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http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1016933/montreal-is-confirmed-as-the-top-host-city-for-international-events-in-america MONTREAL, Aug. 6, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - A great victory for Montréal! The city was named the top destination in America for hosting international association events, according to the official 2011 rankings set out by the Union of International Associations (UIA). As the principal host location in Québec for major international meetings, and as a 2011 finalist for the APEX award for World's Best Convention Centre, the Palais des congrès hosts thousands of conference-goers every year and generates major intellectual and economic spinoffs for Montréal and Québec. "We are very proud of our ranking, which is testimony to the efforts made by our team and by the Tourisme Montréal team to make Montréal a top conference destination for international associations seeking an exceptional experience for their participants," said Marc Tremblay, President and CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal. "This title, combined with our recent 90% score for customer service quality, indicates that Montréal and the Palais remain among the world's best-loved destinations. In addition to having top-notch staff, the Palais is recognized for our city centre location, the quality of our multifunctional spaces, and our quality/price ratio," he added. The Honourable Charles Lapointe, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, said: "Montréal's high ranking is a fitting demonstration of our city's excellence and our capacity to meet the needs of major international associations in terms of infrastructure, hosting and entertainment, to say nothing of the unique joie de vivre our city is known for. I'd like to congratulate the Palais des congrès and Tourisme Montréal teams, who earned this success through their strong work." With this victory, Montréal has taken first place among all destinations in America, beating out the continent's other major cities, including Washington, New York and Boston, as well as Toronto and Vancouver. Final 2011 rankings for America: 1- Montréal 2- Washington 3- New York About the UIA The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre specializing in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907. In its ongoing efforts to facilitate understanding of the nature and complexities of the international community of organizations, the UIA has become a cutting-edge technical centre with high standing in the academic, governmental, and business domains. http://www.uia.be/ About the Palais des congrès de Montréal The mission of the Palais des congrès de Montréal is to attract and host conventions, exhibitions, conferences, meetings and other events. A public institution with a commercial vocation, the Palais generates major economic spinoffs for Québec and has contributed proudly for over 28 years to sharing knowledge and enhancing Montréal's international reputation as a first-rate destination. For more information: http://www.congresmtl.com. About Tourisme Montréal Tourisme Montréal is responsible for providing leadership in the concerted efforts of hospitality and promotion in order to position the destination on leisure and business travel markets. It is also responsible for developing Montréal's tourism product in accordance with the ever-changing conditions of the market. For more information, please visit http://www.tourisme-montreal.org. SOURCE: Palais des congrès de Montréal For further information: Source: Chrystine Loriaux, Adm.A., B.A.A. Director, Marketing and Communications Société du Palais des congrès de Montréal Tel.: 514 871-3104

2017 Muralfest lineup/program revealed! https://www.facebook.com/MuralMtl/ This is one of my favourite festivals in Montreal, which is considered to be a street-art capital of the world. This event is the biggest of its kind in North America. Interesting news is that it's expanding to Old Montreal this summer, along with more free shows for the public.

http://www.architectmagazine.com/Architecture/the-best-and-worst-architectural-events-of-2014_o.aspx Voir le lien pour les images BEYOND BUILDINGS The Best and Worst Architectural Events of 2014 Aaron Betsky presents 10 lamentable moments and 10 reasons for hope in architecture. By Aaron Betsky New National Stadium, by Zaha Hadid Architects New National Stadium Tokyo, Japan Zaha Hadid Architects Everywhere this last year, we heard the call for a return to order, normalcy, the bland, and the fearful. Herewith are ten examples, in no particular order, of such disheartening events from 2014—and ten things that give me hope. Reasons to Despair 1. The demolition of the American Folk Art Museum in New York, by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. Idiosyncratic both in layout and façade—and absolutely breathtaking. The MoMA