logo
Opinion: Calgary's X-Factor for global event bids: A passionate and dedicated volunteer force

Opinion: Calgary's X-Factor for global event bids: A passionate and dedicated volunteer force

Calgary Herald03-07-2025
Article content
In an important time for international relations, it wasn't the G7, United Nations or NATO summits emulating peaceful fellowship among an overwhelming contingent of global representatives (140 countries to be exact). At least, not in the way the Rotary International Convention did last week in Calgary.
Article content
Rotary is a global network of more than 1.2 million neighbours, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe and in our communities.
Article content
Article content
Article content
The first Rotary Club of Calgary was chartered in 1914.
Article content
Article content
This has evolved into an organization bringing together people with a multitude of social interest-led projects. From raising funds to support humanitarian programs, joining forces for economic development or providing global health and disaster relief, hundreds of thousands worldwide continue looking outward for ways to make this world a little brighter.
Article content
Like Rotary's primary mission to eradicate polio and with an ambitious mission for peaceful multinational engagement — facilitated by a small but mighty bid committee — in 2017 a then newly formed Calgary host committee generated the bid for the 2025 convention, even before we knew there would be an expanded BMO Centre. Our goal back then was to put Calgary on the map to create a legacy for Rotary, Calgary, and Rotary in Calgary.
Article content
Article content
This global network descended on our city last week with 16,000 delegates. In thanks to Rotary International, and Calgary and southern Alberta's Rotary Clubs, all involved view the convention — objectively and with the passion Rotarians are known for — as an extraordinary success.
Article content
From the moment delegates landed at Calgary's International Airport, met by world-famous white cowboy-hatted volunteers, and made their way to way to the Stampede grounds, you knew something special was happening. There was no mistaking that Rotary was in town. And even less doubt the city was engaged alongside us.
Article content
All involved shined, not only in the past week but over years of planning.
Article content
This list starts with our friends from Tourism Calgary. Led by CEO Alisha Reynolds, a standard for how destination-marketing organizations interact with third-party conventions was set. Shelley Zucht-Shorter and Cassandra Graves set a clear tone, simultaneously ensuring every detail was attended to, every opportunity to raise our city's profile was capitalized on and every investment dollar leveraged the economic power of our convention.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks With High Conviction
2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks With High Conviction

Globe and Mail

timea day ago

  • Globe and Mail

2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks With High Conviction

Key Points Spending on artificial intelligence could reach an astounding $4.8 trillion by 2033. Nvidia's GPUs are critical for the training and deployment of complex AI models. AI developers want the best cloud infrastructure, and Amazon leads in this area. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Fortunes have been made by investing in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. But there's still a lot of room left to go. The United Nations, for instance, believes that the AI market will grow from $189 billion worldwide in 2023 to nearly $5 trillion by 2033. Want to make sure your portfolio benefits? The two AI stocks below are for you. Nvidia remains the smartest AI investment When it comes to AI stocks, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is king. Even if you're already familiar with this stock, there's a good chance that shares are much cheaper than you realize. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » If you've been following the AI market, you'll know that Nvidia is the most valuable GPU maker in the world. GPUs sit at the heart of the AI revolution. They're critical for training and deploying complex AI models. They also make it possible for end users to access these models en masse from anywhere in the world. Right now, Nvidia's GPUs dominate the market. The firm has an estimated 90% market share for AI GPUs. Its performance and ecosystem advantages have granted the company the highest gross margins in the industry. Wall Street analysts are unsurprisingly excited. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives believes Nvidia's market cap will surge to $5 trillion within months. The biggest near-term catalyst: the decision by the U.S. government to allow Nvidia's new GPUs to be exported to China, a country that previously accounted for around 13% of the company's sales. While shares are expensive based on trailing earnings, the stock trades at just 39 times forward earnings. Considering the AI boom is expected to persist for a decade or more, expect Nvidia to maintain double-digit annual growth rates for years to come. This should quickly eat into the upfront valuation premium, making shares a relative bargain for patient investors. Amazon is an artificial intelligence powerhouse Apart from Nvidia, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock looks like one of the best ways to invest in the AI revolution over the long term. That's because its most profitable business segment, Amazon Web Services, sits at the center of everything AI. We've already discussed how Nvidia's GPUs sit between AI developers and the end users themselves. But there's one other industry that also sits at the center of the action: cloud infrastructure providers. Most estimates believe Amazon's AWS division is the largest cloud infrastructure provider in the world. Data compiled by Statista gives AWS a 30% global market share, nearly as much as the next two competitors combined. While the data center industry is a bit more commoditized than the GPU market, there's clear differentiation by the players that can afford to invest at scale. Developers -- AI developers in particular -- want the best infrastructure possible. That includes the best hardware and the most locations from a geographic perspective. This makes it quicker, cheaper, and more convenient for customers. As the largest cloud provider in the world, Amazon is second to none in its ability to invest and expand its network. This should continue to place AWS at the center of increased spending. "Companies are spending and they're spending more, and they plan to spend even more," Baird analyst Colin Sebastian recently told GeekWire. "We did a survey last month of 100 corporations, and 87% of them said they will increase spending on Gen AI over the next year -- and a grand total of zero out of 100 said they would spend less." The AI spending boom is real. Demand should grow by 20% to 30% annually for years to come. With Amazon trading at 37 times earnings, most of its growth in this area is masked by its relatively slower growing e-commerce division. But as AWS becomes a bigger driver of Amazon's overall business, we could see growth rates accelerate, making shares a relative bargain in hindsight. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025

