Michael Wood Named Alumni of Distinction Business Recipient
Posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021
Every year, Algonquin College celebrates the incredible achievements of its alumni through the Alumni of Distinction Awards. These awards honour the extraordinary contributions our graduates make to the community while achieving career success. Here is a closer look at the Alumni of Distinction – Business recipient Michael Wood. To register for the Alumni of Distinction event, click here.
Former Chief Marketing Officer/Managing Partner, Ottawa Special Events
Travel Counsellor – Class of 1997
From playing rock ’n’ roll in stadiums across North America to appearing before the federal finance committee during the pandemic, Algonquin College Professor Michael Wood has maintained a simple philosophy.
“My whole thing is that kindness matters, and everything happens for a reason. I am really just motivated by people being happy,” said Wood, one of Algonquin’s Alumni of Distinction Award winners for 2021.
After graduating from high school, the only career pursuit that appealed to Wood was becoming a rock guitarist and touring. His parents offered encouragement but wanted him to focus on school first.
“Because there was no music program at Algonquin back then, I went into the Travel and Tourism program. I thought that would be a way to get on a cruise ship and become a musician or learn how to book tours,” said Wood, who graduated in 1997.
From Algonquin, Wood began to live out his dream. He toured as a guitar player performing with bands such as Kansas and Everclear. The legendary radio DJ Casey Kasem recognized his talent and helped him release an album. He became a voting member for the Grammy and Juno Awards. Then everything changed one evening between shows on tour. His mother was becoming increasingly ill back in Ottawa.
“I sat in my hotel room in Memphis and told myself that I needed to go back home,” recounted Wood. “The next morning, very serendipitous, I received an email from Algonquin saying, ‘We have started a new music program. Your name keeps circulating. Would you like to teach?’”
When he showed up for his Algonquin interview, Wood still had his rock ’n’ roll long hair and leather pants. He was asked what he would do differently as a teacher. “I said I would Skype in all my rock star friends. They asked me, ‘What’s Skype?’ It was so new. Now here we are 14 years later, and that’s all we do these days.”
Wood has been teaching in Introduction to Music Arts at Algonquin since 2007. He has stayed true to his word about bringing his rock star friends into his classroom. His students have heard from singer Jann Arden, Justin Bieber’s lead guitarist Dan Kanter, Bon Jovi’s song-writing partner Desmond Child, and Phil Ramone – producer for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.
It was another friend, Peter Gilroy, who led Wood in a new direction after inviting him to the local Italian Week festivities. Seeing the stages, the tents and the tables and chairs, the idea to start a business began to percolate. In 2010, Ottawa Special Events was born became one of the largest event management companies in the city, with close to 70 of Wood’s students being hired there after graduation.
In terms of measuring his success, Wood said helping other people achieve their goals means more than making money. His philosophy is borne out by the number of community-minded projects he has initiated.
After being “rattled” by seeing a homeless man one cold winter’s day, he started ‘Keep Ottawa Warm,’ which has donated 2,500 articles of winter clothing to those in need. He connected with Costco to provide free turkeys and vegetables for area homeless shelters during the holidays. He reached out to his client list to donate free work attire, hairdressing and makeup for people in need ahead of job interviews.
“My whole thing is not being judgmental. If you showed up in a Mercedes and told me you still needed a free shirt, maybe you borrowed the car from a neighbour. I don’t know, so go ahead and take whatever you need,” said Wood.
Ottawa Special Events saw business significantly slow during the pandemic, and Wood recently announced he sold his share of the business to move on to other endeavours. But that slowdown didn’t stop him from helping the business community manage through these challenging months.
He has met with 40 federal and provincial cabinet ministers, MPs and MPPs, and set up free virtual sessions for Ottawa businesspeople to discuss their issues directly with policymakers. He has also been invited to speak at both the federal and provincial finance committees during the pandemic. His efforts have helped influence the rent subsidy program’s extension and provide financial support to small businesses – like restaurants – in need of personal protective equipment (PPE).
“All I have done is try to provide solutions and be polite. It is not useful to go after people on social media. That makes no sense. You have to be smart and polite and people will meet with you,” said Wood.
