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April 2008 Article

Conquering Crisis with Creativity
ADME Achievement Award Winner

Where once there was a window wall with a stunning view of the Toronto skyline, there now stood acres of plywood, covering the damage from a fire. It was one month before JPdL’s major evening event for an insurance company convening in town. The company had been sold the venue in large part based on that view. What to do?

Grant Snider, president of JPdL Toronto, credits both the venue’s management team and crew working closely with his own operations team for turning the disaster into a success. “The venue people worked 24-7 to repair the end of the building where the fire was and to build a new screened-in terrace. Our people were there literally every day as the facility was ever changing and we had to change our event layout to match.”

Adapting to the 11th hour calamity was just one reason that JPdL won the ADME Achievement Award for Best Innovative Event - $200,001 and above. The Urban Dock Party brimmed with so many creative details that several award-winning events could have been staged solely from elements of this one.

Keeping 1,100 people in one place well fed and entertained is a challenge unto itself, but when 300 of them are children, you have rather dramatically diverging needs. Or, do you? One activity at the Urban Dock Party was a flip-flop decorating booth. Grant says it was planned for the children but turned out to be a hit with both kids and adults. Participants used their imaginations to glue, tie, and paint embellishments on these unique souvenirs.

Speaking of hits, the Dance Head station was so successful, Grant says they could have used several more of them. Imagine lip-syncing a song as a video is being recorded that superimposes your face on a cartoon-style character’s dancing body. Throughout the song, you and your new body are being viewed on a TV screen by the assembled masses.

Other interactive stations included:

• Caricaturist
• Fortune Teller
• Airbrush Tattoo Artist
• Face Painter
• Hair braiders
• Pool pros
• Balloon artist

Upon arrival guests were greeted by jugglers, stilt walkers, and mimes who provided roaming entertainment throughout the evening.

Choice of Venue

“The Docks was the ideal venue for our group’s event,” Grant explains, for several reasons:

• Close proximity to host hotel (under 15 minute transfer time)
• Harbour side location with stunning views of the Toronto skyline
• 30,000 square feet of outdoor patio space
• With a capacity of over 3,000 guests, the venue allowed JPdL to be creative with décor and entertainment.
• Outdoor activities including pool tables, 18-hole mini-putt course, professional driving range, go kart racing, jousting and rock climbing.

The outdoor activities presented another challenge. “Our client wanted access to all of the outdoor activities without a complete buyout,” Grant says. “ Our solution was to leave the activities open to the public and offer a wristband system to give unlimited access to participants.”

Actually, it wasn’t quite that simple. JPdL worked with the venue to contact groups who had scheduled use of some of the outdoor facilities and ask them, for a consideration, to reschedule. The rest of the venue was exclusively rented for the evening.

Carrying Out the Nautical Theme

Appropriately enough for an event on Lake Ontario, the theme was a nautical one with lots of use of blues and greens and even life-guard stands as information centers.

In the Main Room

• White sails accented by light projection created a watery effect giving guests the feeling they were on board their very own luxury yacht
• Food stations were setup beside a full sized canoe dressed with paddles, buoys,
  sections of boardwalk, & life preservers
• A rowboat doubled as an Oyster Bar featuring Hillsborough River & Lameque
  Cocktail Oysters

Continuing the theme on the patio, a Fish & Chips Fry Station featured beer batter goujons of pacific halibut, offered with variety of sauces and vinegars, along with hand cut fries, and cabbage slaw…all served in walk-around boxes.

Feeding the Young Guests

The Kid’s Food Station departed from the fish theme to serve known favorites:

• All Beef Hot Dogs and Hamburgers with all the fixings
• Mini “grilled cheese sandwiches” with charred tomato ketchup
• Flatbread and four cheese Pizzas…
• Ice Cream Sandwiches…
• Platters of Watermelon Wedges & Strawberries

A Variety of Moods

The venue was divided into different zones, each with a distinct décor, mood, and
entertainment, to keep all of the wide variety of guests interested and happy. In addition to the Main Room and the Outdoor Patio, guests could enjoy.

The Tides Room featuring a bar and buffet, live band alternating with an a cappela ensemble, and a photographer providing guests with customized pictures of themselves in front of a Toronto skyline backdrop.

The Next Level providing a relaxed environment with a jazz band playing, lounge areas, and windows perfect for viewing the sunset.

All of this wondrous world was created while JPdL was also alert to other issues that had to be addressed as a result of the fire, including

• Working with the venue to make sure that safety, insurance and risk management issues were properly addressed
• Ensuring that adequate financial compensation was obtained from the venue to assist in reconfiguring décor and entertainment due to the venue changes.

An incident like the fire, Grant maintains, is a good example of why “going local’ with an established Destination Management Company is best. It means if something goes wrong, your DMC can react quickly, to save the day, or evening as it were, and still pull off an award-winning program.

To learn more about this event or JPdL Toronto, contact your GEP representative or e-mail newsletter@theeventinsider.com.