Two articulated sperm whale skeletons are a highlight of the exhibition (© Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2008)

When the Canadian Museum of Nature asked High Road Ottawa to help promote the launch of their biggest exhibit since completing major renovations, Whales Tohorā: The Exhibition, we naturally dove right in.

Not only were we excited for the chance to work with a museum that showcases so many natural history treasures, we were thrilled about the prospect of scoring a sneak preview at the museum’s latest world-class offering… and as luck would have it, so were virtually all of the city’s media.

Having just finished up a successful run at The Field Museum in Chicago, Whales Tohorā was set to open in Ottawa just in time for March Break (March 2nd) and run through the summer (to September 3rd). On loan from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Whales Tohorā features cultural storytelling, interactive science, massive skeletons—including a 58-foot skeleton of a bull sperm whale—and life-size displays such as the Volkswagen-sized model of a blue whale’s heart.

So, with the internationally-renowned exhibit only in Canada for the second time during its illustrious run, the Canadian Museum of Nature naturally wanted to make a big splash. Working together to secure media for the sneak preview of Whales Tohorā, the museum and High Road were able lure in all the big fish including CTV, CBC, APTN, The Ottawa Citizen, Metro and EMC, not to mention many of the city’s top bloggers.

Leading up to March Break, the Museum was also lucky enough to take part in two fun segments with Rogers Daytime and CTV Morning Live. And, in addition to the live remote the museum already had planned with Majic 100, High Road was able to help facilitate a great interview with CFRA’s Shelley McLean, two amazing Whales Tohorā giveaways on 93.9 BOB FM and The Jewel 98.5 FM, and a spot in The Toronto Sun and Canoe slideshow, Deals on March Break Travel.

With more and more local families and tourists surfacing each day, there’s no doubt that Whales Tohorā will become one of the museum’s most successful and well-attended exhibits to date. After getting our feet wet with the whales, High Road Ottawa hopes this is just the first of many opportunities to work with the Canadian Museum of Nature.

If you’ve never been to the museum, make sure you plan a visit before Sept. 3. It’s safe to say that, like us, you’ll have a whale of a time.

It’s no secret that American Express Canada is known for creating one-of-a-kind  experiences for its Cardmembers – ranging from Amex Delights, to Front Of The Line access, to other amazing concierge concert and dining opportunities.

This year, however, Amex has decided to shake things up a bit by working with four of Toronto’s top bloggers (Hip Urban Girl, Coco and Cowe, 1 Love T.O., She Does the City), who will act as Ambassadors for the brand in 2012. High Road is really excited to be there every step of the way as the Amex Ambassadors get to experience all the perks and sweet offerings available to Amex Cardmembers, before reporting back about their whirlwind adventures.

First assignment? A weekend away in Canada’s snowy capital, Ottawa, for Winterlude. (After all, the annual winter festival is sponsored by American Express!)

We kicked off Winterlude celebrations with a four-course dinner prepared by Chef Lynn Crawford (of Ruby Eats and Pitchin’ in), before being escorted to a VIP viewing area for a spectacular fireworks display.  Amex and Ottawa sure know how to put on a show: a few people even told us the fireworks that night rivalled those set up for Canada Day!

 

Day two of the Winterlude experience included a visit to the Amex Lounge on the famed Rideau Canal, where bloggers (and Cardmembers) were treated to complimentary gourmet jam, hot chocolate, and a culinary demonstration from Chef Wayne Murphy, of Cite Collegiale’s culinary program. The tasty food and warm beverages set us on our way for a leisurely skate down the canal.

Since Winterlude and Amex are both known for unique dining experiences, it was only fitting that the Amex Ambassadors next attended a Fire and Ice Dinner at the Courtyard Restaurant. We were treated to a five-course dinner, complete with wine pairings, that only featured a true Fire and Ice theme, with dishes like cold-smoked beef short ribs, bourbon BBQ sauce, and ‘charcoal’ liquid nitrogen bread. The “ice breaker” dessert involved peppermint ice cream and eucalyptus inside a chocolate pecan domed torte.

