Andrew Peller Import Agency is pleased to announce the Canadian national expansion of its fine wine and premium spirits import, warehousing, and brand building service.The company, formerly Grady Wine Marketing, will nowmarket and sell internationally recognized brands to provincial liquor monopolies, private retailers, restaurants, hotels, and clubs across English Canada. The expansion will enable the Agency to build on its track record of success in Western Canada, while leveraging the significant national resources of its parent company, Andrew Peller Limited, a leading producer and marketer of quality wines in Canada. 

“Andrew Peller Import Agency offers customers the personality and style of an entrepreneurial agency combined with the brand recognition and resources of a large company,” says Alex Bakker, National Director, Andrew Peller Import Agency. “With this national expansion, we are now the leading partner to help premium international wine and spirits brands access the English Canada market.”

To service the vast national market, the Agency has created dedicated regional sales teams with in-depth local knowledge. The company also plans to replicate the winning “go- to-market” strategy that made it so successful in Western Canada. The strategy is based on strong market coverage, concentrated channel marketing, powerful business intelligence, and an experienced and professional sales team.

“Over the past several years, our growth has been more than double that of the Canadian import wine market, and that has enabled us to drive additional market share for our partners,” continues Bakker. “It’s a winning solution for our customers. We look forward to giving them exceptional service right across English Canada.”

2015 has been off to an exciting start at Elettra Communications with big projects and new business wins. We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new clients:

• Plaza Premium – the global leader in premium airport services, including independent luxury lounges open to airport users irrespective of airline or class of travel.

• Trail Appliances – BC’s leading retailer of home appliances. Trail helps you choose appliances to fit your space, lifestyle, and budget.

• Andrew Peller Import Agency - Canadian importer, warehouser, and marketing agent of fine wines and premium spirits from around the world.

• Boomerang LIFE– makers of intellectually stimulating products for seniors' with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

• Prema Chai – makers of authentic ready-to-drink Chai tea.

Welcome to Elettra. We are looking forward to working with you all!

Today, Harbour Centre celebrated the upcoming Chinese New Year with a dragon dancer. The dancer started at noon in SFU, pranced its way through the food court, and then moved through the shops, eating lettuce and collecting money along the way. Outside, a sampling team handed out cuisine from food court vendors and fortune cookies.

Happy Chinese New Year!

With Seahawks fever taking over Vancouver in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl, Harbour Centre raised a 12th man flag on top of its iconic Lookout tower this morning.

The blue flag with the white number 12 will fly through Sunday when Seattle takes on the Patriots at the NFL championship game in Arizona.

Harbour Centre was inspired by the 12th man flag that was raised on Thursday on top of the Seattle Space Needle as that city rallies for its team in the Super Bowl.

The best places to view the flag are north east of Canada Place and Crab Park.

We are told from a young age to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s”. The practical application for this expression has never been so clear in my mind until working on my first major event as an Account Coordinator.

On Tuesday, January 13, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) held the grand opening for the new A-B Pier Connector. This event unveiled a new space in the Domestic Terminal, including “new gates, an expedited baggage system, seismic upgrades and a bunch of new places for travellers to eat and shop.” The event also the featured the unveiling of a stunning work of art by First Nations artist Marianne Nicolson.

Here is what I learned while working on this event:

1)    Once the event date is set, create an event plan, including detailed budget, timeline, and event details. The more bases you cover leading up to the event, the more prepared you are to ensure the event is a success on the day.

2)    If there are technical requirements, do a run through. You don’t want to be on the other side of the building only to realize your walkie-talkies don’t work during a big unveil. For the YVR event, I watched the project leads test each tech detail before the big day.

3)    It matters how the room is arranged. When planning your layout, think about where you want most of the crowd to be and place something important there, such as food. Also think of where people should be looking; if there is a speaker, don’t use round tables so people have to uncomfortably crane their necks.

