In Honour of the Ever Evolving Administrative Professional

TORONTO, ON, June 13, 2012 – Food, fashion and fascinators were in abundant supply at the Rostie Group’s Second Annual High Tea celebration held on Thursday, June 7 at the meeting and office space provider’s 20 Bay Street WaterPark Place location in Toronto’s thriving south core. The High Tea, which was originally held during Administrative Professionals week in April last year, is an appreciation event in honour of the city’s hardworking executive assistants and admin professionals.

Well-known Toronto-based designer Freda’s was featured at the fashion show which took place in “Rainy Lake” the Rostie Group’s largest meeting room where each one of the guests who was already outfitted with a classy, white fascinator and matching Chanel-esque shopper bag sat on either side of the runway.

Guests could also watch the show from outside of the Rainy Lake meeting room thanks to screens accessible from any conceivable vantage point which streamed the show live, thanks to technology provided by one of the event’s sponsors, GoToMeeting.

“Every day we interact with executive assistants. We know firsthand how hard they work and this High Tea event is owner Cynthia Rostie’s way of recognizing that and showing them the appreciation they deserve. The profession is evolving and these individuals deserved increased recognition for the increasing value of their input,” said Marketing Communications Specialist at the Rostie Group, John Aymes. “It’s not a bad day to be an executive assistant. At the Rostie Group High Tea you can have free massages, food, Godiva Chocolate, a salsa performance and lesson by P.O.S.E. Dance Studio, an intimate fashion show by Freda’s and of course tea served by a knowledgeable sommelier, Lynda Budd from Tea Alchemy.”

Guests could also be found in one of the Rostie Group’s more popular meeting spaces, the Pacific Room, vying for fine Canadian Art as part of a charity silent auction, with proceeds going towards ‘The Freedom Walk – Journey for Justice’ which hopes to educate Canadians on the impact on victims of crime, abuse and bullying. The auction was curated by Colette French, Director of Cooper’s Fine Art Gallery whose own successful painting career included shows at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver and the Nancy Pool Studio in Toronto. French donated an original work of art created by Canadian painter Audrey Garwood to the Rostie Group’s silent auction.

Some 200 administrative professionals from the GTA attended the Rostie Group’s appreciation event and according to the company, feedback has been phenomenally positive.

“Based on the responses we’ve had here today there is no doubt that the Rostie Group High Tea has the potential to be a fixture on the city’s calendar in the near future,” Aymes stated.

About the Rostie Group: The Rostie Group has for the past 20 years provided commercial meeting, event, office and virtual space in Ontario. The company is known for its flexible service, wide range of amenities, competitive prices and great view of Toronto’s vibrant south core.

A model smiles for the camera during the fashion show portion of the Rostie Group's High Tea in honour of Executive Assistants. Famous Toronto-based designer Freda's was the featured designer.

Canadian Art Fans in for a Treat at High Tea

An original work of Canadian artist, Audrey Garwood one of the country’s very finest of landscape painters will be part of a collection being auctioned for charity at the Rostie Group’s second annual High Tea on June 7. Curating the auction will be Colette French, Director of Cooper’s Fine Art Gallery, who initially exhibited Garwood’s paintings at Painted City Gallery and currently represents the artist’s estate.

Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Association of Administrative Assistants (AAA) and to ‘The Freedom Walk – Journey for Justice’ which hopes to educate Canadians on the impact on victims of crime, abuse and bullying. The Rostie Group’s second annual High Tea is an appreciation event for Administrative Professionals and Executive Assistants from Toronto. Patrons can expect free massages, live music, a fashion show, prizes and much more according to organizers.

French, whose own successful painting career included shows at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver and the Nancy Pool Studio in Toronto, said she was “delighted to offer an original work of art created by Garwood for the upcoming Charity Auction” at the High Tea which will run from 11.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. French will be on hand to speak briefly about the artist’s exceptional work, as well as answer questions about collecting and displaying art in personal and professional places.

Garwood was a member and exhibitor with the Ontario Society of Artists, Royal Canadian Academy and Women’s Caucus of the Arts and has successfully presented multiple one-woman shows. She was a member of the generation that was deeply inspired by the famous Canadian Group of Seven, as is evident in her stunning vibrant landscapes.
In a career that spanned five decades, Garwood received many awards for her artistic accomplishments. The honours bestowed upon her were significant: the Sterling Trust Award for Canadian painters; the Canadian Society of Printmakers Print Award; the San Francisco Art Festival’s Purchase award. She was also the youngest person and first woman to ever win the Forester Award.
Her work is now recognized by serious collectors and is represented in both private and public collections all across Canada as well as internationally.
Most recently Garwood’s work has been displayed at Coopers Fine Art Gallery, located at 111 Bathurst Street in Toronto. A new exhibition of Garwood’s paintings and prints is scheduled to open next month on Thursday, June 21.

Colette French

http://www.rostiegroup.com/news/1580

How to choose a Meeting Room in Toronto

Inspections for choosing a meeting room provider can be particularly nerve racking. Agreed. However, we’re here to tell you it doesn’t have to be and here are a few short and sweet tips.

Put yourself in the attendees’ shoes

Do a surprise tour. Pop in unannounced and save yourself the distraction of the red carpet treatment that’s doled out for a prearranged visit.

Know your parameters

Your goals and parameters should ideally dictate the facilities you end up choosing. If you want to have excitement and interaction then your venue should have theatre capabilities and suitable tech support. If you are conducting training then you will do better with a location that can eliminate interuptions and has sound proof walls in each room.

