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Mars / March 2014 # 45 Canad@news In This Issue: Kuala Lumpur Congress 2014 Reports; Behind The Keys: Marc-André Blais and Calan Hobbs; Members On The Move; Milestones and New Members; Lots of News From the Regions... Les Clefs d’Or Canada Newsletter

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The Newsletter of Les Clefs d'Or Canada association of hotel Concierges.

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Page 1: Canad@news mars 14, final

Mars / March

2014 # 45 Canad@news

In This Issue:

Kuala Lumpur Congress 2014 Reports;

Behind The Keys: Marc-André Blais and Calan Hobbs;

Members On The Move;

Milestones and New Members;

Lots of News From the Regions...

Les Clefs d’Or Canada Newsletter

Page 2: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Dear friends,

Welcome to the March 2014 edition of our Canad@news Newsletter. Our sincere gratitude goes to Mr Alain Ethier from the St-Sulpice

Hotel in Montreal for his time and efforts in making it all happen. It’s already that time of year again where we will soon meet in

friendship for our annual congress. Unfortunately, this year I will not be able to join all of you in Los Cabos, as Julie and I will be

blessed with the birth of our first child, a baby girl, around May 3rd.

In my absence, Carolina Avaria, our Vice-President, will be representing all of us in Mexico next May and I’d like to personally thank

her for taking on all the extra challenges and responsibilities on my behalf. With the support of all of you, in true service through

friendship fashion, she will continue to make Canada shine.

The last 5 months since we met in Banff for our board meetings have been quite busy. I’d like to thank the National Board and all the

directors for all their hard work and dedication which is essential to the success of our organization.

I look forward to seeing you all in May 2015 in beautiful Whistler BC for our 10th National Congress!

In service through friendship,

Hugo Legrand President, Les Clefs d’Or Canada Chef Concierge, Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile

Chers amis,

Bienvenue à l'édition de Mars 2014 de notre newsletter Canad@news. Toute notre gratitude va à M. Alain Ethier de l’Hôtel Le St-

Sulpice à Montréal pour son temps et ses efforts à coordonner cette parution. C'est déjà ce moment de l'année où nous allons bientôt

nous rencontrer dans l'amitié pour notre congrès annuel. Malheureusement, cette année, je ne serai pas en mesure de me joindre à

vous à Los Cabos car Julie et moi seront béni avec la naissance de notre premier enfant, une petite fille, qui arrivera vers le 3 mai.

En mon absence, Carolina Avaria, notre vice-présidente, nous représentera au Mexique au mois de mai prochain et je voudrais la re-

mercier sincèrement d’avoir accepté tous les défis et les responsabilités supplémentaires que cela comporte. Avec le support de vous

tous, Carolina va continuer à faire rayonner le Canada, dans l’esprit du service à travers l’amitié.

Les 5 derniers mois, depuis que nous nous sommes rencontrés à Banff pour nos réunions du conseil d'administration, ont été très oc-

cupés. Je tiens à remercier l’équipe nationale ainsi que tous les directeurs régionaux pour leur travail acharné et leur dévouement qui

est essentiel pour le succès de notre organisation.

J’espère avoir le plaisir de vous voir en mai 2015 dans la belle ville de Whistler en Colombie-Britannique pour notre 10ème Congrès

National !

Le service à travers l'amitié,

Hugo Legrand Président, Les Clefs d’Or Canada

Chef Concierge, Sofitel Montréal Le Carré Doré

President Hugo Legrand

2

Page 3: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Dear Members/Friends.

It is an honour to again address you here on our Canad@News. As ever, I would like to thank our Editor Alain Ethier for assisting us

with this most valuable communication channel.

The past months have been exceptional in terms of Les Clefs d’Or Canada business. Thanks to Director Don Mooney and the Alberta

Region, in mid-November, we were welcomed to a perfectly executed National Board meeting in beautiful Banff. We shared 2 produc-

tive days of meetings which culminated with the celebration of 22 new Full Members, 2 new Air Canada Affiliates and 1 Corporate Af-

filiate (Office de Tourisme de Quebec). Our membership has never been so strong! We are now 150 Members, 10 Professional Affili-

ates, 18 Air Canada Affiliates, 12 Corporate Affiliates and 27 Honourary Members and our keys can be found in 20 cities, in the lobbies

of 84 of the finest hotels in Canada.

More highlights of the National Board meeting include: Finalizing the School Partnership Guidelines, further developing our new PR

Board position, transitioning to a new era of Treasury and reviewing the highly informative National Survey (results and action plans

to be shared in Los Cabos). Just after Banff, President Legrand and I joined Director Roger Poirier and the members of the Atlantic

Region in Halifax, where we hosted a GM reception that addressed a group of hoteliers interested in our association. A special shout-

out to Penny and Trevor for the efforts they put in to this highly successful evening, which we know will bring more members and

more support to the region. Next, we drove to Moncton and lunched with 3 members of Roger’s executive team and presented his GM

with a Certificate of Appreciation for the many years of support he has shown Roger as he formed and developed the Atlantic Region.

Finally, Canada was 22 Members strong at the 61st International UICH Congress which

took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Jan 10 – 15th! Our presence was certainly noted.

There were many highlights including the Educational Day put together by the educational

committee, of which our own Sheron Empey is part of. This year our industry profession-

als were asked to discuss the value of our relationship with Travel Agents and the panel

comprised of 5 leading hotel brands: Sofitel, InterContinental, Starwood, Shangri-la and

Four Seasons, was outstanding. Moreover, none of us will ever forget the absolutely pas-

sionate and enduring key note speech made by the Chairman of Hublot Swedish watches,

Mr. Jean Claude Biver. He honestly had us all fall in love with him as he powerfully talked

about our roles in our hotels being the LOVE of the hotel – and his message?... “All we

need is Love”. Over all, the congress was a resounding success, with every detail well

executed, allowing us a strong overview of the city, the country and their culture.

As I sat behind President Legrand proudly representing Canada at the highly respected Board of Director’s meeting in KL, I reflected

on how I see Canada today… We are STRONG, organized, proactive, financially healthy, media savvy, we continue to develop existing

and new relations with sponsors and are strongly involved in reconnecting with educational institutions. 38 Years ago we proudly

joined the UICH and through the hard work of past and present Boards, we continue to get better every year. I so look forward to

being with all of you in Los Cabos and continuing this marvellous journey. Vive Les Clefs d’Or Canada!

In Service Through Friendship.

Carolina Avaria

Chef Concierge, InterContinental Toronto Yorkville

Vice President, Les Clefs d’Or Canada

Vice-President Carolina Avaria

3

Page 4: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Dear members, colleagues and friends,

Happy New Year! I hope all is well in each and every Region across Canada. This past November our annual National Board meeting was hosted in the beautiful Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta. May I offer my sin-cere congratulations to Don Mooney and his board for hosting such a wonderful meeting with an ex-traordinary agenda, first class hotel accommodations, fine dining and culture. The meeting was done in true Les Clefs d'Or fashion: with Excellence and Friendship. Our agenda included our President’s welcome and report, the National Board report and regional presentations, reviews of corporate and professional affiliates and discussion of new business. Our yearly report card gets an A+! Les Clefs d’Or Canada is a strong and growing association. As we move forward, our focus remains on the development of our members and succession planning for all seven regions. I encourage each and every Les Clefs d'Or member to participate and represent your region and hotel at the 18th Pan American Congress, in Los Cabos, Mexico, from April 30th to May 4th. Les Clefs d'Or Congresses offer incredible educational and networking opportunities. I wish all of you great success in 2014 and I look forward to seeing you in Los Cabos. In Service Through Friendship Toni Daoud

Past President

Les Clefs D'or Canada

Assistant Chef Concierge

Shangri-La Hotel Toronto

Past President Toni Daoud

4

Page 5: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Dear Members, Spring has arrived! It is the season of new beginnings, inspiration, creativity and revival…

One of my favourite thoughts for spring is a quote by writer and Zen master, Shunryu Suzuki, who wrote: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few”. It is the openness of a beginner’s mind that will allow new ideas to foster, acceptance of fresh perspectives and discourage persistent intolerance and judgement.

