On May 29, 2008, the 51-year-old company Québec Cartier Mining changed its brand name for ArcelorMittal Mines Canada. Sixty days later, the ArcelorMittal brand rollout was completed and the entire face of the Company had changed.

Even though we had many different shareholders over the last half century, we always kept our own brand name. And QCM certainly became a very strong brand over the years. Our employees and community members use to say that they had the QCM logo tattooed on their heart and that their blood was blue. The challenge was major: how to retire QCM brand with dignity and how to transfer the QCM brand equity while making sure our people would embrace the new brand and its values.

In 2007, QCM’s 50th anniversary celebrations were part and parcel of the journey to rolling out the brand. We deliberately celebrated the QCM brand while knowing perfectly well that it would be soon replaced. We wanted to make sure that everybody understood that ArcelorMittal was proud of having QCM in its port-folio, making them even prouder.

For the first time in its history, and thanks to its affiliation with the ArcelorMittal Group, ArcelorMittal Mines Canada can look forward to new development opportunities as never before, in a marketplace that has achieved record performances in the way of prices and growth.

Martin Simard, Director of Communications for ArcelorMittal’s steel and mining operations in Québec, Canada

I am very proud to showcase steel in art for this episode. It is the side of steel that people do not always see and we forget how beautiful steel is in art and design. In this episode we show examples of steel in design in the ArcelorMittal Gallery at the Guggenheim Museum with Richard Serra’s work, in the building itself, and in home appliances. Sharing how steel makes our lives easier is one of the most satisfying aspects of my job. It is in our homes, in our offices, in our kitchens, at our fingertips. I enjoy working in communication because it requires a lot of creativity and allows me to meet so many people through so many different projects.

Renowned sculptor, Richard Serra, was always fascinated with steel after working in a steel factory when he was young. For many years he worked with ArcelorMittal in Germany to build his bold spirit sculptures. For years the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao offered him the space in the biggest gallery for a permanent exhibition of his work and as ArcelorMittal was already a Patron of the Museum, it made sense for us to sponsor this exhibition. To produce his monumental sculptures he needs an old fashioned rolling mill which he found at our facility in Germany. Richard has shown how steel can be beautiful and artistic and we are very proud of our collaboration with him.

The torch relay was a tremendous success for Changsha and the Hunan Province in general. The atmosphere was very festive and the Chinese people were strongly nationalistic and proud of hosting the Olympic Games in China, in particular having the torch relay through Changsha. The feeling of actually carrying it was unbelievable. I felt humble to be a part of such a global event and proud to carry forth the Olympic ideals that the flame represents. For me, in particular, this had a special meaning since I was born in Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic ideals and movement.

Participating in the torch relay made me feel like a competitor at the Beijing Olympics. The pictures and videos that I was able to collect from the event will remain forever a reminder of that great day. I felt very privileged to represent ArcelorMittal in one of the countries where we operate and hope in time to have a much more significant presence. Finally, I was proud to have the opportunity to represent my Hunan Valin colleagues at this event.