Doors Open Day One

Well, that was a full day! Here's what we did:

First, we went out for a quick breakfast where we laid out our plan for the day. Our first few locations were all downtown so we headed east.

7 Rideau Gate - the residence where guests of the Governor General stay while visiting Ottawa

Embassy of France - pictured below is a view of the grand entrance (looking back towards the front door, and looking forward towards the grand marble staircase). This room was quite large and looked like it could hold many people for an event.

The National Capital Commission buildings downtown were interested. I enjoyed hearing more about the ideas for "branding" Ottawa. They're plan is to combine a catchy slogan with inspirational commercials and advertising similar to the I Love NY or Virginia is for Lovers campaigns. I think that we can take inspiration for the great campaign that BC launched during the Vancouver 2010 games:

In the afternoon we went to the Transportation Safety Board engineering lab which is located near the airport. They gave a tour and demonstration of the technology which is used to investigate and simulate accidents with vehicles, trains, buses, airplanes, etc. It was very interesting!

And now, I'm at home. I'm about to have some supper and enjoy a relaxing evening since tomorrow will be another busy day!

LJ