It’s not every day a shopping center hits 100,000 fans on Facebook – in fact, for most shopping centers that milestone will only come around once. So it’s worth celebrating, don’t you think?

Bullring Birmingham certainly does. The shopping center has taken a trip down memory lane to celebrate, and it’s brought all its Facebook fans along. A virtual scrapbook in video form documents the many events and promotions that brought fans into the fold, and it’s a terribly sweet thing to watch.

Shoppers can watch it through the center’s Facebook page, where they can also find out about all sorts of fun little giveaways that pop up and can be redeemed by being the first person to head to the relevant retailer and say “I am one of the 100,000.” Just like that, it feels like something to be proud of.

Check out the video here:

Service dogs are a bit of a mystery to much of the public. From “can I pet him?” to “how does she know where to go?,” people are always full of questions, questions handlers may not want to be approached with while they’re going about their days. Teachable moments are all well and good, but even better to educate as many people as possible at once.

So Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is taking its show on the road with Puppy Love, which will be stopping by Top Ryde City shopping centre this weekend. It has one element that’s certain to make it a huge crowd pleaser: puppies!

Of course, those puppies come with a hefty dose of education, but seriously: puppies. Shoppers that participate will have their photos taken with future guide dogs before they go off for training. In between playing with puppies, balloon animals and face paint, though, there are plenty of great opportunities for learning.

Not only will an inspirational Guide Dog handler come and talk to the crowd, an expert will also explain how the training and fostering process works. And to really put themselves in the shoes of the visually impaired, shoppers will have a chance to undertake the blindfold challenge, where they can attempt to navigate with a white cane and blindfold.

Here’s an absolute last second reminder of a certain important deadline: the last call for Purple Apple Mentors is Friday, February 3rd. If you’re reading this on release, that’s tomorrow. Yikes.

If you’re planning to enter the BCSC Purple Apple Marketing Awards this year, you can’t go wrong with signing up. The mentors have all completed a two year term as a Purple Apple judge, so they have the inside scoop on what makes a submission great.

Of course, to take advantage, you need to have your submission ready to go. If you’ve got that ready, just email a word document version of it to Purple Apple Mentors with the subject “Purple Apple Submission Mentor” and they’ll get in touch.

If you’re not quite to that point yet, there are plenty of resources that can give you a leg up. You can check out the video presentations on the Purple Apple site once you’ve registered, read the top tips blog, and follow those involved on Twitter. Your entry is sure to impress if you take advantage of all that assistance.

A brief note for our Scottish readers this week: if you don’t want to miss your chance to book a seat at the BCSC Scotland Annual Dinner, you really ought to get on it – over half the tickets sold in the first week they were on sale.

It’s sure to be a lovely night, a meal attended by senior-level decision makers and a host of service providers from throughout the industry. As the BCSC says, “the evening offers the best in Scottish hospitality and gives you the chance to entertain clients or simply meet old friends and colleagues.”

So mark your calendars for March 21, and get ready to visit The Mansfield Traquair in Edinburgh. The gathering is open to members and non-members alike. Tickets are £100 + VAT for individuals, or £1000 + VAT for a full table of 10. After dinner, Alan Rough will speak.

Sound good? Reserve your place right here.

Ready to learn? BCSC has your back with its brand new Retail Property Master Class Programme, designed in partnership with Sir John Cass Business School.

This is a management-focused program, not a marketing one. But we know there are a few of you out there that are spending a lot of time thinking about these topics. It’s 8 full days of classes that will help you develop your knowledge and skills in the industry.

BCSC aims to set a new industry standard of excellence delivered through these courses. They’re split into three groupings, and participants can choose courses from any of them:

• Diagnosing and Creating Investment Potential: Appraising the investment potential of a shopping centre and understanding how a commercially viable and integrated shopping centre can be developed.
• Understanding and Managing the Shopping Centre Experience: Practical insights into challenges of centre management from retailer and customer perspectives.
• Driving Shopping Centre Performance: Creating sustainable performance and using a suite of performance metrics to provide deep insights into how ongoing centre performance can be optimised.

The classes are open to members and non-members alike. Interested? There’s a lot more information to be found right here.