As most regions of Les Clefs d’Or Canada are preparing their General Managers Appreciation Galas and Key Pinning Ceremonies, let’s set the tone by going back to the BC Region‘s 2015 celebrations. Thank you Verinda Doman for this superlative rendition of the event:
- (left to right) Fairmont Chateau Whistler Managing Director Mr. Norman.Mastalir; Mr. Ian Bartley, Fairmont Gold Supervisor; Mr. Dillon Carfoot, BC Regional Director and Chef Concierge at Oak Bay Beach Hotel; Ms. Andrea Torrance, Vice President, Operations Support, North & Central America Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
On December 7th ,2015, Les Clefs d’Or British Columbia welcomed our esteemed General Managers and valued tourism partners in hosting a celebratory year-end reception to say “thank you!” to our key community contributors for their ongoing support and to honor our newly appointed Les Clefs d’Or Member upon receiving his membership status in the presence of his General Manager, whom with being formally invited to step on stage for an iconic picture capturing moment: The official pinning of the symbolic and coveted “Gold Crossed Keys”.
I am truly honored to article on this rewarding opportunity for which I have been actively and passionately involved with over the many years;
In my role of chairing, co-chairing to spearheading a committee with the organizing of the past prestigious Les Clefs d’Or General Managers Reception’s successfully held at the Bill Reid Gallery, Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Hotel and Science World.
With reporting on the recent 2015 year-end, Les Clefs d’Or and Industry Partners Reception with being graciously hosted at the culturally acclaimed “Bill Reid Gallery” of Northwest Coast Art (Named after the famed and culturally acclaimed Haida artist Bill Reid). The late Mr. Bill Reid is a British Columbia Icon within the First Nation’s artist community.
This followed by an outpour of commencing milestone memories with the certificate presentations for length of service, awards of excellence and to recognize the recipient of the Tourism Industry Partners (TIP) Invitational Golf Tournament Bursary.
Mr. James Terry, President and COO at FS Financial; Ms. Miriam Edwards, Chef Concierge, Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver; Mr. Philip Barnes, Regional Vice President, Pacific Northwest & General Manager, Fairmont Pacific Rim.
The BC Regional Director, Mr. Dillon Carfoot began the opening ceremony remarks by introducing Ms. Audrey Siegl who performed a traditional First Nation blessing to a crowd of over 100 tourism professionals including the General Managers, valuable industry partners and Concierge colleagues. While our honorable and esteemed guests enjoyed a hospitable evening set among the First Nations jewels and exhibits while listening to the background sounds of Vancouver Grammy award winner Jazz entertainer who set the evening’s tone to a relaxed and engaging ambience.
Most importantly the “2015” Les Clefs d’Or reception’s remarkable success was due to the enormous amount of efforts by the Concierge networking contributions from our vendor sponsorship and suppliers who went far above and beyond our expectations!

2015 Hotel General Managers Reception
Our delighted guests toasted with champagne, sipped on exceptional local wines and marveled on the ever popular revolution of BC’s finest local craft beers served throughout the evening, while savoring on a never-ending supply of raw oysters, delicious hors d’oeuvres and an array of creative and decadent fine quality desserts.
This momentous occasion gave the opportunity to visibly brand our Association with my initial launching at our previous General Managers Receptions of the prestigious and uniquely designed hand carved customized “Les Clefs d’Or Logo” ice sculpture on full display, articulately hand engraved with our globally recognized symbolic “Crossed Keys”. It was, once again, a prominent showpiece stopper and a perfect focal photo backdrop highlight to the evening. A business card give-away draw polished off the evening’s end with uniquely themed departing gifts that were personally handed to each of our honorable guests in present for this remarkable and successful event!
Ms. Verinda Doman, Chef Concierge, Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Hotel and Mr. Mike Truscott, Director of Hotel Operations, Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Hotel.
The evening concluded with an incredible sentiment of goodwill and friendship between our General Managers and Tourism Industry Partners to show our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of the support they lend to our professional association of Les Clefs d’Or Canada.
The 2015 Les Clefs d’Or and Industry Partners Reception was an outstanding success with the remarkable outpouring of kudos and gratitude received and noted in press publications and social media.
In Service Through Friendship,
#yourkeytoeverything
Verinda Doman
Senior Concierge
Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Hotel
Please leave a comment at the bottom of the page…
Oh Canada ! You do everything with so much elan !
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Thank you Verinda! I remember the beautiful
evening at the elegant Bill Reid Gallery with great
fondness.
In Service Through Friendship, indeed.
Warm Hugs
Carla Rich
Goodwill Ambassador
Landsea Tours & Adventures.
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Thank you Verinda!
I remember the elegant Les Clef D ‘ Or soirée at
the Bill Reid Gallery with fondness.
Warm Hugs,
Carla Rich
Goodwill Ambassador
Landsea Tours & Adventures.
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Great Job Verinda, always an inspiration and a person to look up to, done with elegance and grace.
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Great article, Verinda! Who knew you were a writer?
It’s so inspiring to see how much energy and passion you and your Les Clefs d’Or colleagues in BC have put into raising the bar on all of our tourism offerings over the years by continually providing honest feedback and keeping all of us vendors on our toes. We are all doing this for the same reason; to provide the best possible experience for our visitors. Les Clef D’Or BC has and will continue to make a real difference and affect positive change in the tourism industry here in BC. Thank You!
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Verinda – Thanks so much for this amazing article. Your writing style truly put me back at the Bill Reid Gallery all over again. What a wonderful evening shared with our industry partners, General Managers and our friends. There were so many highlights and special memories from this evening. The ice sculpture was a big one for me! What an amazing way to have the Les Clefs d’Or logo front and center for everyone to see, it is a phenomenal back drop to the many photos that get taken at this event. Thanks so much for all your hard work with putting together this wonderful evening and for recreating the memories with this amazing article!
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Well done Verinda. This event is a highlight of the calendar year for BC and much anticipated by the members and their GMs, and this year was a special one for me in particular. Thank you for all you do, and for letting me be part of it!
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Verinda
Thank you for all of your passion. This evening was a huge success, thanks in no small part to you and your contacts.
The article was beautifully written and captured the moment perfectly.
Dillon Carfoot
Regional Director, British Columbia
Les Clefs d’Or Canada
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