monolith keeps inflating its mediocre spaces; I despair and wonder if Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) will be able to rescue it from almost a century of bad and too-big boxes 2. The defeat of Bjarke Ingels Group’s proposals for the Kimball Art Museum in Park City, Utah. The second proposal was already less exciting than the first, an award-winning, spiraling log cabin, but even the lifted-skirt box caused too many heart palpitations for the NIMBYists 3. The protests against Zaha Hadid’s Tokyo Olympic Stadium design, which left the building lumpen and unlovely. At this point, Arata Isozki is right: they should start over 4. The Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition, leading to the selection of banal finalists 5. President Xi’s call for an end to “weird” architecture. What is truly weird is the amount of mass-produced boxes in which China is imprisoning its inhabitants and workers 6. Prince Charles’ recitation of the kind of architecture that makes him feel good. The ideas are very sensible, actually, but a beginning, not an end [Ed. note: The linked article may appear behind a paywall. Another reporting of Prince Charles' 10 design principles may be found here.] 7. Ground Zero. Actually, almost a farce since it was a tragedy that now has turned into just a dumb and numbing reality 8. The New York Times’ abandonment of serious criticism of architecture 9. The reduction of architecture to a catalog of building parts in the Venice Biennale’s Elements exhibition 10. A proposal from Peter Zumthor, Hon. FAIA, for a new LACMA building that looks as weird as all the other buildings proposed and built there, but is just a curved version of a pompous museum isolated from its site. It is a mark of our refusal to realize that sometimes reuse—of which LACMA’s recent history is an excellent example—is better than making monuments Credit: © Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner Reasons for Hope 1. The addition to the Stedelijk Museum of Art in Amsterdam: a strangely beautiful and effective bathtub Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, by Benthem Crouwel Architekten. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, by Benthem Crouwel Architekten. Credit: © Jannes Linders 2. The renovation of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam—though not its Louvre-wannabe entrance The ribbed, tiled vaults of the Museum Passageway beneath the Gallery of Honor were restored; arched windows overlook the renovated courtyards on either side. The ribbed, tiled vaults of the Museum Passageway beneath the Gallery of Honor were restored; arched windows overlook the renovated courtyards on either side. Credit: Pedro Pegenaute 3. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s plan to go gloriously underground 4. The Smithsonian’s plan to do the same Aerial view of the South Mall Campus with proposed renovations. Aerial view of the South Mall Campus with proposed renovations. Credit: BIG/Smithsonian 5. The Belgian Pavilion exhibition at the Venice Biennale: looking reality in the eyes and making beauty out of it 6. Cliff Richards rollerskating through Milton Keynes in the same; ah, the joys of modernism 7. Ma Yansong’s proposal for the Lucas Museum in Chicago—especially after the horrible neo-classical proposal the same institution tried to foist on San Francisco; though this oozing octopus sure looks like it could use some refinement, or maybe a rock to hide part of it South view. South view. Credit: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art 8. The spread of bicycling sharing in cities like Barcelona and around the world, if for no other reason than that this way of movement gives us a completely different perspective on our urban environment 9. The spread of drones, ditto the above, plus they finally make real those helicopter fly-through videos architects have been devising for years 10. The emergence of tactical urbanism into the mainstream, as heralded by the MoMA exhibition Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities. I hope that shows the way for the next year Aaron Betsky is a regularly featured columnist whose stories appear on this website each week. His views and conclusions are not necessarily those of ARCHITECT magazine nor of the American Institute of Architects. sent via Tapatalk

