC, bringing WWE to Ricoh Coliseum and working closely with our partners at Canada Soccer, and the Toronto Rock promoting their matches within our facilities. These events mark some of Kelly’s best memories,  one event in particular held a special place to her was Walking with Dinosaurs. That this event had not been done before was a challenge for Kelly, and the success of the event meant so much to her.

Today Kelly can be found on the 6^th floor ACC planning marketing and promotions for upcoming Live Events and reporting on past events. Kelly is very focused on building relationships with all our clients and working closely with Live Nation. Kelly assures that all of MLSE internal assets are utilized when promoting Live Nation shows. She is responsible for making sure all shows are promoted through print media, radio, television, websites, and social media. She also focuses on sponsorships for Events.

So much of what Kelly does here at MLSE is evident in how highly regarded the Air Canada Centre is in the world of Live Entertainment. Kelly’s ability to promote shows to draw the attendance and revenues is reflected in our world rankings amongst all Arenas’ worldwide. Both Billboard Magazine and Pollstar consistently rank the ACC in the top 5 concert facilities in the world.

Kelly is an Insider!

As you can see Kelly’s dedication to our team and ability to Excite Every Fan is definetly inspiring to all of us here at MLSE.  The best part is that she is always smiling and more than willing to assist in whatever way she can.Kelly is a Leader In The Community too-she has travelled to New Orleans 3 times with CFO Ian Clarke’s group in assisting in rebuilding homes after Hurricane Katrina, and is also going to Kenya this June with Me To We assisting in building a school house.

Kelly truly demonstrates what it is to live our Vision and Values. We’re certainly honored to have her as a member of the MLSE Family and I’m truly honored to have written this peer blog about her.

~ Mathieu Vacon, Manager Event Retail Operations

Annie helping at the annual fundraiser - Holiday Hoopla

As 2011 comes to a close, this is the time when people start to reflect on the year that was.  A lot of times this reflection comes with thanks to those who helped you along throughout the year.

The Team Up Foundation has had an amazing year, and although we like to say thank you all year round, I’d like to use this time for a special THANK YOU shout out to all the MLSE staff that have taken the time over the past year to give back to us.  With everything going on at ACC, Ricoh, BMO Field, Real Sports, e11even and over at 307 Broadcast & Content, everyone’s schedules are already packed to the hilt.  But employees were (and still are) carving out time in their busy lives to help us achieve our mission of giving back to communities and the youth within them through sports and recreation.

The St. Patty's Day Dodgeball tourney

The list of people who help us is long.  They represent departments from across our entire company.  And the way they help varies.  Some are getting their hands (and clothing) dirty at our builds, others act as the smiling mystery puck ambassadors at Leafs games, while others are quiet supporters through our Employee Giving program.  We also have some staff members who go the extra step and create their own fundraisers that they host in the office and engage other staff members to get involved with.

-         Lindsay, Lise and Annie from the Marketing Department host the annual St. Patty’s Day dodgeball tournament  which brings out the seriously competitive side of every employee and department in the company (bragging rights are a big deal here)

-          Pete from the People Department puts his heart and creative soul into Rockstar (MLSE’s version of American Idol)

-          Ranbir from the Finance Department and Frank from Building Ops created a ball hockey tournament on the floor of the ACC (for employees to compete for more bragging rights)

Lise, Lindsay, Matt and Fraser at our Sunnydale Rink refurb

-          Marta from Real Sports Bar & Grill cooks up perogies in our cafeteria (and they are de-lish!)

-          Kelly from MLSE Live has held book fairs and bake sales

This is just a small sample … as I mentioned before, the list of supporters within the walls of MLSE is long.

As we roll into 2012, I look forward to continually thanking everyone at MLSE, as well as all of the supporters we have gained outside of MLSE, for supporting our work.  But to wrap up 2011, I’m going to steal some cheesy lines that my Executive Director uses (sorry Mike!) and “shout from the rooftops” my thanks to everyone who has engaged with the Foundation, and give a “virtual high five” to everyone who has given back to us!

Look forward to sharing with everyone in 2012! Happy New Year!

Alicia – MLSE Team Up Foundation

A room with a view

The ability to multi-task. Heard it, seen it, done it… but never like this before! Last weekend, I had the privilege of shadowing Michael Carlesimo – Coordinator, Toronto Marlies Game Operations and Community Relations. My takeaway? Blink and you’ll miss it!