As you reflect on your own career paths, think back on your first day on the job as a concierge, your first guest request, your first Les Clefs d’Or meeting, or your first day wearing the golden crossed keys on your uniform. As a beginner, I remember how exhila-rated I felt about the future and all its possibilities and potential! As we develop greater expertise as concierges, we need to re-mind ourselves the importance of the humility, willingness and openness of a novice. These are the qualities necessary for us to

stay on top of our day-to-day duties. I hope you are as inspired as I am by the lovely spring season and I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming Pan Ame-rican Congress in Los Cabos!

In Service Through Friendship, Shelley Hayashi

Concierge

Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver

National Secretary

National Secretary Shelley Hayashi

5

Page 6: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

What’s APP-ening?

Part of my mandate in applying for the role of Social Media Director, was education. Let’s face it, there are too many new technolo-

gies with an integrated social media platform to count. And as a concierge, we need to be on top of this, or at least have an under-

standing of what is out there and how it works.

I will dedicate these Canad@ Newsletter articles for this type of, for a better use of words; education. This article is on a very exciting

Application called Base Camp.

Basecamp is a highly useful application designed to help keep highly organized groups organized. Sounds perfect for a concierge

right? Once downloaded, you can create multiple ‘projects’ that you want to work on. Golf tournaments, fundraisers, and congresses

would greatly benefit from this as it would eliminate countless emails back and forth to your

committees.

All you do is create a project, and invite those on your committee (via email) to join your

group. You can send everyone notifications all at once, upload documents for the group, have

open discussions on topics, and the best part is that it archives everything!

You can create To-Do lists that anyone can check off (it shows who did), you can save notes,

thoughts, and even invite sponsors to be a part of the discussion. You can create an integrated

working calendar for everyone, which you can see in real time, and it sends the project leader a

daily recap

Any time there is an update, you get a little notification email. It is truly a very cool App that I

have personally used and you should check it out: www.basecamp.com or search for it as an

App.

Korey Rorison

Social Media & Public Relations

Director

Associate Member

Social Media & Public Relations Director

6

Page 7: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Bonjour chers membres, good day dear members!

Many of you have asked me how is our presence on Facebook

and other social networks, so I thought that it would be a good

time to assess our position on the Worldwide Public Web. Since I

was one of the first ones on Facebook, I’ve had the chance to

create and set-up many of the groups and pages for the use of

Les Clefs d’Or, locally and nationally. I also had the chance to

see the evolution of the networks as the number of users grew

exponentially and how the rules have changed along the way. I

was able to analyze how an organization like Les Clefs d’Or could

benefit from the exposure to the world of internet and how each

individual in our group can benefit by using these tools to stay

informed, keep and make contact with other members and sup-

pliers and to share important information and best practices

among ourselves.

It is my belief that the association and each

of us are using about 20% to 50% of the

huge potential of the various networking

tools available to us. Don’t feel bad about

this, because we are doing better than so

many other organizations, but realize that

we do need to make a little bit more room in

our schedules and lists of daily tasks in order to stay on top of

the game and be recognized as a group of connected people!

Since I’m a fairly recent user of Twitter, I cannot comment too

much about it for the moment, but I can see that most regions

and countries have Twitter accounts, so do many of the mem-

bers. The interactions between us are not very strong yet but

our presence is there for sure.

A few years ago, I created two concierge groups on Facebook.

«Les Clefs d’Or – Hotel Concierges» is a private group that

only allows concierges, ex-concierges and very close friends of

Les Clefs d’Or, like honorary members and major sponsors. It’s

important to understand that it is a private group. It means that

only approved members can see the posts and the conversa-

tions, we are amongst ourselves! We can discuss almost any-

thing, like code of ethics, best practices, work conditions, even

relationships with our suppliers. This group now has 820 ap-

proved members and concierges from around the world regu-

larly use it to share information or to ask for help. I encourage

you to take a look at it!

The second group is a little bit more recent. «Les Clefs d’Or

Canada» was first designed to communicate within Les Clefs

d’Or Canada members only. It has since been expanded to all

Les Clefs d’Or Members around the world. It is also a private

group. The main utility of the group is to keep contact among

Canadian Members, share ideas and to be able to ask for help in

another region or simply ask questions regarding the way others

deal with a particular situation at work. This group now has 255

qualified and approved members. What makes the strength

and value of these groups is the input from each individual mem-

ber and the conversations that take place with other concierges

that you’ve never met but that live similar experiences as you

do, on a daily basis.

Facebook Pages are different from Groups mainly because they

are the public image of an organization on Facebook. Anyone

who has an interest in our organization may «Like» our page,

see all of its content and receive notifications whenever some-

thing new is posted on the page. The content itself of the pages

is controlled by Administrators of the organization and is mostly

designed to showcase what we do for our guests, the places that

we visit regularly and our charity and community work and pres-

ence. I created the «Les Clefs d’Or Canada

- Montréal» Page, which I manage along

with Chanel Mongeon. We now have 274

«Likes» but we are aiming for 500!

The other page I recently created, with the

support of Hugo and Korey, is the «Les Clefs

d’Or Canada» Page. This page now has 272

«Likes» but the original aim was for 1000

within the first few months. This is the one page where your help

is most needed! If you are on Facebook, this is one Page that

you should definitely «like» if you care about the growth of our

public image!

Not only should you like it, but you should also take time to

invite your friends, co-workers, GM’s, suppliers and anyone

associated to Les Clefs d’Or in your region to LIKE it. This is

very easy to do directly on the page itself and it takes 5 min-

utes! You should also participate by sending Korey or I, pictures

and short stories of public interest that happen in your region,

much like in the style of a press release. This is the best place

to thank your suppliers and sponsors publicly for their implica-

tion in our association. Believe me, they will love the exposure

you give them because we are a trusted and unbiased source of

information in our respective re-

gions and we always seek the best

of everything for our guests!

In Service Through Friendship!

Le Service à Travers L’Amitié!

Alain Ethier

Assistant Chef Concierge

Le St-Sulpice Hôtel Montréal

Éditeur / Editor, Canad@news

Word From The Editor

7

Page 8: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Greetings from the Ontario Region! This is the perfect time of the year to reflect on our region's great achievements in 2013.

Allow me to share some of these proud moments of 2013: Four new full members received their keys: Xavier Guidis -

SOHO Metropolitan; Neyba Costa - Fairmont Royal York Hotel; Vanessa Kerwin - Omni King Edward Hotel and Andrew Van Der Hoeven – Westin Ottawa. We are extremely proud to have a full

member in Ottawa.

Georgina McCormick of the Four Seasons Toronto was Employee of the Year. Liloo Alim, also of the Four Seasons Toronto, became a first

time grandmother to a lovely girl named Naaya, We raised $5575 for The Terry Fox

run, thanks to the assistance of the Air Canada Concierges bake sale and 50/50 draw ($2200) and to

Angeney Singh's (Marriott Bloor Yorkville) generous donation of $1000.

Our 15th annual Star One Tickets – Les Clefs d’Or Golf Classic Golf Tournament was held at the Peninsula Lakes Golf Club on Monday, August 12th. This was our largest yearly fundraising

effort in recent years. We can’t thank you enough, Erv!

