Bow-Tie Day Hamilton

Bow-Tie Day Hamilton Poster
- design by factor[e]

Being someone who likes to follow certain sartorial whims, I have become a fan of www.TheTieBar.com, a great site that offers a wide-array of fashionable men’s accessories at fantastically affordable prices.  The only problem is that in Canada, you have to pay the FedEx shipping costs to have the items sent to you, meaning that, if you are going to order, best idea is to order big, or in a group.

Luckily, at factor[e], there are a number of people who share similar passions, and when our Art Director, Matt McPeak, and I, in the midst of an order, saw that The Tie Bar was organizing their annual International Bow Tie Day on August 28^th, 2012, we knew factor[e] had to help bring this to Hamilton.

Liaising with Gowlings Law Firm, and the Hamilton Hive, Matt and I, on factor[e]’s behalf coordinated Hamilton’s official participation in International Bow Tie Day.  However, not being content to simply have a swank social event with fashionably dressed folks (which did occur, with BIG thanks to Radius Cafe), we also worked with the Eva Rothwell Community Centre, to ensure the event had a charitable aspect that was specifically raising money for the Centre’s Literacy Express project.

The Blue Bow-tie of Literacy

Combining our own concept of The Blue Bow Tie of Literacy, with a social media campaign featuring local leaders and professionals wearing said bow-tie, as well as involving awesomely designed posters and buttons from factor[e], and the charitable “Bow-Tie cocktail” developed by Radius, the event proved to be a great success.

Look out for August 28^th, 2013, the Bow-Ties will return.   

See here for a great write-up on the event, from CBC Hamilton.

And here for the Bow Tie Day Hamilton Gallery.

Matt and I.

Hive in a Provincial Spotlight

Fall 2012 proved to be a busy time for the Hamilton Hive and I, which received provincial wide recognition through a number of different meetings, conferences, and summits, including: 

On September 13^th, myself and the (at the time) recently hired Hamilton Hive administrator, Mike Kubes, traveled to Kingston, Ontario to present to the Ontario East Municipal Conference on the topic of regional Youth Retention, Attraction, and Engagement strategies. 

The next week myself, and the Chair of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce’s Young Entrepreneurs and Professionals committee, Joe Accardi, attended a meeting of the Economic Developers Council of Ontario, along with representatives from a variety of Ontario Young Professional groups.  The goal of this meeting was to discuss the potential development of a Youth Advisory group for the province of Ontario.

Then, in early November, I was invited, as Chair of the Hamilton Hive, to present as part of a panel on Youth Attraction and Next Generation Talent, to the Ontario Chamber ofCommerce’s –Ontario Economic Summit.  

Of course, among all this, an awful picture of me was taken.

These were all amazing, and illuminating opportunities, each for myself, for the Hamilton Hive, and for the topic of Youth Strategies and Programs.  It was truly heartening to see the Hamilton Hive get recognized on a provincial level for being an innovative and successful model for engaging young people in a community as they seek to start their careers.  It was also incredibly encouraging to see the topic of programs and strategies to professionally empower young people, enabling them to attain their career goals, continue to steadily resonate with regions and organizations across the province.  Many young people have difficulty seeing anything but a hard future ahead, so the more this issue, and recommendations on enhancing prosperity among young people, are put front and centre, the better the future looks.