PROFILE: G. Chartrand

Gérard Chartrand, Co-founder and Dir. of Administration (with daughter Margaux)

Gérard is responsible for Coeur de France's administration. His favorite pastimes are winemaking, fly fishing and aviation "not necessarily in that order". He owns a small vineyard where he can often be found on summer weekends -- when he's not flying around in his Cessna airplane (Gérard is an enthusiastic pilot). We asked him to describe a typical day.

"We're a small organization so everyone here wears many hats, me included. Most of my time is spent in the office during the week. A typical day starts at about 7:30 am with email correspondence (due to the time differences around the world, most e-mails arrive overnight from prospective students).

Some days I'll lead a cultural excursion of students to discover a local vineyard. This begins with a drive out to the vines where we scratch around in our famous "terroir". Whenever I leave the office my camera is with me and throughout the day I'll take a few pictures for the website. The office officially closes at 6:00 pm, but I usually stick around another hour or so to catch up on whatever issues may have popped up while I was out and about."

Coeur de France recently began offering students the opportunity to participate in an aerial tour of the Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé vineyards and châteaux. "I usually fly the Cessna for these visits and students are always impressed with the sheer beauty of the Loire Valley and vineyards. Most people don't have the opportunity to enjoy a bird's eye view of castles and cathedrals and I love sharing it with them."

Managing the school's website is also Gérard's responsibility. "I built and maintain the website and take all of the photographs, which accounts for a lot of my time; it also accounts for about 98% of our student enrollment, which  is personally satisfying to me.
I've always been interested in photography, studied it in college and so forth. About 20 years ago I did a stint as a photographer for a small daily newspaper in California where I learned the power of a good photograph. In speaking with many students over the years, I'm convinced that pictures are vital in helping students make their decision regarding which school to attend, so I try to provide as many photos as possible on our website. But they must be true-to-life photos, never slick publicity shots. I want students to see the daily reality of life here so when they come they'll already feel at home."

What's does he find most interesting about his work? "It's never boring. I communicate daily with people in places I've only dreamed about. My job also provides a creative outlet via the website and photography."

Any funny stories? "Too many to tell here. What really impresses me is the reach of our website and the following that the "Today's Photo" page has developed. This is the page in which we show a new picture of the day. It's almost a cult following!
I try to put up a new photo every day but sometimes that isn't possible for one reason or another. And when that happens, I'm sure to get an e-mail from somebody we've never heard of from somewhere like Singapore, Turkey, or New Zealand saying "Hey, the same picture has been up for 3 days now! Are you going to change it or what?".
We also get messages from people saying how much they appreciate the new photo every day, that it's the first thing they check when the get to work, etc.... We know the statistics for website visits, but getting messages like that reminds us that it isn't just a lot of numbers. It also encourages me personally to grab the camera and go outside on those rainy days when I probably wouldn't otherwise."

Gérard