Hot Tomali is proud to announce our support for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT). This charity was formed by Academy Award-nominated actor Edward Norton, as part of a group fundraising effort in collaboration with the New York Marathon. Last year 30 runners, including Edward Norton, ran the New York Marathon to raise money for the MWCT and the campaign was a success — they raised over $1.2 million! The money raised is used to protect the legendary ecosystems and astounding biodiversity of East Africa by promoting conservations that directly benefits local Maasai communities.

The MWCT Watering Hole Party

Hot Tomali has completed a pro bono ad campaign (see the first ad above) as part of our involvement. Our internal goal is to raise a minimum of $12,000 to enable MWCT to build a watering hole that will attract and sustain threatened wildlife, such as elephants and lions, on their protected land and help keep them safe from poachers.

We’re hosting a fundraiser, the MWCT Watering Hole Party, at 6:00 pm on Friday, October 14, 2011, featuring live music, drinks, and a mix of people representing the very best of Vancouver’s marketing and design community. Click here to RSVP on Facebook.

As part of our fundraising, many great items are being donated by our clients and local businesses to be auctioned off, with all funds raised going to MWCT.

Place your bids here! Hot Tomali MWCT Charity Auction

Music by:

Top Less Gay Love Tekno Party
Kristie Yung
DJ Blaze Kik

Prizes generously donated by:

Shot Glass Pack Shot Glass Pack Coffee Mug Set Coffee Mug Set Sports Pack XBox360 Shooter Pack XBox360 Sports Pack Playstation3 Shooter Pack Playstation3 Adventure Game Pack XBox360 Adventure Game Pack Playstation3 PC Gamer Pack Family Pack Wii	1 Health Assessment ($75 value)	Bracken Vest ($150 value)
	Earrings: Red Crystal Tear Drop Earrings Silver Crystal Tear Drop Earrings Dark Silver Crystal Tear Drop Earrings	Icebreaker Merino Wool gear: Mens & Womens
1 Loaf, Banana Bread	One night stay at the resort for 2, VIP wine tasting for 2 and two bottles of wine.	Ski Vacation Package for Two
SPUD gift basket	$100 Catering Gift Certificate	3-Month Fitness Pass 3-Month Fitness Pass Donated by SNFW Howe St. location
Speakout Nokia 2720 phone 7-Eleven gift cards	Gift Basket ($100 value)	4 weeks of Semi-Private Therapeutic Yoga classes at The Network Hub ($200 value)
Mixed Crate of 12 BC Bud Cooking Sauce $20 Gift Certificates x 2	Ticket to the Marketing Mastery Summit ($495 value) Chocolate Tasting 101 Class for 2 People and 2 Boxes of chocolate from Xoxolat ($90 value) 2 Tickets to the Murders, Mysteries and Mayhem Halloween Tour ($52 value)	Gift Basket ($50 value)
1 Month Membership at Gracie Barra Vancouver - Unlimited Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing & Mui Thai ($150 value)	Sakura in Aqua Clutch ($65 value)	2 hour Design Consultation ($300 value)
GUESS Seductive Eau De Toilette ($69.00 Value) Chloé Love Eau Intense Eau De Parfum Intense ($125.00 Value) Kiehl’s Limited Edition New York Heritage Collection ($60.00 Value)	Rice giftbags

Weekly Trivia Night

We also have draws planned at several upcoming trivia nights at the Lamplighter and Academic, so if you can, be sure to come check those out.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQWR59vQsng

As part of Ed Norton’s team, Thomas Stringham, Hot Tomali’s president and creative director, and Scott Maddox, art director, will be running in the New York Marathon on November 6, 2011. If you would like to make a donation directly through the charity’s web partner, Crowdrise, you may do so by following one of the links below:

Thomas Stringham’s MWCT Crowdrise Page
Scott Maddox’s MWCT Crowdrise Page

If you are interested in donating any items for use in the auction, or if you would like to be added to the guest list for the MWCT Watering Hole Party on Oct. 14, please contact our office manager, Sabrina Wagner.

What do skateboard wheels, a crack pipe, tea lights, plastic cutlery, and Band-Aids have in common?

They were collected by us Hot Tomalians at English Bay Beach as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup on Sept 15.

