During my time at Annex, I have helped conduct plenty of interviews, mostly for open sales and editorial positions on our various media brands.
One of the more common questions asked by prospective Annex employees is: What makes Annex a special place to work? When I look back at the amount of times I have been asked this question, there is only one answer I can remember offering up: The People
I hope this doesn’t sound too business school (which I never went to), but it is The People at Annex that keep the lights on year after year. It is The People who develop ideas, execute ideas, and then examine these ideas to make them better the next time around. It is The People, who take the time to get to know each other, that makes Annex tick.
For me and many of my colleagues, it is The People who come together with a willingness to work together that makes Annex a special place to work.
Some recent examples of this include our Career Expo West, an event that is combining our Careers in Aviation and Emergency Services Career Expo into one show in Calgary on October 24. There is also the Canadian Wildfire Conference in Kelowna on October 26. This one began the year as our annual Aerial Firefighting Conference, but given what has happened in Canada over the past few months with wildfires raging in various parts of the country, our aviation and fire brand teams teamed up to collaborate on an event that would benefit both audiences.
What makes these two events so special is that both represent the feeling that anything and everything is possible when people come together with an open mind in a safe space – a space that allows for open discussion, conflict resolution, and creative and effective problem-solving.
For these two events to work, our events team has jumped through hoops getting event space rearranged, planning thank-you dinners for our wildfire fighting heroes, and reworking floor plans to accommodate our clients. At the same time, our editorial and sales teams, respectively, have joined forces to plan wicked conference agendas and successfully sell two non-budgeted events with revenue and contribution numbers we can all be proud of. But there are also other examples of agility and working together across Annex, including, Stephen Kranabetter stepping in to help cover
CPECN over the past few months, and Barb Vowles reworking
CPECN promo materials to accommodate changes in its event schedule.
Back in the 1980s, I used to watch a TV show called The A-Team. Mr T. was the most memorable actor in that series, but for me the most memorable part of the show was Hannibal, The A-Team’s leader, who at the end of every show would say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Well, in the end, it takes good people to ensure plans come together, and Annex is definitely not short of good people.
Paul Grossinger, Group Publisher & Director of Production
pgrossinger@annexbusinessmedia.com; mobile: 416-564-2513
Virtual Trolls
For more shout outs, visit
The Wall.
To Anastasia Ivaniv, for Owning It
From Tara – “We experienced far less than “unreasonable hospitality” from a vendor setting up our tent city at the Manure Expo. Of course, the Annex crew immersed ourselves and got the “crappy jobs” done. Following the show, Ana had the difficult conversation with the vendor resulting in a refund for poor service and an incomplete order. Thanks for owning it Ana!”
To Brooke Shaw, for Owning It
From Angela - “During my two-week vacation, Brooke filled in for my absence. Taking on additional tasks that I would normally have her leave until my return, her positive can do/will do attitude made for a stress-free vacation for me. I appreciate her extra effort to learn new tasks and I came back to a very detailed report of the status of production’s workload. Well done, Brooke!”
To Sharon Kauk, for Owning It
From Bree - “One of the greatest aspects of the Manure Expo is seeing Sharon in action. Sharon zipped around on a Gator for five days providing timely and accurate answers to clients, exhibitors, fellow organizers and attendees. She never left any of my questions unanswered and exemplified the “unreasonable hospitality” goal.”
Team News
Welcome Pat!
Pat Lorusso joins Annex as brand sales manager for Canadian Process Equipment & Control News (CPECN). Pat brings with him more than 10 years of B2B sales experience. In his spare time, he runs his own blog and podcast show, called Centre of Leafs Nation. The podcast features interviews with hockey celebrities, while also tackling issues currently impacting the hockey world. Pat speaks fluent Spanish, having lived in Pacuca, Mexico for 2.5 years, where he taught English. Pat loves music (reggae, hip hop, afrobeat, rock), and loves watching movies. Some of his favourites include Scarface, The Godfather series, and anything Marvel. In his down time, Pat loves to hang out with his family and is an avid soccer player. Welcome to Annex, Pat.
What's Working
Some Covey Love
Adam Reiterowski, our vice-president of finance and administration, recently shared his experience marrying what he learned in Covey Training with our Own It Agreement check ins: “Following my self-assessment and peer evaluation I was initially skeptical about all the courses that were being recommended as to how much value they could add. Having now finished several, I can say that my skepticism was misplaced, especially for the 1-on-1 micro-course. Having wrapped up most of my August Own It check-ins, this course should be required reading for anyone who manages staff at Annex. Those were the smoothest 1-on-1’s I have had since I started at Annex, and I credit the listening and questioning techniques taught in that course.”
Michelle's Covey Corner
Listening Matters
When receiving tough feedback, we may experience different feelings and the first response may be to go on defense. This feeling is completely normal, but it can prevent us from listening to what the other person has to say. Below are a few tactics on how you can practice receiving tough feedback in a composed manner.
- Feedback is a statement about the person giving it, not you. At first, you may feel like it’s an attack, which probably was not the intention. More likely, they’re giving you feedback on something because they really care about it (and you). Shift your thinking from “They think I’m awful” to “What does this say about what they care about?”
- Respond with a “thank you” and a question for clarification. Ask them to explain in more detail what they mean or repeat what you heard and how you’ve interpreted it. Make sure you are correct in what you heard and understand.
- If you feel overwhelmed by the feedback, ask to take a moment and/or break. Set a time to reconvene after you’ve had some time to process and think of a productive response.
Feedback — even when it’s hard to hear or not well-delivered — can be a fantastic opportunity to grow. And with a little practice, you can begin to shift your internal reaction from,
“Oh no, I’m under attack!” to
“Wait, I could learn something here.”
