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Articles in this Issue:
70th Year Anniversary of the Vaughan Estate 10 Years of Hospitality at the Estates
Similarly, the Vaughan Estate, then called the Donningvale, was built in 1931 and long served as a dwelling for the Vaughan family. This English Jacobethan style building was built of grey stone and blended into the ravine setting.
known as the Vaughan Estate. With proper maintenance, its original ironwork fittings, rich wood paneling, decorative moldings and superb fireplaces in oak, stone, plaster and marble remain all intact. Now in 2001, the Estates is viewed as one of the leading meeting facilities in Ontario. As of fiscal year 2000/2001, the Estates recorded hosting 72 corporate social events with 3,735 attendees, 805 corporate meetings with 15,067 attendees at McLean House and 99 social events with 9,975 attendees and 983 corporate meetings with 31,921 attendees at the Vaughan Estate. Celebrate a decade of excellence and hospitality by hosting your next corporate or social function at the Estates. As part of its ongoing philanthropy, revenues from the Estates of Sunnybrook go to research at Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre.  The Convenience of E-Planning
The Internet has changed the way we plan for meetings. Simply put, the Internet is fast, cost-effective, and available 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. What used to take a day or two to research potential sites will now only run you about one hour. It's easy to see why the Internet has taken the grunting out of grunt work. Web Sites and Searches Many popular facilities now have a web site, which can be found by doing a simple web search. Whether you know the site by name or by administering a general search, a number of possibilities are available for whatever your needs are. Aside from web sites, search engines are a quick and easy way to find potential facilities. Simply type in the specific requirements, and a list will appear which allows you to link to the appropriate site. While some sites have pictures and specifications of the rooms, some offer a live virtual tour. VR Tours A virtual reality (VR) tour allows you to see a 360-degree view of the facility from your computer screen. This option is really time-effective, allowing you to tour the various meeting room facilities without leaving the comfort of your home or office. Not only has the Internet made choosing a location easy, but with the addition of e-mail, it has also assisted with pre-meeting tasks. With e-mail, you can send out meeting agendas to the guests beforehand so that everyone understands the purpose of the meeting. Also, as the meeting day gets closer, e-mailed reminders could be sent out to all the guests. This can serve as both a reminder and as an organizational means of tracking those guests that will attend and those that will regretfully decline. Another positive use is for administering a post-meeting feedback form. If sent as an e-mail, you are allowing guests to work on it when they have time and this will decrease your time on the phone hunting them down for answers. Issues of minimal importance such as feedback forms can be done via e-mail. Although fast and effective, a certain level of personal contact is still needed. With matters of importance or last minute cancellations from guests, the telephone remains the preferred method of use. Although the Internet and e-mail have made it easy for meeting planners to work, personal contact will always remain an important aspect of the meeting planning process. Humour: The Key to Productive Meetings
Whether you feel that you're losing your audience during a presentation or trying to maintain control of a stressful situation, humour works well as a stress reliever and motivator. It helps to cope with negative information, control anxiety, and better relate to workers at different levels within an organization. The Estates Reveals Effective Meeting Techniques Instead of waiting for these types of situations to arise during a meeting, you can prevent them. The following techniques are reliable methods used for improving the meeting atmosphere:
Tips from the Estates Team: It Takes a Team to Make a Meeting Work Here are several tips from the senior team at the Estates: Kirk Brady, managing director, Joan Fisher and Betty Rennick, catering and sales managers. The Estates team knows that optimism and a level head creates a more relaxed and comfortable meeting atmosphere. As an experienced team, Kirk, Betty and Joan recognize that the key to a successful meeting does not rest on the shoulders of the meeting planner, it is also based on the attitude and enthusiasm of the meeting attendees. Here are some tips, drawn from 10 years of experience to consider next time you are attending a meeting:
In addition to providing tips on how to prepare for meetings, Kirk Brady, Joan Fisher, and Betty Rennick assist in the day-to-day operations of one of Canada's leading social and corporate meeting facilities - the Estates of Sunnybrook. Here and There Web Site Update The Estates' web site will have a new look and feel, with various new functions and sections in time for summer. Be sure to log on for updates. Estates Scores HSMAI Award Kudos are in order for the Estates! They have racked up another award from Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), adding to their existing list of achievements. A bronze award was bestowed upon the Estates in the Direct Mail, Single Sales category for a pentagonal folder released earlier last year. The pentagonal folder featured a stunning eight-piece foldout highlighting the various facilities and services throughout the Estates. Book your Next Corporate BBQ? For those interested in booking your company's next corporate BBQ, our new menus can be found online under the menus section. |
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To view the Agenda, click on the appropriate issue below:
Winter 2002 | Spring 2001 | Winter 2001 | Winter 2000 | Fall 1999 | Spring 1999| Winter 1999 | |||||||||
Revenues generated from the Estates contribute to further research at
Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre.