Canadian Special Events Showcases Some of the Best Toronto Has to Offer for Event Planners

Whether you are a seasoned pro with a long list of clients, or you are a graduate straight out of school. The event planning world will keep you on your toes, as it constantly evolves. Technology is becoming an ever-present aspect at events with social media being a popular tool to market your event and to engage your guests. Engaging your guests at events can be a challenge. With the right tools and activations, your event will be one to remember and keep guests coming back or talking about it for days and weeks after.

The CityEvents team took to the CSE Tradeshow floor, fresh after our CEO, Deborah Lewis, won the Independent Event Planner Award at the CSE Reader’s Choice Awards Gala, the night before.

Some of our favourite highlights included:

ABSOLUTE EVENTS & MANAGEMENT: specializing in interactive entertainment, they focus on brand engagement through customized activations. Touchscreens that include games and photo booth applications means your guests will likely be more involved at your event and will recognize branding and logos quicker. Other event materials that Absolute provides include; signage, custom tents, promo gear, photo backdrops and swag for giveaways

ABBEY ROAD ENTERTAINMENT: From their humble beginning of renting poker tables and karaoke machines for small parties Abbey Road is now a full-fledged entertainment management company working with fortune 500 companies. Each year their inventory and services expand as they position themselves to become the go-to for event rentals. Along with their classic casino and karaoke rentals, Abbey Road also offers photo and video booths, arcade games, giant games, carnival games, promotional material, virtual reality experiences, performance and talent, and custom branding on almost all of their wares.  

 

WILSONS: Toronto’s favourite mobile ice cream bar! Showing off some of the most delicious ice cream flavours with equally satisfying names (Hello Handsome, Bombshell, Can’t Get Enough), Monsieur Wilson specializes in building your own desired ice cream cup with a choice of over 50 premium toppings. With their rentable Airstream, clients can customize the mobile vehicle and use it for a variety of purposes like creating a mobile meeting room, dressing room, showroom, photo booth or Ice Cream Bar.

 

After we visited all the vendors we stepped into the Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners (CanSPEP) “Ask a Planner” booth. We sat down for an informal interview with members of the Society Dustin Rivers, Executive Director of Verney Conference Management, and Meagan Rockett, Association Ambassador of CanSPEP. They gave us some advice to pass along to novices and beginners in the business.

• Time management is the most important thing, always stay on top of your schedule.

• Venues make or break you. They are your biggest expense, they need to be your biggest partner, so build close relationships with the front desk, they have all the emergency contacts (especially if you are working in an unfamiliar city).

• There are always going to be risks associated with your events, it’s best to have a contingency plan written up in case any problems do occur. Always be six steps ahead of the problem.

 

Although some of their advice sounds dire, they wanted to let us know that mostly all event planners began in the business because of the continuous creativity, challenges, and amazing people they get to meet and work with.

Visit our Facebook page for all of our photos from the events: https://goo.gl/XYQcHT

We want to give special thanks to Canadian Special Events for inviting CityEvents to the tradeshow. To find out about all the vendors and suppliers that were at the tradeshow visit Canadian Special Events.

 

Contributing writers:

Ashleigh Alexander

Aprile Gonzalez

Paula McDines

 

Recap: 13th Annual Canadian Helen Keller Centre Award Luncheon

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

On April 5th, 2017 The Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC) held their 13th annual Award Luncheon at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The luncheon is held each year to help raise money and awareness to support the services the CHKC provides free of charge to its clients.

This year, The Honourable Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services and MPP for Oak Ridges-Markham, received the prestigious award for her continuous support and dedication to bettering the lives of those in the deafblind community. Since becoming the Minister of Community and Social Services, her work to assist deafblind Ontarians has been groundbreaking. Most recently, she will focus on the development of new frameworks that will result in a consistent, fair and accountable approach to funding.

The luncheon’s keynote speaker was Gail Asper O.C., O.M., LL.D., President of The Asper Foundation, Governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and sitting board member of The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CHRM) in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Ms. Asper’s speech reminded everyone in attendance of the importance of inclusivity and charity. As a special thank you Vim Kochhar, founder of Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons and chair of CHKC, presented Gail with a cheque for $15,000 to go towards the CHRM to continue to be the most accessible museum in Canada.

 

Thanks to Steve Blackburn, you can check out photos from the afternoon on his website steveblackburn.com

Learn more about the Canadian Helen Keller Centre www.chkc.org

Information on past awards and the host organization, Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons www.cfpdp.com

 

Written by: Paula McDines

 

Your Favourite Independent Event Planner – Deb Lewis

On Tuesday, March 28th, Deb Lewis, CEO of CityEvents, took home the Canadian Special Events 2017 Readers Choice Award for Favourite Independent Event Planner.  With the category filled with seven other very talented planners that spread across the country, Deb was honoured with the recognition.