We introduced a new promotional partnership with The Toronto Argo-

nauts. The region is receiving $5 per ticket sold. We raised $200 during this first year of our partnership. The region continues to have success-

ful public relations. I was a guest on the new CTV TV show called The So-cial and also wrote an article on their website on How to get the Most of

your Hotel Concierge. We had the pleasure of two joint meetings with Les Clefs d’Or Niagara, one in Niagara and one in Toronto.

For the first time, the Ontario region invited all the golf tourna-ment sponsors, monthly guest speakers and venues we experi-enced during 2013 to our Holiday Cocktail Party hosted by Muzik

nightclub. It was a fantastic opportunity to thank everyone for their support and a great chance for our members, affiliates and hotel General Managers to network! We are looking forward to a 2014 where we continue to flourish

and it's starting already with five full members heading to the 61st UICH International Congress in Kuala Lumpur. All the Clefs d’Or members and affiliates of Canada’s biggest city

wish you an extraordinary 2014!

Please remember to follow our activities, news and events on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/LesClefsdOrOntario/533722293309082 and our Twitter page:

https://twitter.com/LCDDIRECTORON In Service Through Friendship;

In Service Through Excellence.

Ronaldo Breton

Chef Concierge The Hazelton Hotel Regional Director - Ontario

Ontario Region Director’s Report

8

Ontario Board: Margarita Noel, Shangri-la To-ronto, Secretary; Sherine Sutheland, Inter-continental Toronto Centre, Treasurer; Ronaldo Breton, The Hazelton Hotel, Director; Andrea Melendez, Trump Hotel Toronto, Vice-Director.

Terry Fox Bake Sale: Anne Park, Valerie Garabet, Michael Tomase-vic, Dianne Bertoncini.

Page 9: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

With the holiday season now behind us and the New Year firmly in place, The Les Clefs d’Or Concierges have had many opportuni-ties to reflect upon our last year. We all cherish those concierge experiences that have made us feel like what we do make a differ-ence . Over the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we were the go-to person to ensure that gifts were wrapped to perfection, that events were planned and executed with seamless perfection, that shops stayed open for that certain VIP’s, and the list goes on.

No matter what time of year, we go above and beyond to ensure that the guest’s experience is a heartwarming one. What we have all come to realize by taking on the responsibilities that go with being a Les Clefs d’Or Concierge is that, what we give with love, we sometimes get back tenfold. As we begin 2014, our newest members of Les Clefs d’Or have been kind enough to share some high-

lights from the last year to start us off on the right foot and remind us why having the golden keys to success sometimes can shine right back and bring about the brightest and most heartwarming of smiles.

Ontario Region

Neyba M. Costa, Concierge, Fairmont Royal York, Toronto: I had the pleasure of meeting, and getting to know, a lovely family in 2013. We had exchanged emails for months prior to their arrival in the hopes of making this trip a particularly

memorable one. This family was traveling from afar and wanted to make this trip a special one for their little boy who was ill. I had arranged an itinerary for them, gathered “special” gifts and eagerly awaited their arrival. Meeting and exceeding the

needs of these guests became a personal priority. Upon their arrival I found them to be a very pleasant family with the most charming little boy. During the course of their stay our

relationship deepened and I got to know them better. I came to understand their tastes, their needs and their preferences; de-tails that would help to make their stay memorable and special. Anticipating their needs, I arranged an amenity for the little

boy, “Roy” the Royal York Lion, accompanied by cookies and milk. They returned to the hotel that day and the little boy an-

nounced to his mother that he was hungry. As soon as they walked into the room, they found “Roy” sitting on the bed next

to the cookies and milk. The family was overwhelmed with the gesture. The days passed and their time here gradually came to an end.

Though sad that they we’re leaving, they were also happy be-cause the trip had turned out to be all that they had hoped for and more. Upon their departure, I was presented with a beauti-ful letter of appreciation. This was not a good bye, but a “see you soon”.

By embracing our motto of ‘In Service through Friendship’, I had made new friends. Examples like these reaffirm my pride and appreciation in being a member of Les Clef d’Or.

Andrew Van Der Hoeven: Head Concierge,

Westin Ottawa: My most uplifting story actually started as a sad situation with a frequent guest of The Westin Ottawa. This guest was staying at

our hotel while getting special care for one of his elderly dogs named Vanilla. As most pet owners can attest, we all make sure that our pets are treated as well (or better) than a blood member of our family.

Both of this guest’s dogs, Coco and Vanilla (brown and white Labs) stayed at the hotel and I was able to send up treats and toys to ensure the stay was full of fun. As a dog owner myself,

I was really able to connect with their situation. Unfortunately, Vanilla’s treatments did not work and we were forced to say

goodbye to this lovely dog.

On this guest’s next stay, about 2 months later, he went out of his way to make sure he found me so that he could show me a picture of his new puppy who was getting along with Coco so well, that Coco seemed to have more energy than he had in

years. It was clear that they had received a very special gift with this new puppy, and the new addition was fitting in per-fectly.

It warmed my heart to see how this family had gone through the loss of their pet, and they had now been gifted with the new-found energy and love of a brand new puppy in their family. I also felt very special when this guest thanked me for all of the extra love that I had shown his family throughout their stay and

let me know that it meant a lot. He said he had not ever re-ceived service like this at any hotel he had ever stayed at.

Xavier Guidis: Concierge, Soho Metropolitan: What could make me feel better about being a Clefs d'Or conci-erge than to have one of my regular clients be the first person

to send me a happy new year message and wishing me the best for 2014? Throughout the past year, I was able to develop memorable relationships. Sometimes a thank you or a simple note can

mean more than just a gratuity. Receiving gifts for my young daughter, or champagne for obtaining my Clefs d'Or was really special for me. And if I am looking for somewhere to go for my next vacation, I even have invitations to visit some of my clients

in Ireland, Australia or France.

Cheers to 2014!

Dean Voon LCD Reporter Assistant Chef Concierge

The Hazelton Hotel

9

Page 10: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

» » » On The Move » » » Keeping track of our friends and colleagues across the country.

Change of hotel, promotion, change of position,

departure, move, weddings and kids…

Niagara:

Matt Sutherland, of the Pillar and Post was accepted as our newest Member;

Years of Service Awards: Karen Jenkins, Hilton Hotel Fallsview, 10 years; Jamie Clarke, White Oaks Resort and Spa, 5 years.

Montréal:

Virginia Casale, Past-International President of UICH and con-

cierge at Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile, has retired from her con-

cierge position after 30 years as a concierge and 25 years as a

Les Clefs d’Or Member!

(Check the next edition of Canad@news for complete coverage

of this story.)

Accepted as new Members:

Piero Termini, Ritz Carlton Montréal;

Magil Tétreault, Hotel Place d’Armes;

Laurie Jutras, Marriott Château Champlain;

Véronique Bourgeault, Marriott Château Champlain.

Reinstated Members:

Colain Valiquette, Hilton Lac Leamy;

Anna Roma, Ritz Carlton Montréal;

Patricio Cruz, Hotel Chez Swann.

Accepted as new Affiliate Members:

Sandra De Rosa, Air Canada;

Nathalie Barbucci, Air Canada.

Years of Service Awards:

Chanel Mongeon, Marriott Château Champlain, 5 years;

Marc-André Blais, Manoir Hovey, 5 years;

Mireille Olano-Kostopoulos, W Hotel, 5 years;

Simon Stewart, Sofitel Golden Mile, 5 years;

Hugo Legrand, Sofitel Golden Mile, 15 years;

Maria Bentivegna, Sheraton Centre, 15 years;

Mark Dembinski, Sheraton Centre, 15 years.

