Molson in the Community

The sound of morning birds high in the trees singing their early morning calls…toss and turn at 453 am…dog out to do it’s business…coffee on and i thought, “why not sit down and write a spring blog”. After all, three days of 20 degree + celsius and it actually feels like spring has sprung in Toronto. I must also admit that some other factors contribute to this overwhelming shift in season for me. Obviously with the NHL playoffs commencing this week, after what might have been a lost season, the city is truly excited. I was blown away by the sea of blue and white downtown and on the subway on Wednesday night. Love to see the community spirit. As a partner with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens we actually celebrated a little playoff BBQ at our head office on Tuesday, just to get the team in the spirit of spring playoffs. Our President Stewart Glendinning and Chief Legal and People Officer Kelly Brown and fellow leadership team members helped host staff over the lunch hour…a little competitive spirit added of course. And we can’t forget our third sponsored club in the first round of playoffs of course - Ottawa Senators.

Stewart and Kelly hosting

And then of course there is the return of the summer rep. Gosh, 32 years ago I sat in a similar seat as a young representative from northwestern Ontario. It was the summer of the Jeux Canada Games in Thunder Bay. What a grounding experience that has carried friends and memories for me across my entire 29 career at Molson Coors. A toast to our returning summer reps and those who have just joined us. I know that they will represent us well at events and promotions coast to coast to coast and always flying the responsible choices banner as they go about their business.

Another sign of spring is the annual Randstad awards night. Randstad does a great job at reaching out to 7000 prospective employees across the country to assess the attractiveness of 150 employees. Proudly Molson Coors ranked eleventh this year. A special treat this year was Debbie Travis presenting her “ten commandments” for success. Inspiring and entertaining to say the least !

A toast to our employees and all that they do to carry the passion, commitment and drive for our business…over the past 227 years. Now that’s heritage. Naturally we are nothing without those who carry our products to market and the beer drinkers who support us at the taps, retail store or your favourite drinking occasion. We appreciate and value your business.

And of course the beer business and all that we face in regulations, taxes, mark ups. Provincial budgets are another sign of spring and the Ontario budget was filed yesterday by the Wynne government in Ontario. Good news for beer drinkers and customers in Ontario is that there is not any increase in the beer taxes. Now that’s worth a toast on a sunny day at the legislature with blossoms in bloom at the memorial to Queen Victoria !

Another sign of spring is the renewed commitments to community. Across this great land we engage with community leaders in so many ways. Whether they are local festivals and events designed to instill community spirit and celebrate the arts, local sports events and team get togethers or support for a charity or not for profit of choice. The Beer Store in Ontario will be undertaking their annual drive for Leukemia. Hats off to them and their union membership and Beer Store customers who donate their empties and the difference that they make in our community. May 25th and 26th please donate your empty deposit refunds.

Perhaps you have a thought on spring being sprung. I hope you’ll share it. A toast to you and yours this spring weekend. No doubt we’ll all be seeking a patio, a television screen to watch playoffs and some great quality time with family and friends as the weather warms. Cheers to a great wrap to the week and start to the weekend. @MolsonFerg

Molson M Turning Tweets into Art

Do you love the arts? If so, Molson M has a unique opportunity for those in Twitterville to BE the art with its new campaign to support Canadian Art Foundation.

Here’s how it works: Over the next four weeks, the brand is asking all twitterers over Legal Drinking Age to use the hashtag #MolsonM_Art in their tweets. Each use of the hashtag will trigger a $1 donation to the Canadian Art Foundation, and get your twitter handle painted onto a giant outdoor mural in downtown Toronto.

“The goal of this project is to celebrate artistry and mastery. Whether it’s paint to canvas, chisel to stone or pen to paper, artistry is a beautiful blend of precision and passion. Molson M is made with this level of care and it represents our mastery of brewing,” says Dave Bigioni, Senior director of Marketing at Molson Coors Canada. “With this project, art lovers, beer drinkers, passers-by – any Canadian – can play a real part in bringing art to life and showing their support for art in Canada.”

