Happy National Volunteer Week! The theme for 2021 is “The value of one, the power of many”. This theme is particularly apt given our distanced work right now. The Museum is temporarily closed, but our volunteers remain as busy as ever. Volunteers are essential to the Museum’s operations and we are so lucky to have such an amazing team! Follow along online all week as we share more about our volunteers and the work they do. Plus, keep an eye out for another volunteer profile coming later this week.
Today we’re highlighting one of our amazing Marketing Committee volunteers: Jacqueline Tyler. Keep reading to learn more about Jacqueline’s journey to volunteer at TRM!
Hi Jacqueline! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Jacqueline Tyler, and I am a freelance public relations and marketing practitioner based in Toronto, ON. I grew up and went to university in Calgary, Alberta. You can find me on Instagram @JacquelineTylerPR or online, JacquelineTyler.com.
Lately, when I’m not doing all things PR in the worlds of luxury home building, health technology, arts and fashion, you can find me running and trying to get lost in nature. I enjoy reading about history, current events, and entrepreneurship; writing; spending time with my boyfriend (safely) exploring Toronto (checking in on my favourite solarium lounge car, Cape Race, the 1929 solarium-lounge car outside the TRM in Roundhouse Park) or Facetiming with family.
How did you first hear about volunteering at TRM? How did you get involved?
I first got involved with TRM supporting their October 2019 Roundhouse 90th campaign as a destination partner in my (former) role as the Marketing and Communications Manager at Fairmont Royal York. This October, being on a temporary leave from my role at the hotel due to the pandemic and since venturing into freelance consulting, I was asked to participate in a few meetings to review brand re-positioning with the TRM Marketing Committee. I have continued on a volunteer basis, offering my feedback and ideas to assist in their communications strategy and revenue building tactics.
Tell us about your work at the Museum! What was your most recent volunteer project? What did you have to do to accomplish it?
Since the pandemic, I have enjoyed watching shows from the era of ‘yesterday’ – everything from Downton Abbey, Peaky Blinders, The Crown and more – they all include an aspect of travel by rail – and I love that! It’s been fun to think about bringing the theme of today’s screen to engage a new audience to the TRM.
With thanks to the small and mighty three-person full-time team at TRM, and the marketing committee, I’ve enjoyed producing the launch of the 2021 Virtual Lecture Series with a theme of “Royal Rail Tours to Canada.” We’re hosting the event on Wednesday, April 21, in honour of Her Majesty Queen’s Elizabeth II’s 95th Birthday with a presentation by Royal Historian, Dr. Carolyn Harris. I have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Harris before in my time at Fairmont Royal York. She has a special way of bringing forward the history of the Royal family allowing one to understand, in today’s references, their ties to Canada. She also will be discussing how people of diverse backgrounds responded to Royal Train Tours, and how attitudes toward the Monarchy changed over time.
I am proud of TRM’s efforts to continue to evolve its programming (through this series, leveraging virtual platforms), whilst welcoming conversations of the diverse history of the railway to be reflective of the present day. Looking forward, I’m excited to continue to assist in adapting and expanding upon its breadth of inclusive programming. I personally realize that there had been a lot of hurt in the building of Canada’s first transcontinental railway; however, I recognize Canada’s history is Canada’s history. I feel it’s important to discuss and believe it’s critical to learn from our past to make the future better.
Why do you volunteer at the Toronto Railway Museum?
Since the start of my Fairmont career in 2013, I have had an affinity for learning about the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the historic hotels that cities like Calgary and Toronto were built around. I’m inspired learning about the earlier days of tourism and the whimsy and romance of train travel through locomotives passing through tunnels, twisting around mountains and skimming river canyons.
I also grew up out West and frequented the Rocky Mountains and B.C often. I remember the magic that I felt as a child when peacefully riding in a car through Canmore, Alberta or swimming in the Shuswaps near Sicamous, B.C., with family and seeing the front of a train peek through the tree line. The excitement that came with gesturing to the driver to ‘toot the horn’ with the whistle pulling motion to hear then, the sound powerfully echoing through the mountains, is completely unforgettable.
Making a difference in the community
Being in public relations, I enjoy learning about the beginning of things which have become important parts of our lives today. I also have long been passionate about getting involved and aiming to make a difference in my community. Sharing my talents and experience through serving industries, events and causes that I’m connected to is especially meaningful.
This past year especially, I’ve done a lot of reflection focusing on what brings me true joy, getting back to the root of my ‘why’ and then, giving it away. Shouldn’t we all be living for our legacy – writing our own history with chapters full of truth – in hoping someone will be just as curious to read our story one day? I think so.
Even with the pandemic, there are so many ways you can still get involved (virtually) and give back to your community. The TRM is waiting and ready to soon invite the world. Wherever you are from, once it’s safe to do so, you must visit Toronto and add the TRM to your visit list! In the meantime, please join us for a virtual lecture or donate to support the Museum.
Thank you so much to Jacqueline for sharing your TRM volunteer story! You can find Jacqueline @JacquelineTylerPR website. Get tickets for the upcoming “Royal Train Tours of Canada” (3 days away!) lecture here. Limited VIP tickets are still available; Attend the online lecture, access the live Q&A with Royal Historian Carolyn Harris, and be entered to win one of four prize packs from our friends and neighbouring attractions!
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