“It was amazing just to be nominated, and I’m completely blown away by all the support I received over the weeks leading up to the ceremony,” says Deb after her win from The Aga Khan Museum where the awards and kick off to CSE LIVE.

Besides being a highly effective Certified Meeting Planner, Deb is also passionate about educational and mentoring opportunities within the community. Each season she takes on interns from local colleges, universities and high schools as well as diverse international students. Deb keeps a strong connection with her Alma Mater, George Brown College and sits on the organizing committee of “5 to Watch”, a groundbreaking annual event for the Canadian sports marketing industry that set the standards for identifying the next generation of industry captains.

Adding to her community involvement, this blog, CityEvents was created to share and support colleagues events, promote local venues and highlight industry businesses.

Her voraciousness and drive have allowed her to achieve the skilled organization of managing multiple events. On TorontoCityEvents.ca, Deb offers everything from sponsorship management to creating buzz and an online presence for their clients. CityEvents covers every aspect needed to run a successful event or campaign.

On deblewis.ca you’ll find out about venue specs, supplier information upcoming events, and event tips. On YouTube,  you can find her educational series of videos all about the tips and tricks of marketing an event online through different platforms.

Deb has been in the industry and planning events for 20 years. She’s experienced in everything from corporate and government events to charitable and not-for-profit galas and awards.

 

5 To Watch: Canada’s Sports Marketing Business Award

 

The 5 To Watch is in partnership with Globe and Mail to recognize Canada’s Sports Business leaders under 40 years old. George Brown’s School of Sport and Event Marketing staff and alumni are the creators of this event/award which launched in 2013. It’s a “must-attend” event where you get to network with industry professionals, enjoy amazing food, learn from keynote speeches, and join the after party.

The proceeds from the event will be put towards the George Brown College Foundation which grants awards and bursaries to individuals at the George Brown’s Centre for Business.

This year the Canada’s Sports Marketing Business Award will be at the Waterfront Campus of George Brown College. Business professionals will gather to celebrate the winners on Thursday, June 22, 2017.

2016 Highlights;

• Winners: Andrew Greenlaw, Senior Director, Sponsorship Marketing & Strategy, Brent Rossi, Executive Vice President of Brand Strategy and Marketing – Pegula Sports and Entertainment, Dan Near (Head of adidas Hockey – Adidas Group),

•  Matthew Logue (S&E Sponsorship Group), Sophie Kotsopoulos (National Hockey League).

• Alumni Achievement Award Winner: Jacquie Ryan (VP of Sponsorship Marketing with Scotiabank)

• More than 400 attendees

• Top-notch networking

 

When

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Agenda

6:00 PM – Networking Reception

7:30 PM – Awards Ceremony

8:30 PM – Post-Awards Reception

Location

George Brown College Waterfront Campus

51 Dockside Drive, Toronto, ON

Phone: 416-415-5000 x 6164

Email: 5toWatch@georgebrown.ca

For Further Details and tickets

Visit http://www.5towatch.ca/Login.aspx

 

Expertly crafted cocktails at East Thirty-Six

Every detail is looked after to create the perfect tasting experience. Chilled glasses and rims dipped in the finest of ingredients, including lavender sugar and lemongrass. Different flavour combinations were muddled and mixed to excite your palette. The new spring/summer menu at East Thirty-Six, uses seasonal flavours with lots of citrus inspired liqueurs to evoke a clean and crisp feeling, like a spring morning, when enjoying your drink.

The mixologists, headed by Julien Salomone, were busy making new cocktails including:

A sweet tasting drink with citrus infused Absolut vodka, passionfruit syrup and a dash of Dillion’s DSB Bitters with notes of vanilla and allspice.

The trendy  “cousin” of tequila, Mezcal takes center stage in this green coloured cocktail. Like tequila, it was sipped with a salted rim. Instead of the typical lemon wedge, a chilli pepper graced the drink with a toothpick. The smoky pepper flavour was very subtle but evened out the sweet agave.

The gourmet snack food was delicious. Circling through the room were Lamb Sliders and Fried Humboldt Squid.

On a regular night, the venue can hold 120 people standing, or 65 seated for dinner. There is also a semi-private room for parties of 18. The evening saw the space filled with people mixing and mingling after work, complemented with jazz music from the Brushstrokes Trio, that made the relaxed ambiance even more enjoyable.

For venue details and menus, visit their website http://www.eastthirtysix.com/.

 

 

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