After a fun-filled weekend of winter activities, superb food and great company, the Ambassadors headed home to Toronto to rest up for their next adventure.

High Road continues to be amazed by Amex’s commitment to bringing the best in entertainment and event experiences to its Cardmembers, and the Ambassador program really offers an exciting new partnership that is sure to be a ton of fun to watch!

To follow along, check out the #AmexAmbassador hashtag.

At High Road we like to use this blog to celebrate and share the great work of our clients and teams, both inside of work and out in the community. In that spirit, we thought we’d have a short Q&A with HRC User Experience Designer Steve St. Pierre, who launched the very cool Ottawa Creative Collective  in early February 2012.

So SSP, tell me about the Ottawa Creative Collective.

Well, the spiel is we’re a group of like-minded individuals whose main goal is to raise the creative profile of the city of Ottawa. We’re going to bat for the city that birthed us.

How are we going to do it? The simple answer is by doing good work. But the challenge is we need to give that work a platform and make people aware of it. Beyond the website we’ll have meet-ups, some conferences, and a whole bunch of other initiatives to get both the public and designers revved up about the good design being pumped out of the region.

Oh, and we get together once a month, have some pints and talk about bitmaps and vectors. It’s great.

Where did the idea for this come from?

It was kind of selfish: I just wanted a group of folks to talk about design with, because all of my design pals existed only as online screen names. The “big cities” have their own communities going and that’s great, but the smaller cities are starting to pop up with their own little meet-ups, too. I didn’t see why Halifax could have one and we couldn’t.

So I pitched the idea to OCC’s co-founder, Brett Tackaberry, and we finally pulled the trigger in March 2011, reaching out to a select few people to brainstorm and create a Facebook group.

That was it – with just a couple clicks of the mouse we had a group that started with seven grow up to more than 260. Pretty awesome.

What are you hoping this organization will do for creative folks like yourself?

I’m really hoping it encourages better work. That’s not to say good work isn’t happening, but I’d love to see more consistency. I’d also love to squash the griping a lot of us tend to do because we live in a government town and as such there isn’t a lot of room for creativity. I’ve never believed that.

We’re all in this together – client, designer, consumer – and we all have one common interest: we like to be inspired.

I love what I do, and I am so, so passionate about design that I want to be surrounded by other people who feel the same way, creating a support system that others can take advantage of.

What about for Ottawa, as a city?

I think more and more people now have an understanding of what graphic design is. Twenty years ago if you said “font” people would’ve given you a look like you just came from Mars. Now my Mom is emailing me about her love of kerning and how awesome ligatures are (she doesn’t, I’m kidding – I just didn’t have a good example to toss in there).

But seriously, people are becoming more appreciative of good design, and I’d love if the Ottawa Creative Collective could inspire even more passion for design in our city. We’ve also got our eyes set on some charitable work – that’s a big one for us. We want to give more than we take.

You’re involved a lot in your community: from being a guest speaker for classes in Algonquin College’s advertising program, to speaking at TEDx, to creating this new collective. How does staying engaged outside of work affect your work with High Road’s clients?

It’s kind of like my way of doing a Sudoku puzzle every day. It keeps me sharp. I don’t clock out – when 2 a.m. hits I’m still sketching away or watching design lectures (or any other way I can ignore doing my dishes) but that’s the life I lead.

I am so lucky to get paid to do what I do, and I don’t take that for granted. And I really think that shows in my work. I love seeing that in High Road’s clients, as well. When you connect with someone and you realize they love their job and see their company as family, that’s the greatest thing. You want to do your best for that person, for that family.

Great work shows you care. And if you care, then you can communicate that through your work and make the client and the consumer care, as well.

What’s next for SSP?

Sleep? No? Ok.

I’m going to do my best to make 2012 a big one for the OCC. I really want to get a grant setup for design students, as well as set up a couple of other charitable things – an art auction and a limited edition series of greeting cards. I have to be tight-lipped about details, but it’s going to be a great year.

Apart from that, I just want to always be learning, and keep getting better at what I do.