Ask me to write a 1,000-word news story on Carolyn Parrish, and I’ll give you 2,000, with a sidebar, and an opinion piece.
Want something on the upcoming American election, the exorbitant price of gas, an op-ed on why the Blue Jays suck, or an essay on the migratory habits of the Blue-headed Pionus, and I’ll crank out a tsunami of words.
I’m the great polyglot.
It’s an Irish thing, passed down through generations of overexcited Drennans.
Our family motto is: “Quantity equals quality – and pass the beer nuts.”
We’ve never met a sheet of paper we couldn’t fill with volumes of verbiage.
But when it came to thanking all the people for all of their work in making the first-ever Mississauga Technology Awards a huge success, I was immediately stuck for words.
I’ll always remember the first meeting with Adolfo Proietti and Susanne Chir-Stimpson of the Mississauga Technology Association (MTA).
They wanted to know my response to helping them organize such an event.
Less than lukewarm, I recall saying.
The idea seemed far-fetched, and a whole lot of work.
Besides, what the hell did I know about technology? That very morning I had fiddled and fiddled and failed miserably when I tried to reprogram my Blackberry’s voice messaging system.
I had a headache and a very sore thumb.
I was the Luddite of our office – pulled grudgingly into the digital age of newspapering because I had two choices: do it, or file for unemployment benefits.
I was your typical Canadian, born and raised when bite wasn’t spelled with a ‘y’.
In my day, Canada was the great producer of primary products: wood, coal, oil, gold, and various types of animal pelts.
If it was in, on, or running along the ground, we'd find it, mine it, drill for it, or trap it and send it south to the U.S. for refining.
They, in turn, would turn it into their own high-tech end products – and reap the rich rewards.
When we did produce a modern-day marvel, the Avro Arrow, we didn’t have the stomach to send it to market.
We were a low-tech nation; I was a low-tech guy.
Then came NAFTA.
Then came globalization.
Then came digitalization.
Then came the MTA people into my office, insisting that a partnership with the Biz Times would produce a unique and much-needed awards event in our City.
I finally succumbed to their proposal and immediately asked myself “why?”
At first, some glorious ideas were bandied about, and then abandoned. We thought we needed a big-name über geek like Bill Gates as our keynote speaker.
I learned quickly that getting Gates was as probable as palm trees suddenly sprouting up on the prairies.
We also thought putting on such an event would cost us a ton of money.
Where would we get the funds?
My first question to Proietti was simple: Where do we begin?
By creating a committee, he said.
And so it began: a dedicated group of volunteers joined us for our first meeting.
Our tiny committee formulated a plan of attack. Within a few weeks, a sponsorship proposal was floated to the City of Mississauga and the Ontario government.
Our first “ask” was at the constituency office of Mississauga MPP Harinder Takhar, the Honourable Minister of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
We outlined our plan. He scratched his head and asked a ton of questions. Then, much to my surprise, he said, “Okay, let’s do it. How can I help?”
We told him; he agreed; then a few proposed dates for the event were thrown about. He picked the earliest one: June 16th, 2008.
I gulped and said, great – and immediately cancelled what was to be my first real holiday since Chrétien was in office.
The rest is history.
Last month’s event was a success because it was worked on by people who don’t mince words, or shuck responsibility.
When we asked a who’s who of the business and academic community to come on board as awards judges, none flinched, or said they were too busy – even if I knew they were.
They processed a ton of information in a very short time and picked six incredible finalists (and two winners).
The Sheridan folks stepped forward to choose two qualified scholarship winners.
A great group of corporate sponsors came on board and helped drive the event to its successful conclusion.
Jake, Todd, Sheldon and Frank from Rogers TV went to the wall to make sure the video for our event was first-class, and memorable.
If all the work of our committee, the Business Times staffers, and the day-of volunteers went unnoticed to the sold-old audience at the Living Arts Centre, well that was how it should have been.
Anyway, I was taking mental notes so I could thank them afterwards.
Heck, being the writer of the group, I thought it was incumbent upon me to use just the right words to thank them.
So here I am, searching for them.
Grateful. Appreciative. Indebted. Beholden. Bless you. Gracias. Merci.
They all come to mind; they all fit; but somehow they don’t quite seem appropriate.
So I guess I’ll just it leave it to a simple “thank you.”
Thank you for your professionalism.
Thank you for your honesty.
Thank you for your time and effort.
Thank you for creating something out of nothing – a very special day.
