The Partnership Group and the Western Sponsorship Congress are pleased to announce the new host venue for the October 2007 Western Sponsorship Congress is the Carriage House Inn in Calgary. Centrally located just south of downtown on MacLeod Trail at 90th Ave South this new venue offers free parking as well as subsidized taxi fares to and from Calgary International Airport. Welcome aboard Carriage House Inn.

We are very excited about this new venue and new event sponsor for the Western Sponsorship Congress. With over 160 rooms to accommodate out of town delegates in regular or upgraded Deluxe and VIP rooms, everyone will be comfortable if they are staying overnight. The reduced rates per night are also a welcome bonus for delegates through this move and sponsorship. In addition, the conference facilities offered by the Carriage House Inn will allow the Western Sponsorship Congress to grow and still comfortably accommodate delegates in break out session rooms and the main plenary room.

If you are ever traveling to Calgary or have clients, staff or guests arriving in Calgary on business or pleasure be sure to use our host venue for all your overnight accommodations. And if you are planning a small meeting or large conference or special event, be sure to contact Krisztina Rakosi at krakosi@carriagehouse.net for great service and a great property.

For more information on Carriage House Inn visit their web site by clicking on the logo above.

The Calgary and Area Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals is proud to be presenting their fundraising conference. This exciting conference will host to over 50 workshops in addition to key note presentations and social activities. The Partnership Group is excited to be delivering a workshop on “Sponsorship – Creating Wow! Getting Your Foot in the Door” as well as presenting another workshop on the mixing of philanthropy and sponsorship in conjunction with Ross W. Marsh & Associates.

This three day event is a must for all fundraisers to attend. Whether you are new to the industry or a seasoned veteran, there is something for everyone! With sessions on capital campaigns, board management, volunteer management, planning and more, you will surely benefit from attending this event.

For more information on the Western Fundraising Conference or to register online, click on the “Busting Out” logo above.

Congratulations to Sherry Shaw-Froggatt at Airdrie’s Festival of Lights. Sherry was able to surpass all expectation in 2006 with the Festival. Increased sponsorship revenues combined with record breaking attendance made the 2006 Airdrie Festival of Lights a huge success.

Sherry is now working on sponsorship programs for 2007 including the presenting sponsorship. Feel free to contact Sherry at froginc@shaw.ca or by clicking on the web site through the logo above to talk about how your company can benefit from exposure at this event in one of Canada’s fastest growing municipalities. Whether you are looking for hospitality opportunities, brand exposure and loyalty development or employee recruitment and retention, Sherry can design the right program to fit your needs for the 2007 Airdrie Festival of Lights!

WOW! Straight off the signing of EnCana as the presenting sponsor of the Fire Within Foundation annual calendar, Chad Sartison and Charles Hope and their team are not letting up! The calendar sales jumped by 200% this year! The exposure both through calendar sales and events around the calendar sales in communities throughout Alberta was a tremendous profile for EnCana and the volunteer fire departments who the Fire Within raises funds for.

There is no sitting back. Chad and his team are presently planning for the 2008 calendar as well as other projects including an expansion into British Columbia. For more information how you can become involved with this exponentially growing organization contact Chad at chad@thefirewithin.ca or click on the logo above. This property is an excellent opportunity for sponsors who want to make an impact in rural Alberta (and soon to be in BC) and align with an influential and loyal audience.

Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Calgary West! Back in 2003, a simple idea brought forth by their club member Marie Rickard has exponentially grown to a huge fundraiser! The first year, the Club members convinced people (friends, families and business associates) to purchase these delectable delights and have Rotarians deliver them. It was a great concept! That year they sold 300 or so shortcakes for $5 each. The club labored to prepare these Valentine Shortcakes on February 13 and then deliver all of them to the addresses across Calgary that the buyers wanted them delivered to. By 2005 the Rotary Club of Calgary West sold 1500 shortcakes for delivery on Valentines Day. In one year the jump was 3000 in 2006. This past year (February 2007) this team of volunteers and their sponsors sold, prepared and delivered 6300 shortcakes!

The recent growth was due to an energized marketing program that focused on thinking outside their comfort zone of selling to just Rotarians and family. The target was the business community! The product was great, the concept sound. Businesses and individuals across Calgary were targeted through email marketing, web site (visit the Strawberry Shortcake website and learn more about this fundraiser as well as about the Rotary Club of Calgary by clicking on the picture above), radio and sponsor support. Many of the sponsors included flyers about Strawberry Shortcakes in their December and January invoicing to clients. Calgary Coop also promoted the fundraiser in their stores with bag stuffers notices, in store signage, their web site, their newsletter and with banner advertisements in their Calgary Herald advertising.

Individuals and businesses were invited to remember their family, friends, clients and staff on Valentines Day by purchasing strawberry shortcakes for them and having them delivered. What a great way to stand out in the competitive marketplace by reaching out to say “hi, thanks for doing business with us” in the middle of February with a strawberry shortcake delivered to them. And with the staffing issues in Calgary, it was also a great opportunity to say to staff “thanks for being here, we appreciate you!”

The growth of this project could not have occurred without the enlistment and support of the sponsors. The creative design and planning was provided by UniMark Creative Services. Valentine Volvo managed and processed all the credit card orders through their business. TigerTel UTR, a leading Canadian in- bound and out-bound telemarketing and call centre firm handled the barrage of calls. (This sure beat a Rotarian trying to manage all theses orders by phone and fax from their home or place of business). Through the services of TigerTel UTR the Rotary Club was able to have professional services handle all the calls and process the orders. Each order was then sent over to sponsor Stampede Messenger and Express. Dave and his team then entered all the data into their system to be able to produce waybills and delivery route sheets for the 50+ volunteer delivery people which included Stampede Messenger and Express management. And last but definitely not least, Calgary Coop was the lead sponsor. The Rotarians could no longer produce the product like a small cottage industry! This was getting too big. As a true sponsor and partner, Calgary Coop produced all the product and packaged it. In addition they supported the marketing of the promotion and volunteers from management and staff actually made all the strawberry shortcakes. What a great partnership.

All the sponsors received recognition and value for their investments including web site inclusion, recognition within the Rotary network, exposure in the planned media as well as in news stories, articles and interviews. It was excellent value for their investments.

To be sure you are on the reminder list for next year’s Strawberry Shortcake opportunity email info@partnershipgroup.ca and we will add you to the reminder list!!

The Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Society (VIMSS) is a non-profit umbrella sports organization that formed in July 2003. The catalyst for its formation was the IOC announcement that Vancouver would be the host city for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. After the initial euphoria, local leaders in sport were left with some profound questions: How to get an athlete from Vancouver Island to the 2010 Games, and better yet, get them on the podium?

The formation of VIMSS, a multi-sport society, was the first step towards realizing this ambitious goal. VIMSS is made up of representatives from local Alpine, Nordic, biathlon, freestyle and snowboard clubs; the Vancouver Island Society for Adaptive Snowsports; Mount Washington Alpine Resort and members of the mountain biking community.

With a goal to raise in excess of $1,200,000 to complete Phase Two of the project, VIMSS has engaged the Partnership Group to assist in inventory and prospect development. We are excited to be part of this project that will truly make a difference to the Comox Valley and communities all over Vancouver Island. As a result of the VIMSS work completed through Phase One, the IPC World Championships were held in the region earlier this month. In addition, the world attention being paid to this project is incredible. Already the Swedish National Nordic and Biathlon teams have confirmed their commitment to train at Mount Washington prior to the 2010 Olympics due to the high standards of the upgraded facilities.

For more information on VIMSS or to learn how to be a sponsor of this major property on Vancouver Island, contact info@vimss.com or visit the web site by clicking on the logo above.

This small but effective organization (Regina Palliative Care Inc. - RPCI) is taking huge steps forward. With an ambitious campaign to be undertaken in coming months to build and operate a much needed Bereavement Centre of Excellence for Saskatchewan, they are well on their way.

