This could be just another rumor, but there is a great deal of speculation indicating a June release of the much anticipated iPhone 5 as part of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.
While Apple’s announcement all but confirmed that iOS 6 would be announced, just as iOS 5 was announced at WWDC 2011, speculation is that the iPhone 5 will be announced. After all this is where the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4 were announced in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively.
If true then it will likely happen at the CEO Tim Cook will lead this year’s keynote…on the morning of Monday, June 11, to kick off the conference and this could be when we get to see and hear all about the iPhone 5.
Perhaps Apple will also bow to pressure and activate the FM chip which would be a game changer for radio, especially in the PPM markets.
Dear Vista Team
I am excited to announce some big changes at Vista.
Westerkirk Capital has (subject to CRTC approval) agreed to purchase all of the shares in Vista not owned by the founding shareholders.
In 2004, with the help of my brother Vince, Bryan, Paul, Jason, Barb and I founded Vista. Shortly thereafter, Terry joined us.
Since its inception, we have had a vision of Vista becoming one of Canada’s premier broadcasters. And we are so proud that with your help we have grown Vista from our first license in Duncan, British Columbia to 38 licenses serving over 50 communities in British Columbia, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The founding shareholders and Westerkirk Capital are committed to continue building Vista Radio into Canada’s leading independent radio operator.
To learn more about Westerkirk Capital, I encourage you to go to: westerkirk.ca.
I’m also pleased to announce that Vista is expanding eastward. Vista has entered into an agreement (subject to CRTC approval) to acquire Haliburton Broadcasting Ltd.
Haliburton operates 24 stations across Ontario including Timmins, Niagara and the Muskoka Cottage country. We have attached a complete listing of the stations owned by Haliburton to this announcement. Christopher Grossman founded Haliburton Broadcasting in 1997 and has built it into an impressive group of stations, which are well managed and committed to serving their communities with creative, local content, much like we do at Vista.
We are honoured that Christopher chose Vista as the company who will continue his legacy in these markets. And we take seriously the responsibility that that entails.
I look forward in the coming months to meeting the team at Haliburton, sharing ideas and learning from them. I encourage you to reach out to your counterpart at Haliburton and welcome them to the Vista Family.
In support of our expansion strategy, we have made some changes to our management team:
Terry Coles has sadly given us notice that he wants to retire at the end of 2012. Terry will therefore take on a consulting role with Vista, effective immediately. Until Terry retires he will undertake some special projects and you will likely see him visit our various markets between now and the end of the year. You will all therefore have an opportunity to personally wish him well before he officially retires.
With Terry retiring I will take on the President’s role concurrent with my role as CEO. I plan to visit with each of you in the near term and share our long-term goals for Vista as we continue to see consolidation and technology reshape our industry.
Bryan Edwards has agreed to lead our expansion efforts and has moved out of an operating role into full time business development, as our Senior Vice-President of Business Development. Bryan has already been busy in his new role, and we are pleased to announce that in addition to the Haliburton transaction, we have entered into an agreement for the purchase of CKAY-FM in Sechelt. This transaction is subject to CRTC approval, which we hope to obtain within the next couple of months. Stay tuned for more announcements in this regard!
To help me out on the operations side, Ross Hawse has become our Director of Operations, Vista West and will be responsible for the day to day operations of Vista Radio in BC and Alberta thus freeing up Bryan to focus on our strategic growth opportunities. Ross will report directly to me and will split his time between, Calgary and Courtenay.
Ross is committed to working closely with each of you, so expect to see Ross in your markets over the summer.
Gary Russell has agreed to take on the role of Director of Integration & Operations, Vista East. Gary will also report to me. Gary and his wife Fern and their son Sam will relocate to Ontario. We are grateful for the commitment to Vista, which Gary and Fern have demonstrated by agreeing to this life-changing request. Gary’s continually expanding and changing role in Vista, his longevity with Vista and his breadth of experience in our business make him the ideal candidate to help us learn from the way Haliburton does things and also help us share some of the Vista strategy and culture with our now extended family at Haliburton. Gary will be assisted in this role by other executives at Vista and Haliburton. Stay tuned for further announcements in this regard.
