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THE PROBE
NEWSLETTER OF THE PROBUS CLUB OF VANCOUVER WEST
PO Box 60506 Granville Park, Vancouver, BC V6H 4B9
http://probusvancouverwest.com
September 29, 2015 #18
SPEAKER FOR THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015
ALI HOUNSELL
PRINCIPAL, SIDEWAYS RAIN STRATEGIES
Like all of us, Ali Hounsell woke up the morning of 9/11 and learned a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. But unlike most of us, she had to handle calls from the media from her communications desk at Vancouver International Airport. At first, she reported there were no flight delays. By the end of the day, all North American flights were grounded and YVR had taken in 34 jumbo jets.
“As with most crises,” she says, “you don’t realize how deep and difficult they will be when you are in the middle of them.” Describing her experience at YVR during 9/11 and also more recently as media consultant for Trans Mountain Expansion Project for Kinder Morgan during its crisis in Burnaby last November, will be part of her talk to PROBUS members in October.
A strategic communications professional with a background in news media, Hounsell is a skilled spokesperson and trusted media advisor, specializing in issues management, media training and crisis communications planning.
Hounsell will also address how social media has affected crisis management, explaining the importance of quickly correcting any misinformation because today it will spread like wildfire. She says 9/11 would have been quite different with social media.
After graduating in communications from the BC Institute of Technology, Ali joined the Rafe Mair show on CKNW. She worked in media relations at YVR until 2007. After the birth of her second child, she set up Sideways Rain Strategies, where she consults for companies such as Kinder Morgan. She lives in North Vancouver with her family.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE FOR OCTOBER
It was a pleasure to hear Vancouver Public Library chief librarian, Sandra Singh, at our September meeting. The VPL is very lucky to have such a dynamic and forward thinking leader. I notice that the men’s club is having Dr. Julio Montaner speak at their President’s luncheon and I don’t need to go because he is speaking to our club in January. How nice.
As usual, I will be having lunch at the club and look forward to having our members join me. Speaking of lunch, I have arranged with Marine Drive Golf Club to open the restaurant at 11:30 year round instead of at noon. The staff will be doing this on our meeting days only so if you’re a MDGC member, this is not a permanent policy change but an accommodation for us on our meeting days. In addition we are considering serving some baking along with coffee in the morning. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
And our PROBUS is planning to host a Christmas celebration for the December meeting so plan to attend and to stay after. We will need RSVPs for this event and will be asking for them, as the planning gets further along.
Our speaker for October 8 is Ali Hounsell, a strategic communications professional with a background in news media and more than 14 years experience delivering projects and driving change within fast-paced, focused organizations. A skilled spokesperson and trusted media advisor, she specializes in issues management, proactive media relations’ initiatives, media training and crisis communications planning and execution.
I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting, Thursday, October 8.
Mark
UPCOMING SPEAKERS
Thursday, November 12: Chief Constable Adam Palmer. He will speak on “Mental Illness and Policing.”
Thursday, December 10: Dr. Shawn Bullock, assistant professor of science education at Simon Fraser University. He will speak on cosmology and astrophysics.
Thursday, January 14: Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, professor of medicine and chair in AIDS research at UBC. He will speak on “Treatment as Prevention: The Key to Global Control of HIV/AIDS.”
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Marike and John Crosby
Marion Reid
Kay Allison Fulmer
REPORT ON DAY EXCURSION TO SQUAMISH, SEPTEMBER 21
After a weekend of rain, Monday dawned brightly as 14 of us bundled into a small van at the Oakridge Mall for our day trip to the Squamish area. Lou, our driver, was most accommodating and delivered us to our first stop, Britannia Mine Museum, very promptly. There we donned hard hats and in rail cars descended deep inside the mine for an informative tour of the mine operations. Although the mine closed in 1974, it was easy to imagine the hardships of the workers as our guide dramatically related the evolution of mining techniques from early days to mine closure.
The mine site is beautifully restored with a visitor centre offering a short film and many interactive exhibits, as well as many pieces of old mining equipment including a gold panning display.
We then bussed to a lovely restaurant by the river just outside Squamish for lunch and a bit of free time for a walk along the river.