http://toughmudder.com/events/montreal-sat-july-6-sun-july-7-2013/?language=fr Tough Mudder: Fancy an obstacle course on steroids? Tough Mudder brings its bruising brand of insanely popular obstacle-course challenges to Quebec in July By René Bruemmer, THE GAZETTE May 31, 2013 Tough Mudder: Fancy an obstacle course on steroids? Tough Mudder brings its bruising brand of insanely popular obstacle-course challenges to Quebec in July By René Bruemmer, THE GAZETTE May 31, 2013 ason Ostroff ran competitively as a kid. He remembers it being a trying experience, with much training and gasping and worrying about best times. He doesn’t run much anymore, but one childhood activity he does miss is the jump and tumble fun of navigating obstacles, revelling in the elemental joy of getting over, under or through. Which is why he and three longtime friends will be taking part in the Tough Mudder event this summer near Montreal, a child’s obstacle course on steroids designed by military men that bills itself as “probably the toughest event on the planet.” “Honestly, it’s just that I like the idea of running an obstacle course — it’s just fun, and since I was a little kid, I kind of liked the idea of having to get through this stuff,” said Ostroff, a 26-year-old McGill medical student living in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. “It feels like an army boot camp kind of thing. And an opportunity to be a kid again.” In July, about 8,000 people are expected to sign up to test their strength, stamina and perhaps sanity at the first Montreal Tough Mudder event, taking place at the Bromont airport, one hour’s drive east of the city. Participants will navigate an obstacle course 15 to 20 kilometres long and scale 25 challenges designed by British Special Forces, most often with the help of teammates — entrants are encouraged to enter as part of a team, and about 80 per cent do. They will climb wooden walls, jump fire, receive electric shocks, crawl through fields of mud and immerse themselves in freezing water in challenges with names like Arctic Enema, Fire Walker and Ball Shrinker. At the end, they will be handed an ice cold beer, but they will not be told how long it took them to complete the course, because providing a change from timed marathon-type races is at the heart of the Tough Mudder philosophy. It also was a key selling point Ostroff used to coerce his friends. “None of them wanted to do it, until I explained it wasn’t timed,” he said. “They liked the fact we could just take it easy and didn’t have to sprint the entire race.” The Tough Mudder events are part of a growing phenomenon of adventure-type races offered worldwide with names like Muddy Buddy, Spartan Race and Warrior Dash for those seeking a new brand of challenge. In its second year in 2011, Tough Mudder had 140,000 participants at 14 events. By 2012, it had grown to 35 events, bringing in almost 500,000 participants. This year, 53 events are planned worldwide. The Spartan Race, a similar challenge that has a 20-kilometre event this year at Mont Tremblant on June 30, had 300,000 participants globally last year. Of those, most are corporate types joining with colleagues and “70 per cent of our people just came off the couch,” Spartan co-founder Joe DeSena told The Wall Street Journal. (Doing some training, however, is highly recommended.) When Will Dean presented his idea for Tough Mudder as part of a Harvard Business School contest, he was hoping to attract 500 participants to his inaugural event in 2010, drawn mostly through advertising on Facebook and word of mouth through social media, he told The New York Times. His professors considered that optimistic. The first race drew 4,500 participants to Allentown, Pa., and Dean, a former counterterrorism agent from Britain doing his MBA, discovered a new calling at the age of 29. It has grown into a $70-million company based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Modelled largely on events held in Europe, Dean’s premise was to create a challenge that involved more camaraderie and teamwork than standard marathons, and where participants don’t have to train for months. Participants are also allowed to skip obstacles they find too challenging. The organization takes a certain glee in poking fun at marathon-type races (“Fact # 1,” its website reads: “Marathon running is boring. Fact #2 — Mudders do not take themselves too seriously. Triathlons, marathons, and other lame-ass mud runs are more stressful than fun. Not Tough Mudder.”) The organization has also raised more than $5 million for the Wounded Warrior foundation, which supports injured soldiers. That being said, one does have to be a tough mudder to complete the race, which is why only 78 per cent of participants do so. Given the nature of the event, participants have to pay an extra $15 for insurance on top of the $85 to $180 it costs to register, depending on how soon in advance participants sign up. Spartan Race estimates an average of three people are injured in each of their races, and seven per cent will suffer “light” injuries. A 28-year-old died in April at a Tough Mudder event in West Virginia after leaping into a mud pond and failing to resurface, the first fatality in Tough Mudder’s history. The organization notes it is its only fatality in its three years among 750,000 participants, and the West Virginia event was staffed with more than 75 first aid, ambulance and water-rescue technicians. Ostroff trains five to six times a week at the gym, doing cardio and working on upper body strength, which should help, as