Kirstine Stewart was formally appointed as the new executive vice-president for CBC English Services today.

Stewart had been filling the role on an interim basis since the former vice-president, Richard Stursberg, was dismissed in August.

A few minutes after the announcement Stewart sent this note to staff:

January 10, 2011 – When I was little, I had a tickle trunk. It was red, just like the one on TV. In the morning I watched Casey and Finnegan and Mr. Dressup discover new things everyday, dressing up in what they found in their tickle trunk.

The CBC has for 74 years been that place where Canadians, of all ages, are taken on journeys, of all kinds, to so many different and interesting places.

My particular journey has taken me from watching Mr. Dressup, to working at the place that brought those magical stories into my home. And now today I have the privilege of leading an organization that holds such an important place in the hearts and minds of people across this country.
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	Executives, People	Posted at 8:58 pm (10 Jan 2011)

The Age of Persuasion, a fascinating radio program about the black art of marketing, is finally available as a podcast.

The show, which uses tons of TV and Radio clips from ad campaigns has been struggling to get the legal rights sorted out to podcast for, well, it seems like forever.

The host of the show, Terry O’Reilly, personally made the announcement on the show’s blog, a few days ago.

Since the launch the podcast has been in the number 1 spot on iTunes’ top podcast list.

The show is also beefing up its web site. This season they’re adding lots of visual material to accompany the shows. Last weekend’s post was about green marketing, and with lots of images and YouTube videos, it’s a really fascinating entry.

The show is also celebrating it’s recent launch in the Chicago market. Under a distribution deal with PRI it was picked up by WBEZ in Chicago, the third largest radio market in the U.S.

If you haven’t heard the show before, you need to check it out, in my opinion its one of the best shows CBC Radio has to offer, you can find out more here.

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	Age of Persuasion, Shows	Posted at 8:46 pm (10 Jan 2011)

Hi guys, sincere apologies for not having posted in a while.

I’ve been knee deep in the development of the new CBC initiative called Live Right Now.

It’s a massive initiative, straight across the country, and unfortunately it’s been consuming all my time and more.

The idea for Live Right Now is that we, we as a country I mean, can take hold of this epidemic of obesity and poor health in this country by taking a few small steps ourselves. If we then inspire a few friends with our changes, we can spark a movement.

The idea strikes at the core of the problem in this country. We are not necessarily overweight or obese because we don’t care. We care, it’s just that often we don’t know what to do, or we’ve stopped knowing how to do it, or frankly we have no-one to do it with. Taking a few small steps can open a door to learning more, knowing more, and getting back on the right path.

It’s a huge issue, in Canada estimates are that 2/3 of the country are either overweight or obese. Obesity alone affects one in four Canadians.

Think that it isn’t a critical issue? I think I heard that the obesity epidemic will cost the health care system $90 billion dollars. Personally obesity will shave years off your life. Dr. Arya Sharma, an obesity doctor, was saying on the Current on Monday that he doesn’t really see many older obese patients at his clinic. Because they don’t live that long.

Scary stuff.

Anyway, I’ve been working my butt off getting the site for the Live Right Now initiative ready, so, if you’re inclined take a peek, and maybe you’ll find something there to inspire others to change.

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	Health and Wellness	Posted at 9:56 pm (05 Jan 2011)