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‘Rock star’ Brad Ross leaves the TTC proud, personable

Published

5 années ago

décembre 13, 2018

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It was a blackout a decade ago that Brad Ross says inadvertently led him to invite the potential wrath of 1.7 million transit users down on him every day.

Ross was less than a year into his job as director of corporate communications at the TTC, when on the evening of Jan. 15, 2009, a malfunctioning sprinkler flooded a city transformer and knocked out power to 250,000 residents and much of the west end.

Subway service was suspended on a portion of the Bloor-Danforth line, and Ross dutifully did interviews with local media to alert riders of the disruption.

But then he logged onto Twitter, which until then he’d mostly used to post messages about the Toronto Maple Leafs, to spread the news. And something happened:

“I started to get questions, and it started to get retweets, and it started to really pick up. That’s when the light kind of went on for me,” he said.

That real-time engagement with TTC customers that social media offers soon came to seem imperative for Ross, 55, who for the past 10 years has been the face, voice and online personality of the public transit system many Torontonians love to hate.

He’ll end his time at the TTC on Friday, and next month start a job as the City of Toronto’s chief communications officer.

In his time at the transit agency, he’s had to defend unpopular policies, talk customers through a transit strike, and even faced serious harassment, but has also earned praise for what many see as his direct, transparent and personable approach.

“I think he’s a rock star,” said Amanda Galbraith, a principal at Navigator communications firm and a former director of communications for Mayor John Tory.

Galbraith described Ross as straightforward and knowledgeable, but said his greatest talent could be his ability to relate to customers.

“You want to like the people you’re hearing from, even if you’re hearing bad news (about) TTC closures or shutdowns. If it’s someone that’s relatable, that is liked, that you know, that you see, it’s sort of easier to take.”

As a member of the TTC executive, Ross oversees about 50 staff members. Still, nearly every day he takes time to answer questions posed to him online by members of the public, whether they’re asking about misfiring Presto fare card readers or why their bus was late.

Sometimes he simply says “Hi!” when one of his 30,000 Twitter followers messages to say they saw him on the subway, which he rides to work every day from his home in East York.

He said while “people are not shy about letting us know how we’re doing,” the vast majority of customers are polite — if a little fed up.

“When people yell, or virtually yell anyway, they’re frustrated, right? I get it,” he said. “I’ve ridden the system all my life. So I know how frustrating it can be waiting for a vehicle.”

Ross grew up in North York and Scarborough and initially wanted to be a radio DJ before he got into communications. His Indochino suits conceal about 15 tattoos, the first of which he got when he was in his late 40s. The text beneath a grinning skull on his left forearm proclaims any spokesperson’s favourite stock phrase: “No Comment.”

On one wall of his office at the TTC’s Yonge St. headquarters hangs a black leather jacket; on another a bus station map the transit agency removed after customers complained it looked too phallic. Ross says he kept it as a conversation piece.

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Ross’s personality and sense of humour are evident scrolling through his Twitter timeline. But what’s as notable is how often he admits to customers the TTC got something wrong, be it inadequate service or his recent admission the agency should be paying artists whose work is posted in subway trains.

“Brad’s abiding achievement at the TTC was to encourage us to own bad news,” said former TTC CEO Andy Byford, who was Ross’s boss between 2012 and 2017 and who considers him a friend.

“So many big corporations try to ride out a controversial issue by pulling up the drawbridge and hoping it goes away, but Brad insisted that such a strategy was flawed and that it was far better to get out and tackle it.”

From the start, Ross had no shortage of bad news to talk about. Three weeks after he joined the TTC, transit workers went on an unexpected strike. Employees took vehicles out of service at midnight on Saturday, April 26, 2008, hours after union members voted down a contract settlement their leadership had reached with TTC management. Torontonians woke up the next day without a working transit system.

“I believe that strike, because we inconvenienced so many people, it turned people against the TTC,” Ross said.

“That really was the beginning of what became two years of a really bad news cycle for the TTC.”

The controversies culminated in an incident Ross said remains the biggest regret of his TTC career.

On Jan. 9, 2010, a passenger snapped a photo of a subway collector asleep inside a station booth and posted it to on social media. The image of the “TTC sleeper” garnered widespread media attention and was broadly disseminated online, with web users competing to create satirical doctored versions.

The employee, a 29-year TTC veteran named George Robitaille who had once saved a disabled customer’s life, later said he had a health issue that explained his sleeping on the job. He died of a stroke 10 months later.

Ross said management was initially unaware Robitaille was sick, but he regrets not publicly standing up for the collector when the public and media piled on.

“I wish I could have it back,” he said. “Did we ask the right questions? Did we push back enough?”

Ross says his very public role has recently exacted a toll on him and his family. Since the summer of 2016, he has been the target of what appears to be an online harassment campaign that became so serious he contacted the TTC’s special constables and the Toronto police.

He also began receiving late night calls to his cellphone (he gives his number out on TTC press releases). The first time he answered, he said, someone “clearly disturbed” was on the other end. He no longer picks up.

He now takes precautions that include leaving his office by a different route each day, and removing his agency name tag when in public. He’s installed a security system at his home.

Ross and his wife both have two adult children from previous relationships — three daughters and a son. At times his family has been drawn into the harassment.

“If it were just about me that would be fine. When disgusting things are said about my family, and pictures of my family are used, that is a line that gets crossed and I need to deal with it,” Ross said.

When the harassment began, it made him rethink whether he needed to be so public in his work, but those doubts soon passed.

“I just thought, either I’m going to do this or I’m not going to do this,” he said.

Among Ross’s few detractors are the leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents the majority of TTC workers. Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Morton said that during Ross’s tenure the TTC has misled the public about the depth of the problems on issues such as Presto fare card system and the delayed Bombardier streetcar order.

“He is a product of his environment, and his environment right now is to mislead and not tell the public the truth about Presto and the new streetcars,” Morton said.

Ross rejects the assertion. “There isn’t a public agency that I can think of that is as open and transparent and under as much public scrutiny as the TTC,” he said.

Ross said the initiative he’s most proud of is changing the way the TTC talks about suicides on the subway system. Instead of cloaking such incidents in technical language about “injuries at track level” or “priority ones” (the internal TTC code for a suicide), Ross will bluntly tell the public when someone has ended their life on the TTC.

His frankness about such a sensitive topic has surprised some transit users, but Ross said he believes speaking honestly about suicide humanizes the deceased and raises awareness about mental health issues.

Ross said there was no one reason he decided to leave the TTC now, but admitted he won’t miss the 5 a.m. calls from transit staff alerting him that subway service is down and he has to tell the public.

When the job at city hall opened up, he said, he saw an opportunity to take “what I’ve been doing here and see what I can apply down there to make the city more accessible to people.”

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

Published

3 années ago

août 10, 2021

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline.

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors.

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity.

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement.

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level.

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet.

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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Anglais

MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.