Atlantic:

Sandra Smith, Air Canada, was accepted as a new Affiliate

Member.

Alberta:

Chad Laroche has resigned from Banff Springs Hotel and is on

the move…back home to Montreal, seeking a concierge position

Warren Downs has left Delta Bow Valley Calgary after 8 years

and has joined Fairmont Palliser as Fairmont Gold Manager/

Concierge.

British Columbia:

Accepted as new Members:

Ivonne Mayne, Fairmont Pacific Rim;

Michael Falez, Victoria Marriott;

Jarren Macdougall, Shangri –La;

Duane Lachance, Fairmont Empress.

Years of Service Awards:

Joanne Lewandowski, Fairmont Chateau Whistler, 15 Years;

Matthew Scott, Fairmont Pacific Rim, 15 Years;

David Reid, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, 15 Years;

Shelley Hayashi, Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver, 5 Years.

Québec City:

Accepted as new Members:

Christine Gingras, Le Bonne Entente Hôtel

Julie Gagnon, Le Château Laurier Québec

Ontario:

Accepted as new Members:

Xavier Guidis, SOHO Metropolitan;

Neyba Costa, Fairmont Royal York Hotel;

Vanessa Kerwin, Omni King Edward Hotel;

Andrew Van Der Hoeven, Westin Ottawa.

10

Page 11: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Hello colleagues, friends and family!

I am proud to welcome all the new and reinstated Members from across Canada, but especially those in my region! Anna Roma and Piero Termini from the Ritz Carlton, Patricio Cruz from chez Swann, Colain Valiquette from the Hilton Lac Leamy, Laurie Jutras and Véronique Bourgeault from the Marriott Château Champlain, Magil Tétreault from Hotel Place d’Armes, Nathalie Barbucci and

Sandra De Sousa from Air Canada. We have added 7 Members and 2 Affiliates; what a great pleasure to see that our city is getting back the feathers it had lost a couple of years ago.

Of course, all this hard work is impossible without an amazing board; my Vice-Director, Simon Stewart, from the Sofitel. He is the best right hand I can dream of. Devoted, he spends as much personal time as it is possible on our association. Also traveling to

Toronto, Halifax and Quebec City, he is the link in between all of us!

Followed by Maude Blaquière from the Nelligan as our Secretary, she is enthusiastic and can’t stop improving the system in place to perfect our ways of communication. Not only representing Canada as the next Andy Pongco Nominee, she was also nominated at the Grands Prix du Tourisme Canadien. Congratulations!

The cement to this healthy organization is without any doubt a good financial management. Etienne Bellemare, from the St-

Sulpice, is working hard and we can see it in the budget from the positive increase he presented us. He is as involved as it is hu-

manly possible when it comes to the association.

This great team was able to pull out prodigious events like the 10th year anniversary of the golf tournament and also a remarkable

keys ceremony event. I would like to acknowledge all the volunteers who participated in St-Justine tournament, Tel-Jeunes events,

Charles-Bruneau foundation, Ogilvy en Fête, Terry Fox Run and many more. These days, with our busy schedules, time is price-

less.

Already planning the next congress I have a feeling Montréal will be very well represented! Congresses are knowledge so make

sure to take time for those. I can’t wait to see you all.

Chanel Mongeon

Chef Concierge

Marriott Château Champlain

Directrice Régionale, Montréal

Région de Montréal

11

Montreal Board: Etienne Bellemare, St-Sulpice, Trea-

surer; Maude Blaquière, Nelligan, Secretary; Chanel

Mongeon, Marriott Château Champlain, Director;

Simon Stewart, Sofitel Golden Mile, Vice-Director.

Page 12: Canad@news mars 14, final

Canad@news

Mars / March

2014

Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening,

From the Alberta Region we send our best wishes and hope that you and your regions have had great success this past year.

In 2013 we had a very full and exciting year which saw further development of our events which enhanced the scope and size of their

impact. For the purpose of this newsletter I would like to share two of them with you as they meant a great deal to our members. The

first of these was our Edmonton meeting hosted at The Fairmont Hotel MacDonald; I would regret if I did not share that we are ex-

tremely grateful for the support and sponsorship from their General Manager Garrett Turta for the evening (When in Edmonton you

have to enjoy Hotel MacDonald’s patio and the view of the river valley, it is phenomenal!). In Edmonton we have been working very

hard to grow the awareness of the Concierge profession and educate the industry on both the importance and the opportunities there

are in Edmonton and this evening exceeded our expectations.

If the event was just solely judged on the fact it was standing room only then it was truly a success. Our over flowing meeting room

included various tourism and business development partners from all over Edmonton. In gathering all of these important partners to-

gether from Edmonton’s tourism landscape we wanted to ensure that our message of the Concierge profession hit a home run. We

could not think of a better way of getting our message across than by inviting Clarence McLeod, Corporate Director Fairmont Gold &

Concierge and Virginia Casale, the current Past President of Les Clefs d’Or International.

Clarence and Virginia both gave great presentations that edified, educated, and truly inspired all of us in attendance. Clarence mes-

sage was driven to show the power of the concierge and its effect on your organization. His insight into the industry bridged the gap

between the bottom line and the need for great service. In Virginia, we learned to define passion! Which ironically was spelled V-I-R-G

-I-N-I-A. Her love and dedication for our profession infected everyone in attendance. It was a powerful reminder and lesson that at

the end of the day, it is all about the people.

With the success of our Edmonton meeting, it personally inspired me to take our key presentations meeting to the next level. With our

Region hosting the National Board Meeting in November, I wanted to take advantage of having the Full National Board with us, so we

moved our presentations from December to November. For many of our members this would be a great opportunity to get to know

the leadership of our organization from Coast to Coast, especially for our newest members. So I planned this event for the last night

of the National Board meetings.

Our evening was hosted in the Grand Hall of the Cave & Basin National Historic Site. With the Cave & Basin being the birthplace of our

National Parks how apropos would it be to present our golden keys to our freshly minted baby-faced members. We had a great eve-

ning and heard speeches from Hugo Legrand, our President and from Her Worship, the Mayor of Banff, Karen Sorensen. To honour our

newest members we invited not only their hotel management to the event however we also invited key industry partners and most

importantly we also ensured that they invited their spouses, partners, and immediate family. After we presented our long service

awards, Warren Downs, our Vice-Director introduced each new member separately, his words and message were the equivalent of the

rolling out of the red carpet for a Hollywood gala event. Bravo Warren and bravo to our newest members: Jeffrey, Zahava, Michael

and Calan.

I do need to recognize these next three organizations as without them our evening would not have

been a success. Thank you to our sponsors that evening; Maple Leaf Restaurant, Oxford Properties,

and The Fairmont Banff Springs. With great partners like this they helped create a lasting memory

for all in attendance.

I want to personally thank all of the members from across Canada for the professionalism, dedica-

tion, and passion you have for our profession. You keep us inspired! We look forward to having a

wonderful 2014 and hope that each of your regions have great success in all that you do!

In Service through Friendship,

Don Mooney

Director, Alberta Region

Chef Concierge

The Fairmont Banff Springs

Alberta Region Director’s Report

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To All Members & Affiliates across this beautiful country, I wish

you all a Happy New Year. As I write this article it is with a

smile that I look back upon the latter part of 2013 as here in

BC, we certainly said goodbye with a bang.

Since the last Newsletter, the BC Region has been out and

about, where there has been no shortage of events, vendor

appreciation, and charitable nights along with some amazing

monthly meetings in some majestic locations. I think that the

BC Board has done an amazing job in putting together our cal-

endar these past months. I know it’s not easy with a smaller

Board so we were lucky that we have strong support from all of

our members who assist our Director and Vice-Director to make

our Region a fun and productive organization for all our conci-

erges. Here are a few highlights from the BC Region for all of

you to share and be a part of.