might his intended specialty of orthopaedics. He hasn’t done any specific training for Tough Mudder — one day a year of climbing ropes and walking slippery planks over ice pits is enough, he said. He trusts his teammates, some of whom he has known for 20 years, although he’s a little concerned about the one who weighs 240 pounds, since he will have to help boost and lift that mass over wooden walls. His greatest concern is the running aspect of the race. “Honestly, I just hope to have a completely awesome day, as injury-free as possible,” Ostroff said. “I just want to have a great memorable event.” rbruemmer@montrealgazette.com Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Tough+Mudder+Fancy+obstacle+course+steroids/8460617/story.html#ixzz2UziJ5r3o

evenko annonce avec fierté que selon les chiffres compilés par Venues Today*, le Centre Bell se classe au premier rang des arénas les plus achalandés au Canada et figure au troisième rang mondial ! Au Canada, le Centre Bell devance l'Air Canada Centre de Toronto, qui occupe le cinquième rang mondial. Ce palmarès est basé sur le nombre de concerts et les recettes des amphithéâtres de 15 001 à 30 000 sièges, du 16 octobre 2011 au 15 octobre 2012. Venues Today, magazine international couvrant le volet affaires de l'industrie du divertissement et du sport, recense l'achalandage des plus grands amphithéâtres au monde. Voici le classement des vingt premières places en 2012: 1.O2 Arena, London, U.K. 2.Staples Center, Los Angeles 3.Bell Centre, Montreal 4.Allphones Arena, Sydney 5.Air Canada Centre, Toronto 6.Madison Square Garden, New York 7.Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia 8.Verizon Center, Washington 9.O2 World, Berlin, Germany 10.HP Pavilion at San Jose (Calif.) 11.Philips Arena, Atlanta 12.Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas 13.Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh 14.Amway Center, Orlando, Fla. 15.American Airlines Arena, Miami 16.Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan 17.Prudential Center, Newark, N.J. 18.Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta 19.American Airlines Center, Dallas 20.Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif. De plus, selon une étude réalisée par la firme de Secor pour le compte d'evenko, '' les spectacles d’evenko figurent parmi les attraits touristiques les plus importants de la métropole'' et ''constituent plus du tiers de l'assistance à des spectacles et événements au Québec.'' Nous remercions tous les spectateurs du Québec ainsi que les nombreux visiteurs canadiens et étrangers qui continuent, année après année, d'assister aux différents événements présentés au Centre Bell. (* 2012 Year-End "Top Stops". Based on concert and event grosses from Oct. 16, 2011-Oct. 15, 2012, as reported to Venues Today. Venue/Location/No. of Seats/Total Gross/Total Attendance/No. of shows.) ------------------------------------------------------- evenko is proud to announce that as per Venues Today* the Bell Centre has been ranked number one arena in Canada and 3rd top arena in the world! In Canada, the Bell Centre placed ahead of the Air Canada Centre, taking 5th position worldwide. The rankings are based on concert and event grosses from October 16, 2011 to October 15, 2012 in the amphitheatre category of 15,001 to 30,000 seats. Venues Today is a leading international trade publication that covers the business side of entertainment and sports, particularly as it relates to venues. Here are the 2012 '' 20 Top Stops'': 1.O2 Arena, London, U.K. 2.Staples Center, Los Angeles 3.Bell Centre, Montreal 4.Allphones Arena, Sydney 5.Air Canada Centre, Toronto 6.Madison Square Garden, New York 7.Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia 8.Verizon Center, Washington 9.O2 World, Berlin, Germany 10.HP Pavilion at San Jose (Calif.) 11.Philips Arena, Atlanta 12.Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas 13.Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh 14.Amway Center, Orlando, Fla. 15.American Airlines Arena, Miami 16.Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan 17.Prudential Center, Newark, N.J. 18.Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta 19.American Airlines Center, Dallas 20.Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif. Moreover, according to a Secor study which was recently conducted for evenko: ″The events promoted by evenko are amongst the most important tourist attractions of the city″ and are ″a staple of the cultural industry in Quebec -- more than a third of the overall attendance at shows and events in the provinc″. We thank all patrons in Quebec and visitors from Canada and abroad who continue, year after year, to attend the various events presented at the Bell Centre. (* 2012 Year-End "Top Stops". Based on concert and event grosses from Oct. 16, 2011-Oct. 15, 2012, as reported to Venues Today. Venue/Location/No. of Seats/Total Gross/Total Attendance/No. of shows.)

