Behind the Scenes: A Great Finish
By
Debbie Bolton
VP Volunteers
May and June are always busy months for AMA Toronto. We host our Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends celebration in May, our last Advisory Council meeting of the fiscal, plus our CMO Panel and our Mentor Exchange graduation in June (coming soon). We’re finishing this year in a great position and with some exciting new plans. We’ve already ramping up to start our next fiscal year with a bang.
Another Great CMHOL Gala
Our 19th CMHOL celebration on May 10th was a great success. Another group of inspiring legends. Enthusiastic attendees. A well-planned and executed event. For this event to come together seamlessly, there’s a village of volunteers working hard behind the scenes throughout the year. Our special thanks to our amazing team.
VP CMHOL Jacob Kessler has worked tirelessly for months. He oversees the nominations and selection for prospective legends and ensures the gala showcases them and their achievements. It’s a major undertaking but he also helps organize AMA Legendary Leadership Series events featuring legend speakers throughout the year. Thank you Jacob!
There’s also many other volunteers behind the scene who contribute. I wish I could name them all but there’s so many it’s almost impossible:
VP Events Dawn Becker who showed her professionalism in so many ways through event planning and execution. Dawn is the unsung hero of so many of our events. Many thanks to her and the awesome events team!
VP Strategic Partnerships Miglena Nikolova and her team who drove sponsorships and tickets sales over many months to ensure our financial success. Miglena even recruited her daughters to assemble guest gift bags!
VPs Marcom Linda Antonacci (and her agency Lulu Marketing) and Jessica Zuckier who oversaw and worked with so many Marcom (and other) volunteers to develop the promotions for the gala. You’re at the heart of so much we do. Thank you!
Photo Courtesy : Yakov Radyushin
Kicking Off Strategic Planning for Fiscal 2023/2024
As this fiscal year starts winding down, we are already planning for our future. VP Strategic Partnerships Miglena Nikolova hosted us our first planning session on May 23 at IBM’s offices downtown. Incoming President Santo Ligotti and VP Membership and Strategy Maxim Rakov led board members who attended both in-person and virtually through this first session. Some great ideas were tabled and we’re anticipating another great year for the chapter.
Advisory Council at the Wine Academy Hosted by Score Promotions
Thanks to our great partner, Score Promotions, the AMA Board had the opportunity to host our last Advisory Council meeting of our fiscal year at the Wine Academy. After the meeting, other board and community members joined us for drinks and conversation.
Our Advisory Council has provided great support for our initiatives throughout the year. Thank you: Arthur Fleischmann (co-chair) for your insights, use of your offices and so much more. Many thanks to Alan Middleton (our book author) who’s just finished his third joint book venture with AMA. We’re also fortunate to be supported by Chantal Butler, David Pullara, Eric Tang, Fatima Israel, Gallant Law, Mansi Vagt, Trinh Tham and Yasmin Pallan. Thank you all!
Launching Marketing Leadership Week
> Virtual Leadership Event June 5
On June 5, VP Leadership Excellence, Craig Lund, launched our first Marketing Leadership Week. Bennie F. Johnson, the new and dynamic CEO of AMA international, shared his insights on intentional leadership during an engaging virtual conversation moderated by AMA Toronto President Barbara Boyd.
> CMO Panel June 8
The annual CMO Panel was sold-out and a hit as always. Craig Lund used insights from AMA’s recent CMO research to help moderate an insightful discussion with senior marketers from Air Miles, Deloitte, Sony Pictures Entertainment, TD and Tik Tok.
Many thanks to BMO who hosted the event at their offices and our multiple sponsors. Also a major shout-out to our many Events, Marcom, Sponsorship and PR volunteers who helped us run such a successful event!
> Closing party June 10
I’m so sorry I had to miss what seems to have been an AMAzing finish to Marketing Leadership Week. Thanks for spearheading this new initiative for us Craig Lund! Based on my secret sources and shared photos, MLW wrapped up on June 10 with a great event hosted at The Fifth Social Club. And yes, AMA Toronto did help make Toronto Fun Again.
There was a fun and lively debate of “The CMO vs the CFO” moderated by Mo Dezyanian President of Empathy Inc. CMO Jacqueline Grossman of Just For Laughs faced off against CFO Grayce Yuon of Tequila Tromba. Judging by the photos it was an entire fun evening of cocktails and glam!
May Rockstars
Congratulations to our Rockstars! This month we would like to pay tribute to some of the Rockstars who have worked with VPs Jacob Kessler, Dawn Becker, Jessica Zuckier and Linda Antonacci and Rob MacLean as well as the other teams and volunteers involved in organizing our Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends gala. This gala celebrates our newest group of marketing legends and is one of AMA Toronto’s most demanding projects. Thank you for your outstanding contributions to it and everything else you do.
Koohzad Khatami
Director Events
Since joining AMA Toronto in January 2023, Koohzad has become a highly valued member of the Events team. He has consistently stepped up to provide strong support to events such as Marketing Leadership Week. He also participated on a panel providing advice to newcomers seeking work at our MNG event at ACCES Employment in April. Koozhad is organized and efficient both onsite and during planning and his good work has been recognized with his recent promotion to director. Thank you Koozhad! Koohzad is the Category Marketing Manager for Mother Parkers Tea and Coffees.
Manav Singh
Manager Newsletter
Since joining AMA Toronto in January, Manav has quickly become an important member of the Marcom team. Taking over the management of our monthly email newsletter, Manav has worked with both his Marcom team members to ensure its timely production and distribution but also managed the blogs and content provided by a number of our teams. Manav, we appreciate your hard work organizing so many of us! Manav is the Content and Digital Marketing Manager for CannDelta.
Sid Dhingra
Manager Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends
Sid Dhingra is a valued member of the CMHOL team and often a welcome helper at other events. He was very involved in the preparation for the Hall of Legends Gala in May. Sid supported a lot of the key logistics for the event in the weeks leading up to the event, helping to physically organize all the gift bags that went to all attendees. He also was a key player in the coordination of the programming at the event itself. He was one of the last volunteers at the event, helping to take down posters and put boxes away. Thank you for your many contributions Sid! Sid has post graduate diplomas in project management and brand management
For more information
Please check our website for ongoing information on our programs and events.
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Join our volunteer team
Are you an enthusiastic marketer who’s interested in meeting great people, gaining leadership experience and raising your profile in the marketing community? We’re looking for:
- Experienced program managers
- And more…
If you’re interested in learning more about our talented volunteer community and opportunities, please contact me at [email protected]