On the sales side, Paul Mann has agreed to expand his portfolio. In addition to his Senior Vice-President Sales role, he will take on the role of Training and Development. Paul recently spearheaded the development of our new Vista University program to help our team achieve the greatness that is within all of us. Vista is committed to ensuring we develop our sales team to the best of their ability and Vista University will provide our sales people with the tools and resources necessary to succeed.
Stay tuned for an expansion of this program to encompass best practices in programming with Jason’s help and management training with Terry’s input.
To assist Paul on the sales side, Tracey Gard has agreed to take on the role of Director of Sales, Vista West. Tracey will relocate to the Courtenay office.
She will be responsible for the day to day management of the sales portfolio and will oversee the performance of all sales personnel thus freeing up Paul to focus more on the training and development side of his role.
Jason Mann will continue in his role as VP Programming and Digital Media.
Please send Ross, Gary and Tracey a word of encouragement and support as they take on their new roles.
Finally, please join me in welcoming two new members to our team:
• Joining our senior management ranks as our Senior Vice-President, Finance and CFO effective April 15th is Christophe Lecomte. Christophe is a long time finance executive in the broadcast industry, and many of you will know him from his days at Telemedia and Corus. Christophe will join Barb Fairclough and her team in ensuring our financial reporting remains robust and our books are kept in order;
• Joining us in the corporate office in Courtenay is Anna Carter as our Executive Assistant to the senior management team and our Human Resources Administrator. In her role as HR Administrator Anna will be responsible for recruitment of operating staff.
With our plans to continue to expand, recruitment has become a top priority for us. We have a number of vacancies to fill and more will become apparent as we grow our business throughout Canada.
We anticipate being in a perpetual state of recruitment so if any of you know of any strong candidates who are hard working, passionate and interested in joining a growing and dynamic company like Vista please provide their contact information to Ross, Tracey or Anna.
It’s an exciting time for Vista and it’s an exciting time for all of you, as there will be lots of new opportunities for growth and development as we expand our business. I look forward to sharing our continued success with each one of you and with our newest team members at Haliburton. I’m proud of our terrific Vista team and I look forward to
working with you all for many years to come!
I also look forward to seeing each of you soon. If you have any questions or comments feel free to call on any of the management team or please drop me a line at Margot@vistaradio.net.
MMM
Margot M. Micallef
President & CEO
Vista Radio Ltd.
I survived Las Vegas and the 2012 NAB! This is an event I attend so I can stay current with the latest trends and equipment in broadcasting. I flew out of Buffalo Airport which is a very effecient and clean facility. This time I flew with Southwest and the staff were pleasant and fun to fly with. The casual banter on the microphone was similar to Westjet and before we knew it the 4 hour flight was over and we were in Las Vegas and ready to deal with the ground transport people (don’t pre-book a shuttle or you could be waiting over an hour. It is better to get a cab or a shuttle on arrival). This year I decided to stay at the Flamingo Hotel because that is where the Canadian hospitality suite is located and also because the Monorail stops right at the hotel. The hotel is a little older, but still clean and of course this is where Donny and Marie Osmond perform nightly.
Monday morning, I was at the Las Vegas Convention Centre early thanks to the Monorail (buy your tickets online before you arrive as it’s a lot quicker!), picked up my access pass and made it into the South Hall only to find the session I wanted to attend was located in Las Vegas hotel on the other side of the North Hall. The emcee for the opening session was Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) who spoke about radio and the importance that it has played in her life. Then it was time to head off to the sessions and also check out the equipment. These convention halls are huge, covering 181,000 square feet and somebody told me that is the equivalent of over 20 football fields. I am sure I walked every square inch of those halls several times over in the three days!