MONTREAL - Actor Michael Douglas has volunteered to serve as the star attraction in May at a Montreal fundraiser for cancer research. Douglas has stepped forward to assist with this year's event, the 17th annual Head and Neck Cancer Fundraiser, held by the Department of Otolaryngology of the McGill University Department of Medicine. It is scheduled for May 3 at Le Windsor, on Peel St. in downtown Montreal, according to the calendar of coming events at the Jewish General Hospital - where, according to the actor's publicist, his recent case of throat cancer was diagnosed after other physicians had missed it.. "It was his very gracious offer to help us in view of his own battle with throat cancer," Dr. Saul Frenkiel was quoted Monday night by the Canadian Press news agency. Frenkiel, a head and neck surgeon who is the event's co-chairman, could not be reached for an interview by The Gazette. Douglas owns a vacation property in the Mont Tremblant resort area in the Laurentians. Tickets to the dinner have been priced at $375 each. VIP tickets are $750. © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Michael+Douglas+star+cancer+fundraiser/4639105/story.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/sep/10/montreal-quirky-top-10-canada

As the Economy Worsens, Is There Money for Play? The economy was a factor in a recent merger involving Dale Earnhardt’s team, left. General Motors often runs Super Bowl commercials, center, and sponsors events like the baseball All-Star Game. By KATIE THOMAS Published: November 15, 2008 From the “Buick” emblazoned on Tiger Woods’s golf bag to the Chevrolet Camaro that Cole Hamels drove home last month for being named the most valuable player of the World Series, it is hard to be a sports fan without stumbling across some type of advertisement for General Motors. The company consistently ranks first among advertisers of televised sporting events, outspending other automakers by more than two to one. Billy Casper, left, received a car for winning the inaugural Buick Open in 1958. The tournament has been a PGA Tour staple. But as G.M. faces a financial crisis that has executives pleading with Congress for a federal bailout, many are wondering how far the company’s troubles will extend into the sports industry, which is already struggling to attract advertisers and sponsors in a weakened economy. “It’s one of those trickle-down effects that people don’t look at,” said David E. Cole, the chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, a nonprofit research organization. “It has already hit hard.” G.M. has been scaling back its sports presence for at least a year. Cadillac, a G.M. brand, withdrew its sponsorship of the Masters golf tournament in January, and this summer, G.M. ended its relationships with two Nascar racetracks: Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The company is not renewing its longstanding partnership with the United States Olympic Committee when their contract expires at the end of this year. In one of the most dramatic examples of the company’s diminishing sports profile, G.M. said recently that it would not buy television commercials in this season’s Super Bowl broadcast. As G.M. argues its case before Congress, some firms whose contracts with the company are up for renewal are anxiously monitoring developments. “We’re actually in negotiations as we speak,” said Mitch Huberman, the senior vice president of Fox Sports Enterprises, which owns Pac-10 Properties and handles marketing for the Pacific-10 conference. Its contract with Pontiac, also produced by G.M., ends this year. “There are a lot of question marks in terms of where budgets are going,” Huberman said. “It’s kind of wait and see.” G.M., hit hard by plummeting consumer spending and tight credit markets, has reported that it is running out of cash and faces bankruptcy if it does not receive emergency federal assistance. In its third-quarter report, released earlier this month, the company said it planned to trim advertising by 20 percent and promotional spending by 25 percent. “We’re looking at literally everything,” said Peter Ternes, G.M.’s director of communications for sales, service and marketing. He said the cuts would be applied evenly but did not provide details about proposed changes to the company’s sports budget. Still, he said G.M. would not withdraw from sports entirely. “I think we’ll still be there,” he said. “It may not be at the volume that people have seen before, but we’ll still be a presence.” G.M.’s troubles come at a time when sports organizations are struggling to attract sponsors in a weak economy. The Nascar teams Chip Ganassi Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc., citing a difficult economic climate, announced a merger last week. On Friday, the Tour de Georgia, one of the nation’s premier cycling events, said it was canceling its 2009 race because it could not find a sponsor. Also on Friday, Nascar said it was suspending all testing at its tracks next season as a cost-cutting measure. Like beer and razors, automobiles have long been a staple of commercials during major sporting events, and for good reason, marketing experts said. At a time when digital video recorders and an array of cable channels have splintered television audiences, sporting events attract a large and passionate audience who often watch events as they happen. G.M. has historically taken advantage of this audience by investing heavily in television advertising. The company has been the top TV sports advertiser for at least the last five years, vastly outspending its nearest competitors. For example, in 2007, G.M. spent close to $578 million on TV sports advertising. The No. 2 advertiser, Toyota, spent less than half that, or nearly $287 million, according to Nielsen Media Research. Earlier this year, General Motors aired 11 advertisements during the Super Bowl, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a research firm. The decision not to buy a Super Bowl ad in 2009 may have more to do with public perception than with the company’s cash-strapped predicament. This year’s spots are each selling