Sometimes the most memorable things in life are fleeting - such is the case for corporations and people who choose to make that special statement in carved ice.

Those in search of the so-called "wow" factor have more to choose from than ever before from Ontario's thriving ice-carving industry. Part artisans and part manufacturers, ice sculptors can make anything from corporate logo centrepieces to entire taverns made of ice - sometimes even shipping their massive creations on freighters to be erected in the middle of the desert.

Julian Bayley, the founder of Ice Culture, of Hensall, Ont., says business is better than he's seen it in 20 years in the industry.

"Ice is so popular now," said Bayley. "And of course technology has enabled us to offer it to a bigger audience. People who could never have afforded ice carvings five years ago can afford them now."

Liz Clayton, Business Edge
Robert Amato of The Iceman poses on the ice bed in a promotional ice house built for Microsoft's Toronto unveiling of Vista.

Bayley's family-run business is one of a handful across the province offering an array of exciting - and impermanent - structures that more and more people are buying to add that special touch to their event or advertising campaign.

His company, one of the world's largest, employs 60 people and, like most ice-sculpture companies, manufactures its own ice.

Ice Culture uses a proprietary process to make its crystal-clear ice, which it exports in blocks to countries as far away as Japan, Norway and New Zealand.

The company's 32,000-sq.-ft. ice-making facilities produce blocks that are unmarred by the white core and fogginess of traditional ice.

The carving of the ice blocks is done by a variety of methods, many of which are now automated.

"The product is the same as it was in the 18th century. It's still water and you're still using chisels. What we have done is we have introduced computer technology to routers and things so we can produce things faster and more rapidly," said Bayley, who adds that technology allows the reproduction of, for instance, a corporate logo to 100-per-cent accuracy.

Though ice sculpture has long been a part of the special-event industry, more and more businesses are turning to ice for extra impact as part of longer-term advertising campaigns, such as a recent ice-house installation in downtown Toronto promoting the new Windows Vista operating system.

The Microsoft-sponsored house was erected by Toronto sculpting company The Iceman, which, like Ice Culture, relies on computer-driven cutting machines to produce large-scale pieces.

Robert Amato, vice-president of marketing and operations for The Iceman, agrees that the ice industry is heating up.

"It has become the hottest medium available to marketing companies right now, in terms of either introducing a new product or having something that's very interactive," said Amato, whose company produces everything from ice-carved fruit platters to oyster stations to food silos.

The liquor industry has been especially eager to adopt ice sculpture as an interactive vehicle for promotions - such as the "ice luge" wherein vodka is poured at the top of an ice sculpture and travels down luge-like slides into the waiting glasses of customers.

The appeal, says Amato, lies in the connection people can make with the ice, whether it's in the form of a make-believe bedroom constructed from ice or a drink-chilling luge.

"It's the interaction between man, woman and the actual ice itself," said Amato. "It's about realizing that ice can be used in so many different ways - it's not just a swan anymore."

Yet even your basic swan is still gracefully holding its own, said Frances Lord, sales manager for Golden Chefs, a food-showpieces designer located in Vaughan, Ont.

Ice sculptures appeal to the romance of the ephemeral, says Lord.

"It might be a bit sentimental, but the ice you have for an event is only yours for that event. For a wedding, it's the same idea as the day itself, it's only there for the day and you only have the memory of it," said Lord.

And though small-scale sculptures are steady business, the latest industry trend is toward the life-sized: Ice Culture has built several ice lounges, both permanent and seasonal, that operate internationally.

The lounges, which are essentially ad-hoc freezers constructed of ice walls and a tent, draw legions of patrons who pay a flat rate to don a parka and drink a cocktail while wandering the frozen bar.

Ice Culture is working to build an ice lounge in Dubai, based on previous successes in Toronto, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

As ice sculpture is such a niche market, most companies in the industry find they get most of their business via word of mouth - or sight.

Bayley is in talks with a client from Indonesia who saw one of his company's ice lounges in Sydney, flew to Toronto and hailed a cab toward Lake Huron to meet with Ice Culture about opening his own ice lounge in Bali.

For something that melts, ice can certainly make a lasting impression.

Though erecting such volatile pieces can have its share of tensions - transport, changing weather, sunshine and shrinkage among them - Ontario's ice sculptors find the business both financially and artistically rewarding.

"It's an original work of art we've carved for you," said Lord.

"You get to watch it throughout the night, and some people would wonder why you'd spend the money on an ice sculpture that's going to melt - but it is a beautiful thing to have that happen."

And for corporate events where it's harder and harder to make an impact, ice makes an undeniable splash, says Bayley. And in record time.

"How long should the sculpture last?" asked the ice veteran.

"You go into a room and: 'Wow', and it's done its job," Bayley said.

"Ten seconds."

(Liz Clayton can be reached at clayton@businessedge.ca)