Great Dinner with Fringe Benefits

Hey - great Thai food, nes pas?



Simply Thai turned out to be a great venue. I hope everyone had a good time?



The conversations ranged from the Tibetian protests of the Beijing Olympics, to Mount stories stretching over several decades, to the personal stories of greeting life (death in the family, challenges of parenting) and career. Very much worth the investment of time and energy.



There was an immediate authenticy and trust. For me, seeing Crista Renner again after about 20 years was a blast. We talked like it was more like a few months since seeing each other.



She was riding high on a work experience from her day that was great intelligence for me. Her company, http://www.juiceinc.ca/ released a white paper in the morning and had a great response. The content is good stuff. Get "The Five Drivers of Engagement: The Role of Emotional Motivators in Employee Performance" here. And make sure you forward the link to all of your friends.



Since, I am getting ready to release a paper regarding the changes that broadband communications have introduced into how corporate value is created and defended, the behind the scenes info of how they crafted the paper based upon a book by one of her partners, raise awareness about it and distribute it is all great insight that she was able to share.



Thanks again to all that could make it out.





If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Reminder: Dinner tonight! Are you coming?

Here are the details:

Simply Thai Cuisine, 2253 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M6S1N8

Time: 6:30 pm.

On the map it looks like it is just East of Jane St. on Bloor St. W (at the foot of Beresford Ave.).

Reconfirms and interest over the last few weeks have not matched up. So at the moment I don't know who is coming for sure. See you there?

If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Dinner, West End, Thurs., Apr. 17th at 6:30 pm. Final Confirmation pls.

And the votes are in ... we are heading to Bloor West Village for dinner on Thursday.

Click this link for details on the location (map, etc):

Simply Thai Cuisine, 2253 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M6S1N8

I am a little worried about the place. I have never been there.

I thought that the West enders would either endorse or recommend an alternative.

If someone is in the area over the next day or two, please check it out, there is still time to change venues.

Please leave a comment on the blog or email mail me to give me a final estimate of how many are coming.




If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Dinner in East End?

You have a few days left to cast your vote. Right now we have four votes for the East end.

If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Dinner, Thursday, Apr. 17 at 6:30 pm

Ok, Let's try Thursday, Apr. 17th for dinner. I have picked out three locations to vote on:

Simply Thai Cuisine, 2253 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M6S1N8

Korean Grill House, 214 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V1Z2

Sher-E-Punjab Restaurant, 351 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4K1N7

If you are open to more than one location vote for more than one, if you want to suggest a different location, start time or kind of food, please leave a comment on the blog.


If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Pick a date for dinner

Hello all -


If you are reading this message in an email, please click through on the link to the blog below or here.

Check in the right column of the blog and vote for a date you can join us for dinner.


I have suggested that we try to get together right after work at 6:30 pm on Apr. 15, 16 or 17. Click on the dates that you can join. Click on more than one if you are open to any date. If you want to join but can't make any of these dates or times, please email or post a comment on the blog. We'll try to co-ordinate so that everyone can join.

We have people from all over the GTA who have expressed an interest in joining us, so location is going to be an interesting discussion. Let's try to come up with an interesting place that will draw us together. Please suggest a location either by email or in the comments at the bottom of this blog entry and we will put that to a vote too.

Vote now. Vote often :)



If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Coming to Dinner??? Andre Mazerolle

This is the third in a series of informal mini-introductions coming up over the next couple of weeks to keep the upcoming Dinner with 12 Strangers top of mind with you.

I encourage you to head to Andre Mazerolle's company website to read his biography. It is located at: http://www.mintzca.com/index.php?section=/Bios/amazerolle_bio.

Andre is a great reason why we could all benefit from activating our alumnae network in the GTA. The consulting firm that he is with is one of the best in the city. He has great personal marketing experience including running his own firm called Red Beard (Andre - my firm could have been called Red Head, but now regrettablly, former red head :) He is also active in a number of associations, so is probably very knowledgeable about how to get things done in this town.

He is interested in this event to network -- both social and business. "That shared experience ... time at MSVU and Nova Scotia, will make networking more enjoyable," says Andre.

The goal of these intros is start the process of building our network in Toronto (use it or lose!).

Who are the folks that you are still in touch with from the Mount?? Have an email for them? Contact them now, even if they are not in Toronto, maybe they know another Mount Alum who does live in Toronto? Don't have an email address? Google them or look them up on Facebook or http://www.linkedin.com/ . Have them go grab the RSS feed or subscribe to the email list at the blog: http://msvutorontoalumnae.blogspot.com/ or send me an email at mgcayley (at) hotmail (dot) com.

If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Coming to Dinner?? Debbie Underhill

This is the second in a series of informal mini-introductions coming up over the next couple of weeks to keep the upcoming Dinner with 12 Strangers top of mind with you.

Debbie Underhill graduated in '79 from the Admin. Studies program. These days she is a National Sales Manager for Houghton Mifflin (Canada) an educational publishing division of Nelson Education.

Debbie is thinking that it might be better to try to organise Dinner on a week night, what about you?

Hey Debbie, I see that a Houghton Mifflin author is award winning?? Does this mean autographed copies of Julia Whitty's The Fragile Edge, this year’s recipient of the John Burroughs Medal ?? :)

The goal of these intros is start the process of building our network in Toronto (use it or lose!).