BC Region’s famous Boat Cruise 2013 – I think that Jar-

ren MacDougall summed it up best when saying “It is always nice to end a very busy summer with an event that embodies the Les Clefs d’Or ethos and this year’s Charity Boat Cruise was another hit for the members, affiliates, partners and friends of the organization.”

Set behind a backdrop of a beautiful hot summer night and

exquisite west coast scenery this year was a fun filled event full of great people, food and entertainment.

On September 11, 2013, with over 200 attendees and with the support and help of Harbour Cruises, everyone embarked on a

two hour boat cruise around Vancouver’s coastline to raise money for a charity that is near and dear to all of our hearts.

The BC Hospitality Foundation assists persons who work in the hospitality sectors that are dealing with serious illness and are in need of some financial assistance during their convalescence or treatment.

Many of the members and friends of the organization know of someone personally who have utilized this assistance supplied by the BCHF and were happy to participate in fundraising for an organization who has given so much to many individuals in the

industry.

The GM Reception – is the jewel in our crown for the BC Re-

gion, and is one of the first to be circled on the concierge cal-

endar. This year the elegant reception was held at the Down-

town Marriott Pinnacle Hotel, hosted by our very own Ms Ver-

inda Doman and her hotel’s Executive Team. The setting was

so grand it was even fit for a closing Congress Gala; we had a

wonderful welcome backdrop set up with professional photog-

raphers, great food and wine and an eye-catching Les Clefs

d’Or crest ice sculpture.

One of the main reasons for this fabulous evening is for the BC

Regional Board & Members to finally celebrate the achieve-

ments along with hard work shown by our new members. The

emotions were running high, so it was perfect timing when the

live jazz music started playing and the Marriott’s wonderful

Food and Beverage team started to serve the delicious food

and wine with the evening now in full swing. For me it was

really interesting to see it from the other side of the camera, as

just a year ago that was me on stage and I can tell you ….. It’s

a relief and sheer joy when you walk proudly amongst your

peers while wearing your shiny new golden keys. So I knew the

icing on the cake for our new members was when their golden

keys were pinned on their lapels by and in the presences of

their respective hotels and industry peers. Bravo to the four

new additions to the BC Family!

Continued on page 14...

BC Region

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...Continued from page 13

December meeting on Grouse Mountain – Here in BC, we

very much look forward to our monthly meetings, the Board

always have done an excellent job in arranging unusual venues

that make each meeting different from the last. Then when you

have a selection of great guest speakers, the meetings become

a great way to share the knowledge and information we have

learned and of course we are kept up to speed with news in the

world of Les Clefs d’Or. So the last meeting of 2013 was to be

held at the top of Grouse Mountain amidst the tranquil snow

capped mountains on the North Shore. Many don’t know that

you can even find Santa’s workshop along with reindeer at the

peak, and I am not kidding. We all jumped aboard the gondola

as we soared above snow covered trees, while looking back at

the twinkling lights of the city of Vancouver in the distance.

As we reached the top we headed in for the meeting, there we

all sat in our winter woolies ready for the night’s entertain-

ment. Looking around the room it was like all the people on

Santa’s naughty were all gathered in one place, and then I re-

alize it was just the BC Concierge family! We all sat still as a

mouse as we drank mulled wine listening to our guest speak-

ers.

International Congress in Kuala Lumpur – What better way

to kick of the New Year than with an amazing International

Congress set in a majestic location like Kuala Lumpur. Once

again the BC Region was well represented as we had 12 Mem-

bers and some of their partners make the 7933 mile journey.

Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful city, in the midst of an evolutionary

process to bring themselves into the New World. All around you

can see tower cranes in the city’s skyline. Updating all around

their transportation infrastructure. The only thing to rival the

hustle and bustle of this vibrant, multicultural city is the heat

and humidity that welcomes you every day.

The Malaysian Congress organizing committee hosted a won-

derful congress. With a wonderful opening gala, a privileged

street hawkers feast closing down a busy street just for the

International delegates to enjoy the full experience street side.

Then a visit to beautiful Malaka; a seaside city where the rich-

ness of the region’s people is shown through their cultural heri-

tage and history, ready for everyone one to experience.

A visit to the Batu Caves, the largest Hindu shrine outside of

India was a wonderful experience. Just a reminder to all visit-

ing…Don’t feed the monkeys!! Lastly, the closing gala was a

wonderful evening, where the delegates experienced wonderful

authentic Malaysian cuisine, a brilliant dance from local artists

in ceremonial attire and a spirit of celebration that lead to

dancing, singing and of course the merriment of a cocktail or

two.

Don’t forget to visit the BC Region Facebook page to see

all of the pictures since the last Newsletter and to see all

of the great things the BC Concierges have done in our

Region.

Air Canada Concierge – YVR; We wish to acknowledge and

celebrate a very special milestone for Julie Howard one of our

original Air Canada affiliates, who was celebrating a whopping

35 years of service with Air Canada; she has been an integral

part of our Region’s success with the Air Canada Professional

Affiliates. Julia is a much beloved colleague who has the heart

of a concierge and shows it each and every day. Congratula-

tions Jules!

A beloved Concierge on the Move – It is with mixed emotion

that we say goodbye to Mr. Réjean Cliché who has left the BC

Region to Join Renaldo Breton and the Ontario region mem-

bers. Réjean is more than a BC Region Concierge, he is a friend

to all of us, will always be a member of our family and he will

be greatly missed. Viva Les Clefs d’Or Réjean!

BC Reporter’s Summary – I know that we can all look back

on 2013 with a fondness knowing that we represented BC

(Being Charitable) with a sense of pride coupled with dedication

to our profession and Les Clefs d’Or family. However the BC

Region’s ambition is much like our housing market, “it just

keeps going up!”

I wish you all a wonderful and exciting 2014, I know that there

are so many talented concierges throughout this great country

with stories and updates to tell. I look forward to seeing how

you are all doing and what’s in store for each of the Regions

across Canada.

This is David “Anchor Man” Lall reporting from BC!

David Lall

BC LCD Reporter

Concierge

Fairmont Pacific Rim

BC Region

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Hello my fellow members,

I hope that you all were able to escape and indulge over the Holiday Season. I enjoyed some wonderful time with my family and

friends! I am especially excited to hear about your venture out to the 61st UICH Congress in Kuala Lumpur. I was able to follow most

of you on twitter, facebook and Instagram. I thank you for showcasing through social media for those who were not able to attend.

I am eager to be representing the Alberta Region as the LCD Reporter, once again this year. I look forward to sharing our successes

and growth in our region. We had an amazing Key Ceremony hosted by Cindy Stewart, of the Westin Calgary last December. Cele-

brating our newest members, Michael Lombardi of the Banff Springs, Jeffrey Cobrana of The Hyatt, Zahava Poriah with Le Ger-

main, and the second full member in Edmonton, Calan Hobbes of the Hotel Macdonald!!! I am very honored to have been able to

interview Calan, a fellow Edmontonian who is just as passionate about our guests and about Edmonton becoming a region one day!

I wish you all well and I hope to see you at the next PanAmerican Congress in Los Cabos… Until then…

Nella Mirante

LCD Reporter, Alberta Region

Chef Concierge

Westin Edmonton

Alberta Region

Région de Québec

Gold Keys Ceremony

This past December, we were very happy to add 2 new Members to the Les Clefs d’Or family

in the Québec Region: Christine Gingras from Le Bonne Entente Hotel and Julie Gagnon

from Le Château Laurier Québec.

