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

 

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/.

 

 

Fresh Batch of Venue Space in the Heart of Downtown – Batch Gastrobrewery.

Fresh into their one-year anniversary and celebrating with their 100th batch of brew, Batch by Creemore Springs is the kind of place where you go with friends and colleagues to get made-in-house craft brews and classic comfort food with a twist.

This two-level multi-space venue just south of Richmond St. on Victoria St (75 Victoria St.). opened in the spring of 2016 with the idea to bring small town mentality of Creemore, Ontario into the heart of Toronto’s downtown.  Don’t forget to grab a case of their crafts and some local swag on the way out.

With seven big screens sprinkled throughout the spaces, A/V accommodations are available as well as free wifi in addition to sommelier services and customizable menus (with vegetarian options!).

Full venue buyout of the will get you 177 seated or 250 reception style.

Or opt for just the main floor and get up to 122 seated/180 reception style.

Downstairs has a ping pong table and arcade games with a separate bar and a window into the busy kitchen, this more secluded area will seat 50 or stand 70.

Visit their website: http://batchtoronto.com/#home

Contact Andrew.scott@batchtoronto.com, 416-254-6881 for all booking inquiries

Or fill out the inquiry form here: http://events.batchtoronto.com/#contact

 

Written by: Paula McDines

All About That Craft – Craft Beer Market

Do you value a good draft beer? Or maybe you’re all for supporting fresh local food? If you value either of these things then do I have a venue for you to look forward to!

CRAFT Beer Market, a premium casual restaurant with one of the largest selections of craft beer in Canada launched back in Calgary in 2011 by owner PJ L’Heureux and has been taking Canadian cities by storm – “one beer, one meal and one experience at a time”.

This year, Torontonians are getting a new addition to the booming beer scene as CRAFT plans to open a new Toronto location right at Yonge & Adelaide that features over 160 draught beers, premium selections of different wines and spirits and a menu specializing in North American Cuisine.

As far as space for events go, the Yonge & Adelaide location will provide multi-levels, multi-bars and several meeting and party spaces for a variety of group sizes!

CRAFT proudly quotes, “We believe in making a positive impact in everything we do, from our workplace to our community to the planet as a whole.“

And it shows! Known for using fresh local food products from the surrounding community, Craft  takes pride in their welcoming and inclusive restaurant atmosphere that draws thousands of customers each year to different locations across Vancouver, Edmonton and Ottawa — just to name a few.

With Toronto being the latest Canadian city to “catch the Craft” fever, be sure to keep an eye out for a late summer 2017 opening!

CRAFT BEER MARKET – RESTAURANT + BAR

1 ADELAIDE ST. E, TORONTO, ON

St. Paul’s Bloor Street Church Plan your event with a touch of History

St. Paul’s Bloor Street Church – the historic building in the heart of downtown Toronto –  has an award winning Atrium and Courtyard.

St. Paul’s offers modern event facilities for all occasions, from meetings to receptions. These facilities include The St. Paul’s Chapel, the Library, The Great Hall and The Cody Hall .

The glorious Great Hall has wooden trusses and stone columns and can accommodate 150 people for sit down dinners and 250 people for receptions. Cody Hall, a theatre style hall with balcony and stage , could accommodate up to 220 people. It also has built-in audio/visual equipment.

The second floor consists of a number of meeting and Breakout rooms accommodating up to 40 people. Lastly, on the lower level there is a gymnasium with wooden floors and a 20 foot ceiling, making it an excellent space for planning game events.

The facility has elevator access, wireless internet and in-house catering.

For more information or to book your event, please contact our events coordinator, at events@stpaulsbloor.org or 416-961-8116 ext. 235.

Contact Information

St. Paul’s Bloor Street

227 Bloor Street East

Toronto, ON M4W 1C8

mail@stpaulsbloor.org

Phone: 416-961-8116

 

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