The luncheon on Tueday was emceed by Donny Osmond who has been entertaining since he was 5 years of age. Donny spoke about how radio has helped his career and what it was like to actually hear one of his songs played on the radio. He also talked about the impact of hearing Casey Kasem announce that Donny’s song as the number one song in the land. Bob Uecker known as “Mr Baseball” was inducted into the this title was given to him by Johnny Carson) into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Bob was very entertaining and has enjoyed an amazing radio career as the voice of the Milwaulkee Brewers. You may rememebr him from the TV show Mr. Belvedere. He also appeared in a number of baseball movies.
There was lots of great technology and all the major players were present. Canada was well represented and the OMT Media Touch booth always seemed to be busy. I saw representatives from two of the major Canadian broadcasters in negotiations with Jackie Tetlock and her team at different times. Burli was another Canadian company who look to have had a busy show as did the folks from Stream On who rolled out a new product called ListenLater provides radio stations with the ability to upload and archive all of their content to StreamOn’s private Internet cloud – automatically and in real-time while broadcasts are taking place.
The RCS Zetta software won the “Cool Stuff Award” but I did not get an opportunity to see the demo. For my money the most interesting new gadget was the iPhone adapter from Tieline. This adapter which costs $495 turns your phone into a remote broadcast kit and allows anyone with an iPhone to go live to air with up to 20KHz voice quality. You also need to download an app and configure it and you are instantly connected to your Tileine studio unit. There are three versions of the software but the $399 version will be right for most stations. This allows a station to license up to 10 iPhone connections. It comes with a Microphone input, a stereo line input and automatic gain control, and operates via an external power supply or you can use 2 AAA batteries which will give you up to 8 hours broadcast time. This unit is so popular with newsrooms and radio stations that Tieline cannot keep up with production and there is a 2 to 3 month waiting list for this device.
By the Wednesday had had my fill of the NAB and wanted to get out of Las Vegas. However I am glad I went as I came back with lots of ideas to share with our clients and also caught up with broadcasting friends from all over the world. The next NAB radio show will be in Dallas from september 19-21.
I had been planning for a while to write a research-based article, but then I came to the conclusion that instead of me offering thoughts as someone who implements research, why not just talk to someone who actually gathers the stuff.
ByrnesMedia has worked closely over the past few years with Larry Campbell of Campbell Media Research out of Seattle. When I approached Larry to be part of a written interview, I was delighted to find out he was more than happy to do so. Here, then, is the first part of “10 Questions with a Research Guy.”
1. Larry, give us a rundown on the many radio hats you’ve worn over the years.
I was General Manager of radio stations in Spokane, Washington (market rank 94); Portland, Oregon (market rank 23) and Seattle (market rank 13). The information and knowledge I gained from doing market research projects led to the development of strategic marketing plans to eliminate our stations’ weaknesses, and exploit the weaknesses of primary competitors, to significantly increase the ratings and profitability of the stations. This success led to my being moved on to the next larger market.
While I was in Seattle, I was given the opportunity to become President of The Research Group; a radio market research firm I had used to help me and the management teams I worked with understand listener perceptions of the strengths and vulnerabilities of our station, and of our primary competitors. I managed The Research Group from 1980 through 2000. We provided market research and strategic planning services to 350 clients in the US, Canada and throughout Europe.
While managing The Research Group, with two colleagues/partners, we acquired two radio stations, an AM and FM in Seattle. We used market research and strategic planning to improve the ratings of the AM station, and make the FM station (which had ratings so low it didn’t qualify to be listed in the Seattle-Tacoma Arbitron surveys when we bought it) achieve excellent ratings, revenues and cash flow before we sold the stations. It was a terrific investment for us.
Since 2000 I’ve been president of Campbell Media Research, Inc. As you know, we provide market research and advanced strategic guidance to clients in the US, Canada and Europe. Our goal is to help our clients achieve great success and defend their success over the long run.
2. Research doesn’t come cheaply, so how do you explain to present and potential clients the long term cost benefit of conducting a survey?
Frequently we’re contacted by potential clients who are having difficulty achieving success with one or more of their stations. They’ve tried different things to help improve ratings, but they haven’t been able to succeed. They know if they could just improve their ratings they would be able to increase their rates, grow their local and national revenue, and substantially improve their station’s cash flow. They recognize they need help.
