News Releases

Amazing ideas will be brought to life with the help of Emily Haines, Les Stroud and Marc & Craig Kielburger

TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2011 /CNW/ - American Express Canada today announced the winners of the public vote for American Express Room For Thought, a contest designed to help Canadians realize their potential.

Nearly 3,200 members of the public visited the American Express Canada Facebook page to cast their votes for their favourite 'big idea' in the fields of Music, Community and Travel & Adventure. The winners are:

Music: Ghost II

• Andrew Huang, from Toronto, will be working with Emily Haines, lead singer of Metric to create an installation called Ghost II that will allow members of the public to interact with music through technology and a variety of instruments.
  
  
• "Ghost II is an innovative and exciting idea that looks at music in a new way, and is something that has clearly captured the imaginations of voters.  I'm looking forward to working with Andrew to bring the concept to the next level," said Emily Haines.

Community: Survivor Garden

• Lisa Shanker, from Thornhill, Ont., will be working with Marc and Craig Kielburger of Free the Children to create a Survivor Garden for people recovering from cancer and other serious illnesses.
  
  
• "It's inspiring to us that such a heartfelt idea has been selected by the public. The concept of building a space where people can nurture themselves through gardening is one that no doubt will make a big difference in the community," said Craig Kielburger.

Travel and Adventure: Second Chance Travel Co-op

• Evan Malach, from Vaughn, Ont., will be working with Survivorman Les Stroud to give youth who have overcome significant hardships and survived the chance to travel the world with his idea, Second Chance Travel Co-op.
  
  
• "The travel category had some fantastic submissions, but the idea of the Second Chance Travel Co-op really clicked with voters. I think that Evan has an opportunity to tell a really unique story and I'm looking forward to helping him in any way I can," said Les Stroud.

This November, The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts will host these three amazing ideas: Ghost II, The Survivor Garden and Second Chance Travel Co-op. The Room for Thought venue is free to enter and will be open from November 8^th to November 22^nd, each winning idea will be showcased for three days.

Each winner will gain personal support from their mentor, and will receive several mentoring sessions tailored to address their specific needs, such as guidance in finance, marketing or networking.  The mentor's role will be to help nurture and develop the existing idea and to help Andrew, Lisa and Evan truly realize their potential and interpret their ideas.

For those interested in following these ideas as they grow and develop into the Room for Thought installations, the Room for Thought American Express Canada Facebook page will be updated regularly with inspirational content from each of the mentors, behind-the-scenes video of the mentoring process plus unique insights into how a simple idea can grow into something amazing.

Notes to editors:

About the mentors:

Craig & Marc Kielburger co-founded Free the Children, a youth-empowerment organization, and Me to We, a social enterprise encouraging ethical living and social responsibility.

Emily Haines is a Canadian singer and songwriter, best known as the front woman in Toronto's indie dance-rock band, Metric. She also performs as a member of Broken Social Scene.

Les Stroud is a Canadian survival expert, filmmaker and musician. He is most well-known for creating, writing, directing, producing and hosting the television series Survivorman and Beyond Survival.

About American Express Canada

American Express in Canada operates as Amex Bank of Canada and Amex Canada Inc. Both are wholly owned subsidiaries of the New York based American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc., the largest operating unit of the American Express Company. Amex Bank of Canada is the issuer of American Express charge and credit cards, with outstanding products like the American Express(r) Gold Rewards Card, and the American Express(r) AeroplanPlus(r) Gold Card. Amex Canada Inc. operates the Corporate Travel and Travellers Cheques divisions in Canada. American Express opened its first offices in Toronto and Hamilton in 1853 and now employs 3,700 Canadians coast-to-coast. For more information, visit AmericanExpress.ca or connect with us at Facebook.com/AmericanExpressCanada and YouTube.com/AmericanExpressCAD.

About Room for Thought and Realize the Potential

Room for Thought is part of the American Express Realize the Potential campaign, seeking to communicate not only the services that American Express offers but also the broader potential of both individuals and people as a whole. The foundations of the idea lie in the philosophy that the world would be a better place if more of the untapped potential within it were set free.