The ceremony for the pinning of the keys took place at Le Bonne Entente Hotel, preceded by

cocktails and appetizers. Mr. Alain April and Mr. Alain Girard, Christine and Julie’s respective

General Managers, made warm speeches and pinned the precious gold keys on the lapels of

their jackets. It was, as it usually is, quite emotional for both new

rookies.

We then moved to Portofino Restaurant’s new Ste-Foy location where

we had a great Italian meal and pursued the celebrations in style.

Louise Morin

LCD Reporter, Québec Region

Le St-Pierre, Auberge Distinctive

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In the Montréal Region, the Clefs d’Or Association is getting more and more known for its charity work in the community. Many different organizations take advantage of our services and want our keys to shine among them. On November 20th, three

major fundraisers happened on the same night! And besides offering our time, the Clefs d’Or were well promoted to the pub-lic.

The first event we attended was for the organization Tel-Jeunes and LigneParents. Tel-Jeunes is a free, confidential resource for young people throughout Québec. The service provides a team of professional counsellors available around the clock by tele-

phone or online to listen, provide support and offer information

on any topic of concern. Parents receive support through LigneParents to resolve their family issues, answer their questions, and help in crisis situa-

tions. This is a brief description of the night:

The evening for Fondation Tel-Jeunes, took place at the Bonse-cours Market and the welcoming of VIP’s was secure by Clefs d'Or Members of Montréal. The event has raised $71,438. These funds will support the Tel-Jeunes and LigneParents services. Under the theme “leaders honored”, guests were invited to en-

joy appetizers designed by Tapeo, Milos, Café Ferreira, Le Pois Penché and Le Prince. A selection of wines has been selected by the SAQ, partner of the event. Marina Orsini and Maxime Tremblay, spokespersons for the foundation, also made

poignant testimonies. Thank you all for the success of this

event and your support of this cause.

Carole Kennedy Concierge, Institut de Tourisme et d’Hôtellerie du Québec

The second event was for the Fondation Centre de cancérologie Charles-Bruneau.

The foundation is dedicated to fighting against pediatric cancer. Its mission is to finance research and support the development of projects intended to improve the lives of thousands of chil-dren with cancer in Québec.

Grand Chef Jérôme Ferrer organized a cocktail-reception at the Birks Café par Européa. He supports the foundation because of

his personal story. A few years ago, cancer took

his pregnant wife away. It is a pleasure for Les Clefs d’Or to be beside him to help in any way we can as he is a true

long-time friend of Les Clefs d’Or. Our main tasks during the evening were to welcome the

VIP’s with our best

smiles and savoir-faire and to sell raffle tickets to collect more money for the final donation. The two grand prizes were a trip to Paris with Air France, as well as one with Porter Airlines any-where they are flying to. The second fundraising was a silent

auction where many of the prizes were stays and spa packages from our respective hotels. The third one was an auction where Jérôme was offering a dinner at the winner’s house with 9 of his guests. At the end of the evning, Jerome raised 40 000$ for the

Foundation! Everyone was pleased to be there and all thought that we had made a difference on the final result. Mylène Perreault

Finally, the third event was for the Fondation CHU Ste-Justine: Les Clefs d’Or Montréal is a proud partner of

Ogilvy en Fête, a festive evening of shopping and gourmet delights benefiting the CHU Sainte-Justine (Children’s Hospital) Founda-tion. The event was held last November

20th, 2013. It was a spectacular fashion show featuring celebrities, music, animation and famous Montréal restaurants. We have been participating at this event for

the last 4 years. We personally greet the 2500 people who are attending that special night. It is a really good way for us, Les Clefs d’Or, to be noticed and to be present in our community.

During the evening we were in charge of distributing the best

and nicest prizes to the winners. A lot of those prizes were stays and packages in luxury hotels of Montréal that were given by

members of Les Clefs d’Or. A cheque for more than $260,000 was later given to the Fonda-tion CHU Ste-Justine as a net result of that one evening!

It is a real pleasure to participate at a beautiful event like this and not to mention it is for a great cause.

André Cloutier Chef-Concierge Hôtel Le Germain Montréal

As you can see, November 20th was a very busy night for Les Clefs d’Or Montréal, as three foundations that we’ve been sup-porting for many years all had their annual fundraiser on the same night! We are proud to say that we accepted the challen-

ge, regrouped our forces, asked every member to make a spe-cial effort and made our Clefs d’Or shine with flying colors as we

helped make each one of those events a major success.

Mylène Perreault Concierge, Hôtel Le Crystal

LCD Reporter, Région de Montréal

Région de Montréal

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Greetings from snowy Niagara! Jamie and I (Matt!) are sitting here recovering from what has been one of the busiest weekends in the Niagara region so far

this winter season. Every year Niagara plays host to two major wine festivals. First is the Niagara Wine Festival that takes place in September to celebrate the years’ grape harvest. All local wineries take part in different events and it’s a great way

to showcase all that our Niagara region has to offer. The sec-ond major festival is called the Icewine festival, and it takes place in January of every year. This festival is unique because it celebrates a form of wine that is very special to Niagara. For

those of you not familiar with Icewine let us briefly describe

what it is. Icewine is made from grapes that have been purposely left on the vine to freeze. In order to produce a proper Icewine,

grapes are left on the vine until a sustained temperature of about -8 degrees Celsius. The grapes dehydrate, concentrating the juice that is left behind. The grapes then must be harvested and pressed at these frigid temperatures, in order to retain this

concentrated juice. The dedicated workers harvest the grapes during the peak cold temperatures, with yields being much smaller than that of typical table wines. During the Icewine festival in January, the major attraction is

the transformation of the old town of Niagara-on-the-Lake into an “Icewine Village”. Ice sculptures are made, an ice bar is made and all the wineries set up individual booths, where visi-tors can indulge on what we in the region like to call “Liquid

Gold.” Perhaps it has to do with the colour of the drink, or maybe because of the high price of Icewine, either way, no dessert in Niagara is complete without an Icewine aperitif!

The festival culminates with a cocktail competition on the Sat-urday night in the old town. The local restaurants and wineries all create spectacular cocktails, with the key ingredient being…you guessed it, ICEWINE! This years winner, and by very close margins was from Escabeche restaurant at the Prince of Wales

Hotel. They created “Fire and Ice”, one part brandy Icewine and one part Hot Sauce! Before you go “GROSS!” try it. The runner up, from the Cannery restaurant at my own hotel, The Pillar and Post, was “Hot Apple Cider”. Two parts Apple Cider

and one part Vidal Icewine, garnish with an apple slice dipped in caramel. We highly suggest you try one of these amazing cocktails!

Now that things have calmed down slightly and we try to nurse our Icewine headaches, we can look forward to what’s on the horizon. We’re hoping to get out of the winter weather and head south to sunny Los Cabos, Mexico, for the 18th Panameri-

can Congress! We hope to see lots of you there, and maybe we’ll bring along a bottle of brandy Icewine to mix with the local hot sauce!

In Service through friendship,

Niagara Region

Matt Sutherland Concierge The Pillar and Post Hotel LCD Reporter, Niagara Region

Jamie Clarke Concierge White Oaks Resort and Spa Director, Niagara Region

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Marc-André Blais is Concierge at Manoir Hovey, in North Hatley. He was

honored this past December for 5 years of service with Les Clefs d’Or.

How did you learn about the concierge profession?

I worked in England as a bartender in a small hotel on the outskirts of Lon-

don. While there, I had the chance to visit the Savoy Hotel and meet their Conci-

erge, who took the time to introduce me to his profession. I was amazed. Upon

my return to Canada, I immediately enrolled at the Montreal International Conci-

erge Institute.

Why did you want to become a Concierge?

