Chris Carder, president and co-founder of ThinData, a permission-based email marketing company in Toronto, is the recipient of the 2009 Paul Mulvihill/NABS Humanitarian Award. The honour was announced last night at the 25th annual NABS fundraising gala ‘All That Glitters,’ which was attended by more than 500 advertising and media industry executives at Koolhaus in Toronto.
The Mulvihill award, sponsored by strategy magazine, is presented annually to those from the communications industry who have volunteered to better the lives of others, through charity work or community services. Carder was recognized for his volunteer contributions to groups in the Toronto area, namely the international White Ribbon Campaign to eliminate violence against women and children around the world.
‘I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have been supported by mentors and business partners who believe deeply that the contributions we make as business leaders to people and community deserve as much attention as our focus on business,’ says Carder. He was presented with a glass sculpture and two cheques of $2,500 that will be donated in his name to White Ribbon and NABS Canada.
Several media and advertising leaders were also inducted in the NABS Honour Roll for their contribution to the organization, which helps communications and related industry professionals who need help due to illness, injury, unemployment or financial difficulties.
This year’s inductees include Geoffrey Roche, CEO of Lowe Roche, who is an ardent advocate for NABS, and Mark Smyka, director of communications at Cossette and a NABS board member from the early 1990s (who was also the founding editor of strategy magazine). From the east coast, Donna Alteen, president of Halifax-based Time and Space Media, was inducted. She was a key member of the NABS Atlantic chapter which ran from 1994 to 1999, and ‘even when the chapter ceased to exist, she remained one of the people in Halifax who continued to promote NABS,’ says Mike Fenton, president and CEO of NABS Canada.
Daniel Rabinowicz, president of Taxi Content, and Bruce McCallan, VP advertising sales at Transcontinental were also honoured for their work with NABS’ Quebec chapter BEC, which launched in 2004. ‘[Rabinowicz] was the key person in helping us get that off the ground, and we’re celebrating our fifth anniversary of our Quebec chapter this year,’ Fenton tells MiC.
Other inductees include NABS West board member Derrick Chamberlain, President of PrimeWest Media sales, and former board member Bryan Press, VP of Insight Sports.
Past NABS West board members inducted this year include Lynne Forbes, general manager BC CTV; John Voiles, VP Sales, Astral Media Broadcast Sales Vancouver; and Lori Chalmers, Publisher of the Richmond News and Delta Optimist. Other inductees included Marie-Luce Ouellet and Chris Oliver.
Three organizations also included on the Honour Roll inductee list – CBC Television; Editions Infopresse and the AAPQ.
Zoom Media also announced the donation of $40,000 in proceeds from its 2008/2009 agency network campaign. Zoom renewed its partnership with NABS for the 11th year as its charity of choice through donation of advertising sales from its Agency Network Fund in Ontario, Western Canada and Quebec. The network has now contributed close to $550,000 making it one of the largest contributors to NABS Canada.
This year’s talent show, a musical rather than dancing competition, was resoundingly won by strategy‘s own Too Many Sisters, composed of creative director Stephen Stanley and events producer Carla MacNeil.