Who are the folks that you are still in touch with from the Mount?? Have an email for them? Contact them now, even if they are not in Toronto, maybe they know another Mount Alum who does live in Toronto? Don't have an email address? Google them or look them up on Facebook or http://www.linkedin.com/ . Have them go grab the RSS feed or subscribe to the email list at the blog: http://msvutorontoalumnae.blogspot.com/ or send me an email at mgcayley (at) hotmail (dot) com.

If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Who Might Be Coming to Dinner??

Everyone is reminded that we will be zeroing in on a date to have our first Dinner With 12 Strangers. We had a good early response when we announced the plan before Christmas.

To get the ball rolling on the goal, which is the introduce us all to our network in Toronto (use it or lose!), and to encourage you to send an email to remind any MSVU alum that you know ... I asked the early responders to drop me back a note that I could share ...

Introducing - Dr. Jacqueline Karsemeyer

"I did the Med Program at the Mount, in 93-94. The experience was extremely positive, and stands above others in my academic journey. I had returned to school in my 40’s, as mother of 2 children. The particular attention given to building community and the understanding of women who were also raising children were highlights.

The invitation to grads to bring their families to thank them for their support in our studies had me in tears. It acknowledged the sacrifices they made. I know that personal encouragement can be the tipping point to pursuits in all undertakings. Alumni have the arena to serve others in this way.

Following the Mount, I did a Bed at UofT, and a PhD at OISE/UT completed in 2000. I taught in TDSB, and moved into a special education leadership role for which my practicum at the Mount was foundational.

Presently I have been seconded to ETFO (Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario) as executive assistant, equity and women’s services. This builds on my lifelong experience in these areas. Immersion in the arts keeps my imagination alive in the context of large institutions. West African dance literally keeps my feet on the ground."

Hmmm ... perhaps a little West African dance music for the iPod please?? Thank you for responding Dr. Karsemayer.

This is the first in a series of informal mini-introductions coming up over the next couple of weeks to keep the upcoming Dinner with 12 Strangers top of mind with you.

Who are the folks that you are still in touch with from the Mount?? Have an email for them? Contact them now, even if they are not in Toronto, maybe they know another Mount Alum who does live in Toronto? Don't have an email address? Google them or look them up on Facebook or http://www.linkedin.com/ .

Have them go grab the RSS feed or subscribe to the email list at the blog: http://msvutorontoalumnae.blogspot.com/ or send me an email at mgcayley (at) hotmail (dot) com.



If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

MSVU Toronto Dinner With 12 Strangers

Despite the crazy weather, we pushed on with our December meeting yesterday and enjoyed a greek dinner afterwards.


One of the items we resolved to move forward with was a MSVU Toronto Alum Dinner with 12 Strangers program, which I referred to in a previous post.


Simple idea: arrive for dinner as 12 strangers, leave with a lasting connection.


Dinner with 12 Strangers is a simple program that many alumni associations and universities have adopted all over the world. I believe the award winning program started at UCLA. The alumni organisations at U of T and NorthWestern also support programs. In fact, there seem to be dozens of similar initiatives: read more here.


We would like to have at least two "Dinners" in Toronto between now and our next Alumnae Association meeting, April 6th. If you are interested in attending, hosting or co-hosting a Dinner, please leave a comment here or email me at mgcayley (@) hotmail (dot) com.


We will have one Dinner west of Yonge Street, the other east. Venue will be neutral turf - i.e. a resturant will be selected that is convenient for the attendees. So far we do not have a sponsor for the program, so everyone will be asked to cover their own costs of the meal.


Marie Ann Skomorowski is organising West of Yonge & Michael Cayley is doing the first one east of Yonge. You can attend either one.


Be sure to click on all of the links above for more information about how and why these Dinners are so successful.


It is obvious that your MSVU alumnae network in Toronto offers you the potential of a "bonding" kind of networking experience. A chance to connect with others who have similar experiences. What may not be as obvious is that research into social networking tells us that investments that we make with our time and energy into "loose links", i.e., those more diverse connections that may seem to be less obviously a social match are often the investments that yield the most value. Check out this paper for the hard theory if you are interested.


It makes sense - if you are just talking to friends who graduated from the same years and/or programs, you are likely all feeding off of the same information and experiences. Once you start to connect across time and experience, really interesting outcomes can be expected.






If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!

Its Been a Long, Long Time Coming! Join for Greek Christmas Dinner?

Well I can not believe that it has been so long since the last post. Apologies.

I was thinking maybe six or 12 posts a year when I started out. Will definitely try to do better in the months ahead.

My family and I were in France for the summer while I did my MBA and it was a crazy first half leading up to that.

I attended the Sept. 30th Toronto Chapter Alum meeting and here are a couple of the highlights:

The Mount is launching a new Capital campaign for a Teaching, Learning and Research Centre to be built behind the Seton Centre. We'll get more details on that in the coming months.

On Dec. 2 I am hosting the next Alum meeting at my house and we will all be heading down to the Danforth for some great Greek food afterwards. Send me an email to mgcayley (at) hotmail (dot) com if you are interested in joining.

I am hoping that this get together might be a kick off for more dinners together. Take a sec and google Dinner with 12 Strangers. This is a proven program that helps build alum networks at Universities all over the world. M.S.V.U. has about 1000 alum in Toronto, why not see if we can build some connections between us?

The idea is simple. 12 people come together, sit down to dinner as strangers and walk away as friends. Do you want to put a dinner together in your area? Make a comment or drop me an email.



If you are interested in being a contributing author to this blog, please leave a comment and we will be in touch!