I have worked with the public since I was 15 and have been a part of the hotel in-

dustry for 18 years now, and I love it. When I discovered the profession, I realized

that the service offered by concierges was the ultimate level of customer service

and immediately wanted to be a part of it. I also have the privilege of being a

member of our prestigious association.

What do you like most about being a Concierge?

Our profession allows us to have a personal and genuine contact with our guests. We regularly make the difference between a good

stay and a memorable stay. Also I love that our work is not routine, that each day is different.

What does the Les Clefs d’Or Association mean to you?

Being part of the Clefs d'Or is to be part of a professional family, where we can share our experiences and knowledge. We also

help each other out within the association to provide our clients with the best service possible.

What was your biggest challenge over the years?

To have the proper acknowledgment from management. Fortunately I have received an incredible amount of support from the gen-

eral manager and the owner. To maintain this trust, we must constantly demonstrate that we make the difference for the client,

while helping to expand clientele and ensure that they return. Our customers are also more informed then ever through social me-

dia and other sites like TripAdvisor. We must be attentive to the needs of each client and provide the appropriate services. In my

case, I have to maintain a good partnership with local businesses.

Tell us about your most memorable moment with a guest?

Last summer, I organized a private tour of the Eastern Townships for a family from Mumbai, India. They originally wanted to visit

local vineyards, orchards and cheese producers. Unfortunately the day of the tour, the private guide was unable to make the tour.

Without notice, I had to take charge of the visit myself. I spent a wonderful day with them and it was a great occasion to person-

ally meet the local producers. My guests were thrilled with the experience.

How would you describe yourself? Professionally, I am a curious man, who does not like routine. I am a people person. I really enjoy meeting and working with peo-

ple from different cultures.

Answers gathered by:

Mylène Perreault Concierge, Hôtel Le Crystal Montréal LCD Reporter, Région de Montréal

Behind The Keys - Marc-André Blais

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Calan Hobbs is concierge at The Fairmont Hotel MacDonald. He just received his Clefs d’Or in November 2013.

How long have you been in the hospitality industry? I began my career in the hotel industry in 2007, working at 2 small boutique hotels in Edmonton. I wore many hats, such as night auditor, bellman, front desk agent, and Concierge. I

stayed at the hotels until 2011, leaving briefly in 2010 to work for the Vancouver Olympics and a hotel there. This was my first experience as a concierge. I learned how impactful a con-cierge can be on guest’s experiences. I had to connect with

other hotels, businesses, and attractions to make arrange-

ments for guests. It was very fulfilling. I started at the Fair-mont Hotel Macdonald in 2012, opening the concierge desk where none had existed before.

How did you learn about Les Clefs d’Or? I was introduced to Les Clefs d’Or by my former Front Office Manager at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald. I was immediately intrigued by the organization, but a bit intimidated. I was intro-

duced to Alberta’s Regional Director, Don Mooney, and the Westin Edmonton’s Les Clefs d’Or Member, Nella Mirante. They welcomed me with open arms into the program. I immediately felt at home.

What are you most passionate about? I am most passionate about the city of Edmonton. I feel like we are at a turning point when it comes to development and growth in this city. Every month, there seems to be something

new to experience, like a local restaurant opening, or a new festival, or a local art exhibit. There is a lot of action in this city at the moment, and it is on the local level. With the potential

corporate and entertainment expansion in the core, I am very

excited to see where Edmonton will be heading in the near future. What is your favorite attraction in Edmonton? My favorite attraction in Edmonton and my hometown, I have

to say it is a tie. Fort Edmonton Park is my favorite local attrac-tion. It is a place you won’t find in any other city. There are activities for all ages and it’s a wonderful learning experience. My other choice for an Edmonton attraction would be the River

Valley Adventure Co. They offer gorgeous tours of our vast river valley by snowshoe and cross-country ski in the winter, and by bike and Segway. What other city offers winter Segway tours?

What do you like most about being a concierge? Hands down, the guest interaction. Being in the lobby, I am able to greet guests upon check-in, or invite them to my desk to talk about their arrangements. The position offers the fluid-

ity to spend more time with people, as opposed to the front desk. I love being able to chat casually about what people are looking to do. Often times, guests come in not knowing what a concierge does. When I have the ability to reach out to them, many spend most of their stay making arrangements through

the concierge desk. It’s quite fulfilling! Tell me your most memorable moment with a guest. I had a guest contact me wanting to propose to his girlfriend.

He had a reservation for a standard room, but wanted to know

what amenities could be added. I just recently transitioned to the concierge desk from the front desk, and my team at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald gave me all the resources I needed

to turn moments into memories for our guests. After many conversations over the course of several weeks, I arranged a significant room upgrade, a private dinner reservation, couples massage in our main suite, tickets to the Edmonton Oilers hockey game, and transportation. I picked up the guests my-

self after the game. We went to the Alberta Legislative grounds, he wanted to take his girlfriend for a quick “skate”. At the park, I had “Will You Marry Me?” spelled in roses on the snowbank. Needless to say, she said yes. This moment really

opened my eyes to the endless possibilities that concierge can offer guests. It was a major realization of the power the role can have.

In your position, you meet many people, tell me who or what has impacted you and who or what has affected you? Being connected through the Les Clefs d’Or Concierge program, I have met many influential people in my journeys. The con-

nections that Les Clefs d’Or has introduced me to have been extremely influential. I’ve done training in Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, and Quebec City. Most notably, when the Fairmont Ho-tel Macdonald hosted a meeting in July 2013, we had the privi-

lege to host Virginia Casale, the Les Clefs d’Or International Past President, and Clarence McLeod, the Corporate Director of Fairmont Concierges. It was an honor to have them both for their first stays in Edmonton.

Who inspires you? My team at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald inspires me every-day. I am inspired by the passion of Nella Mirante and Don Mooney, my two mentors in the Les Clefs d’Or program, pre-

sent at our every meeting. And my family – my mother, father, and sister – have taught me everything I know. They are the people I look up to the most in my life.

Interview conducted by:

Nella Mirante

LCD Reporter, Alberta Region

Chef Concierge

Westin Edmonton

Behind The Keys - Calan Hobbs

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Victoria, B.C. boosts its membership by 33.3%

British Columbia Les Clefs d’Or has 39 members in four quite distinct areas of the Province; Vancouver, Victoria, Whistler and Tofino.

The majority of B.C’s members (28) are employed in the city of Vancouver and the adjoining city of Richmond however we do now

have a growing group of talented concierges in the capital city, Victoria.

During the membership application process in 2013 two of the four concierges were from Victoria. These two were Michael Falez,

from the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour and Duane Lachance, from the Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Seven Les Clefs d’Or concierges are now on Vancouver Island:

Victoria, BC

20

Jason McWhinnie, Wickanninish Inn, Tofino. Jason is an ex-perienced concierge located in the picturesque West Coast town

of Tofino. Owned and operated by Honorary Les Clefs d’Or Mem-ber Charles McDiarmid. The Wickanninish is luxury accommo-

dation in a dramatic landscape. [email protected] Louis Tremblay, Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria. Louis needs no introduction to most of Les Clefs d’Or Canada.

Louis is a mentor to many up and coming concierges and is a hugely valuable member of Les Clefs d’Or, British Columbia with extensive knowledge of Vancouver and Victoria. [email protected]

Michael Falez, Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria. Mi-chael is a rising star in the concierge world. As well as becoming a member of Les Clefs d’Or in November he is also the Director of the Victoria Guest Services Network www.vgsn.ca

Deborah Sleno, Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria. With over seventeen years as a concierge in Victoria, not many people know more about their city or care about it as much as Deb.

