Tourism Saskatoon’s new
campaign has global reach.
SASKATOON, SK – September 16, 2011 – The Secret is out. Saskatoon is
Calling.
Tourism Saskatoon has launched an ambitious new marketing campaign –
Saskatoon is Calling – to tell the world about the benefits of hosting
an event in one of Canada’s fastest growing cities.
The new campaign was announced at the first day of the Canadian Society
of Association Executives (CSAE) 2011 National Conference &
Showcase which runs until Saturday.
“Saskatoon is Calling will show a new confidence in our city and our
ability to host major events. It also shows that we are stepping out
and selling our city, and not just waiting for someone to come discover
us,” says Tourism Saskatoon President and CEO Todd Brandt. He notes
that the campaign crosses over to all of Tourism Saskatoon’s marketing
programs including sports, leisure, trade and media.
“For the past few years we have been using The Secret is in Saskatoon
as a campaign for our conventions and event marketing. It’s hard to
keep a secret now that everyone is talking about us. It was time for
something new,” Brandt said.
For the past decade Saskatoon has played host to many high profile
events and conferences, including the JUNOS and the World Junior Hockey
Championships. In 2012, the city will be adding the Canadian Country
Music Awards, Tim Horton’s Brier and the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities to its roster.
And the secret is truly out; Saskatoon has been making recent headlines
across the country. Last week it was reported that Saskatoon’s iconic
Broadway Avenue was named one of Canada's Great Streets. While
unemployment continues to rise elsewhere in Canada, Saskatchewan’s
unemployment rate remains the lowest in the country and Saskatoon’s is
the fourth lowest for a metropolitan area in Canada. Also, the
Conference Board of Canada has declared that Saskatoon will see strong
economic growth this year, and its economy will expand by 4.1 per cent,
growing at an even faster pace than other cities across Canada..
Saskatoon is fast becoming one of Canada’s most impressive cities and
Saskatoon is Calling emphasizes this extraordinary momentum and the
city’s emergence as a prime meetings and convention destination.
For more information about Tourism Saskatoon, please visit www.tourismsaskatoon.com.
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Media contacts:
JoAnne Wasko
Director of Markets, Advertising & Media
Tourism Saskatoon
Direct: 306-931-7572
jwasko@tourismsaskatoon.com
Todd Brandt
President & CEO
Tourism Saskatoon
Direct: 306-931-7574
tbrandt@tourismsaskatoon.com
About Tourism Saskatoon
Tourism Saskatoon is a
membership-based, non-profit visitor and convention bureau marketing
Saskatoon and region as a destination of choice for leisure and
business travel. Services include convention and events attraction,
media relations, and membership services and advocacy. One of a few
destinations in Canada, Tourism Saskatoon holds Destination Marketing
Accreditation by Destination Marketing Association International.
Nicknamed “the hub city” for its numerous domestic and international
transportation connections, Saskatoon is known for its expansive
parklands and admired for its arts and culture scene, festivals and
major sporting events. For more information, visit www.tourismsaskatoon.com.
Source: Tourism
Saskatoon
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Saskatoon, SK – October 12, 2011 – The Saskatoon Blades have
been awarded the 2013 Memorial Cup.
This will be the second time Saskatoon plays host to the prestigious
event, having also hosted the 1989 Memorial Cup.
“We are completely thrilled about having an opportunity to host the
Memorial Cup in 2013,” said team Owner and Governor Jack Brodsky. “It’s
something that we have wanted to do since it was last here in 1989 and
it’s nice to have a chance to do it again.”
The franchise was named the winner after a final proposal and bidding
competition between the Red Deer Rebels, Kelowna Rockets and the
Blades. “I want to commend both Red Deer and Kelowna on their
bids and their presentations. They both did an outstanding job. I
don’t think there was a bad bid amongst us and I know both of those
groups would have done a great job in hosting this event,” said Brodsky.
Brodsky says there were a number of keys that contributed in winning
the bid. “I think ultimately our community, our volunteers and our
facility gave us the edge over Kelowna and Red Deer. The size of
our city and the size of our facility gave us an opportunity to present
an excellent business plan. The type of volunteers we have and
the type of success we’ve had in the past with the World Junior
tournament were also very key points for us winning this bid.”
Most importantly, Brodsky says the fans will be the benefactors of a
great and historical event. “For the fans of the Saskatoon Blades it’s
just another opportunity to come out and witness great hockey.
We’ve had many great events over the years and I know that this will be
another good one. Anyone that’s a fan of the Western Hockey
League and the Saskatoon Blades knows the importance and scale of such
an event. Overall, it will just be another great chance for the
city of Saskatoon to showcase what it has to offer.”
The Saskatoon Blades would also like to thank all the groups who came
together in support of the winning bid. Included in that group is
local and provincial government, as well as Saskatoon Sports Tourism.
Ticket information for next season’s Memorial Cup will be unveiled in
the coming weeks.