The stock market is booming. Our economies are busting. What's going on?
The stock market is booming. Our economies are busting. What's going on?

Globe and Mail

timea day ago

  • Globe and Mail

The stock market is booming. Our economies are busting. What's going on?

John Rapley is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail. He is an author and academic whose books include Why Empires Fall and Twilight of the Money Gods. Stock markets are probing fresh heights. Among the G7 economies, only Italy's isn't in record territory and even Japan, which looked to have entered terminal decline after its 1990 crash, is now back within touching distance of those long-ago highs. House prices as well are near their all-time highs in most places, slightly off their recent peaks but still far above where they ever were before. And that's nothing compared with crypto and gold – bitcoin is up more than a quarter this year, gold nearly a third. In short, we're getting richer by the day. Which is kind of strange, because our economies are barely moving. Of the major economies, only the United States has shown any significant expansion recently and even that is now slowing rapidly. Reflecting this new deceleration, the corporate-earnings season now under way in the United States is turning out to be a dud, with profit growth coming in well below the rate of share-price increases. In short, the strength of market rallies doesn't reflect what's happening in economies, which are weak and getting weaker. So what's going on? Some of it is rebalancing. Talk of all-time highs in the U.S. stock market cloud the reality – the U.S. is the laggard, it's stock market up a mere 5 per cent since President Donald Trump took office and 8 per cent for the year, a far cry from Germany's 22 per cent or Hong Kong's 28 per cent. Currency effects make the discrepancy even more dramatic, leaving the U.S. market down in euro and peso terms, and pretty much flat in Canadian dollars. Lofty U.S. stock valuations bank on tech-heavy market's earnings strength For years the U.S. stock market sucked the air out of the world's markets. At its peak, it accounted for more than half of the world's publicly traded capital, the Magnificent Seven tech stocks alone having a combined value bigger than any other stock market on the planet. But now, money has begun returning home. That explains the weakening of the dollar. Given how much smaller than the U.S. these markets are, flows of this scale have an outsized impact on prices. As a result, the laggards of the past decade, such as Spain, Hong Kong, South Africa and Britain, have become winners, with a small share of repatriated investment making for big rallies. This rebalancing was always bound to happen at some point, but Mr. Trump's policies are accelerating it. Though presenting the trade 'deals' he's now rolling out as wins, because other countries have to 'pay' higher tariffs than the U.S., it's an odd victory when your consumers must pay more for their goods than foreigners. After Mr. Trump announced his trade deal with Japan this week, Toyota's share price shot up 15 per cent, but Ford's barely budged. That's because the price of a Toyota car will increase by 15 per cent, but Ford's will probably rise more, since the company must pay tariffs on all its inputs. The same is happening in bond markets, where the spread between U.S. government bonds and those of other countries, especially emerging markets, is narrowing. As the U.S. looks less investable, other countries lure capital back away from it. To this reallocation of investment one can add the massive amount of stimulus now entering the global pipeline – the tax cuts in Mr. Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, Germany's big stimulus program, NATO's rearmament, Japan's fiscal loosening: There's a lot of bond issuance coming, which will pump money into the world economy. The monetary tightening that had followed the 2021-22 inflation spike has now given way to an increase in global money supply that's running at an annual rate of more than 7 per cent. Opinion: The triple contradiction of Trumponomics could crash the world economy But what's good for markets isn't necessarily good for the economy. In the U.S., first-time homebuyers are spending a higher share of their income on mortgage payments today than they were before the 2008 crash, leaving less to spend or invest on other things, while squeezing future demand. The same is happening in Canada, and as we know one consequence of the rising cost of living is that voters are demanding a reduction in immigration. If voters don't always favour the harsh measures being taken against immigrants in the U.S., nonetheless virtually all Western countries are starting to clamp down on inflows. That is cutting off one of the few remaining sources of growth in Western economies, namely the rise in labour supply. Sooner or later, in short, markets will realign with the economy. Unless the latter picks up, the former are sure to fall. At the moment, a slowdown looks the more likely scenario. Whatever stimulus effects come from government's fiscal largesse, the impact of tariffs and slow growth in the labour market owing to immigration cutbacks will drag down growth. Investors are still pricing shares as if the good days will keep rolling. But this fall may bring a chill to markets.

