Profile article on Humber College website

There have been many accolades for my having won a 2012 FuEL Award last month. I am very humbled and honoured to have my hard work and entrepreneurial undertakings recognized. One of the accolades I received was in the form of a profile piece written by Humber College, at which I am a part-time instructor of Special Event Management.

To read the full profile piece, please click here.

Named Top 20 Under 30!

Today I am very honoured to share that I was named one of Canada's Top 20 Young Entrepreneurs under 30 as part of the 2nd annual FuEL Awards.

This aware comes as an acknowledgement of my entrepreneurial undertakings as they relate to the business I started in 2012, Water-on-Wheels.

For more information about the award announcement, please see the media released that was posted on the WOW blog today.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WOW Founder wins "Top 20 Under 30" Entrepreneurial Award!

It is with great pride that Water-on-Wheels announces today that its Founder Rebecca Cotter was named one of Canada’s Top 20 Young Entrepreneurs as part of the 2nd annual FuEL Awards!

Celebrating Canada's Future Entrepreneurial Leaders (FuEL), the FuEL Awards honour the achievements and aspirations of entrepreneurs under the age of 30.

Nominated for a FuEL Award this past summer, Rebecca is one of only two women from across Canada receiving the award this year.

Ian Portsmouth, Publisher and Editor-in-chief of PROFIT Magazine praises “The winners of the 2012 FuEL Awards [as] a group of bright, determined go-getters who are seizing opportunity in a dynamic marketplace”. Rebecca is honoured to be recognized among this year’s group of outstanding award winners and hopes that through the accolade of her FuEL Award she is able to motivate and engage future entrepreneurial youth.

Rebecca and the other winners of the FuEL Awards are listed at FuELawards.ca and online at PROFITguide.com.

About Water-on-Wheels

Water-on-Wheels (WOW) is an Ontario-based company that provides mobile water refill stations to indoor and outdoor special events across Canada. WOW water stations that connect to existing water sources allowing event patrons access to free drinking water to refill re-usable water bottles onsite at special events. Offering a sustainable alternative to commercially packaged bottled water WOW decreases an event's environmental impact by allowing guests to gain access to water from an existing municipal water source (fire hydrants, hose bibs). Now finishing its second season, WOW is a turn-key staffed service that provides the stations, all necessary water source connections, hoses, and signage necessary to keep people hydrated.

Full coverage of Rebecca and the other winners will appear in the December/January 2012 issue of PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success magazine.

Congratulations to Rebecca and the rest of the 2012 FuEL Awards winners!

I am nominated for a FuEL Award!

I am very pleased to announce my nomination for a FuEL Award as part of the Canadian Future Entrepreneurial Leaders Youth Business Foundation awards program. The FuEL Awards were created to promote entrepreneurship in Canada by identifying forward-thinking role models for youth and illustrating the many benefits of venturing out on one's own.

As you know, I started my business Water-on-Wheels back in 2010 to provide mobile water refill stations to special events across Canada. I am very proud to share that the business has experienced tremendous success and growth over the past two seasons. In April 2012 WOW won the City of Toronto’s Green Award for Water Efficiency. For more information about Water-on-Wheels, please visit our website at http://www.wateronwheels.ca/

I need your help to win! Please support my chances of winning a FuEL Award by voting for me online.

VIEW MY AWARD PROFILE HERE: http://bit.ly/LOLDEA

On the profile page, below the picture and the summary of the business, please click on the ORANGE BOX to VOTE!

PUBLIC VOTES COUNT FOR 20% of the overall profile evaluation. You are able to vote once daily, and I would greatly appreciate your votes as often as you have the opportunity to visit the website. The voting deadline is July 31, 2012.

If selected as a FuEL Award winner I will receive a profile on the FuEL Awards website, an extensive editorial package in the December 2012 issue of PROFIT Magazine, a one-day business consultation with professionals from KPMG Enterprise, and passes to the 2013 PROFIT 200 CEO Summit. Also, if I receive the most votes from the public, Water-on-Wheels will win the People's Choice Award.

Thank you for taking the time to review my request. I greatly appreciate your support!

Please follow WOW on Facebook – www.facebook.com/wateronwheels to stay up-to-date on our progress!

WOW Wins 2012 City of Toronto Green Award!

WOW IS A LIVE GREEN TORONTO AWARD WINNER!

I am so proud to announce that my company Water-on-Wheels was awarded the 2012 Green Toronto Award Winner for Water Efficiency. The award was presented to us at the 2012 Green Living Show on April 13. WOW would like to thank the City of Toronto for acknowledging WOW's dedication to water innovation and providing sustainable hydration solutions!

Check out the great picture of our fancy award! We love it!

Remember to choose Water-on-Wheels as the hydration service provider to your event this season!

My business is up for an award!

I'm really honoured to post that my business Water-on-Wheels is a finalist for a Green Toronto Award in Water Efficiency! Click here to review the company bio on the Green Toronto Awards website!

