Festivals and Events Learning Series
Festivals and events are an an integral part of the fabric of many communities in Canada and an important component of the tourism industry. GMIST is excited to be working with Festivals & Events Ontario (FEO) again this fall to offer two more FREE learning sessions to help festival & events managers, organizers and developers as you move forward in your planning for 2024. These 60 minute sessions with industry experts are designed to provide you with insights and helpful tools whether you are just starting out or are a well established event. You can sign up for one or both sessions at no cost to you. Sessions will also be recorded for future reference or for sharing with your colleagues.
Making Small Town & Rural Events Competitive
Thursday, November 9, 2023 11:00 AM – 12 Noon AST / 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM NST / 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST
Join Trevor Norris and Dug Stevenson, from the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board in Ontario for a presentation and interactive session about how to maximize your event planning and marketing by creating local partnerships that will strengthen your event. Trevor and Dug will share special projects they have developed to support local event managers that could easily be adapted to other regions, along with success stories from their partnership-driven approach to destination marketing and management.
Dug Stevenson hails from Sussex, NB and attended McGill University before moving to Toronto where the first part of his career was as a television host and writer for MuchMusic, CityTV and RogersTV. After working in various roles in healthcare, Dug joined the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board where he took over as Executive Director in 2016. He and his Team have been recognized with national and provincial awards in tourism and economic development for their marketing, branding and projects, including the Governor General’s Award from the Economic Developers Association of Ontario, their highest marketing honour.
Trevor Norris is Destination Development Manager for the Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board. As part of BOQ RMB, he leads Experiential and Product Development, Travel Trade, Sport Tourism, as well as developing Marketing Products and Packages for partners and businesses in the Bay of Quinte region. Before moving to Prince Edward County (PEC), Trevor worked in Toronto as a VP of Business Development for Canada’s largest music services company Indie Pool for over 9 years. His passion for wine saw him retrain and certify as a Sommelier in 2013. Once in PEC, Trevor managed Rosehall Run Winery and Karlo Estates Winery and established his own vineyard, Danforth Ridge Vineyards.
Register HERE
* Note that you can register for one or both sessions.
Festival Trends, Tips & Tricks
Thursday, November 23, 2023 11:00 AM – 12 Noon AST / 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM NST / 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST
When you are knee-deep into planning your festival or event it can be difficult to stay on top of the latest trends in event development and planning. This session will cover some of the latest trends in the event industry that you may want to consider as you look ahead to next year’s event calendar. Presenter Victoria Mahoney will also share some tips and tricks of the trade from her extensive background in sponsorship, experiential marketing, government relations and communications for festivals and events.
Victoria Mahoney is a marketing, partnerships, and communications specialist with experience in media
relations, event management, social media and government relations. Victoria is the lead on
multiple Harmony Marketing event clients including the Canadian International Airshow, TD
Jerk Fest and Midland Butter Tart Festival and is the co-producer of the Toronto Waterfront
Festival and Sugar Shack TO in Toronto. She was instrumental in bringing the World’s Largest Rubber Duck throughout Ontario in 2017 which secured over 222M earned PR impressions for Toronto’s event alone.
Register HERE
* Note that you can register for one or both sessions.
You can view our previous Festivals and Events webinars on our Experience GMIST YouTube Page!