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How to infiltrate China’s close knit business culture – and win

The way he talks, you’d think Lee Tseng was an old corporate warhorse, perhaps even a seasoned travelling salesman you might happen to meet in a hotel bar. Someone always ready with a story, or a contact. Someone who’s been in the game long enough to have seen it all.

Except, sitting in the Boxing Cat Brewery, Tseng is maybe 30. His shirt is open at least two buttons more than Willie Loman would ever dare. And this is his home turf: the Boxing Cat is his bar.

“I’ve seen a lot of businesses succeed, and a lot of them fail,” says Tseng. “I really feel that at the end of the day, it’s about how much homework you’ve done for yourself. If you come in with a good product, a good plan, and you tweak it so it’s in accordance with how the market is supposed to work? Yeah, you’ll have a ton of opportunity. It’s an emerging market, and it’s great.”

Tseng’s been doing business in China for eight years, everything from retail to real estate and, most recently, brew pubs. Chinese beer is, by and large, warm and watery. The Boxing Cat’s is neither, and he’s just opened his second location in one of the trendiest developments in Shanghai.

His secret? A good local team.

“When people come over here, and just jump into something, then you are really only going to survive as long as the team you’ve been able to build around yourself,” Tseng says. “If you come in and have good people who have the local experience, you will have a much higher rate of success.”

Western business people have been working in China for a really long time. Before Marco Polo certainly, though he popularized the Empire as a business destination. Foreigners have been making Shanghai their base in China for a long time too, well before it was divvied up as spoils from the two opium wars of the 19th century.

Today, despite the history, and despite the vestigial imperialist architecture, Shanghai gleams. It looks, more than anything else, like the future. It’s home to around 20 million people. There are 106 buildings over 150 metres tall in Shanghai. Canada, by comparison, has just 47.

It is every inch the modern, international city. But the Shanghai, and more broadly, the China, that you tend to hear about from Western business people sounds more like something merchants could have described back when it was the Middle Kingdom. They might talk about their Chinese counterparts as “inscrutable” — conjuring, with that one word, images of rickshaws and queues. Or they might bemoan the fact that contracts are virtually meaningless, or that bribery is just another cost of doing business. And it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if they said that the most important thing you can possibly have is not money, or even a good idea. It’s guanxi — connections with Confucian baggage.

So the question is: just how international is China’s business world? How do you cull the good advice from the bad? How do you succeed in a place that seems like another world? And finally, is it even worth it?

“You have to ask yourself, am I really interested in this country?” says Audrey Schroeder, an American leadership consultant who’s been working in China since the late 1980s. “Am I curious to have the adventures that will befall me every day if I come here? And am I willing, when it gets so frustrating, to laugh it off and say, isn’t it so great that I’m here?”

John Chan, a native of Saint John, and owner of China Streetsmart consulting, will tell you that not only is China a place you can be, but a place you should be. China Streetsmart started out when Chan published a how-to guide (of the same name) for understanding Chinese business culture. Today, the firm runs workshops and does one-on-one strategic planning, often with companies that have been in China for a long time, and losing money the whole way.

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ENERGY: 2011 
 Unpredictable though the future is, here’s what we can say with comfortable certainty: Natural Gas will remain inexpensive. Coal prices will rise. Time and money will be invested in the development of clean, green, energy. Electricity rates should stay even, though they are tied to oil prices, so there’s an outside chance they could go up. You can be sure, however, they won’t go down.  The price of oil? It’s a toss up. 

Oil The U.S. Energy Administration (EAI) forecasts: “the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil to average about $83 per barrel this winter (October 1 to March 31), [and] prices rise gradually to $87 per barrel by the fourth quarter of 2011 as U.S. and global economic conditions improve.” But most people are forecasting a WTI rate around $100 U.S. — which is directly attributable to Quantitative Easing measures introduced (for the second time) in November by the U.S. Federal Reserve.  On the one hand, the QE2 may well cause inflation, driving the price up.  At the same time, the FED bought bonds to drive investors into stocks and commodities, which should drive the traded price up, regardless of inflation.

Expert Opinion “The first two weeks in January, it’s going to hit a hundred dollars and it’s not going to look back. The reason for $100 oil is no different than the reasons that lead us to $150 oil two years ago last July. There are above ground reasons – political issues – and the U.S. economy is showing signs of new life after the recent election.” –Michael Economides, Editor-in-Chief, The Energy Tribune. 

Gas Natural Gas is predicted to stay low, around $4.31 per MMBtu in 2011 (for the Henry Hub spot price, according to the EIA).  That could go up because of U.S. dollar depreciation, but it should stay low based on worries of a warm winter and, more importantly, a continued surplus in supply. On the bright side (for gas producers), the Canadian Farmers’ Almanac is predicting that: “Old Man Winter will make a comeback, bringing back much colder conditions during 2010-11, particularly to the eastern half of the country.” Still, a lot of thermostats will have to turned up for a pretty prolonged period before there’s any dent in the surplus supply. But don’t sell those Encana shares just yet, Economides says: “The long term outlook on natural gas is extraordinarily bright.” 

Bottom Line: As the global economy picks up, expect demand for oil to rise, driving prices up. High demand for Natural Gas is still a couple years out. 

Mobile Technology Smart phones already account for 19.3 per cent of the world mobile market, and about 25 per cent of the Canadian market — expect that to double. With ubiquitous smartphones, location based and augmented reality apps will be increasingly prevalent. Mobile “check-ins,” which broadcast your location (on Foursquare, Facebook, and Beyond) will be popular in the mainstream, and a darling of the marketing community. “Blackberry Thumb” will strike many in the business community, and it will still be hard not to look like a dork carrying an iPad. Expect the consumer debut of near-field technology (where you could tap your phone to pay for gas, say), but it won’t be widespread for another year at least. 

Online With so many digital profiles it’s easy to forget if you sent someone a tweet or a Facebook message, and that can be annoying. Expect more integration between popular web services, single usernames and passwords, and more sites offering a one stop shop. There will be an emphasis on filtering the web, on providing personally tailored experiences, based on friends and networks. You will still spend too much time watching videos on YouTube. 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH There will be high profile cases involving free speech online and discipline in the real world, from job termination to jail time, and you might think twice before posting jokes about people you know, or fake bomb threats. At the same time, users will start hearing more about security and privacy issues, so using your birthday for a password might not be the best idea, not that it ever was. 

Expert Opinion On Social Media “There is no longer time to craft PR angles and sales pitches. As a business you either offer a valuable product or you don’t. You can’t ‘sell’ people anymore by talking them into buying the product. They’ll make a decision on their own based on the information they find on the web.” -Lindsay Smith, CEO and founder, Massive Media Inc. (producer of Canada’s leading technology event for business, the F5 Expo) 

Bottom Line Mobile technology and Social Media have come of age. Expect better, faster, smaller, but really, more of the same. 

OFFICE ERGONOMICS: 2011
Now is the time to think about what you need from a workspace before you pay for it. Workspaces need to reflect the company’s image, and the needs of its employees. They need to be places where people can be happy spending the better part of their day.  

Materials Green designs have moved beyond trendy and are now firmly established as best practices. This goes for buildings, lighting, carpeting, air systems, everything. If you’re buying carpet, think about cradle to grave solutions, where the same company who sold it to you is responsible for recycling it when the time comes. And, did you hear the news? Linoleum is back, and it’s scoring a hat trick: cheap, renewable, and retro. Materials that release toxic chemicals are out, like pressed wood products made with formaldehyde. No one wants to be a frog in a jar. 

Spaces Spaces are being designed to fit the kind of work you need to do, and the image your organization is trying to maintain. Traditionalists get offices with chairs for clients while kids at the hip companies get long, lunch-room style tables — but social space carries more ‘oomph’ across the board. That means that cubical walls are coming down to half size, and offices are getting smaller while public space gets bigger. It’s all about getting up from your computer and talking to the people you work with. As for office décor, clean, traditional lines are always going to look good, and remember, an office setup lasts five years, minimum. Flavor of the month isn’t going to cut it, so make sure its something you can live with. Color wise, neutrals with vibrant highlights, like teal or orange always look fun and professional. 

Expert Opinion “You can take the paint color of the year and use that (as a highlight), because it’s easy to change, but the built-ins, keep those as pure as possible so that they’ll have longevity.” Dawn MacLachlan, co-owner, MAC Interior Design Inc. 

ERGONOMICS Musculoskeletal injuries are among the most prevalent sustained in the workplace, and a huge drain on an individual (they hurt) and institutional (they’re expensive) level. Provinces are legislating ergonomics into occupational health and safety rules, and a greater conversation about safe and healthy work posture is coming to light. The biggest problem: Laptops and mobile devices are impossible to use in an ergonomically smart way. The solution: Education and in-house training on chair adjustments and reminding people (this means you) to stand up once in a while. The best chair in the world isn’t much good if you don’t know how to sit in it properly. Best advice: Talk to a certified ergonomist before you buy the same chair for everyone in the office, and make personal health a part of the design process. 

Bottom Line Work spaces designed in 2011 will be individually tailored for people and organizations, and needs will be reflected in everything from the flooring to the furniture. 

DEMOGRAPHICS: 2011
Urban centers in Atlantic Canada will continue to register population growth in 2011, just as rural areas will continue to lose people. Issues at stake are the usual suspects: jobs and demographics. 

Jobs Growth sectors are concentrated around urban areas. We spend a lot of time talking about booming economies and growth, but what is often forgotten is that those booms come at the cost of rural life. Between 2004 and 2006, the area with the highest growth in job rates in Atlantic Canada was in St. John’s, while the area with the lowest rates (e.g. the most negative) was the South Coast of Newfoundland. To put it another way: Employment grew by 17 per cent in St. John’s, Halifax, Sydney, Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John between 1999 and 2009. It grew four per cent in the rest of the Atlantic region. This will continue in 2011, but it’s something to think seriously about. 

Aging The population of Canada is aging as a whole, but the population of the Atlantic provinces is aging more quickly. Baby Boomers are getting older everywhere, but there are fewer young people out East to offset the trend. This has major policy implications in terms of schools (we’ll need fewer) and hospitals (we’ll need more). 

Migration The comparative scarcity of young people in Atlantic Canada is directly attributable to a) lower fertility rates nationwide and b) out-migration in much of the preceding decade. Since the economic down turn, out-migration has reversed, and it may be that people will start returning home. Intra-provincial migration has been a significant contributor to the region’s urban growth (just as it has had a lot to do with rural decline), and it’s a more stable provider than international migration where retention is an issue. Someone who moves from northern New Brunswick to Moncton is much more likely to stay than someone from Azerbaijan, who might find a stronger sense of community in bigger metropolitan areas. 

Health Care Health care costs will continue to rise as the population ages, especially in the area of musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs). Hospitals are the most expensive area of health care costs in all four provinces, and given the highly public salary disputes in Newfoundland, won’t be getting any cheaper to run. Newfoundland already spends more on health care (per capita) than any other province, even accounting for demographic differences — which suggests that the costs are associated with geographic remoteness. New Brunswick spends among the least, higher only than Quebec and Ontario. The good news is that there are economies of scale when it comes to health care. Adding doctors is a lot cheaper than building hospitals. 

Bottom Line: Don’t expect major changes in demographics this year or next, but listen to demographers if you want to make long term policy or business plans. 

Currency: 2011
The Canadian Dollar (CAD) is widely expected to stick close to the American greenback in 2011 — growing against world exchange rates while flirting with parity against the U.S. dollar.  This forecast takes into account a projected slow-and-steady U.S. growth (around two per cent) coupled with an expected rise in world oil prices. The Euro is expected to decrease, slowly, in relation to the U.S. dollar, suggesting that markets are gradually moving back to pre-crisis levels. If the U.S. economy rebounds more dynamically than expected, or oil prices jump higher than forecast, the pairing of the USD and the CAD could break in either direction. However, there is a strong indication that forex traders are averse to a Loonie over parity with the Dollar. Functionally, look for more of the same. 

Exports  No good news for Canadian manufacturers hoping to export to U.S. markets. Consumer spending has lagged, even as the U.S. economy has picked up. Not to mention that a strong CAD makes for more expensive products south of the border.  Economically, this should drive efficiency and innovation.  Practically, it’s a drag. 

Expert Opinion “If oil prices break out above 90 [dollars a barrel] our dollar is going to rise, and that’s going to crowd out Canadian exports.” –Professor Scott Lynch, Department of Economics, Memorial University 

Imports A strong Canadian dollar is good for imports, pretty much across the board, which means it might be a good time to buy a new car, or a new blender.  Building materials should also be comparatively inexpensive, making 2011 a good time to build. 

Travel Canada is no longer an inexpensive trip for U.S. vacationers, but it is an attractive location for Europeans looking to come across the pond. It would be smart to run promotions in Europe, to attract the old-worlders before the euro slides further. The flip side is that the U.S. and countries with currencies pegged to the USD (like, say, Aruba) will continue to be economical destinations for Canadian leisure seekers. 

Investment Canadian bond markets are still strong, but business investment is lower than pre-2008 levels and it’s not expected to jump any time soon.  The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council projects that capital investment will be the strongest driver for growth in the next two decades. 

Bottom Line Economies will remain shaky and grow slowly. The Loonie will probably stay strong, so this year might be a good time to buy into U.S. stocks.

Day 1 ~ Tuesday, September 14th, 17:00, Halifax Harbour

The water that had looked so smooth from D Pier wasn’t, and we skipped over the small chop in a ‘rib’, a 14’ hard-bottomed inflatable boat.  “You might want to hold your hats,” the coxswain offers dryly.

Suddenly, the HMCS St. John’s emerges from the darkness, illuminated in the stark way that naval ships are, like monoliths in a sea of black. At 134.1 metres long, with a beam of 16.4 metres, the St. John’s is a Halifax Class Frigate, one of 12 in the Canadian Navy. Frigates like the St. John’s carry Canada’s Sea King Helicopter (which is being depreciated in favor of the new Cyclone) and each is home to 225 sailors including the flight crew. This particular frigate is going to be my temporary residence for the next 41 hours as the ship runs through training trials on its journey from Halifax, Nova Scotia to its namesake city: St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Topside, a man with a red flashlight barks totally unintelligible words to the coxswain. They could have been greetings, or orders, or football scores. I have no idea, but the coxswain understands his meaning and a round orange platform is subsequently lowered down. This is my transport to the deck high above.

The incomprehensible man continues to be incomprehensible (to me), but other people speak English. I give my name to a man with a clipboard, then follow the ship’s coxswain down ladders, through dark hallways lit with red lights. I couldn’t retrace my steps if I had to. But then, I don’t think I’m supposed to wander. I’m here at the Navy’s invitation, to get an idea about what life is like on a ship.

The navy has always brought money into Halifax, but it also often contributed to a boom and bust cycle that was not necessarily good for development. “For much of the age of sail, through the 18th and 19th centuries, it was kind of a feast or famine thing,” says Dan Conlin, curator at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. “When there was a war the city would be flooded with naval ships and naval contractors, and then in peace time the town would just go to sleep.”

That started to change with the creation of the Canadian Navy, currently celebrating its centennial year, but the navy as we know it didn’t really emerge until after World War II. “You can thank the Cold War for that,” says Conlin. “The specter of war with the Soviets meant that we needed a large navy, even in peace time…but, also, the way navies operated after World War II was much different from the old days. Before World War II, people were very proud of the navy, but expected sailors and their families to basically look after themselves.”

After World War II, the Navy started to make accommodations for families, and to make naval service more like a career. The naval community became more settled, more permanent, and that changed the Halifax city dynamic.

Day 2 ~ Wednesday, 15th, 13:00, east of Cape Breton

Small Arms Training. Photo: Martin Connelly.

Central to a peaceful mission like this is training – the constant repetition of skills and scenarios so that if, when, something happens, the men and women on this ship will be ready. Already today I’ve witnessed a number of groups training with different weapons, from handguns to a 50 caliber canon (mostly used to fire warning shots, and potentially engage, other vessels). There was a man-overboard drill this morning (the rescue boat hit the water in 4:58 – two seconds faster than fleet standard) and parade drills are scheduled for this afternoon.

I sat in on an attack simulation and the chief weapons officer told me that these days, the two biggest threats to a naval vessel are submarines, which are scary because, well, you can’t see them, and small terrorist vessels with explosives, like the one that hit the USS Cole in 2000, killing 17 and injuring 39 more. That’s what the 50 caliber is for.

“The future of our province rests on energy,” he said. “And we’re going to have a tremendous amount for export. The Lower Churchill itself could take 3.2-million cars off the road. It could take [care of] 100 per cent of Atlantic Canada’s electricity emissions and 15 per cent of Canada’s 2020 target… If we get a good deal for Atlantic Canada, we’re going to do the deal.”

The deal he’s talking about is one with Nova Scotia energy company Emera, one that will take power south from Labrador, across the Strait of Belle Isle, down the island of Newfoundland, and then across the Cabot Strait into Nova Scotia. Transmitting Lower Churchill power into Nova Scotia has been Nalcor’s stated goal since May of this year.

In the interest of clarity: The Lower Churchill Project is a proposed hydroelectric development in Labrador, located downstream from the existing 5,428 megawatt (MW) Churchill Falls generating station. The new project will consist of installations at Gull Island and Muskrat Falls on the Lower Churchill River (known as Mishtashipu to the local Innu) which, combined, are expected to produce 3,074 MW of electricity annually at an estimated capital cost of $6.5-billion. That $6.5-billion becomes $9-billion when you include the cost of the transmission infrastructure. While the potential of Gull Island and Muskrat Falls have been a given for nearly 50 years, everything else is up for debate. Blogger Ed Hollet (of the “Sir Robert Bond Papers”) contends that, based on various media reports and inflation, the cost, with transmission, is more like $15-billion.

There are two routes the transmission lines can go. They can go northwest and connect with the existing transmission link between Churchill Falls and Hydro-Québec, or they can go southeast, to the island of Newfoundland, and continue south from there.

The Lower Churchill Project has been an eager gleam in political eyes since former Premier Joey Smallwood first made mention of it on March 19, 1964. In a 1997 speech, Premier Brian Tobin had this to say: “The National Energy Board of Canada has ranked the… Gull Island site on the Lower Churchill River in Labrador as the lowest cost undeveloped hydroelectric site on the North American continent. Just a few miles downstream, the Muskrat Falls site has been ranked as the fifth lowest cost hydroelectric site on the continent. Together, these two sites are capable of producing 17-billion kilowatt hours of environmentally clean, stable, and competitively priced electricity.”

So, why hasn’t it been developed yet?

What went wrong in 1969? According to Philip Smith’s Brinco: The Story Of Churchill Falls, Québec was in the position of power and the Brinco corporation was in a position where they had to make a deal. Brinco had spent a considerable amount of money and time trying to develop the project; if it didn’t proceed, the corporation would have gone under. Add in Premier Smallwood’s insistence that the deal had to happen, and there was very little the Brinco negotiators could do. They were between Québec and a hard place, and that, more than any other reason, is why they made the now-infamous deal that failed to include allowances for the rising price of electricity. In fact, as negotiated, the price paid by Hydro-Québec has actually been falling, at regular intervals, instead of rising with inflation.

Developing the Lower Churchill will partially make up for the humble pie Newfoundland and Labrador has been forced to eat in the face of the 1969 deal. If that deal was an expression of the desire to bring the benefits of modern economies to Newfoundland, this project is an expression of Newfoundland and Labrador’s modern economy.

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Things didn’t so look good for the Nova Scotia offshore sector five years ago. Reserves at the Sable Offshore natural gas project were decreasing, exploratory wells had turned up dry, and the Deep Panuke natural gas field was on hold indefinitely. But things are different today, and it seems like the Nova Scotian offshore might be coming into its second wind.

In March 2010, ExxonMobil filed an application to conduct an offshore seismic survey close to its Sable Island natural gas project to consider “the feasibility of bringing in additional gas supplies to the (Sable project) from some (35) undeveloped fields.”

Deep Panuke, meanwhile, is about a year from first gas, and its owner, Encana is poised to become the single largest producer of natural gas in North America. (Note: EnCana rebranded itself this spring as a dedicated pure play natural gas company, after spinning off its oil holdings as Cenovus in the fall of 2009. Part of that rebranding was changing the name from EnCana to Encana.)

Deep Panuke was discovered in 1998 by PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., two years after the Alberta company purchased the Cohasset and Panuke oil fields on the Scotian shelf. Progress continued, but in 2003 the company (named EnCana after a merger with AEC) put the project on hold. The original plan called for three separate platforms, owned and operated by EnCana, and this was deemed prohibitively expensive.

EnCana filed new plans in 2006, and they were approved in 2007. Almost immediately the Dutch company, Single Buoy Moorings Offshore, was selected for the provision and operation of the Deep Panuke production field centre. SBM will own and operate the single production platform (as opposed to the originally proposed three) which Encana will lease for the duration (an estimated 13 years) of the project. When the well is dry, SBM will disassemble the platform for use elsewhere.

The design capacity of the current project is 300 MMscfd (million standard cubic feet) of gas, totaling an estimated 632-billion cubic feet, all of which will be sold to the Spanish oil and gas company Repsol YPF SA. Made in 2009, the deal is “a chance to get access to more gas, and it allows us to gain market share and grow faster than we’d originally thought we’d be able to,” said Respol spokesman Kristian Rix.

Gas will be processed on the offshore production facility and transported via new subsea pipeline to Goldboro, N.S., where it will connect to the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, with average annual production phase expenditures of approximately $150-million. Encana could have used existing subsea infrastructure owned by ExxonMobil to pipe its gas to land, but building the new pipe was cheaper than paying the tolls for use of the old one.

Two and a half years in, the project is a year behind schedule and $100-million over the original $700-million budget. Drilling was delayed by weather last fall, and the production facility being fabricated in Abu Dhabi is late as well. “Cost control is always important, but sometimes increases happen,” said Lori MacLean, an Encana spokeswoman, noting that everything is still on track despite the delays. “Things are progressing. There are a number of activities happening in parallel this summer,” she said.

Offshore, those activities include the completion of drilling on production wells and the commencement of a subsea program to install flowlines. Onshore, the subsea pipeline that made landfall in Goldboro last year will be connected to the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline.

Economically, the Deep Panuke development has been a boon for Nova Scotia. Encana’s plan promised 1.35 million person hours of work in Nova Scotia during development, no less than 850,000 of which will be for Nova Scotians. Encana will pay royalties between $50-million and $300-million to the Nova Scotian government over the life of the project, but Paul McEachern, managing director of the Offshore/Onshore Technologies Association of Nova Scotia (OTANS), sees many more benefits than what will, in the long term, be fairly modest royalties.

According to McEachern, the project has both economic and symbolic importance. On the economic side he sees the development of Deep Panuke as doing three things. “It is keeping some of our company skills at home, and that is important if you’re trying to maintain a current resume so you can sell your goods and services abroad. Secondly, it gives us a second customer, and everyone in business knows that it is absolutely crucial to your business to have two customers. And thirdly, by filling the provincial coffers with offshore royalty revenues it continues to solidify support for the sector among the public,” he said.

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Brian Gruchy recalls the Riverfront Chalets as being “some of the most beautiful I’ve ever stayed in.” But he wasn’t 20 km west of Grand Falls-Windsor to enjoy the room. He was there to go rafting. “I’ll be honest, I had some reservations. It’s like jeez, what are we doing? What’s this going to be all about? But I must say, when I left there I thought, when are we going back again?”

Brian Gruchy is an advisor with Sun Life insurance. Rafting on the Exploits River was a fun thing for the company staff to do, but the organizers had an ulterior motive. Sun Life has two offices in Newfoundland, one in Corner Brook and one in St. John’s, but representatives are spread out across the island. Since they are classified as self-employed, on some level they are competing with each other.

Corner Brook manager Geraldine St. Croix says they’re always on the lookout for activities to build rapport. “Typically you’re not the best of friends with your competitor, but we try to instill in people the idea that ‘while you might be in business for yourself, everyone can help each other grow’.”

Paul and Joy Rose have been running river trips for on the Exploits for 13 years, and they haven’t gone after corporate business, it has come to them. “I can’t think of anything that would be better team building than rafting,” says Paul. “I mean, you’re all sitting there, working together as a team. The river is fast moving, with a couple of good sized rapids.”

Sun Life tried bowling and golfing. They had family days with lawn games. But the rafting trip was perfect. They got to stay at four-and-a-half star chalets, and the trip down the river presented just the right mix of difficulty and fun.

This is the business of outdoor team building.

Across the island a newer company, My Newfoundland Adventures, has made a name in the last six years selling more involved adventure packages. The company runs summer camps, certification classes, and small group trips, but it has also devoted considerable energy to attracting corporate clients.