So rarely do we find ourselves faced with discussing the cost of “conducting a survey” on a price and item basis. We don’t sell research projects. We sell success based on the experience and knowledge we’ve gained working with many hundreds of clients over the years, plus our proven track record helping clients achieve higher ratings, increased revenue and cash flow through our system of market research and strategic planning.
The more successful our clients become, the more their competitors will work to take their success away from them, so market research and strategic planning for our clients is not about “conducting a survey.” It’s about committing to a system of strategic management of the station or stations, using input from target listeners to provide the road map for success. It is invaluable for managers and programmers to know what target listeners want in a format, and ongoing market research helps them fine tune as target listeners’ tastes evolve.
We explain the cost benefit of working with us in terms of the client’s or potential client’s return on investment. By analyzing the station’s performance in its primary target demographic group over several BBM surveys, and comparing its performance with the performance norms for very successful, market leading stations in the same format, we can develop a general understanding of the growth potential for the station. We ask the client or potential client, “What’s the total annual revenue value of one additional percentage point of BBM share in your station’s target demographic group?” The answer is always a sizable amount of revenue. The potential for improved ratings, leading to increased revenue and cash flow experienced by our clients makes the cost of “conducting a survey” minimal, relative to the station’s return on investment. And usually the growth potential for the station uncovered in our Strategic Market Studies is significantly higher than the estimates we make from the BBM analysis.
It’s interesting that less frequently we’re contacted by potential clients who are doing very well and enjoying great success in the BBM ratings, but they’re not really sure why they’re so successful. They know very clearly the value of a lost percentage point or more of BBM share measured in terms of lost annual revenue and cash flow. Their objective is to learn what makes them so successful and how to defend their success.
3. Focus Groups are one of the less expensive forms of research. What are the benefits and potential pitfalls of such studies?
Focus groups are typically small discussion groups of 10-12 people led by an experience moderator. In radio research, focus groups are usually comprised of respondents screened to be representative of a particular group of listeners, such as women 25-44 who prefer to listen to the station’s weekday morning show the most, or men 18-34 who prefer to listen to the station’s music the most. Focus groups are a form of qualitative, not quantitative market research.
The primary benefit of focus groups is they can provide quick insight into feelings, beliefs and experiences that can indicate how listeners in the larger group they represent might react (not would react) to the issues being discussed.
The disadvantage of focus groups is that they don’t provide definitive answers that can be extrapolated to the larger group they represent. The major pitfall of focus groups is that sometimes they are used as a statistically reliable technique for determining a particular group of listener’s authentic point of view and for decision making, which is dangerous in that it can lead to major marketing mistakes being made by the station’s management team.
A research firm’s focus group report should not present findings in terms of frequencies or statistics because this may cause readers to believe the percentages or frequencies are true for the wider group of listeners the focus group participants represent, which they are not.
We find the best uses for focus groups fall into two areas. First, to discuss specific questions (hypotheses) concerning the radio station’s programming, positioning and advertising with specific groups of its listeners such as its partisan listeners, morning show partisans, etc. The objective is to learn issues of concern that can be further investigated in a quantitative telephone study with a sample of 400 or 500 respondents. A quantitative study of this type with an appropriately sized sample provides data that can be generalized to the population of radio listeners they represent with mathematical precision.
Second, focus groups are a good way to pre-test advertising concepts for the station before they are produced and put to work in the form of television commercials, billboards, bus signs, etc. A series of focus groups with target listeners where the advertising concepts are evaluated against alternative approaches can lead to patterns formed by words, from group to group, which represent themes or perspectives. Using these themes or perspectives can help the station increase the effectiveness of its advertising by getting rid of concerns that are objectionable to respondents across several focus groups and further improve the effectiveness of the advertising concepts by including improvements suggested by the respondents across several groups.
4. Moving on to full Perceptual Surveys, explain to us what they are, what they can provide a client, and give us an example or two of these types of studies you’ve conducted and what the outcome was?