The volunteer Board of Directors has confirmed that local community leaders Susan Barber and Bob Ellard will be the campaign chairs. These two are both well recognized in the community and have each committed thousands of hours over the years to charities and events to make Regina and Saskatchewan a better place. As well the Board has confirmed the hiring of Barb Barootes as the Development Officer who will lead not only this campaign through support from the Partnership Group and Ross W March & Associates, but will lead the organization in future fundraising planning.

RPCI has received endorsements for this campaign from both the Board of the Regina Qu’appelle Health Region as well as the Regina Hospitals’ Foundation. This is truly collaborative work to achieve the needs of the community. Just last month the Regina Greek community (who has committed a minimum of $30,000 per year for the next 10 years to RPCI) and their “Evening in Greece” fundraising dinner raised funds for both the Regina Hospitals Foundation and RPCI.

For more information on RPCI visit their web site by clicking on the logo above.

With the plans underway for the new Centre of the Arts at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, the Partnership Group was proud to have been selected to assist them with their initial naming valuation for the proposed new building. Under the direction of the new Vice President Fund Development at MacEwan, Dale Bayley, the college looks as if it is well on its way to a well organized and successful plan in their development department. Congratulations to Dale and his team as they plan for the future.

The Western Sponsorship Congress and the Partnership Group are also excited to have partnered with Grant MacEwan College to deliver the April Sponsorship Inventory Development and Valuation Workshop being held in Edmonton. Thank you goes out to Grant MacEwan as the Edmonton venue sponsor for this workshop.

For more information on sponsorships or giving at MacEwan contact Dale directly at BayleyD@macewan.ca or visit their web site by clicking on the logo above.

Saskatoon’s Credit Union Centre is an incredible operation. Host to the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL as well as the upcoming Juno Awards and hundreds of annual events, Credit Union Centre is also a sponsor again of the October 2007 Western Sponsorship Congress in Calgary. All of us at the Western Sponsorship Congress and the Partnership Group are excited to have Credit Union Centre and its wholly owned properties of The Man Show, Women’s World, Canada Remembers International Air Show, Taste of Saskatchewan and others back as a sponsor this coming October. As well Credit Union Centre is the host venue sponsor for the April 18 Inventory Development and Valuation Workshop in Saskatoon.

Credit Union Centre is western Canada's most versatile and exciting trade, sports and entertainment centre opened on February 9, 1988. This beautiful facility is located in one of Canada's fastest growing cities, Saskatoon, the largest city in Saskatchewan's million plus market and the most central city in the 4.8 million prairie province market. Credit Union Centre has the distinct reputation of being one of Canada's busiest arenas

For more information on Credit Union Centre visit the web site by clicking on the logo above.

The Western Sponsorship Congress and the Partnership Group are proud to welcome WestJet as a sponsor of the 2007 Western Sponsorship Congress being held on Calgary October 23-24. As a sponsor of the event, WestJet is also the Official Airline of the Western Sponsorship Congress! So be sure to book your flights to the October event on WestJet.

As the Official Airline of the Western Sponsorship Congress you can save by flying WestJet to the October Western Sponsorship Congress. Simply visit the WestJet website (click on the logo above) and select your flights. (Do not book them on-line, just select the flight numbers, dates and time you wish to fly.) Then send them in an email to conventions@westjet.com with the details and your credit card information. Alternatively you can fax them at 1-800-582-7072 with your information. Be sure to quote that this is with the Western Sponsorship Congress / Partnership Group Event and provide them with the account QC #4417. You can save up to 10% off their best rates!

So be sure to use WestJet and this special reservation system when flying to the Western Sponsorship Congress in October 2007. Save when coming to the October event by booking with WestJet, the Official Airline of the Western Sponsorship Congress.

The Western Sponsorship Congress is also excited to have Scott Hartley, sponsorship guru from WestJet as a workshop presenter at the 2007 Western Sponsorship Congress.

Louise Hovelson and her team at YESS are doing an incredible job at sponsorship! Over the past few months Louise has custom built sponsorship programs for several past and new sponsors resulting in several multi year agreements. The Annual Growing Dreams event is scheduled for Friday April 27. Eveline Charles has stepped on board as the title sponsor with the Ladies Growing Dreams Luncheon and Trailblazer RV with a year sponsorship of the evening “Stepping Out” event of Growing Dreams. Both were customized programs meeting the specific needs of the sponsors.

In addition YESS has secured sponsors such as Nordic Mechanical Services, Inland Audio Visual, The People Coach, Dial Printing and others, while in talks with several other potential sponsors for events and program sponsorships such as the Golf Tournament, Homeless for a Night and overall YESS sponsorships. The key to their success has clearly been working with these partners to determine their specific needs in sponsorship and then custom designing each program to meet their needs.

Congratulations to YESS and all their staff and volunteers. It has been a pleasure to work with you in developing your sponsorship program and mentoring you to success.

For more information on YESS, contact Louise at louise.hovelson@yess.org or visit the web sit by clicking on the logo above.

The Calgary Chapter of the RONA MS Bike Tour has a new leader in the seat! Judy Uwiera has taken the leadership position to move the RONA MS Bike Tour to new levels in Calgary. Judy has come over from BP Canada, but is not new to the RONA MS Bike Tour. In the past she has worked as a committee member on the weekend logistics. She has worked as a volunteer in the past.

Judy has already secured and renewed several sponsorships including Global Calgary and Spolumbos. Her focus though is on the revamping of the entire sponsorship program to be able to deliver better sponsorship packages that will deliver measurable return on investment for the sponsors. She is well underway on package development and is excited about the launch of the new programs for the 2008 RONA MS Bike Tour!

In the meantime, if you would like to work on a custom built package for this growing event for this June, contact Judy at Judy.uwiera@mscalgary.org or visit their web site through clicking on the logo above.

As the Western Sponsorship Congress continues to mature, new sponsors have discovered the value of being associated with the largest sponsorship conference in Canada. Last month, Marketing, Canada’s leading advertising and marketing publication, and their website www.marketingmag.ca, joined the family of sponsors associated with the Western Sponsorship Congress.

Marketing magazine is dedicated to the businesses of marketing, advertising and media. Launched in 1908, Marketing has a long history of engaging readers with provocative, analytical and thoughtful content. Along with Marketing magazine’s regular bi-weekly coverage and commentary about matters in the marketing business, both in Canada and beyond, Marketing also produces Marketing Daily, Marketing online, Marketing custom publishing, Marketing events, and Marketing roadshows.

Partnership Group, presenting sponsor, and the Western Sponsorship Congress are excited to have such a prominent and well read publication as a partner of the 2007 Western Sponsorship Congress Conference in October. If you are an advertiser, sponsor, agency, or property, a subscription to this publication is a must!

For more information on advertising rates, promotional opportunities or subscriptions, click on the logo above and visit www.marketingmag.ca.

The 2007 Alberta Sport and Recreation Leadership Conference is scheduled and ready to roll. The Partnership Group in conjunction with Ross W Marsh and Associates is proud to have been invited to deliver a three hour workshop on the wonderful world of philanthropy and sponsorship! This session will review the similarities and differences between these two funding sources and how they can be married successfully. Too often, sport organizations and others do not understand the difference between sponsorship and philanthropy which leads to major confusion and ultimately poor fulfillment and stewardship of donors and sponsors alike.

The Conference is scheduled at the panoramic setting of the Banff Centre in Banff Alberta for April 12- 14 and will be a training and development conference for volunteers, Board members, athletes, staff, sport and recreation practitioners, coaches and officials. With additional sessions on Women’s Sport Leadership, insurance issues and contract drafting, what are leadership style sessions, the use of gaming funds and more, this is sure to be a great sport conference. Speakers include Hugh Culver, Murray Morrison, Hilary Findlay and others. The conference will also be home to the awarding of Alberta Sport Recognition Awards including athletes and teams of the year and other awards.

For more information on this event please click on the logo above

The Partnership Group is proud to be working with the Calgary and Area Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals National Philanthropy Day 2007 organizing committee. This spectacular event has proven extremely successful and is growing annually. The 2007 Committee Chairs Kim Anthony and Scott Decksheimer have stepped to the plate to take National Philanthropy Day and Week to new heights. With a plan to build the event as well as set strong internal systems and capacity for the future, the Partnership Group has been engaged to assist through development of strong and applicable inventory for sponsorship programs.