Aaah, I know… the things we get up to! This is the second year in a row Hot Tomali has participated in the Shoreline Cleanup. We were choked when the lovely summery weather we’d been enjoying abruptly departed and the rains came the moment we met up. But in the end it didn’t dampen our spirits. Armed with garbage pickers and donning lovely yellow vests, our crew — including our accountant and his wife — took to the beach and got to work. Two hours later, this is what the dozen or so of us managed to collect:

• Bags (Paper): 83
• Bags (Plastic): 101
• Balloons: 7
• Beverage Bottles (Plastic): 26
• Glass Beverage Bottles: 37
• Beverage Cans: 13
• Caps, Lids: 146
• Clothing, Shoes: 16
• Cups, Plates, Forks, Knives, Spoons: 89
• Food Wrappers/Containers: 327
• Pull Tabs: 14
• 6-Pack Holders: 7
• Straws, Stirrers: 55
• Toys: 4
• Pallets: 1
• Rope: 7
• Strapping Bands: 7
• Cigarettes/Cigarette Filters: 1,966
• Cigarette Lighters: 6
• Cigar Tips: 1
• Tobacco Packaging/Wrappers: 8
• Batteries: 1
• Building Materials: 6
• Tires: 1
• Car Parts: 1
• Tampons: 1
• Band-Aids: 4
• Crack Pipe: 1
• Skateboard Wheels: 40
• Gum: 4
• Tea Lights: 30
• Plastic Ruler: 1
• Belt: 1

In 2010, Shoreline Cleanup participants collectively picked up over 200,000 butts, covered a total distance of 2,235 km, and picked up 98,071 kg of litter. The biggest culprits? Cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bags, lids, and disposable plates and cutlery.

It feels good to know we were a part of that success. This year we collected twice the amount of cigarette butts from last year: almost 2,000! There’s no two buts about it: we did our part to help the environment and keep English Bay Beach looking beautiful.

Our team came prepared. Having been supplied garbage pickers, garbage bags, and gloves from the City, we were ready to do our part. The sun was shining almost as if to say, “It’s the last day of summer; it’s the least I can do.”

We separated into three teams with one recorder per team. That was my job. I got to tick off on my data card every wrapper, bottle cap, plastic bag, cigarette butt — you name it. The park didn’t seem atrocious when we scoped it out, but it was amazing how much litter was lurking. It was mere minutes before I ran out of room trying to tick off the amount of wrappers I found. When we got to the one hundredth cigarette I realized just how many were there. Interesting finds included a raw fish fillet wrapped in plastic, a car fuse, two fireworks (one being the possible remnant of a homemade pipe bomb), and a fake fingernail. And a condom, but sadly that isn’t too unusual.

We got some odd looks by passersby. The bums on the bench kept to themselves but eventually we had to start picking up near them. I heard one guy say, “We’re surrounded.” They didn’t seem too enthused. Jan found a few dollars in coins not far from where they were sitting. He exclaimed, “I found money. But I don’t want to keep it.” At least that’s what I heard. So I said, “Give it to them,” meaning the bums. They were all ears and then when Jan said, “No I said I want to keep it” I felt like an idiot and the bums were disappointed. They asked if anyone in our office smoked and I said no, we’re all pretty healthy, and he said, “You can smoke and still be healthy.” Not in my books buddy.

In an hour and a half, we collected 1,032 cigarette butts, 362 wrappers/containers, 37 lids, 22 plastic bags, and an assortment of other rubbish. I’m still in shock at how much we did in such a short time. We kicked butt!

Things are Changing

For agencies these days, it’s all about digital, and it’s all about business. Any Creatives in the conference must have been muttering, “Where are the ads?” as speaker after speaker focused on the need for agencies to engage customers online. It’s not that the great creative idea doesn’t matter, but it is now inextricable within the online media capabilities. As Tom Martin of Converse Digital stated, “The industry needs people who speak advertising like a native yet are fluent in digital.” Social Media was front and centre; not in a buzz word way, but in successful examples that are grounding some new marketing principles. Eric Ryan, the founder of Method, had a great perspective on this: “Every brand in social media should have a social message.” And Michael McSunas recognized the spread of expertise that is evolving in social media marketing when he questioned, “Do young people understand how to market through social media? Or do they just understand how to use the platform?”

Agencies are now about the business. Literally. Eric Ryan had seven years of experience in advertising with high-end consumer brands before deciding he should apply his marketing excellence to his own brand, and started the incredibly successful Method home care products. Kenny Tomlin, founder and CEO of Rockfish (the winner of Ad Age 2009 Agency of the Year), has a goal of 50% of agency revenues coming from branded companies they create, marketing technology they licence to clients, and joint business ventures. This model of agencies marketing their own companies and systems really shows a client that the agency knows how to make business happen. We were particularly excited to see this model succeeding, as Hot Tomali has been developing its own products for years with the HotCMS content management system, our retail training platform, and our business partnership with Cientis in creating a physicians community for electronic medical records systems evaluation.

