Did you know that there are two Marriotts in Toronto? Somehow I ended up at the one that is a 25 minute walk from the office while my colleagues are at the one with a 7 minute commute. Oh well. It was a very pleasant walk this morning but a little humid. MY Marriott has the distinction of being attached to the Rogers Centre, right near the CN Tower. The lobby connects to the stadium. Pretty cool.
We met this morning at THEIR Marriott and then went to the office, on the 25th floor of a tower in the Financial District. (It was a lot more like the Melbourne office than my own). After we got settled and were issued badges to operate the elevator, we began a day of meetings. The Canada marketing and sales teams were very willing to share best practices, what’s working and what isn’t, and gave us valuable insight from when they were at our stage of development. We also had a quick meet and greet with the head of the office, which was nice.
For lunch, didn’t even need to leave the building! Sort of. The PATH is a network of underground shopping and dining that is below the city streets. It’s very easy to get lost because the routes do not follow the street plan above. (Not that it would have helped me get around at all since I made Chris do all the driving during our vacations to Toronto). Anyway, we found lunch and even got a table in a crowded dining area. Afterwards, we almost made a critical wrong turn to get to the surface, but it worked out.
More meetings in the afternoon, and then dinner with the Canada marketing team. They were such great hosts - selecting a seafood place right across the street. It was really nice to get to know them better outside of work. We ended the meal with two of these huge “sundaes for two” and lots of spoons. Even with 6 of us, there was still ice cream left at the end.
Wind, but no rain, on my walk back to the hotel. Then, I did a little shopping and enjoyed the long daylight hours outside.
One more day in the office tomorrow and an early flight back to Philly on Friday. Quick trip this time.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Oh, Canada!
Most of you know that I no longer support my company’s Australia website and will not be headed Down Under again for work anytime soon. However, I remain in our International division, and in January took on a new role in Marketing for our Latin America and Caribbean clients. Same office, same building, but a new team to work with and new skills to learn. I have mixed feelings about the change, in general, but that’s the subject of another blog post.
Today I am once again in the International terminal of the Philadelphia airport, this time prepared to board an American Eagle flight to Toronto, Canada. Look at this cute little plane!
Good to see blue skies out there. A rainy flight in this thing could mean a lot of turbulence. . .
Almost as small as this plane is my new marketing team. Along with our colleague in Mexico City, who I hope to meet for dinner tonight, LatAm Marketing consists of my boss and me. Our little team of three is headed to Canada to learn from members of our group up north. All of the Canadian team members (about 50) report up through the same principal that I do, head of the Americas. Our Canada office has been up and running for about 7 years now, and their marketing team has grown a lot over that time. We have meetings set up tomorrow and Thursday to talk about events, digital advertising, product, PR, marketing measurement, and social media, along with a meet and greet with the head of the office and some time with Sales. It should be a productive trip! A lot for me to learn - though I’ve worked in our international division for 5+ years and am very familiar with our international websites, I have mostly worked on digital projects. My job was technically in a marketing organization, but I was a project manager focusing on the web. And I’ve never taken a marketing course!
So, not sure if this little trip will yield much blog-worthy material, but I guess it’s worth it to check in and report on what I am up to while out of the country for a few days.
Today I am once again in the International terminal of the Philadelphia airport, this time prepared to board an American Eagle flight to Toronto, Canada. Look at this cute little plane!
Good to see blue skies out there. A rainy flight in this thing could mean a lot of turbulence. . .
Almost as small as this plane is my new marketing team. Along with our colleague in Mexico City, who I hope to meet for dinner tonight, LatAm Marketing consists of my boss and me. Our little team of three is headed to Canada to learn from members of our group up north. All of the Canadian team members (about 50) report up through the same principal that I do, head of the Americas. Our Canada office has been up and running for about 7 years now, and their marketing team has grown a lot over that time. We have meetings set up tomorrow and Thursday to talk about events, digital advertising, product, PR, marketing measurement, and social media, along with a meet and greet with the head of the office and some time with Sales. It should be a productive trip! A lot for me to learn - though I’ve worked in our international division for 5+ years and am very familiar with our international websites, I have mostly worked on digital projects. My job was technically in a marketing organization, but I was a project manager focusing on the web. And I’ve never taken a marketing course!
So, not sure if this little trip will yield much blog-worthy material, but I guess it’s worth it to check in and report on what I am up to while out of the country for a few days.
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