LILLEY: As Trump lashes out, sources say Canadian side playing games
LILLEY: As Trump lashes out, sources say Canadian side playing games

Toronto Sun

time2 days ago

  • Toronto Sun

LILLEY: As Trump lashes out, sources say Canadian side playing games

Mark Carney won the election by promising he was best positioned to deal with Donald Trump, but so far he hasn't delivered Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox US President Donald Trump speaks as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) looks on, as they meet during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada on June 16, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) Donald Trump says he's having no luck with Canada on a new trade deal. That won't be a shock to anyone familiar with how talks between Washington and Ottawa have been going. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account On Friday though, Trump let loose on Canada and a whole pile of other topics while speaking with reporters. 'We don't have a deal with Canada,' Trump said. 'August 1 is going to come, and we will have most of our deals finished, if not all. We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where they'll just pay tariffs. It's not really a negotiation.' That last part, that it's not really a negotiation, is something I heard Thursday from the Canadian side – before Trump ever spoke. 'We haven't put anything on the table,' said one source well-briefed on the talks. Read More Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Americans want a deal with us, they've said so repeatedly, and time and again, both Canadian and American sources have said it is Canada's negotiating team getting in the way. 'It should take half a day to get a deal done, we negotiated a deal with China in a weekend,' an American diplomat quipped in May. Back then, a deal seemed possible. In fact, at the beginning of June, government sources were saying that a deal was imminent. Both sides wanted to sign a deal before the G7 meetings in Kananaskis. Somehow, it all fell apart. There is plenty of blame to go around, and Trump will shoulder a great deal of that blame. He's erratic, he's unpredictable, his negotiating style is to create havoc to throw his negotiation partner off balance. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. All of that is true though for every other country in the world and those other countries are getting deals. Canada is not only not getting a deal, but our negotiating style is also irritating Trump to the point that he lashes out. Some Canadians will take joy in irritating Trump, but I'm looking at the rising unemployment, especially in communities like Windsor that rely on the auto sector. Job one for the Carney government should be to protect the jobs of Canadians, not to leave them dangling as our negotiators play games. A month ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Ambassador Kristen Hillman as Canada's chief negotiator. It's time to pull her – she's not getting the job done. 'She's a wonk,' said one experienced government hand. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'She's good at advising and putting issues into perspective. She's not a negotiator,' said someone with experience working alongside Hillman on this file. RECOMMENDED VIDEO The Americans are looking to secure a deal with us and instead of sending in a salesperson, a closer, we're sending in the accounting team. It won't work. We aren't even trying to secure the same kind of deal. The Americans are looking for a deal in principle, a high-level deal in broad strokes, we are pushing for something more comprehensive than the Americans are interested in. And at the same time as we say we want to negotiate a more comprehensive deal, we put nothing forward – everything is about waiting for them to move. The Americans, you may have noticed, are busy with other countries who want to negotiate. They don't have time for teams playing games. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. One source said that Hillman is playing a similar strategy to what the Canadian delegation used in renegotiating NAFTA in 2017. The problem with that is those tactics irritated the Americans so much that they froze us out, signed a deal with Mexico and we had to play catch up. Mark Carney won the election by promising the public he was best positioned to deal with Donald Trump. So far, he hasn't delivered – and that is hurting Canadian jobs and Canadian companies. Enough of the games, it's time for Carney to replace Hillman and send in someone who can and is willing to negotiate a deal. blilley@ Hockey Sports Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays Columnists

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store