THE AMPERSAND Let’s jump to it, shall we? True story. Last Spring we wrote a few pieces in this space that may have expressed a slightly unfavourable view toward the current American president.
One post drew this response from a long-time reader and well-respected consultant:
“Just for what it’s worth, I would be really careful about using terms that reflect political views [about Trump] as there exists in this province a number of very senior business leaders (and I suspect your potential clients) who think it is kind of cool that for the first time in American history there are real (experienced in having to meet a payroll) business people running the U.S. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.”
I’ll take Wrong for $400, Alex. And I’ll double down that we’ll be on the right side of history when the nuclear dust finally settles on this debacle of a presidency. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if these business leaders still think it’s “cool” that Trump is President, we’d rather work with the ones who think it isn’t. Ironically, it’s this same fear of recrimination against speaking out that allows Trump to continue with this bigly mess, relatively unchallenged, entirely unhinged and, so far, largely unscathed. And as we’ll see in a few months when the government shuts down, he actually can’t make payroll.
Say this about Trump, though. He got more done this past summer than we did.
In the time it took him to threaten nuclear war with North Korea, flirt with military action in Venezuela, equate neo-Nazis and white supremacists with the anti-racist activists who protest them, thank Russia for expelling US diplomats, turn a Boy Scout jamboree into something resembling a fascist youth rally, display fictitious TIME magazine covers at various Trump owned golf clubs, ban transgender military personnel without informing the Pentagon, fire his Chief Strategist, hire and then fire his Communications Director, and pardon Sherriff Joe Arpaio, in the middle of a hurricane no less, all we could do is design a new newsletter and update our website. We suck.
Alas, there are several other more credible and qualified voices out there to discuss Trump (this is a good start) so rather than focus any longer on his summer, I prefer to spend some time discussing ours.
The Pekarsky & Co. summer officially flew off the top rope with our Nacho Typical Stampede Party held, as always, on our rooftop on July 10 (and the first several hours of July 11). Over 250 friends and clients were greeted by lucha libre wrestlers, amazing food, a photo booth (thanks Hip Image) and enough margarita mix to float a boat (which came in quite handy when the storms rolled in and we were ‘trapped’ under the tent housing the bar).
On the work front, we continued to manage over 30 active searches (sign of the times: we have the same number of marijuana company searches on our books as we do oil and gas searches), and find ourselves sufficiently busy that we’re in hiring mode scrambling to find a slightly used, entrepreneurial and fun-loving recruiter to join our team. Ironic, I know. Recruiters having a hard time finding a recruiter. (Memo to self: consider hiring a recruiter?) Most importantly, we spruced up our website and, as you can see, put a fresh coat of paint on the publication formerly known as the newsletter.
So here we sit, on autumn’s doorstep, launching our new newsletter, called The Ampersand – and launching our new website, called, well, The Website.
The Ampersand, for which our Office Manager, Amy, gets the naming credit, takes its inspiration from our logo. As our design firm succinctly summarized back when we first rolled out our brand (and as we discussed at length in our May 2015 post, Seeing Red):
“The overall feel of the Pekarsky & Co. logo is modern, strong and established. The use of the ampersand puts emphasis on the idea of bringing two items together. When you hear ‘and’ it implies opportunity and more to come. Using the ampersand symbol, rather than the word ‘and’ signifies a more intimate relationship.”
And isn’t that the very point of these monthly posts? To bring us together, to share ideas, to reconnect? And to do so in a more intimate and authentic manner than your typical mass mailer gobble-dee-gook? It has been an admittedly slow gestation period (9 years and 110 editions), but we have finally birthed The Ampersand and we think she’s beautiful. Besides, calling it The And would have been lame.
As for the website, much of the new design was driven by a desire to stay dope and fresh with the young kids but also to improve our SEO (search engine optimization) and stay in step with the latest trends and developments in web design. We have included updated bios and photos, not stock photography but of the actual humans who work here; we have increased the functionality of our Opportunities page, added a Frequently Asked Questions section and made several other tweaks and improvements that will hopefully enhance your user experience. We would invite you to spend some time poking around and let us know what you think. Huuuuge thanks to our amazing communications and design firm, Not Your Average Jo, for building a website that truly sings.
We have several ideas marinating for the year ahead. In addition to our monthly newsletter, our blog feed will be updated regularly with write-ups and images of our team out and about in the community, including later this month when Pekarsky & Co. takes centre stage as a sponsor of the Calgary International Film Festival. Watch for us on the big screen as you attend the festival from September 20 to October 1.
Also in September, Pekarsky & Co. Partner, Ranju Shergill, heads down under to represent our firm at the Panorama Partners global meeting in Auckland, New Zealand about which she will report upon her return. October promises to bring some exciting award-winning news and by November, if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll be writing about the end of the Trump presidency, assuming he and Kim Jong Un don’t destroy us all before then.
Until then, let’s keep our thoughts with our friends to the south and enjoy a safe return to school and work.
Regards,
Adam
Executive Director, Citadel Theatre
CEO, Edmonton Screen Industries