The afternoon was spent on the Sea to Sky Gondola, adjacent to the Stawamus Chief. It is a dramatic ascent up 2900 feet to a beautiful summit plaza and lodge. There are a variety of trails for exploration or one can bask in the sunshine on the deck and survey the surrounding terrain.
It was a most enjoyable day, particularly when the driving was designated to someone else, so all we had to do was gaze out the window. I would advise anyone headed for Whistler to stop at both these sites, as they are first class tourist attractions.
Sharon Baxter
REPORT ON SPEAKER SEPTEMBER 10, SANDRA SINGH
There’s a lot happening at Vancouver Public Library––a lot more than borrowing a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Vancouver Public Library’s chief librarian, Sandra Singh, staggered her audience with the number of educational programs, projects and innovations happening at the library.
E-books, foreign language books, audio books in many languages, an inspirational lab where the public can edit film and do voice overs, meeting places for toddlers through seniors, support for local writers through an initiative with Alan Twigg and BC Bookworld, help with self-publishing, are just a taste of the offerings at VPL.
A lively Q & A session followed Singh’s talk, with the audience impressed with the knowledge and candour of the presenter. Singh agreed with one questioner that the VPL website does not do justice to what’s available and said improvements are in the works.
INFORMATION UPCOMING FEDERAL ELECTION: ALL-CANDIDATES FORUMS
Vancouver-Granville:
Congregation Beth Israel, 989 West 28the Ave., Thursday, October 1, 8 p.m.
OMNI Mingpao, joint candidate forum, Chinatown Plaza, 180 Keefer St., Saturday, October 3, 2 p.m.
Vancouver Centre
Vancouver Public Library, Main Branch, Thursday, October 1, 10:30 a.m.
Vancouver Quadra
St Philip’s Church, 3737 West 27th Ave., Monday, October 5, 7 to 9:30 p.m.
West Point Grey United Church, 8th and Tolmie, Thursday, October 8, 7:00 p.m.
INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS ON REFUGEE CRISIS
Some members have inquired if PROBUS Vancouver West could be involved in helping out with the current refugee crisis in Europe. BecausePROBUS clubs are not organized as charitable, fund-raising or service clubs, our constitution restricts our activities solely to facilitating acquaintance, fellowship and learning. However, we encourage anyone who would like to help as an individual to visit the sites canadahelps.organd crisisreliefcentre.org/2015/Syria/.
MEMBER SERVICES
There were 70 members and 5 guests who attended the meeting on September 10, 2015. Our thanks to greeters Suzanne Stothers and Brenda Hochachka.
Pat Sexsmith
MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MEETING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
PROBUS CLUB VANCOUVER WEST Marine Drive Golf Club
MARK WHITE in the chair
Time: 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Attendance: 70 members, 5 guests
Announcements:
· Mark apologized if the tone of his trivia topics had inadvertently offended any members.
· Tony Weall reported that our membership is now up to 158, including 5 new members: Marike and John Crosby, Kris Kropinsky, Marion Reid and Kay Allison Fulmer.
· Sharon Baxter gave instructions for parking at Oakridge during the bus tour to Britannia Mines, Brackendale and the Sea to Sky Gondola, September 21st. The bus will depart at 9:00 AM from the vicinity of the Gap sign on Cambie Street and return to Oakridge around 5:00 p.m.
· Joan Hebb gave a brief ad hoc outline of the position of recording secretary on the PCVW management committee. Other committee members will each give a précis of their role in the months to come before the February election.
Speaker:
Pat Ostrow introduced Sandra Singh, chief librarian of the Vancouver Public Library system. Lynn Hamilton thanked Sandra Singh.
The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m. The next general meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8, when the speaker will be Ali Hounsell. Her talk is titled “The Planning for and Implementation of Crisis Communications in B.C.”
PROBUS VANCOUVER WEST MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
President
Mark H. White
Vice President
Rosemary Wakefield
Secretary
Joan Hebb
Treasurer
Douglas Cucheron
Activities
Sharon Baxter Estelle Jacobsen
Communications
Rooky Driver
House
John Fraser
Member Services
Pat Sexsmith
Membership
Tony Weall
Speakers
John Fraser
The PROBE editor
Johanne Leach
Our journey is self-development. Our strength is fellowship. Our success is participation.