“The Canadian Art Foundation provides a destination for artists and art enthusiasts to connect and be inspired by art. The Molson M collaborative approach to art does just that,” says Ann Webb, Executive Director of the Canadian Art Foundation. “The mural will be a wonderful mix of global and Canadian artistic talent, and the generous support of Molson M will help us carry on our work to nurture more local, national and global visibility for the extraordinary artistic talent in Canada.”

Those who participate can start looking for their handles on the 40-feet-high by 100-feet-wide painted mural at the corner of King and Church streets in the next week or so.

Tweet away ! Cheers. @MolsonFerg

September continues on and it’s a busy one at Molson Coors as we host 12 Molson Canadian Red Leaf Projects across Canada in partnership with the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.

Thank you to all volunteers who took a few hours of their weekend and got their hands a bit dirty.   Reports and photos are coming in this week from each event…details from Toronto and Calgary first. Cheers.

Woodbine Beach Park, Toronto

Approximately 300 volunteers gathered to clean up the shoreline and surrounding area of Woodbine Beach Park.  We collected 677 kilograms of garbage! The hardworking Molson Canadian Red Leaf volunteers did some “good” and then received some “awesome” with tickets to the Casby awards!

Elbow River, Calgary

40 volunteers gathered to clean the Elbow River Pathway in Calgary. Over 35 bags of garbage were collected by Molson employees and Red Leaf Project Volunteers.

Stratford, ON

Photo L-R: Michael Dack, Transit Manager; Jeff Carr and Kevin Britton, Molson Coors Canada; Mayor Dan Mathieson, City of Stratford

I met up with Kevin Britton and Jeff Carr yesterday at City Hall to announce the partnership between the City of Stratford and Molson Coors Canada “We’re Picking Up Your Fare” this New Years Eve.  Free transit service will be offered on all transit bus routes from 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 3 a.m. For transit route and schedule information, users can visit City of Stratford.

Ottawa, ON

Photo L-R: Alain Mercier, General Manager of Transit Services; Steve Monuk; Ted Wainright, MMolson Coors Canad and Cothers Against Drunk Driving; Councillor Alex Cullen; Mayor Larry O’Brien; Jeremy Majors, Molson Coors Canada

Molson Coors Canada is Taking You Home for the Holidays. That’s right, we’re sponsoring free transit programs on New Year’s Eve in several key Canadian cities and distributing over $8,000 in TAXIGUY Dollars to recognize and celebrate those that chose to make the responsible choice this holiday season. It’s our way of offering you a safe return home after holiday celebrations.

Molson Coors Canada’s Taking You Home for the Holidays campaign officially started Dec. 8 when we launched www.jingleheads.ca. It helps raise awareness and applaud those who choose to drink responsibly and make the responsible choice during the holidays. The website allows users to customize an e-card and send a special message to a friend, family member or colleague to thank them for being a great friend, a designated driver or letting them crash on their couch.

This was but the first piece of our campaign. Since Dec. 15, we’ve been very active across the country.

Taking You Home for the Holidays includes the sponsorship of free transit service on New Year’s Eve in Toronto, Ottawa, and Stratford, ON; Winnipeg, MB; and Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. We’re also active in Quebec through our Molson Angels, as well as in St. John’s, NL; Halifax, NS; Moncton, NB; Charlottetown, PE; Edmonton, AB; and Vancouver, BC, with the distribution of over $5,000 in TAXIGUY Dollars – the National Taxicab Currency for Canada.

In fact, we’re spending over $130,000 to help raise awareness and support communities across the country in our effort to encourage responsible drinking this holiday season.

The holidays are a time when safe travel becomes that much more important because we often make a point of traveling to meet family, friends and co-workers in holiday social settings, so we’re proud to play our part to help people make the responsible choice to get home safely this holiday season, as well as throughout the year.

The New Year’s Eve transit programs offer free public transportation on the transit system on New Year’s Eve to help ensure people get home safe after ringing in the New Year. It encourages everyone to plan to get home safe by letting public transit be their designated driver.

The Molson Angels’ mission is to educate as many consumers as possible about the benefits of planning their safe return home, whether that means taking a taxi, public transportation, or riding with a designated driver. This year, during the two weeks prior to the holiday season, the Molson Angels have been touring some thirty resto-bars in Montreal and Quebec City to distribute $5 discount coupons for taxi service to bar managers, who will distribute them to their customers upon request. This initiative will help the Molson Angels encourage consumers to make a responsible choice during a time of the year when alcohol consumption increases.

Since Molson Coors Canada is a founding member of TAXIGUY – a nationwide network of 425 taxicab companies that are linked together through a toll-free phone number (1888TAXIGUY) – we’ve partnered once again to offer $5 TAXIGUY vouchers to customers as a friendly reminder to plan a safe ride home on during the holiday season. Molson Coors Canada employees are spreading the holiday cheer by visiting local licensed establishment in St. John’s, NL; Halifax, NS; Moncton, NB; Charlottetown, PE; Edmonton, AB; and Vancouver, BC, this holiday season to distribute over $5,000 in TAXIGUY Dollars.

As you can tell, we’re very active this holiday season. Help us spread the word. Encourage your friends, families and colleagues to make the responsible choice to get home safely after this holiday season. Cheers and Happy New Year! Carole

Proaction Pic 015, originally uploaded by Molson Blog.

It might seem a little strange to find me writing about a cops and kids program but one of our veeps of On Premise Sales – Roy Hryn, has been involved in the greater community with ProAction and this terrific cause. At Molson we support the volunteerism and efforts of our employees in making a difference in the greater community. I also had the distinct privilege to sit on the board of this wonderful organization for a period of time. It is tremendous to see the smiles on the faces of both the cops and the kids when they reflect about the programs that they have built in various communities. ProAction was founded in 1991 by John L. Bitove Sr. and it has grown to be the largest private donator of Toronto Police programs for at-risk youth. It has also opened chapters in Durham and Hamilton. Hats off the all those who have helped make a difference with ProAction and I know that they welcome more volunteers and donors. For $100 you can own a share in this worthy cause. C’mon out ! @MolsonFerg

To rally support for Earth Day April 22nd and @mayormiller ‘s Community Clean up challenge April 24th Molson has placed a transport trailer in our parking lot at 33 Carlingview to accept donations of unwanted items from our employees and the greater community. An inspiration by Dr. Kirsty Duncan, our local Member of Parliament, the items will be re-directed to local charities. So…we encourage friends and neighbours or passers by to drop off your uneeded items to the John Molson transport trailer in the parking lot at 33 Carlingview Drive, right next to the Molson Beer Store and help make a difference for someone in need. Thanks for your support…cheers…@MolsonFerg

At -12 with a 21 kilometre/hour wind its a cold morning out there in Toronto today. You know its cold when you have to scrape the windshield frost off the inside of the car. It was a 6am start this morning for hockey with my son and walking the dog will be a challenge later this am, to face the elements yet one more time. However, we sometimes forget that there are those who are a lot less fortunate who will be facing the cold day in day out, right through the remainder of the winter – the homeless. They will not be focussed on house to hockey rink, nor a choice on what park to walk a dog. They will be focussed on the basic need of food and shelter. My daughter and I made a point of buying a hot coffee for one homeless man and sandwiches for he and his partner yesterday. It was the same couple that we had given some used boots to prior to Christmas. These small acts of goodwill and kindness can make such a difference for those who are facing the challenge of nature’s cold winter days and nights. January and February can just be brutal, on the temperature side of the weather equation in Toronto. It takes very little to pass on some goodwill through a hot drink, extra pair of mitts, gloves, boots, sweater, hat, toque or extra change you might have in your pocket. These small acts of goodwill can help make a difference, perhaps help someone in need make it through another day. Please help reach out and pass on some goodwill to those in need on our streets this winter. Thanks for reading, I hope you will help by taking action. Stay warm and pass on some warmth on this cold winter day.