Things are Staying the Same

Agencies have always had a role in advancing their clients’ marketing knowledge. Not since Mad Men times, though, has this been so important with the shifts to digital marketing. As Tom Martin stated, “A small agency is there to guide clients through this new digital age.” And what hasn’t changed is the desire of agencies to play a bigger role in the strategy layer of marketing: “Too much tactics and we all turn into machines.”

Most significantly, the biggest thing not to change was agencies’ desire to do great work for their clients. It was an enriching experience to be in a room where job #1 is to help clients connect better with their customers. Through every speaker, and every discussion thread, this objective was obvious.

And in the end, it seems none of us could come up with a better moniker than “small agency” as Ad Age has defined it. “Independent”, “Nimble”, “Way Better”, were bandied about as replacement for “Small”, but we left with the creative challenge of branding ourselves. Regardless, I think we all agree with the conference lunch sponsor when they stated:

“Where is it written that brilliant ideas only come from big places? That’s right. Nowhere. And we know it. … We know that really great thinking can happen anywhere people have brains to think with. And since that’s just as likely to be your shop as it is any other, why shouldn’t you have the same shot at online success?”

I’ll raise a New Orleans Hurricane drink to that.

This isn’t your average fundraising event. A 255 km bike ride is a physical feat. It’s something that you need to prepare for both physically and mentally. Even though the distance is broken up over two days, it’s enough to give you a sore backside, and some aches and pains that stay with you for a while. In spite of the distance this is not a macho race—it’s a “ride”. People of all ages and varying levels of fitness participate, not to prove something, but to “mean” something.

Along the route many riders bear yellow flags on their bikes. These riders are either cancer survivors or they are currently fighting cancer. Seeing these brave individuals push themselves with such determination is nothing short of inspiring.

After witnessing the Yellow Flags I am now resigned to the fact that no amount of fatigue I could experience would ever have quite the same perspective. For example, one rider that I encountered during the ride was moving slowly on the second morning. Very slowly. A volunteer at the first pit stop came in after stopping to speak with this particular rider and seeing if she needed a lift. She refused, and was determined to make it on her own steam no matter how long it took. What makes this particularly impressive was that she was doing this after having recently undergone two breast cancer surgeries and having one lung removed. She was not able to ride her bike up hills, and had to walk whenever she started to ascent. This was due to the fact that she had a broken rib at the time.

My fellow riders and I looked at each other in disbelief as we heard this story. I proclaimed on the spot that you wouldn’t hear another peep from me about my aches and pains for the rest of the trip. As tired and sore as we were, there were people out there doing the ride with us that were enduring a bigger physical challenge then we could ever even imagine. Their journey wasn’t going to last for two days—it is something that they will endure for the rest of their lives.

This was just one example of of many brave displays of courage witnessed during The Ride to Conquer Cancer. It’s just one example of why we need to maintain hope. It’s one example of why we need to raise money to improve treatments and support families affected by cancer.

In all, the 2009 Vancouver Ride to Conquer Cancer attracted 1,701 participants and raised $6.9 million dollars. In 2010, it attracted 2,252 participants that helped raise $9.2 million dollars. That’s $16.1 million dollars of fundraising in just two years. This is a level of funding that can make a significant difference where it is needed most. That kind of money can pay for much-needed medical trials, cutting edge equipment, and break through research.

I’d like to extend a big thank you to all of those who have supported me on my ride. I also need to acknowledge the great work done by the volunteers on The Ride to Conquer Cancer. They are the ones who really make this event possible. You guys rock!

For those interested, a full gallery of photos from this year’s trip is available on Hot Tomali’s Flickr account.

Sincerely,

Thomas Stringham

1. The guys at Hot Tomali have very ravenous appetites, and
2. Making two pans of lasagne in one go is a real pain in the ass.

At the end of October, I created a team and convinced the boys of Hot Tomali to grow moustaches in the name of prostate cancer. Movember is a movement started in Australia, challenging men around the globe to start clean-shaven on November 1st and collect donations for their best ‘stache attempts. Considering at the time we were elbows deep in a website launch promoting men’s health, it seemed a no-brainer for Hot Tomali to participate.

I’ve never been one to pound down doors in a fundraising attempt. As a girl in the choir and on sports teams, I hated the inevitable bake sale/bottle drive/chocolate-covered almond push that was required to raise money for our activities. But as an adult, I’ve come to learn that it’s pretty easy to whip up a plate of something tasty and sell it at the office for ten bucks a head. Last month, for the United Way, it was chili. For Movember, a good, hearty lasagne was in order.