for $3 million, a fraction of G.M.’s total sports spending. However, if the company were to receive a federal bailout, airing a Super Bowl commercial could anger taxpayers who see the purchase as extravagant, said Kenneth L. Shropshire, the director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. “Then people are saying, was that the right use of money for a one-day sporting event?” he said. Although executives for several television outlets would not speak publicly, several said their sales representatives had detected a shift in G.M.’s ad purchases — what some called a “flight to quality” — toward programs that have proved successful in the past. And although G.M. recently scaled back its presence on networks in prime time, one network television executive said sports remained a “stable destination.” There are signs that G.M. is continuing to invest in some sports. About a year ago, Chevrolet extended its sponsorship of Major League Baseball through the 2010 season. Ternes, the G.M. spokesman, pointed to plans by the company to invest heavily in next year’s N.C.A.A. men’s Final Four in Detroit, the nation’s automobile capital. On the surface, organizations with existing agreements with G.M. may consider a bailout a preferable outcome, because under a bankruptcy, the company could ask a court to void contracts. But because a federal bailout would also very likely lead to significant restructuring, some said G.M. could be compelled to try to renegotiate active contracts anyway. “With the bailout probably comes strings attached, and what those strings are, who knows?” said Greg Brown, the president of Learfield Sports, which handles marketing for 50 university athletic programs. Rather than seek to cancel existing contracts, several sports executives said G.M. and other companies were more likely to scale back promotions and focus on initiatives that led directly to a sale. “If you’re on the verge of bankruptcy, then you want to find out how to get the money now, rather than how do I get the 15-year-old to start thinking about the car they want to buy in the future?” Shropshire said. Sponsors may focus on promotions that draw fans to dealerships, like T-shirt giveaways or ticket sweepstakes, said Jim Andrews, the editorial director of IEG Sponsorship Report, a trade publication. Sponsorships, he added, can also create a “warm, fuzzy” perception that a company is supporting a customer’s favorite team. “That’s why you’re not seeing any of the automakers, even though they are in dire straits, saying we’ve got to pull out wholesale,” Andrews said. “Because I think they know there is a return on investment.” In some cases, foreign automakers have stepped in when American companies have pulled out. Chevrolet, for example, decided not to renew its sponsorship of the United States Ski Team last year, but Audi took its place. Honda recently replaced Dodge as the official automobile of the N.H.L. Although the troubles in Detroit played a role in that outcome, Honda fit better within the N.H.L.’s goal of becoming a more international brand, according to Keith Wachtel, the league’s senior vice president for corporate sales and marketing. But for now, marketers at a variety of sports organizations say they are in for some tough times. “In this environment, autos are going to be off across the board,” said Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour. Two of its tournaments are sponsored by Buick through 2010, and others are sponsored by Chrysler, BMW, Honda and Mercedes. “They’re doing, in varying degrees, terrible,” he said. “The U.S. automakers are really struggling. Now, who knows?” Finchem, however, said he was confident the companies would remain in business, which meant “they’re still going to be selling cars and, again, we have a good platform from which they can promote.”

Montréal welcomes PaperWeek International 2008 from February 5 to 7 MONTREAL, Jan. 24 /CNW Telbec/ - From February 5 to 7, Montréal will host the 94th annual meeting of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Exfor, the world's principal annual exhibition of the pulp and paper industry. These two events, both to be held at the Palais des Congrès, will bring together over 2 000 delegates and 250 exhibitors to interact, share ideas and discuss, among other things, new technological advances, marketing trends and environmental challenges faced by the pulp and paper industry. '"We are extremely pleased to once again host this prestigious conference this year," comments Charles Lapointe, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, "We are particularly proud that PAPTAC members chose our city for the 50th anniversary celebration of Exfor. This choice confirms Montréal's excellent reputation as a host city for large-scale, professional events. In addition to the delegates having the opportunity to discover our wonderful city, this major event will result in an economic fall-out of $4.1 million for Montréal's tourism sector" concludes Mr. Lapointe. The three-day programme includes approximately 200 technical presentations to be given by industry specialists through the course of thirty sessions. Topics will include research and development, quality control, manufacturing processes, recycling and energy sources. New to the programme this year is the Business section, which will discuss the actual state of the industry, globalization and supporting innovation. PAPTAC is a Canadian-based, non-profit organization, dedicated to improving the technical and professional capabilities of its members worldwide, and to the advancement of the pulp and paper industry. Tourisme Montréal is responsible for providing leadership in the concerted efforts of hospitality and promotion in order to position the destination on leisure and business travel markets. It is also responsible for developing Montréal's tourism product in accordance with the ever-changing conditions of the market. For further information: Pierre Bellerose, Vice President, Public Relations, Product Research and Development, Tourisme Montréal, (514) 844-2404, bellerose.pierre@tourisme-montreal.org