Is there dedicated IT support? If not , are you able to risk running into a technical hitch right before your meeting begins and not have dedicated IT staff on hand?

Make a note of all the things that are important to you such as catering options that fit your budget, amenities, view and flexibility.

Take a closer look

Conduct a deep analysis to compare sites’ strengths and weakness. Evaluate locations based on relevant factors such as proximity to public transport, restaurants, parking, airports etc

How safe are the surroundings and how easy is it to get around if your attendees decide to leave the meeting room site?

Source: http://www.rostiegroup.com/news/1571

What We Really Do - Meeting Rooms at the Rostie Group

Admin Professionals Do More Than Book Meeting Rooms

Even if you have never given it much thought before, it’s easy to appreciate the sheer number of industries supported by admin professionals and how pervasive the role is in terms of keeping CEOs and managers on the right track.

Just how much as the profession evolved?

In early human history, great leaders were traditionally accompanied by advisers or scribes who were also of critical importance because of their role in capturing important information. As gender roles evolved the once male-dominated scribe/confidant became the more familiar personal or private secretary.

As the role of secretaries expanded and more women demanded shorthand skills in particular, more schools opened up and associations like the Canadian National Secretaries Association was formed (in 1951).

Today many admin professionals are committed more than ever to improving in their field as well as, hold varied titles and carry out distinctive tasks on a daily basis. Today’s administrative professional does more than book meeting rooms but must understand software for word processing, presentations and spread sheets inside and out and be able to fix copiers and fix fax machines in stride. In many cases, the AA is the glue that binds it all together and their jobs can serve as launch pads to managerial positions.

Admin professionals are constantly directing the flow of never-ending office bustle that ensures they quickly become comfortable balancing numerous tasks simultaneously. Above average people skills are either brought to the table to be begin with or developed out of necessity in this profession. AAs need to not only communicate with customers and vendors, but also with executives and managers. Being an AA means you are most likely to have a good idea of what’s going on because you are deeply involved in so many different things. AAs often know more about what’s going on in the organization than, say, the executive does. Therefore It’s important that AAs can speak to these things that are ongoing in the environment when the job requires them to.

Why You Should Love Video Conferencing in Toronto

Many small and mid-sized businesses owners share the challenge of operating companies with an understaffed and overworked IT department on tight operating budgets.

In the face of these challenges, how will you grow your small to mid-sized business enough to reach new markets while competing with much larger companies? Video-conferencing is one way to reduce the costs of expansion and the challenges in communication that come with. Here are some other benefits of video-conferencing.

1. Save Money

Prohibitive travel costs no longer need be so prohibitive with video-conferencing solutions. Save money on travel while conveniently maintaining quality relationships with clients and staying in touch with colleagues on a regular basis.Whittle down your travel budget to include one or two high profile,critical face-to-face meetings a year.

2. Retain Talent

Studies bear it out and you may be inclined to agree that the majority of employees like to telecommute. In this mobile work culture increase your ability to keep your top talent by giving employees who relocate or need to work from home a few days a week and in turn save on office space, expensive restaffing and retraining. This will be especially critical If your firm is small and relies on the expertise of a small trusted unit that has built up goodwill with your customer base and represents hard-to-replace institutional knowledge.

Don’t wait months to meet. Make quick timely decisions via web conference where you and your team can discuss and share immediate feedback…

3. Add a Personal Touch

4. Archive sessions for retraining purposes or review

5. Reduce commute time and “downtime”. Increase productivity

6. Video Conferencing Saves Time

7. Get in on the Act

Size no longer has to limit smaller businesses from going global. The 90s belonged to the multinationals who were infrastructure and capital-rich and could therefore take advantage of globalization. Videoconferencing tools have shrunken the globe and now smaller companies can be cross shores and be fast, nimble worthy competitors internationally.

Take advantage of web and video conferencing. It’s easy now that the latest services are much less expensive and more flexible than before.

Could Your Business Use 131 million YouTube views?

Tom Dickson, Founder and CEO of BlendTec tests his blender on everyday items to see if they will… well, blend. The Will It Blend series was a huge success with total video views exceeding 131 million. Could your business use 131 million YouTube views?

Creating video for web is very low cost, cost effective and the potential ROI greatly exceeds that of traditional media. Here are a few tips to creating effect videos for the web.

Catchy titles – make your title catchy. With the right keywords (don’t forget Google owns Youtube) you will make your video easier to find with the right searches by the right people. ”How To…” videos are great because the title communicates what should be in the video and it implicitly positions you, the uploader as an expert in the topic.

Short & Sweet – Provide great compact, content and get to the point. Studies show that the average attention span of internet users has decreased from a few minutes to a few seconds over the past five years. Some video bloggers use special editing techniques to keep their audience engaged by having regular, abrupt transitions. Your video doesn’t have to go to this extreme but baring this in mind will be critical to the success of your video.

FAQ & A – A good place to start if it’s your first video is answering FAQs’ (Frequently Asked Questions) about your service category or something related to the problem you solve for customers. Answering questions sets you up as an expert in the eyes of your prospects and gives you a competitive edge by taking a step towards the trust necessary to be chosen.

Myth Busting – Listing commonly held misconceptions about your industry can be effective because this content not only demonstrates knowledge but potential clients will most likely find this information educational and memorable. For added effect explain away these myths by using a story about how you solved a related problem for a client.

If you want to learn more about creating effective video for the web that will dramatically increase the visibility of your business, watch this FREE webinar on Monday, April 9, 12-1 pm EDT with Sofia Stefou of Sofina Media.

The Rostie Group is the premier boutique provider of executive office spaces, virtual offices and meeting rooms in Toronto.