We call our “full Perceptual Surveys” Strategic Market Studies. We provide different types of Strategic Market Studies.
The Strategic Market Study – Format Search Project is for clients who wish to investigate possibly changing or modifying formats. We’ve developed a proprietary series of format susceptibility questions that accurately and reliably gauge the cume and share potential of various formats our client wants us to consider. We have found format opportunities that have led our clients to huge ratings and cash flow success in many hundreds of markets large and small from Toronto, New York and Berlin, to Barrie, St. Catharines – Niagara and Kalamazoo.
The Strategic Market Tracking Study is used by the majority of our clients for their station’s or stations’ “annual physical examination.” Many things change over the course of a year, which can negatively impact a station. Competitors change format or adjust their music mix. Morning show teams and personalities come and go. Major contests take place, which at times make a significant positive change in a competitor’s ratings. Over the course of a year, frequent questions arise concerning what the client station or stations should do with respect to music mix, informational programming, personalities, positioning, contesting, and advertising, etc. The Strategic Market Tracking Study gives the station the opportunity to investigate all of the issues it is concerned about. In addition it gives us the opportunity to investigate all of the areas of concern we know must be asked to ascertain the station’s degree of health in the minds of its target listeners. The information and knowledge enables the station’s management team to take corrective action when “bad health” areas are uncovered before they lead to tuning out listeners and lower ratings in BBM’s surveys.
The studies provide a client with the knowledge required to develop the right strategic marketing plan to enable the station to reach its full potential in cume and share. We’re able to provide the station’s management team with detailed information about the nature of its format – whether it’s growing or declining in appeal, detailed information about its target listeners, what programming elements and station qualities are critically important to its target listeners and therefore to its success, and how its listeners “grade” its programming (“A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” or “F”), whether or not it has truly effective positioning, the degree to which the station is top of mind or suffers from “top of mind shortfall” with target listeners, and the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of its advertising and contesting strategies.
I can cite many, many examples of clients having achieved great success from engaging us to conduct market research projects.
Perhaps the most profitable return on investment any client has realized from working with us is “106.7 Lite FM” in New York. We were asked by Viacom Inc. to conduct a study to find a new format for WKHK-FM “Kick 106.7.” At the time “Kick 106.7” was competing with “1050 WHN” in the country format and had very low ratings because as we learned in the study, there weren’t many listeners in New York who liked country music.
Our study identified a sizable mainstream adult contemporary format opportunity for “Kick 106.7.” After our strategic planning meeting, Viacom Radio’s President and the station’s management team were eager to pursue the mainstream adult contemporary format opportunity, however, we were asked to return to New York and justify our recommendation to Viacom Inc.’s Board of Directors. The Viacom Board approved the format change during the meeting and “KICK 106.7” became “106.7 Lite FM.” Since the format change, the station’s ratings have been at or near the top of Arbitron’s New York Radio Ranker, which lists the 65 radio stations in New York with ratings sufficient to meet Arbitron’s minimum reporting criteria. In February 2012, “106.7 Lite FM’s” Arbitron Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid was a first place 7.3% share, nearly equaling the 7.5% combined share of its three adult contemporary competitors – “Fresh 102.7,” “95.5 WPLJ” and “WALK 97.5.” BIA/Kelsey has listed “106.7 Lite FM” in the top 10 ranked stations in the U.S. by annual revenue with billings ranging from $40 to $50 million.
A good example of a Strategic Market Study – Format Search Project finding a high potential format where it was not at all obvious going into the design of the study, is the study we designed and conducted for CKMB-FM “Star 107.5” in Barrie, Ontario in April 2005. The station was launched in 2001 by Rock 95 Broadcasting Ltd., also the owners of CFJB-FM “Rock 95.” At that time “Star 107.5” was ranked 9th with adults 25-54 and 6th with women 25-54. In our study we investigated several formats and found a sizable opportunity for a Hot AC Format. “How could that be?” you might ask because at the time there were already two other adult contemporary stations in Barrie. They were Corus Communications’ “B101” CIQB-FM, programming a Hot AC Format and its sister station CHAY-FM “CHAY 93.1 FM” programming an AC Format.
This is an interesting example because it would not have been apparent to anyone investigating the market based only on the BBM ratings, listening to the stations, or their gut feeling, that there would be an opportunity for a Hot AC Format. However, in the study we learned the strengths and vulnerabilities of “Star 107.5,” and the vulnerabilities of our primary competitors.
From the information and knowledge gained from the study, we developed a step by step strategic marketing plan to change “Star 107.5’s” format to Hot AC and to attack its primary competitors by taking advantage of their vulnerabilities. The new “107.5 KOOL-FM’s” management team and their consultant Greg Diamond turned out to be “master class strategists.” They fully and effectively implemented every component of CKMB-FM’s strategic marketing plan, which enabled the new “107.5 KOOL-FM” to become and remain the top rated radio station with women 25-54. Over the last six BBM Surveys “107.5 KOOL-FM” averaged a 19% women 25-54 share and has been ranked first in its target demographic every survey except one, when it had a 20% women 25-54 share but was edged out by its sister station Rock 95 with its 21.9% share.
The CKMB-FM story is also a good example of a return on investment story because you can use your “mental calculator” to estimate the annual incremental revenue and cash flow that “107.5 KOOL-FM” has enjoyed selling the market leading station with women 25-54 compared to its 6th place women 25-54 share in 2005.
We’ll have to stop it there as we’ve run out of space.
We’ll have the remainder of this fascinating look at radio research in next month’s ByrnesMedia Newsletter.
“Child Abuse Prevention Month”: Established by the National Exchange Club in Ohio. Call 419-535-3232 or 800-924-2643. Email cap@nationalexchangeclub.org. See www.prevenetchildabuse.com.
“Couple Appreciation Month”: To show thanks for each other’s love and emotional support. Do something special to reinforce and celebrate your relationship.
“Daffodil Month”: To support cancer research. See www.cancer.ca.
“International Twit Award Month”: Any famous name is eligible to be designated most Tiresome Wit (TWIT) of 2011. Email Lauren Barnett of Lonestar Publications of Humor at lspubs@aol.com.
“Poetry Month, National”: See League of Canadian Poets www.poets.ca
“Stress Awareness Month”: To promote public awareness of what stress is, what causes it to occur and what can be done about it. See www.stresscure.com.
“Alcohol Awareness Month”: To help raise awareness about the problem of underage drinking. Call 212-269-7797, email national@ncadd.org. See www.ncadd.org.
“Humour Month”: Special events in Canada and the US will focus on the joy and therapeutic value of laughter and how it can reduce stress. Email info@worldoflaughtertour.com. See humormonth.com.
Apr 1 “April Fools’ Day”: The joke of the day is to deceive persons by sending them upon frivolous and nonsensical errands; to pretend they are wanted when they are not, or in fact, any way to betray them into some supposed ludicrous situation, so as to enable you to call them “An April Fool.”
Apr 1 “Reading Is Funny Day”: April Fools Day is a great time to share riddles with children. It shows them that reading can be fun and funny. Riddles improve vocabulary, comprehension and oral reading, and enhance deductive and inductive thinking and develop a sense of humour. For info, Dee Anderson hm38th@hotmail.com.
Apr 1 “World Health Day”: See www.who.int/world-health-day/en
Apr 1-7 “Laugh At Work Week”: Laughter and humour are vital to a healthy, productive workplace. Call Randall Munson 507-286-1331. Email humor@CreativelySpeaking.com. See www.LaughAtWorkWeek.com.
Apr 1-7 “National Week of the Ocean”: 28th annual. A week focusing on humanity’s interdependence with the ocean, asking each of us to appreciate, protect and make wise use of the ocean. Call 954-462-5573. see www.national-week-of-the-ocean.org.
Apr 2 “International Children’s Book Day”: Observes Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday and commemorates the international aspects of children’s literature. Call 302-731-1600, email usbby@reading.org.
Apr 2 “World Autism Day”: see www.worldautismawarenessday.org.
