The inaugural MAC Canoe Award gala is just 2 weeks away!
On May 8, 2014 MAC will launch our very first internal awards of excellence ceremony — The MAC Canoe Awards. Earlier this year, everyone in the company had the opportunity to nominate six of their colleagues in one of the following categories:
- MAC Canoe Award for MAC Spirit
- MAC Canoe Award for Client First Excellence
- MAC Canoe Award for Teamwork Excellence
- MAC Canoe Award for Sales Excellence
- MAC Canoe Award for Marketing Excellence
- MAC Canoe Award for Leadership Excellence
For each nomination we asked for a summary of why the person deserved the award and some examples of how they demonstrated excellence at MAC. The stories that came out were incredible and we had 100% participation! As MAC’s president, Cameron McNeill put it, “It made me extremely proud to go through the nominations – so many amazing stories and examples of MAC core values in action across the board. It will be so very difficult to choose this year’s winners!”
Why the “Canoe” awards? Over the Christmas holidays this past year, a very old handmade cedar strip canoe mysteriously arrived at the MAC head office. It is a famous Chestnut Canoe from one of Canada’s oldest and most iconic canoe companies. The name of our awards of excellence was inspired by the symbolism of teamwork inherent in paddling a canoe as well as a personal connection for Cameron:
My father grew up in Northern Ontario and bought a canoe just like this one [now hanging as a dramatic art piece on the wall of our Vancouver office] when he was 14 years old – that was over 60 years ago and last year he gave me his canoe. I grew up knowing it was something very special for him. Also, a canoe is a Canadian symbol and to paddle with another person you have to communicate, negotiate, compromise and cooperate – all essential elements of teamwork!
Award winners will receive an authentic handmade canoe paddle engraved with their name and award category. To help us count down to the big day, a sample of the paddle “trophy” is making the rounds through the Vancouver head office, our sales centres throughout Metro Vancouver, and to the Smith and Avenue teams in Calgary. To follow the paddle’s progress, check out the Facebook photo album.
The MAC team from both Vancouver and Calgary will gather on May 8 for a special formal awards evening to celebrate our collective success at Secret Location restaurant in Gastown.
[update: Watch the video from the evening here!]
