We’ve dubbed September’s edition of WestJet’s up! in-flight magazine “The Business Issue,” and packed it with insight, tips and tales from the field. As readers have come to expect, though, there’s a lot more to up! than a single theme might suggest. Here’s a look at a few highlights.

Back to business

Go ahead, call Eric Marsh a natural gas evangelist. The affable Encana Corp. executive has absolutely no problem being closely affiliated with a resource that is near and dear to his heart. Marsh is a petroleum engineer; he leads the natural gas economy team for Encana, one of North America’s largest natural gas producers, and he believes natural gas can change the world for the better. Marsh travels between Calgary, Dallas and Denver, working with fellow engineers, geologists and geophysicists on making Encana’s natural gas drilling programs more efficient.

“I like the quiet time (while flying). For those few hours in the air, I can catch up on e-mail and actually spend time thinking about things that might be strategic in nature. More than anything, I can actually spend time thinking about how to make Encana a better company.”

Team Building

All together now… we take a first-person look at a destination team-building experience: the Team Tracker Team Building event at the Beaver Creek Ranch & Horse Centre just outside Regina. The objective is to find 14 treasures scattered throughout 30 hectares in 90 minutes.

“After all three teams return, we sit around the campfire and chat with Brenda Clemens, Beaver Creek’s owner. We chat about strategies: whether it was a good idea to separate (not really), whether starting first was an advantage (it was) and who really won. But, at the end of the day, it really wasn’t about who won. It was about working as a team.”

Food: Bringing a Taste of Spain to Mexico

Spanish chef Martin Berasategui may not be a household name in North America, but reviewers at the Michelin Guide sure know him. Berasategui, 53, holds six Michelin stars in Spain, the most of any chef. His eponymous restaurant just outside of hometown San Sebastián, Spain, holds the maximum three stars. It’s also a regular on the S.Pellegrino list of the world’s best restaurants. Berasategui’s culinary journey began when he was a teenager working at his family’s San Sebastián restaurant. He fell in love with the kitchen—and the business.

“My cuisine is a trip of 38 years, and tomorrow I will be better than today at the art of the kitchen, and, the day after, even better than the day before.”

Places: Paris of the Prairies

From geography and climate to social scenes and subcultures, a variety of components help shape a city. For Saskatoon, it’s all about what’s happening at street level — that’s where, after all, the heart of the city lies. Often overlooked as a weekend getaway, Canada’s fastest-growing city offers many more urban adventures than a seasoned traveller may initially expect. As the commercial centre of the province, Saskatoon has exploded in the past seven years due to its spike in oil production (thanks to new drilling technologies) and its potash production (the city is now the world’s No. 1 producer).

“Evidence of Saskatoon’s new wealth can be spotted everywhere, from the new Porsche dealership that opened last year to the ritzy $93-million River Landing redevelopment project, currently in the works. Combine its bustling arts scene with an array of superb restaurants and a stroll down funky Broadway Avenue and you just may find this Prairie city is a surprisingly cool place to spend the dwindling warm-weather days of autumn.”