PHD added to its charitable events repertoire on Friday January 30^th with the company’s first annual PHD Ski Day. The 1980’s ski theme event, held at Georgian Peaks Ski Club in Collingwood, brought out a total of 55 skiers and boarders from PHD and media suppliers for a day of fun on the slopes, raising $2500 for the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies. The conditions were fantastic making the experience all the more enjoyable.

PHD would like thank all of its sponsors – Onestop, AOL, CTV, NewAd, Stockhouse, Fan 590, Canwest, Rouge Media, Adcentricity, Rogers, MLSE, Heavy.com, Transcontinental, Canoe, Facebook, and Clear Channel – we couldn’t have done it without you!  

A special thank-you as well to the Georgian Peaks Ski Club for being terrific hosts for the day and for putting up with our antics during the après-ski!

See all of you next year for the 2^nd Annual PHD Ski Day.

Thanks,

Geoff Glen, Sean Cunningham, and Paul Paterson

About a month ago the PHD Interactive team was lucky enough to be invited to a breakfast with Microsoft Advertising. At that breakfast we saw a fantastic speaker Kenneth Wong. He was entertaining and informative which made the throbbing pain of your backside in those uncomfortable chairs we always get to sit in at conferences seem numbed. Please follow the link below for video of the presentation on Marketing in a Downturn Economy so that you can also be enlighten on how we can penetrate those closed wallets and make these financial times seem easier for us as a company to service our clients.

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:28be9103-bff2-4d7d-92c4-1d2f7de58293&showPlaylist=true

The Advertising Challenge Blood Drive was a success and PHD played a big part! The winners of the Advertising Challenge are:

Highest Number of Donations (17) = Bensimon Byrne

Highest Percentage of Employees Donating (26%) = Panic and Bob

In all, 107 donations were collected which means the lives of 321 people were saved! People like Lily Palmer, at left, who depends on the generosity of blood donors. Canadian Blood Services sent a big "Thank You!" to all the companies who came out in support of the Advertising Challenge. They were thrilled by the number of companies that took part, the youthfulness of the donors and the number of 1^st time donors!

The Agencies that took part are: Bensimon Byrne, OMD, Due North, Stealing Time, Steam Films, Soft Citizen, Vapor Music, Grip, Edelman Public Relations, Y & R, Creative Niche, Daggerwing, Centennial College, Rogers Media, New Marketing, Panic and Bob, Extreme Group, BBDO, Creative Niche, Doug Agency & PHD

Canadian Blood Services hopes that many of us will continue to donate blood this year, either individually or as a group. Because the need for blood never takes a holiday when the majority of people do, blood is particularly in need during July, August and December.

For more information, visit Canadian Blood Services website: Canadian Blood Services. They have the screening quiz on the website so you can see if you qualify as a donor. (There are several restrictions on travel - basically, if you ever thought about going to England, have family from the UK or like Kate Winslet movies, you cannot give blood. In all seriousness, most people can give, but check the restrictions.)

Couldn’t give blood? Feel free to register for the PARTNERS FOR LIFE program, which puts you in a database in case you ever are a match for bone marrow transplants. All it takes is swabbing your mouth and sending it away. You may never get called, but you could save a life!

Partners For Life