4)    Treat a speech as a highlights reel. Ensure speakers know their allocated time frame and give the key points only.

5)    A smile goes a long way. At the end of the day, everyone would rather work with positive people. Treat every challenge as an opportunity to do your best for the client, treat every guest like they are important, and receive feedback and compliments graciously.

One of the most exciting parts of event planning is that you can see your hard work unfold in front of your eyes. You can watch the crowd react, and witness the client’s expressions. It is rewarding work and I look forward to being a part of more events. 

Whistler Brewing Company president Bruce Dean was featured in Business in Vancouver’s Life Lessons column over the Christmas holidays. Whistler Brewing Company celebrated its’ 25th anniversary at the end of last year and the article gives a valuable insight into the evolution of the brand and the importance of adapting to changing situations and taking calculated risks.

Well worth a read!

The Kettle Society, Harbour Centre, and the Vancouver Lookout are inviting Vancouverites to celebrate the season with a twist this year. Instead of photos with Santa, they are offering people a chance to get ‘Snow Globed’. Visitors to Harbour Centre’s lobby can have a photo taken inside a giant snow globe with their own camera or phone between now and December 20th.

A minimum donation of $5 is suggested with 100% of proceeds going to The Kettle Society, a local non-profit that assists people living with mental illness

A sneak peek was held on Friday, November 28 when participants were given the opportunity to have their photo taken with the Whitecaps FC president Bob Lendarduzzi, club ambassador Carl Valentine, and mascot Spike.

The Snow Globe will be open Mon-Fri and on two Saturdays, Nov 29th and Dec. 6th.

Whistler Brewing Company celebrated its 25th Anniversary on Saturday evening at the Longhorn in Whistler with a special customized cask competition. Earlier this month six BC personalities tapped into their inner brewmaster to create a customized cask of ‘anniversary ale’ by developing their own recipes using a Whistler Brewing base beer and selecting their own combination of hops and other ingredients.

The contestants tapped their casks and their special brews were judged at the company’s anniversary party this weekend by a judging panel including representatives from BC Craft Brewers Guild, Whistler Blackcomb Food and Beverage, Whistler FM and headed by Whistler Brewing Company president Bruce Dean.

The participants were:

• Rob Boyd: Olympian and World Cup downhill winner
• Kristin Gordon: Global BC Meteorologist
• Bob Kronbauer: Publisher of Vancouver is Awesome
• Sean Pettit: Canadian freestyle skier
• Sophie Lui: Global BC Morning News co-anchor
• James Walt: Executive Chef at Araxi

James Walt’s “The Missing German” brew was announced the winner and was awarded a special 25th Anniversary trophy.  Sean Pettit came second with his “The Root Beer”.

Pacific Centre and Richmond Centre opened their doors at 7am on Black Friday to cater for early morning shoppers on the hunt for pre Christmas bargains.Cadillac Fairview (operator of both Pacific Centre and Richmond Centre) introduced a special “Fits you” platform this year, focused not only on offering great deals and promotions from top retailers but also on providing customers with a personalized fashion experience through a number of fun initiatives including:

• One-on-one sessions with professional stylists.
• The CF SHOP! App to help customers get the fashion finds they’re looking for.
• Fashion advice from Canadian fashion journalist Patricia Gajo through the CF SHOP! App and the Pacific Centre and Richmond Centre Facebook pages.
• Contest rewarding one lucky shopper in each property with a $1,000 shopping experience with a professional stylist on Black Friday.
• SHOP! CARD giveaways and in-mall “fashion spotting” on Black Friday.

With consumer and media interest in the growing popularity of Black Friday in Vancouver high both Richmond Centre and Pacific Centre attracted journalists and reporters from a number of media outlets including CBC, CTV, OMNI, The Province, Sing Tao and Ming Pao.

Elettra's Leanne Kedrosky has spent the fall at YVR providing tours to grade five students from around the Lower Mainland. In the following post, Leanne relates some of her favourite things about exploring YVR with a group of ten-year-olds.Navigating the Airport with Young Eyes

If you've been to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) recently, you may have seen streams of children being led throughout the terminal. Each year, from September to December, YVR hosts 60 Grade 5 classes for the YVR School Tour program, an educational experience were children learn about the airport's operations, history, and First Nations art. This year, I had the pleasure of navigating groups around the airport and sparking their enthusiasm for aviation. Each day provided new entertainment and lessons for me, as their tour guide. The following are some of my favourite experiences from the last few months.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Did you ever watch the old TV show Kids Say the Darndest Things? These are some of my favourite questions or statements from this fall's tours:

When I asked that students what is a domestic flight? Answers included:

• Is it one that carries animals?
• Is it a very fancy flight?

Students also asked: Can you take a hippo on a plane? And If there were no lights on the runways, could they use fireflies to light it at night?

Favourite Moments

One of the moments that caught me most off guard involved a Grade 5 girl. All the children in this group were exceptionally engaged throughout the tour and ran to give me a hug when the tour was over. One small girl ran up last with her arms outstretched. Expecting her to behave just like the rest of the class, I continued a conversation with another student, but was shocked when I was suddenly being lifted into the air and carried off. This girl was carrying me like it was no problem, which was shocking considering her tiny size! Thankfully I was able to convince her to put me down promptly, and after the shock wore off I was very impressed with her strength.

Tour Take Aways

Leading the school tours was entertaining and enlightening in many ways. I learned more about Vancouver International Airport than I ever imagined. The Airport Authority is highly involved in the local community and I am walking away from this position with a new appreciation for everything the employees do locally. Not only is the School Tour Program fully supplied by the Airport Authority, they also donate $750,000 a year to the Greater YVR Community, making a big difference to non-profit groups across the Lower Mainland. We have a very special airport here in Vancouver, and I am thrilled to have been part of it and to spread the word.

- Leanne Kedrosky

It’s been a busy couple of days in the Elettra office as we prepared a large mail out including bottles of two of Whistler Brewing Company’s new beers. After several days of assembling boxes, wrestling with bubble wrap, folding tissue paper, and printing fact sheets … we are very pleased with the final result!

The boxes included two beers which Whistler Brewing recently added to its line-up during this anniversary year: Forager, the first gluten free beer brewed in BC; and Big Sky UnCommon Lager, a complex and hop-forward lager brewed using a hot fermentation technique which dates back to the

Whistler Brewing celebrates its 25th anniversary this month and is marking the occasion with a special VIP reception followed by a party in the Longhorn, Whistler on November 29.

The brewery is also releasing a special, limited-edition Fox Tail Session Red Ale in a commemorative bottle, which will be available from mid-November in specially marked 25th Anniversary Party Packs at liquor stores throughout BC.

Are you heading to the Okanagan soon? If so, pick up the October issue of Okanagan Life and check out their feature on the new Sandhill Winery and visitor centre in downtown Kelowna. ...And the stop by Sandhill, of course!

The October Okanangan Life is on newsstands now.

We are delighted to be working with alumni UBC to publicize Fashioning Cancer, a fundraiser in support of the Canadian Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Centre at UBC. The event, part of Western Living Design Week, will feature the auction of ten exquisite evening gowns that were designed as works of art by Jacqueline Firkins, Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Theatre and Film, to encourage honest and open conversations about cancer.

The gowns were inspired by colourful microscopic images of cancer cells and cellular systems and auction and ticket proceeds from the event will go to the Canadian Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Centre at UBC.

In addition to the auction there will be a live performance by Canada’s queen of punk, singer/songwriter and cancer survivor, Bif Naked.

The Fashioning Cancer fundraiser will take place in the Porsche Centre Vancouver on Tuesday, September 23

For further information and to buy tickets, visit www.alumni.ubc.ca/fashion.