The Tea Makers

Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC English Services, will be holding a town hall presentation with an overview of our financial situation, strategy and the changes to come on Thursday, March 26 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET in Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio. He will talk about CBC president Hubert Lacroix’s Wednesday presentation and what it means for English Services staff.

Many of you are undoubtedly asking – why do we have to wait 24 hours to hear the details of the English Services Business Plan.

We explored a number of alternatives before deciding to proceed on Thursday.

The first principle was that we wanted our employees to know the details first. Delivering on that principle began to get complicated. We work in 5 ½ time zones – inevitably, a time that might have worked on Wednesday for part of the country wouldn’t have worked for other
parts.

There were logistical challenges – Richard is in Montreal for most of Wednesday to participate in the President’s Town Hall. The earliest he could have started the presentation in Toronto would have been 3:30p.m ET – this time would not have worked as we moved east. We explored a satellite feed from Montreal – that didn’t work either. We’re on air 24 hours a day – which means that there were some times of the day when large numbers of staff would not have been able to participate as they either were preparing broadcasts, or were broadcasting.

In a perfect world, we would have done everything on one day. We regret that we couldn’t. In the meantime, we’d like to ask for your patience. The approach we chose ensures that everyone receives the complete context and details at the same time. You can expect to receive the most comprehensive look at our Business Plan that is possible on Thursday.

There are several ways you can attend:

1. If you’re located in a centre, you’ll be able to dial in or tune in to your local in-house TV channel to watch the presentation. Your communications account manager will advise you of the details.
2. Toronto employees can attend in person at the Glenn Gould Studio (a monitor will be set up in the lobby to accommodate overflow or for those who do not have access to a television in their area), tune in to in-house TV channel 59, or log on to io! to take part in the event.
3. If you’re not near a television, you can dial in. Lines will open 15 minutes early to ensure that the update begins at 2 p.m. You’ll also have an opportunity to call in with questions.
   Local to Toronto: 416-340-2217
   Across Canada and North America: 1-866-696-5910
   International: 00-800-8989-6336
   (a reminder to international callers – you’ll have to enter your international access code before you begin to dial)
   Participant pass code: 2538275#
4. The event will also be streamed live on iO!* Check the portal on Thursday, for the link.

For those who can’t watch the update live, we’ll post a video and summary of the event on io! shortly after. You’ll also be able to hear an “instant replay” (available until March 31 at 12 midnight ET) if you dial 416-695-5800 or 1-800-408-3053 – pass code 2363730#.

*Just a little reminder, you must be logged onto the network, if you are watching the feed on iO! from home.