20 hours ago
Parker: Jan Eden recognized as longstanding Calgary booster
Last week, to a packed room in the Calgary Petroleum Club, an event was hosted by a group of Calgarians who felt it was time to honour Jan Eden for her longstanding commitment in promoting this city.
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For the past 28 years she has organized lunches and dinners for executives who have moved to Calgary, to make them and their spouses feel welcome and to introduce them to people she felt they would benefit from meeting.
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Eden's idea grew from her experience after moving here with her lawyer husband from Toronto and hosting his clients at their Riverdale Avenue home. A neighbour asked her if she would have a dinner party for a businessman moving here from Toronto to introduce him to some Calgary people he might enjoy meeting. It was quite the success as he met his future wife in Eden's kitchen.
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Eden is still the 'Queen of Connections' and every year she organizes welcoming lunches or dinners for new Calgarians to meet others. She stresses she is not an event planner, but rather when she hears of an executive moving here, she does some research into appropriate introductions for that person. Over the years, many who have been invited remain as friends or have benefitted from a business relationship, as well as having a good experience eating at places like Centini, Teatro and Hy's, as well as The Eden Bistro in Inglewood, opened eight years ago by her son Robert and his wife Nadine.
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Her work bringing people together deserves recognition as she's a real Calgary booster and one of the city's best communicators. Besides her New Calgarian events, Eden also arranges 'Conversations That Matter' lunches for her clients. At one, she had Jessica Faulds tell her story on conquering MS to 60 people at a Centini lunch. Eden is helping Faulds, a client, write a book about her 18-year MS battle.
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After her marriage broke up and she was left to look after three children with no support, Eden needed to look for work. The Four Seasons Hotel (now Marriott Calgary Downtown) was opening, and with no experience in the hospitality industry, she talked her way into becoming the sales director, receiving six promotions within the year.
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Having met with many business executives over the years, Eden knew she could be a successful executive coach and help business people think and execute their plans differently. Boldly, she picked Ottawa executives as a target and sent 100 handwritten letters to CEOs there inviting them to breakfast, lunch or dinner, and 50 came. Asking questions about the advice they needed, Eden signed up 10 on year-long contracts; they told others about conversations with Eden and she had 10 more within three months.