Our role is determine what is available to be included in sponsorship packages (past benefits as well as innovative new benefits) and place real market value on these benefits. This is to ensure that when organizations are approached for sponsorship, the value of the package offered in exchange for the investment is accurate and will result in excellent return on investment for the sponsors. In addition, the Partnership Group will develop a series of stock packages for all the separate properties of National Philanthropy Week as well as overall sponsorships.

Congratulations to Kim, Scott and their team in taking this step to delivering a professional sponsorship program. As leaders in fundraising and the standard for professional fundraisers, AFP is truly a professional organization as are its members. This initial movement by Calgary and Area AFP and specifically the National Philanthropy Day Committee shows that they desire to be professional in their sponsorship programs as well. Truly a leadership role!

For more information on National Philanthropy Day or to learn how to become a sponsor of this “front page news” event visit the web site by clicking on the AFP logo above.

The Western Sponsorship Congress and the Partnership Group are excited to welcome back SportDecision for a renewed sponsorship of the upcoming October Western Sponsorship Congress in Calgary.

SportDecision is Canada’s leading sport business publication. Its bi-weekly e-newsletter goes behind-the-scenes into strategic business review of the players and their moves in one of Canada’s most challenging industries.

When SportDecision was created, their initial objective was to offer quality tools to inform, educate and energize the sports marketing domain in Canada. To further enhance the publication SportDecision has compiled the Canadian Sports Marketing Sourcebook as a natural undertaking. What could be more sensible than to offer a complete guide covering Who’s Who? and Who Does What? for this business sector?

This sourcebook is the Bible for anyone in sports marketing. Know who is doing what and how to contact them.

For more information on the SportDecision e- newsletter or to order the Canadian Sport Marketing Sourcebook click on the logo above

On February 28, Credit Union Central of Saskatchewan (SaskCentral) and the Regina Queen City Marathon announced a wonderful partnership. SaskCentral has become the title sponsor of one of Canada’s premiere marathons. With an investment of $90,000 over the next three years, Keith Nixon of SaskCentral announced “the main aim is to find a way to contribute to build a better community”. We saw this as a real positive event. It’s a fun and competitive way to promote a healthy active lifestyle. It really helps to improve the quality of life in the city.”

SaskCentral is not a newcomer to making a difference in the Regina community. Annually over $140,000 is allocated to projects such as the Red Cross Respect ED program, Hopes Home and the long standing support to the Adult Learning Centre.

The SaskCentral Queen City Marathon (SaskCentral QCM) is Saskatchewan’s Premiere Running & Walking event, attracting participants from all across Canada and the United States. Organized by hundreds of dedicated volunteers, this flat and fast Boston-certified course showcases the beauty and fun of Regina to participants from across North America. Since the inaugural race in 2001, the SaskCentral Queen City Marathon has helped participants of all ages and athletic ability to achieve their own individual moments of finish-line triumph!

The Partnership Group and the Western Sponsorship Congress are truly excited about this sponsorship. Both the Queen City Marathon and SaskCentral attended the 2006 Western Sponsorship Congress in October last year in Calgary. Never having met before, the two groups left with tools and knowledge from the Congress…but also left with new opportunities and an expanded network. Once back in Regina, discussions evolved with the announcement of the title sponsorship last month. We are very excited that these two groups met at the Western Sponsorship Congress.

For more information on the SaskCentral Queen City Marathon or to register for the September 9 event, click on the logo above.

The annual Canadian Cancer Society - Saskatchewan Living With Cancer Conference is being held in Regina, Saskatchewan on April 13-15. To learn more about this amazing event click on the logo above.

September 30, 2007 is the deadline for you to submit entries for SCOPE Society of Calgary’s 2008 “Picture This Film Festival”. Picture this... film festival accepts films and videos that are: produced by disabled filmmakers OR about disability. Entries are accepted year round, with a deadline of September 30, 2007 for the current festival taking place in February 2008. There is NO entry fee required to submit your work. Films must be in English, English sub-titled or dubbed. Picture this... Bringing the world of disability film together!!