You will often see Deborah attending congresses around the

World [email protected]

Dillon Carfoot, Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria. Dillon is cur-rently the Vice-Director of the B.C. region and is a passionate

and dedicated concierge who is completing ten years as a Les Clefs d’Or member this Fall [email protected]

Duane Lachance, Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria. Duane has just received his keys. Duane has been Fairmont Gold Manager for the past eight years and has much to offer to all visitors.

[email protected] Stephen Vincent, Hotel Grand Pacific, Victoria. Stephen always knows what is going on in the capital city. A very talented conci-

erge, Stephen also has been organizing the Victoria Tourism Trade Show for many years. [email protected] Murray McMullen, Hotel Grand Pacific looks destined to become

the eighth member as he has attended meetings for the past

couple of years and is a very strong and dedicated part of the

group.

Please reach out to any of these people should you need help or

advise from Canada’s West Coast.

Dillon Carfoot

Assistant Manager/Concierge,

Fairmont Gold

Vice Director BC Region, Les Clefs d'Or Canada

The Fairmont Empress

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2014

My fellow Concierges across Canada, I wish you all a 2014 filled with growth, prosperity, personal and professional achievement.

Most of all I wish all of you the opportunity to give back to the region and organization that we all love and hold dear to our hearts.

The one thing, no matter where we go, where we meet, whether within our Regions, within Canada or anywhere around the world;

The sense of comradery, passionate spirit and likeminded purpose are always reinforced through the sharing of ideas, the reener-

gizing of ourselves through our commitment to each other and our profession and most of all the recognition of friendships that

have stood the test of time.

We are all so very lucky for the enriching experience the Les Clefs d’Or organization has provided us. In BC we continue to evolve

and find purpose in what we want to accomplish. We find our strengths while working through our challenges but most of all we

continue to grow closer, stronger and more committed to moving our beloved organization forward. Continuing to push our Re-

gions, whether through constantly updating our technology or ourselves to understand it and be at its forefront. Continually striv-

ing to implement best practices to our professional lives, and supporting each other each, and every day; so we all succeed when

one of us makes that special connection with our guests.

We have had a very productive close to 2013, the Region saw 4 guest concierges become members, 4 brilliant concierges were

recognized for their exemplary years of service, and we had a dear and valued professional affiliate reach 35 years as a service

ambassador and concierge. We took a wonderful cruise with our closest friends; Tied One on For Charity; Walked on top of a

mountain laden with snow and mulled wine. We journeyed around the world to experience our brethrens culture, cuisine and the

pride and ownership one can only experience when visiting someone’s home.

The BC Region has a great year ahead, A Panamerican Congress awaits and the 2014 Vancouver’s Tourism Showcase promises to

be bigger and better this year. A trip to Tofino is a must and a greater focus on Community involvement is a plan of action for our

Region’s members.

Stay in touch with BC and follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook, that way you will always know what’s happening on the

West Coast and what’s happening with the BC Region of Les Clefs d’Or.

Rosh Chandra

Chef Concierge

River Rock Casino Resort

Director, BC Region

BC Region Director’s Message

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“Blitzing Halifax”

In November, the Atlantic Region was very pleased to welcome President, Hugo Legrand and Vice-President, Carolina Avaria, to Halifax and Moncton to help us to shake up our Cities and reiterate the importance of Les Clefs d’Or to hotel general managers and potential affiliates! Halifax is on the cusp of a massive re-development, with new hotels, a state of the art Convention Centre

slated to open in 2015 and new construction happening on every corner. A cross-section of general managers, hoteliers and hospitality professionals were invited to a reception at the newly renovated Radisson Hotel & Suites where President, Hugo Legrand gave a presentation on the origins and importance of

Les Clefs d’Or to our region. Following the reception, the Atlantic Region held a monthly meeting at the Radisson with Hugo and Carolina in attendance and the evening culminated with a social drink and snack (which included lobster, of course) at the new Gastro-Pub, The Stubborn Goat. It was a whirlwind visit with a road trip to Moncton, home of Regional Director, Roger Poirier, next morning and a quick meet-

ing with Roger’s General Manager at the Delta Beausejour. Thank you Hugo and Carolina, we are working hard to promote Les Clefs d’Or in our region and have already grown our membership since your visit.

The Atlantic Region held a second annual

Bowling Fundraiser in November 2013 - Here is our Treasurer, Eva Stoddard, who always plays a big part in the success of this event.

“With the birth of Prince George last year, The Prince George in Halifax decided to display a special card in the Lobby invit-

ing guests, visitors, staff and passers-by to sign it, with the promise that the hotel would send it directly to the Royal cou-ple. Penny and Andy decided to have some fun “mailing the card” and as these pictures depict. The post office very kindly

offered to place a colourful array of Canadian stamps on the envelope. Perhaps baby George will start a stamp collection!

Penny Cameron Concierge, The Prince George Hotel

LCD Reporter, Atlantic Region

Atlantic Region

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Wonderful day on the Island! Very early start for our Fam Tour on Île d’Orleans, 12 conci-erges are here. This tour is graciously offered by Old Quebec Tour with our wonderful driver Helene.

We start by drinking beer at 8:30a.m. We must be from Scot-tish descent to start that early! The day is warm and clear, we can admire the agricultural scenery of the Island.

1- Brasserie Berthilda VanDoren The lady gave us a very accurate description of each beer we got to taste and I found one that I really enjoyed, for a non-

beer-drinker such as me! 2- Mona et filles Blackcurrant Liquor was our next stop, Wow! Did we taste some blackcurrant fruits, some of them a bit sour as you could have seen on Genevieve’s face…

The company has mastered the art of transforming blackcur-rants - harvested on Île d’Orléans - into products of the highest quality, including a Crème de Cassis that earned the 1995 Gold

Medal Award at the prestigious European contest in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 3- We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Panache Mobile. The location is on the magnificent Vignoble Sainte-Pétronille, facing

Montmorency falls. An idyllic scenery for breakfast, as we can see Mariam enjoying her chocolate bread. 4- After breakfast, best is to indulge in chocolate at Chocolaterie

de l’Ile. To visit the installations, all us had to wear a hair net,

we really looked elegant, ready for a chocolate hold up! 5- La Goéliche, a small hotel at the tip of the Island, facing Que-

bec City, hosted us in giving us the whole history of the loca-tion. 6- Lunch at The Moulin de St-Laurent Restaurant. Yvon Pre-mont, his sister Elise Premont and her husband, Jean-Victor

Lachance purchased this historic building. The first objective is and always has been to continue tradition and hospitality, good wine, good cheer and good music, all within an enchanting and romantic setting.

7- Visit of Le Jardin des Arts, a wonderful art gallery. Located in an old wood carving shop, all refurbished, on 2 levels. Jewelries, wood carvings and paintings for every-one’s taste done by 60 artists.

8- La Seigneurie de l’Ile, with its lovely lavender fields. We got to purchase some lavender products, made on the

Island. 9- Cassis de l’Isle at Ferme du capitaine Noel, we discovered the com-pany's selection of traditional vinegars.

Its popular organic blackcurrant wine vinegar is produced using fruit grown on the island. We got to taste them, absolutely delicious.

10- And beer again at Microbrasserie de l’Ile d’Orleans! We got to taste some very different beers served on the Island, every-one is feeling a bit tired so we had a good laugh at la Micro-brasserie.

11- Vignoble de Bacchus, last but not the least, the set up is amazing and Chef Marie-Chantale Lepage prepared some very tasty bouchées, and we got to taste their different kinds of

wine. Yes it was a wonderful day on the Island!!

Anne McKenna Chef Concierge Fairmont Le Château Frontenac

Magnifique journée sur l’Île d’Orleans!

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