From the moment Michael walks into Ricoh Coliseum on game day, time is of the essence. Comfortable shoes are a must! Scripts, sponsored elements, anthem singer, guest appearances and debriefing staff means a lot of ground needs to be covered in a small window of time… figuratively and literally! Yes, planning in advance is crucial to the success of Game Operations, but uncertainty is expected. No two games are ever the same – a challenge Michael relishes! It takes a certain individual to effectively manage multiple priorities, while constantly thinking on their feet and adapting to ever-changing situations on and off the ice. Game Operations is about developing a “feel” for the game, and forecasting accordingly… a skill Michael has developed and continues to refine with each passing game.

Just as Michael diligently orchestrates all facets of the Toronto Marlies’ Business Operations into his game presentation,

Meet the Marlies Game Ops Family

Sales, Marketing, Corporate Partnerships, Event Ops and Building Ops serve as Michael’s eyes and ears closer to ice level. A helpful tip is just one text message away. Dedicated to our teams? You bet!

And of course, behind every great leader you will find a great team! Learn more about Michael and the Marlies Game Operations team below!

- Duke

Toronto Marlies Game Operations:
Promo Team, Dance Crew, PA Announcer, In-Game Host, Mascot, Interns

My dad wore a moustache while I was growing up. I’m a child of the early 70′s, so “shag” either as a carpet or on men’s faces was in style; I thought nothing of it.  This November, 206 of my colleagues were Teaming Up to either grow the shag (and/or support) our Movember team: MOPle Leafs Sports.  I have to tell you, I had a giggle each day as I witnessed the guys’  ’staches grow where no ’stache had grown before!

We found out as of December 1st, we raised $114, 132 and our MOPle Leafs Sports Team were placed #3 globally in this campaign!

We featured one of our MO Bro Leaders, Jordan Vader, Director Business Partnerships,  in a post here at the beginning of the month: MO

I caught up with Jordan again on the last day of MO and he was pretty excited about a) the fact that our team tripled their fundraising for the campaign over last year b) that he was attending a big MO event to celebrate this Friday and c) shaving afterwards!

Congratulations Jordan and Team MOple Leaf Sports!

~Debra W, People Engagement

No Mo Jo

The Mo Must Go Jo!

@MLSEJOBS Immortalized in ice! @achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces Awards Gala! http://t.co/qnFei99H <—Tweet by Duke @mlsejobs!

Members of our People (fancy for Human Resources) Department (including @mlsejobs Duke, myself, and other People team members) attended The Achievers‘ Top 50 Most Engaged Workplaces at the Arcadian Court in the Simpson Building, Downtown Toronto to accept this award on behalf of all our MLSE People for the second year in a row. We were happy to celebrate this honour with some of our partners Bruce Power, MolsonCoors, Rogers, Sirius, and Cineplex too! Congrats partners!

Being at this wonderful gala got me thinking about “Engagement”. The following is based upon an internal MLSE company blog post I wrote today and I wanted to share some of it with you:

“The WWWWH of Engagement”

Isn’t “Engagement” a buzz/catch word in business these days, no doubts joining its predecessors of “empowerment”, “synergy”, “competencies”, etc.?

Engagement. Great to say. Great to measure/survey. Great to improve upon. Great to win awards for being it/doing it. But what does it MEAN?

Allow me illustrate and define using the good ol’ WWWWH equation.

WHO: It’s all of us. It’s not 100% up to our bosses to engage us. They will give us the feedback, coaching, recognition, learning, and development opportunities to meet us halfway. The rest is up to us to engage ourselves in these opportunities. Just like the marriage-pledge kind of engagement! Two way street.

WHAT: The equation: Engagement/Being engaged/Engaging others = Amount of Passion & Pride we have for our Vision  X  Amount/level of Performance we put forth through our Values toward that Vision .

WHERE: It happens in the office. It happens on the ice/court/pitch. It happens in our communities. And with our fans.

WHY: Our WIN vision is what we all strive toward through living our values and that is why we are all here.

HOW: The judging panel for our Achievers Most Engaged Award evaluated us on our ability to display success in 8 engagement elements: Leadership, Communication, Culture, Rewards and Recognition, Professional & Personal Growth, Accountability & Performance, Vision & Values and Corporate Social Responsibility. MLSE impressed our judges by sharing our successes through these elements.

We never want that Passion, Pride or Performance to wane. In fact we’re always working to do better. Our last internal People Engagement Survey in April provided us with some great results and feedback. Throughout these upcoming months, our Executive People members will circle back with us in group discussion sessions to see how we’ve come along since then, and how we can continue to improve.

Together.

Debra Watkinson, People Engagement