Saskatoon Blades Hockey, It Starts Here!
Source: Saskatoon Blades Hockey
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Saskatoon
joined Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax and Kitchener in presenting Canada’s
Premier Celebration of Reading and Literacy on Sunday, September 25,
2011. Celebrating Reading. Advocating Literacy.
What: The Word On The Street Saskatoon Festival – a huge success!
When: September 25, 2011
Where: Downtown Saskatoon
Why: Saskatoon enjoyed the newest festival in town as 3,000 attended
the first festival
New Festival in Saskatoon
Saskatoon welcomed The Word On The Street, a national celebration of
literacy and the written word, a major, one-day festival to Saskatoon
on Sunday, September 25. And Saskatoon loved it with an
audience of 3,000 listening to 33 author readings and performances and
browsing a marketplace with 49 exhibitors. Audiences at readings
ranged from 20 to over 225 throughout the day. Authors and
exhibitors alike were pleased with the crowds. And the organizers
are already planning the 2012 festival to be held in September 2012.
Festival Author Line Up
Authors and performers who participated in the festival: Yann
Martel, Sandra Birdsell, Judith Benninger, Rita Bouvier, Bev Brenna,
David Carpenter, Allan Casey, Jay Conley, Leah Dorion, Dawn Dumont,
Bonnie Dunlop, Amy Jo Ehman, Don Freed, Dave Glaze, Mary Harelkin
Bishop, Trevor Herriot, Robert Hough, Harold Johnson, Don Kerr, Mary
Ann Kirkby, Alice Kuipers, Dave Margoshes, Alexandra Popoff, Adam
Pottle, Candace Savage, Arthur Slade, Priscilla Settee, Edward Willett,
and Sara Williams and Hugh Skinner. In addition, there was a
poetry slam and improv theatre with Don’t Mind Us.
Festival Highlights:
- Yann Martel drew a huge crowd to listen to his
reading. Over 225 people listened intently as he read from What
is Stephen Harper Reading? and talked about his writing.
- The Poetry Slam featuring Saskatoon’s Slam Team was a huge
hit! Five members of the audience were invited to judge the
competition. The spoken word poetry was thought provoking and
very well received.
- Beeper the Clown entertained children with balloon animals.
- 49 exhibitors participating in the well attended
Marketplace.
About The Word On The Street
Every year on the last Sunday of September, in Vancouver, Kitchener,
Toronto, Halifax, Saskatoon and Lethbridge, The Word On The Street
unites the country in a national celebration of literacy and the
written word. Annually attracting more than 250,000 visitors
nationally, The Word On The Street is the largest book and magazine
festival in Canada. For current information on the festival,
check out www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/saskatoon
or follow us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SaskatoonWOTS
and Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/WOTS_Saskatoon.
Thank You
This event would not have been possible without contributions from the
following: University of Saskatchewan, BHP Billiton, Canadian Heritage,
Saskatoon Community Foundation, Saskatoon Public Library, Canada
Council for the Arts, Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture,
Saskatchewan Lotteries, City of Saskatoon, C-95, CKOM 650, Rock 102,
Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Magic 98.3, Handy Special Events, RBC
Foundation, Tourism Saskatoon, SaskTel, Gildan, and Mr. Print/Printwest.
Images are available upon request.
Contact Information:
Colleen McKay, Executive Director
The Word On The Street Saskatoon Inc.
Phone: 306-716-2890
Email: saskatoon@thewordonthestreet.ca
www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/saskatoon
Source: News Release
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October
5, 2011 — Persephone Theatre wishes to congratulate Mansel Robinson,
the prolific and thought provoking playwright from Saskatoon who was
recently one of only six shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize, the
largest award in Canadian theatre. The prize will be awarded to
the winner in Toronto on November 7, 2011.
Mansel Robinson is well known to theatregoers in Saskatoon, many of
whom remember his play Bite The Hand, which opened the Deep End Series
at Persephone Theatre, or more recently, his critically acclaimed Two
Rooms from Persephone’s 2010/2011 season. Two Rooms won the 2010
John V. Hicks Award and the 2010 Uprising National Playwriting
Award. Other plays include Picking Up Chekhov, Scorched Ice,
Ghost Trains, Spitting Slag, Street Wheat, Downsizing Democracy and
Colonial Tongues.
Now in its 11th year, the Siminovitch Prize recognizes excellence in
direction, playwriting and design on a three-year cycle. This year, the
prize will be awarded to a professional playwright who has made a
significant contribution to the Canadian theatre scene in recent years.
The $100,000 prize allows the recipient to take his/her craft to the
next level and encourage future artists, with $25,000 of the prize
money awarded to a protégé of the recipient’s choosing.
Persephone Theatre extends its warmest congratulations to Mansel on his
recognition.