Apr 4 “Paraprofessionals Appreciation Day”: This holiday honours the contributions of paraprofessionals, especially in education. Call Valerie Pennington 816-633-5396, email vpennington@odessa.k12.mo.us.
Apr 6 “Drowsy Driver Awareness Day”: Official state recognized day in California, but worth mentioning everywhere. Annual memorial for people who have died in collisions related to drowsy driving. Call Phil Konstantin 858-505-5014, email chpofficerphil@yahoo.com. See www.drowsydriverawarenessday.com.
Apr 7 “Passover”: begins at sundown Apr 6th. 8 day celebration of the delivery of the Jewish people out of Egypt.
Apr 8 “Easter Sunday”: The most joyous festival of the Christian year.
Apr 10 “National Siblings Day”: A commemorative day to honour all brothers and sisters who are living and memorialize those who have died. Annually Apr 10. Call Claudia A. Evart 212-779-2227, email: siblingsday@earhlink.net, web www.siblingsday.org.
Apr 14 “International Moment of Laughter Day”: Laughter is a potent and powerful way to deal with the difficulties of modern living. Experience the power of laughter. For info: Izzy Gesell 413-586-2634, email : izzy@izzyg.com, web www.izzyg.com.
Apr 15 “Sinking of the Titanic: 100th Anniversary”: The “unsinkable” luxury liner, Titanic, on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York, NY, struck an iceberg just before midnight on April 14, 1912 and sank at 2:27am April 15.
Apr 15-21 “National Coin Week”: Discover the world of money and the hobby of coin collecting. Annually the 3rd full week of April. Call Andy Dickes 719-632-2646 email pr@money.org. See www.money.org.
Apr 18-23 “Consumer Awareness Week”: Consumer advocate Bob O’Brien kicks off a week long event aimed at advising and helping consumers with their rights. Call Bob O’Brien 646-233-6610, email robtlfobrien@aol.com.
Apr 22 “MS Walk”: The WALK is a critical part of the MS Society’s fundraising efforts and is a significant program in funding research towards a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Takes place in cities across Canada. See www.mswalks.ca.
Apr 22 “Earth Day”: A day to pay attention to accelerating the transition to renewable energy worldwide. Call Earth Day Network 202-518-0044, see www.earthday.ca/pub/index.php.
Apr 22-28 “Administrative Professionals Week”: Acknowledgment of the contributions of all administrative professionals, and their vital roles in business, industry, education and government. Annually the last full week of April. Administrative Professionals Day is the Wednesday (Apr 25). For info: call the Int’l Ass’n of Administrative Professionals 816-891-6600 ext 2239 or email: eallan@iaap-hq.org.
Apr 23 “Newfoundland: Saint George’s Day”: Holiday observed in Newfoundland on Monday nearest Feast Day (Apr 23) of Saint George.
Apr 24-30 “Scoop the Poop Week”: Between the snowy storms of winter and the backyard barbecues of summer, now is the perfect time for dog owners to catch up on all those “canine calling cards” that have accumulated during the cold months. Besides creating a nasty mess in your yard, it’s a health hazard, it pollutes the groundwater and it annoys the neighbours. It doesn’t go away by itself, so get it cleaned up this week. For into, email Matthew Osborn at matthew@pooper-scooper.com.
Apr 26 “Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day”: A national public education campaign sponsored by the Ms Foundation for Women in which children age 8-12 go to work with adult hosts – parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends. Call 800-676-7780, email tods@ms.foundation.org, web www.daughtersandsonstowork.org.
Apr 27-29 “National Dream Hotline”: Now in its 24th year, the National Dream Hotline is sponsored by the School of Metaphysics as an educational service to people throughout the world. Staff man the hotline phones from 6pm CDT Friday until midnight Sunday. Annually, the last weekend in April. For info, call 417-345-8411, email som@som.org. see www.dreamschool.org.
Apr 28 “National Day of Mourning: 25th Anniversary”: Day of mourning for workers killed or injured on the job in Canada.