They offer pre-packaged or custom-tailored trips, from dog sledding to white water kayaking and ice climbing to snorkeling with the migrating salmon, but almost everything focuses on creating camaraderie in the face of physical challenges. Unlike Riverfront Chalets, almost all of their corporate business comes from away, sometimes, from far way.

Operations manager Martin Hanazlek was kind enough to give a ‘for instance’: “So let’s say we have a drug company out in California. One of the guys is the head of sales. The other guy in the group is the chief medical officer. And somehow they’re butting heads. And these are high level executives who need to be able to work together. So we package a program where they don’t even know where they’re going. They meet in LA in the airport, we give them a couple of parkas (because they have no idea where they’re going) and we pick them up at the airport in Newfoundland. Then we put them in situations where they need to work together, say dog sledding or a snowmobile expedition trip. Ideally, when it’s over, they can go back to the work place and find that their productivity and relationship have improved.”

It’s not always about fixing dysfunctional relationships with cloak and parka intrigue, but that story is pretty much the idea behind the My Newfoundland Adventure’s corporate packages; People work better together when they’ve had to take care of each other (to some extent) in the wilderness.

“We get these people all together and we build custom team building programs to suit their needs. We work on tearing down the group a little bit, and then we build them up through experiential outdoor adventure programs,” said Hanzalek.

In pursuit of business with a capital “B” I went to the “Satellite Spoke Club” an invite only lounge in the S Resturant on Duckworth. According to the website, “The Spoke Club is a private members club conceived as a gathering place for individuals with an interest in media, entertainment and the arts. It is a comfortable hideaway to meet for a drink, eat well, do some business, entertain friends, and even catch a movie.” It’s in Toronto.

So the idea was to take that kind of exclusive laid back invite only space, and recreate it in St. John’s for the benefit of local and visiting musicians. The S Restaurant Satellite Spoke club (try saying that three times fast) was “presented by the Pepsi brand” (along with Sky Vodka and Molson) and it was produced by The Pilot Agency, a boutique event booking and design outfit (also from Toronto). I’ve never heard of a lounge being produced before, but these are strange waters we’re sailing in.

So what was it like? It wasn’t crowded, but there were people. Bands came in and snacked on the finger food, and conferred with their handlers. Pilot’s president, Joel Baskin said he was trying to create a stress free “lounge feel,” and, based on my very limited lounging experience, I’d say he did a pretty good job. There was a constant stream of fairly normal finger food. The beer was free. Groups of young men with carefully unkempt hair were told they could take a nap by blackberry wielding women in their mid twenties. Skinny jeans and support free shoes abounded.

I’d found the back room. The thing is, it wasn’t a place to make a deal. I talked to Ryan Stewart (who’s up for Songwriter of the Year with Carly Rae Jepson tonight), a writer and producer from Vancouver. “I’m trying to meet as many people as possible,” he said. “Trying to maximize the exposure this nomination has given me.” Stewart is behind the scenes guy, he’s not going to be followed around the mall by screaming tweens, and with most of the music industry in Toronto, he hoped to establish connections that would lead to work down the road.

If it accomplished what it set out to do, the Satellite Spoke Club still wasn’t a must hit destination. A lot of bands were late getting in, and others were busy playing free sets at Fred’s Records.

Fred's was cramed with people while the Great Lake Swimmers played a free set

There was a lot more mixing at the gala dinner last night, and then a different kind of socialization on George St. afterwards.

Maybe it’s just that it was saturday night, or maybe more of the bands were in town out celebrating wins and watching each other play, but every venue I tried to get into was at capacity last night. There were lineups outside, and famous people abounded. Some were nice, chatting with fans, waiting in line, and generally acting like normal people. Some were less down to earth, pushing their way into clubs already violating fire codes, jumping fences, and generally acting as though they were entitled. But truthfully, they were few and far between, and when I got into Junctions, and saw members of at least five groups, led by New Group of the Year winning Arkells, singing “Dancing in the Dark” on stage, the exercise seemed less about business and more about celebrating a weekend in a city full of music.

Arkells and friends at Junctions. Photo/Emily Wilson

I got video of it, the sound isn’t great, but you’ll get the idea.

In the normal course of events, opening bands rarely start playing till 11 — and I’ve waited till after 1:30 to see a headlining act.  I think that’s ridiculous, and apparently, the organizers did too.