For further information, please
call:
Catherine Francis, Marketing and Sales Assistant
Tel: 306-384-2126 ext. 238
Email: marketing@persephonetheatre.org
www.persephonetheatre.org
Source: News Release
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The Saskatchewan Jazz Festival is pleased to announce a
concert featuring blues musician Guy Davis at The Bassment on Tuesday,
November 15 at 8pm.
Tickets are $20 ($16 for students and Saskatoon Jazz Society members)
and are available online at saskjazz.com, by phone
at 306-652-4700, or
in person in Suite 707 of the Delta Bessborough.
Updating the rural blues tradition for the modern era, Guy Davis is a
musician, composer, actor, director, writer and consummate performer.
He’s got some Blind Willie McTell and some Fats Waller, some Buddy Guy
and some Taj Mahal. He’s got some Zora Neale Hurston and some Garrison
Keillor.
But most importantly — Guy Davis is a bluesman. The blues permeate
every corner of Davis’ creativity. Throughout his career, he has
dedicated himself to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues and
bringing them to as many ears as possible through the material of the
great blues masters, African American stories, and his own original
songs, stories and performance pieces.
Davis’ creative roots run deep. Though raised in New York, he grew up
hearing accounts of life in the rural south from his parents and
especially his grandparents, and they made their way into his own
stories and songs. Davis taught himself the guitar (never having the
patience to take formal lessons) and learned by listening to and
watching other musicians. One night on a train from Boston to New York
he picked up finger picking from a nine-fingered guitar player.
Guy Davis is presented by Elwood Flynn Ltd. and Ultimo Euromoda with
media support from CFCR 90.5 FM.
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Contact:
Rob Maguire
Marketing and Sponsorship Director
Ph: 306-653-8352
rob@saskjazz.com
saskjazz.com
Source: News Release
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Four exhibitions opened Friday, September 30, launching the fall
season at the Mendel Art Gallery. Come and engage with diverse
artworks, from the photo- and video-based installations of Vancouver
artist Jayce Salloum; to life-size portraits by Saskatoon artist
Michèle Mackasey; to the historical paintings of Kathleen Munn and
Lowrie Warrener, two of Canada’s earliest abstract artists. The Artists
by Artists mentorship program features photographs by Karla Griffin and
her mentor, Jennifer Crane. The fall exhibitions continue until January
8,
2012.
This is a francophone-friendly exhibition period at the Mendel Art
Gallery. Most of the text panels installed in the gallery spaces will
be in both official languages. In addition, Michèle Mackasey, who is
fluent in French and English, will be available for interviews. She
will also be continuing work on her portrait series in the gallery
during the exhibition period. Visitors are welcome to speak with her —
in French or English — while she paints.
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For images or further
information on these exhibitions, or to schedule interviews, contact:
Sheila Robertson
Communications Coordinator
Mendel Art Gallery
Tel: 306-975-2242
srobertson@mendel.ca
www.mendel.ca
Source: News Release
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It
has only been a matter of weeks since Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan
bid its final farewell to the summer stage for another season.
Indeed, the dust has barely settled - yet as the staff and crew take a
much-needed moment to catch their breath, next year’s fine selections
for the Festival MainStage have them eager to begin the whole process
all over again.
The troupe tackles a heavy-hitting combo of comedy and tragedy in 2012,
presenting one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies, As You Like It,
alongside one of the greatest plays in the English language: the
tragedy of Hamlet.
All the world’s a stage...
Brothers banish brothers, young women run from tyrannical fathers, and
all end up in the magical, mystical forest of Arden where heroic
rescues inspire love at first sight. The forest setting is
perfect for a young girl – who is disguised as a boy – to offer advice
to her secret love on courting and winning her heart. As You Like
It is one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies, featuring his most
articulate heroine: Rosalind, the wonderful, zany jest Touchstone, and
the melancholy Jaques with his famous speech “All the world’s a stage,
and the men and women merely players.”
To be, or not to be...
The ghost of his recently deceased father, seeking revenge for an
unjust death, visits the melancholy Prince Hamlet with an unsettling
request. It is revealed that his brother Claudius, who has since
married the queen and usurped the throne, murdered the former King in
his sleep. Hamlet is left to avenge this wrongdoing, but finds
himself unable to act without further proof. His indecision
quickly leads to the madness and death of his girlfriend Ophelia and
her Father. Hamlet stages an elaborate play – The Mousetrap
– to determine the guilt of Claudius who has incensed Ophelia’s brother
to revenge her death by challenging Hamlet to a duel. The bloody
conclusion makes Hamlet the greatest tragedy ever written.
Both productions are scheduled to play in repertory from July 11 to
August 26 – a slight change in 2012 that will see the festival
running a week later into August. More information will be
revealed in the coming months.
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Contact:
Trevor Broughton
Marketing and Public Relations
Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival
Phone: 306-653-2300
Email: shakespeare.pr@sasktel.net
www.shakespeareonthesaskatchewan.com
Source: News Release
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