My husband laughed at me as he saw me unloading the groceries. “THREE boxes of pasta? Are you kidding!??” He marvelled as he watched me layer not one, but two, casserole dishes with pasta, sauce, spinach, cheese, and more cheese, and questioned again how many I was feeding. Sure, it looked like a lot of lasagne—and maybe it was a bit excessive—but I didn’t want to be the gal who offered to cook for the team and then come up short. Besides, I thought I’d cooked way too much chili last month, and I watched that pot get licked clean.

My Italian creation was a huge success, despite a slightly overcooked crust. And, just as expected, both pans were quickly devoured. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to load up our developers on carbs and cheese and then expect them to hit their deadline four hours later—by 3 pm the air in the office was heavy and surprisingly quiet. But in the end, a few hundred dollars raised to further prostate cancer research is always worth a calorie-induced coma.

It’s not too late to donate to Hot Tomali’s Movember cause. If you would like to support our team, please visit our Movember page to make a donation to Prostate Cancer Canada. Any amount—no matter how large or small—is appreciated and has an impact.

On Friday afternoon, as part of Hot Tomali’s commitment to United Way, we all took a break from work for an hour and converged as a team in the boardroom for some home-cooked chili. This, of course, meant that on Thursday night, while my husband cooked hot dogs for our dinner, I was up to my eyeballs in beans, peppers and sirloin.

The Before Shot

This is what my tiny kitchen counter looked like before I started prepping everything. That’s two cans of red kidney beans and one can of white; garbanzo beans, plum tomatoes and black-eyed peas; two onions and a whole head of garlic; two jalapeños; one poblano pepper and two bell peppers, as well as a can of chipotles; a 2 lb sirloin roast with an extra pound of lean ground; and a plethora of spices. One and a bit of the two bottles of chocolate stout made it into the pot, as did two cups of freshly brewed coffee and two squares of unsweetened baker’s chocolate. There’s a reason the base for this recipe (which I have modified greatly over the years), is known online as “The Best Chili You Will Ever Taste”. (For the record, the glass of wine on the edge of the shot didn’t go into the chili. That was just for me.)

The After Shot

I pulled everything together into the crock pot and started its cycle around 11:30 pm. When I woke in the morning, I had a perfect pot of goodness on my counter. Getting said perfect pot of goodness from the counter to the office across the city… this was going to be fun. MacGyver style, I taped the lid on, wrapped the whole thing in a bath towel, secured it all with heavy duty elastic bands, and away we went.

It didn’t take long for the smell to permeate the whole office. By lunchtime, all of us were tortured by the aroma calling to us from the kitchen. I knew the boys in the office had some mean appetites, but I honestly believed that I’d be packing up “to go” containers to get rid of the leftovers. Not so. I think just about everyone went back for seconds, and all I had to carry home was an empty crock pot.

Adding the $10 bowls to the other fundraising we did during our 2009 campaign, Hot Tomali raised more than $1,600 for United Way of the Lower Mainland. Knowing that such a small effort from me could make such a difference was heartwarming. Wait, maybe that warm feeling was just from the chili. At any rate, I’m currently trying to come up with excuses reasons to feed the team more often. Any ideas?

We are excited to inform you that two of our employees have signed up to participate in the Ride to Conquer Cancer to benefit the B.C. Cancer Foundation. The 200 km ride from Vancouver to Seattle takes place on June 20-21, 2009. Our involvement in this event is largely driven by stories close to us.

We want to celebrate our journey with you by inviting you to join us for a fundraising party on Thursday, June 18, 2009 @ 5:30 pm at the Railway Club 579 Dunsmuir (at Seymour) http://www.therailwayclub.com Let’s have dinner together in our own private Chill Lounge, socialize, listen to live music, and win great prizes in our raffle! All money raised goes directly to the B.C. Cancer Foundation, which is committed to raising funds to reduce the incidence of cancer, the mortality rate from cancer, and improve the quality of life for those who live with cancer. Your support will help thousands of people, including those Hot Tomali family members, directly affected by this terrible disease.

Admission is only $25.00. Tickets are on sale now! Contact Sabrina at sabrina@hottomali.com or call 604.893.8347. If you can’t make it to our fundraiser, but would still like to do your part, please make an online donation @ www.conquercancer.ca (Click on one of our team members’ names or download a donation form)

We look forward to sharing our journey with you!

The daffodil is the Canadian Cancer Society’s symbol of hope. The bright, cheerful blooms are sold every year and mark the beginning of Daffodil Month.

For over 50 years, daffodil sales have been raising funds for cancer research and programs for people living with cancer in Vancouver and across British Columbia. Every year Hot Tomali sells these daffodils to show support for friends, family and co-workers who have been touched by cancer.

For more details about the history of Daffodil days, visit the Canadian Cancer Society’s website.

Thanks to everyone who supported the Canadian Cancer Society during our Daffodil Days this year!

Clay