Diana Thébaud Nicholson OWN aka Mouse

Diana is above all an Information Person. She revels in facts, figures and trivia which she delights in sharing with colleagues, friends and acquaintances who share her passions, thus she is ideally suited to her role as co-host, leader of the (always loyal) liberal opposition, and premier interrupter of Wednesday Night.
As co-host of the Wednesday Night Salon, despairing Editor of many pages of  Wednesday-Night.com, creator and sole arbitrator of the mirror site,  Dianaswednesday, she researches and prepares topics, creates invitations on a wide range of national and international public affairs issues, compiles and/or edits summaries of discussions for the Salon’s Websites, maintains a running exchange with devoted commentators and suppliers of topic suggestions and generally indulges her news junkiness (not related to truthiness).
Her official bio states (quite accurately) that since her first job as a journalist and assistant editor in the French Africa Press office of the United States Information Agency [NOT the CIA], Diana has honed her editing skills and expertise in all aspects of communications in multilingual and multicultural environments.
At expo 67, she had a number of different jobs, including giving public briefings, interviews, speeches and presentations across Canada (as an American!). She was at one time billed as expo’s first official hostess, but had far more fun working in the office for the Director of Operations – the nerve center of expo – with a cast of characters that could have peopled a reality TV show – had such existed in 1967 – and some of whom have continued to populate her life.
Subsequently, during eight years with Transport Canada, and despite a total lack of relevant experience, she established and led the marketing and commercial  development project office for Mirabel airport, calling for tenders and/or negotiating with concessionaires. It was at that time that she developed a great affection for air cargo, the neglected stepchild of airport development, and a warm relationship with Air France that culminated in an invitation to spend an unforgettable month of May in Paris for a stage with cargo operations. Later, she focused on marketing and communication of commercial opportunities and international trade facilitation. Throughout, there was always a Rolodex of former expo colleagues to advise and ensure that she made no more mistakes than absolutely necessary.
As a manager and consultant, Diana carried out numerous mandates in Canada, Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America in marketing and communications, international trade facilitation, aviation and airport development sectors,  gaining broad experience in communications in multidisciplinary and multicultural settings.
One of the most challenging and unusual mandates was the project management of the interdisciplinary team for construction and operation of Le Pélican d’Iberville – including the 1am ceremonial launch in La Malbaie presided over by then-Lieutenant Governor Martial Asselin. The ship was later operated as a very successful tourist attraction in the Vieux Port de Montreal. And, in the final phase, she managed the writing, editing and completion of the French and English versions of the Rigging Manual for Le Pélican .
Aside from attempting to do so at Wednesday Night, Diana successfully put her eclectic, multicultural, multi-generational experience and talents to work for two international organizations: IATA, the International Air Transport Association, and the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The work of each organization is highly specialized, involving technology and science, along with a mission to educate a diverse and multilingual audience. The challenge in both cases was to communicate information in clear, concise, grammatical language that is easily understood by persons whose first language is neither English nor French, while maintaining a standard of expression that is lively and appealing to native speakers of all ages. The reward has been a whole new set of highly diverse colleagues and friends, many of whom have joined the ranks of Wednesday Night.
These experiences led to another wonderful challenge – working with the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation and the Sauvé Scholars Program to develop a dynamic communications and branding strategy for this unique program and the extraordinary young people it attracts, based on a new website  and a number of outreach initiatives. More new young friends from around the world have joined Wednesday Night.
Separating the professional and Wednesday Night experience is almost impossible. Both have been – and are – challenging and enormous fun, and the success of each has depended on the collaboration of talented individuals of highly diverse professional, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and the respectful exchanges between individuals representing a wide range of ages and talents.
Finally, she has developed her own website, separate from the long-established www.wednesday-night.com and which reflects her own wide-ranging interests in areas of international development, geopolitics  and environment issues.