VICTORIA — A trio of University of Victoria students has pulled off a minor public relations coup, convincing climate change crusader Al Gore to speak over the Empress Hotel's famous high tea in late September.
“It's going to be a ‘green tea' of sorts,” chuckled Justin Yorke, 20, who still can't believe their good fortune in securing the former U.S. vice-president for the Sept. 29 event at Victoria's conference centre.
He and two pals, Jeff Jacobson and Stefan Krepiakevich, all of them fourth-year students minoring in commerce, worked for months on the deal.
Six hundred guests will pay $200 apiece for the chance to listen to Gore, participate in a question and answer session and enjoy tea and watercress sandwiches.
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore speaks during a book signing event in Tokyo Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007. (Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press)
The former U.S. vice-president turned environmental prophet is one of the hottest prospects on the professional speaking circuit, especially since winning an Oscar earlier this year for his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” with its hard-hitting message about climate change.
“Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb,” states the introduction to the home website of the movie. “If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just 10 years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin.”
Jacobson, using some Google prowess, had managed to track down the Harry Walker Agency that acts as Gore's agent and sent out a feeler about a possible Victoria stop just before the Academy Awards.
Worried that their status as mere students may prove a hindrance, the three created a company called DSJ Communications to front their pitch.
The three all but gave up hope to bring him to Vancouver Island after Gore's Oscar win and a nomination for the Nobel Peace prize.
“We had accepted the truth, inconvenient as it may have been, that he was not coming,” said Jacobson.
Then, in late July, the agent left a message saying Gore would do it. Yorke has saved the voicemail on his laptop.
While they were given the option of having Gore present his popular “Inconvenient Truth” slideshow, they decided they wanted something different for Victoria, a city they say is striving to become more sustainable in its outlook and policies.
“It's a pretty green city,” said Jacobson, adding that appears to have tweaked Gore's interest.
“It just shows he really does care about the grassroots side of things and does care when there are places in the world that are trying to do things in a sustainable fashion.”
Instead of the slide show they opted for a conversational talk on what they call “casual solutions.”
“Something (where) he can really just let loose and talk about what he really thinks about...how citizens and local businesses can help in the fight against climate change,” said Krepiakevich, adding that they anticipate it will be far more interesting than the slideshow because many people will have already seen the documentary.
“It's Al Gore. Speaking his mind in Victoria!”
The trio's vision didn't end with filling the convention centre with hundreds of guests forking over their money for crumpets and conversation.
Below the convention floor is a 400-seat lecture theatre that will be crammed full of students watching a live, closed-circuit feed from upstairs.
“We're not going to ask students to pay the same rate. It's going to be a cheap ticket,” said Jacobson, who quickly added a bit of an apology.
“I'm sorry to all my fellow students, no high tea,” he explained. “Only the guests in the big room get tea. At the kids' table, no tea.”
All three are still a little stunned at the interest the event is generating and said the buzz is unbelievable.
“It's blowing us away,” Jacobson said, explaining that many were initially very skeptical over the expense and that Gore had really been persuaded to speak.
But the three are convinced they're offering something very different than what others will get when Gore speaks in Vancouver the same evening at a $500-a-plate presentation where he'll be introduced by Premier Gordon Campbell.
“We think we're offering something really unique and authentically Victoria.”
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