Last night shows started when they were supposed to — and all of the shows were wrapped up by 1:20 AM — an eminently reasonable time to head home in the rain.

But I was disappointed by how the organizers handled schedule changes in light of weather delays.   A lot of bands (I heard around half) didn’t make it in yesterday — but there were no public updates about who was, or wasn’t coming.   This left people waiting out in the rain in a lineup for the Handsome Furs, who were not even in town.  I was planning to see Down With Webster, and they were stuck in Halifax.  You can’t change the weather, but you can keep people informed.

I also heard that the lineup to see Metric and the the Arkells was brutal.  Lauren Rae, a  graduate student at Memorial University, got to the show around 8 PM, an hour after the doors were supposed to be open.  By 9:30, the Arkells had started their set, but the throng was so intense that people still weren’t able to get in.  Rae sold her ticket to a hopeful lad, and went to George St. where things were actually much calmer.

For myself, I spent the evening in The Well, a small sports bar above George St.  I  saw two local acts, The Mountains & The Trees, and Mark Bragg and the Butchers, and one Juno nominated duo 1977, up for Adult Alternative Album of the year.

The crowd was pretty small throughout the evening, and was largely made up of St. John’s locals with the exception of one couple, Jeff and Alison from Ottawa.  They stayed the whole evening on the suggestion of someone they met downtown. “I seriously love everything Newfie,” Jeff told me.  “I’m in construction so I know a lot of them, and we’ve wanted to come for a really long time.   I’m from Halifax, so it’s close to my heritage too.”

The Mountains & The Trees

I talked to Jon James, the man behind The Mountains & The Trees about playing for the Junos, but in front of such a small, local, crowd. “I always say, it’s better to be playing than not playing,” he said. “If even one person comes up and says ‘hey, good set’ that’s good.”  James has been singing as The Mountains & The Trees for about three years, and after playing the Junos, NXNE, and the Toronto Film Festival, he’s ready to quit his day job and make a go of it.  “It’s all about putting yourself out there, making contacts and then the follow up.”  He’s spending the Junos walking around with a shoulder bag of cards and CD’s, and he’s hoping to follow up on this weekend’s connections some time in the future.  “If you go up to someone in a bar — well there’s probably a reason he’s there, so you don’t want to bother them.  But I always try to get a card back — and then follow up a couple weeks down the road,” he said.

Mark Bragg & The Butchers

Mark Bragg had a very different approach.  “Every gig is really important, really fun,” he said. “But I’m not out here trying to make it in that sense.  I enjoy festivals but I don’t want to be clawing for recognition. “  Bragg owns a convenience store in town, and he’s been singing with the Butchers for 14 years.  The singing is fun, “really fun,” but he’s got a solid business.  “Festivals do a really good job of getting people excited about music, and I’m really glad to be part of it,” he said.  “But I’m not trying to meet anyone in particular or anything like that.”

Executive Producer John Brunton, Set Designer Peter Faragher on the Set at Mile One.

As far as themes go, Icebergs are safe (unless you’re sailing), pretty, and apolitical.  One supposes that an offshore rig was considered, but then again, maybe not.

The Question and Answer period revealed a preoccupation with “keeping the vibe of the the Vancouver Olympics” — which explains why CTV is working through sleet and snow to make George St. a viable part of the awards broadcast. Executive Producer John Brunton wants a street filled with excited fans, and he had technicians working in the snow last night to rehearse it. “We’re ready for four seasons in one day,” he said.

The foul weather (which might have made a more fitting, if less iconic set theme) is causing some concern with regards to travel. A combination of snow and fog have caused cancelation into St. John’s and Halifax, and then of course there’s a Giant Plume of Ash making it difficult to fly west from Europe right now.

Photo/CBC

Burton was candid that they were working on contingency plans, in case artists slated to preform or present didn’t make it in on time.

“We were going to have surprises for you anyway,” he said.  “We might just have a few more.”

As far as the actual broadcast goes, not much was revealed.  Instead of having a host, nearly 30 artists (including Deadmau5, Hedley and Great Big Sea) will present awards in the 39 categories.  In nine of those categories nominees were judged based on sales figures,  which might explain the lack of dinosaur costumed heavy metal acts, for kids.

Do you like the icebergs?  Do you have a better idea for a Juno theme?  Comments away!