It's an honour to be nominated in this category with such valuable colleagues - Blue Drinks Toronto and Smart Watering Systems Inc. Each category winner will receive an award and $5,000 to further their work on the environment or donate to an environmental charity, courtesy of award sponsors.

Winners will be announced at the Green Toronto Awards ceremony on Friday, April 13 at 7 p.m. on the Main Stage at the Green Living Show, Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place. The public is welcome to attend and there is no fee for admission so I hope to see some of you in the audience on April 13!

If you're planning an outdoor event this summer - just think, if it's 24 degrees on March 20, how thirsty are your guest going to be in June, July or August? Book your WOW station now to keep your event guest hydrated this summer!

Check out my new logo for Rebecca Cotter Productions!

My new website!

Check out my new website - www.rebeccacotter.ca

I'm pleased to announce that I've started my own event coordination and production business - Rebecca Cotter Productions. Whether you want to hold an event and don't know where to start, or have an event completely developed and require day-of onsite production, RCP's full range of event services will compliment your event and exceed your expectations.

Check out the website for more info and for pictures of the recent events I've done.

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2012

On January 10, 2012 it was my pleasure to do a contract for DanielsStephenson Public Relations and Production and have the opportunity to work the onsite event production of this year's Toronto Film Critics Association Awards. Held at the beautiful Carlu event venue in downtown Toronto the awards were presents for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Male Performance, Best Female Performance, Best Male Supporting Performance, Best Female Supporting Performance, Best Screenplay (Adapted or Original), Best First Feature, Best Documentary and Best Canadian Film as chosen by Toronto's critics. A great gig to work!

I am extremely pleased and excited to announce that on behalf of my company, Water-on-Wheels, I will be leading an education workshop for delegates at the 2012 Festivals and Events Ontario Conference at the Sheraton on the Falls, in Niagara Falls - March 2, 2012!

The workshop, entitled - Going Blue: Eliminating Bottled Water from Your Event - will explore how event coordinators are taking their green initiatives to the next level themselves by providing hydration stations with access to tap water and making their events reusable-bottle and cup friendly. This session will explore the negative environmental impact of disposable plastic bottles at events, the subsequently evolving practices of hydrating guests at events and festivals that have decided to 'ban the bottle', and the impact of bottled water bylaws on festivals and special events across Ontario. We will also discuss unique and innovated ways you can engage sponsors using hydration stations as sponsorable property, and how Water-on-Wheels can help you prove the value of your event's water refilling initiatives.

The workshop will be very helpful and informatiove, it's definitely NOT TO MISS!

Visit the Festivals and Events Ontario website to register for the conference, attend the WOW workshop and visit the WOW booth on the Marketplace tradeshow floor, March 2 and 3rd. See you at the conference!

My latest gig - Toronto Christmas Market

Like Christmas? In the Christmas spirit? Just looking for a great festival in Toronto in December? Stop by the Distillery Historic District and check out the latest event I've been working on - Lowe's Toronto Christmas Market. Likened to the outdoor Christmas markets popular throughout Europe, the Lowe's Toronto Christmas Market is 17 straight days of holiday shopping opportunities, music, entertainment, pictures with Santa, and outdoor fire pits. Each weekend of the Lowe's Toronto Christmas Market the Distillery District is licensed site-wide, so you can stroll the walkways and take in all aspects of the festival while ejnoying a mulled wine or refreshing beer. This has been an extremely interested event to work on, and a great team to work with! See you at the market. Happy holidays!

Humber Et Cetera Newspaper Article Featuring my Students

Check out this week's edition of the Humber Et Cetera campus newspaper featuring a great article about one of my students' class events - @wicket4women - in support of Girls on the Run GTA! If you are in the Finch Ave and Humber College Blvd neighbourhood next Wednesday, please stop by the Gym at Humber College North and supporting the students as they execute their first event!

New Semester - New Events!

I've been opening lots of exciting new doors this fall. I'm back at Humber College teaching two Special Event Management courses in the School of Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism, my students are doing 8 new events that have me extending my event leadership skills to a whole new level, and I've finished my first event season as the Outdoor Events Coordinator at the Distillery District.

This season I've had some great experiences coordinating the District's installations for Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Food Truck Eats, TD Toronto Jazz Festival, Diner en Blanc, and countless others! If you've never experienced the Distillery District, or even if you have, and are looking for new Christmas shopping and entertainment options, check out or Toronto Christmas Market Dec. 2-18, 2011. It's an event not to be missed!

Blue is the new Green

As a member of Festivals and Events Ontario, I had the pleasure of writing an article about events in Ontario that are going bottled water-free for the most recent FEO Newsletter. Enclosed below is a copy of the article that was published today!

GOING 'GREEN' NOW MEANS GOING 'BLUE' FOR MANY FESTIVALS & EVENTS IN ONTARIO

The practice is called Bottled Water Free (BWF), and it's taking the concepts of environmentalism, sustainability and 'being green' to a whole new level. In the event industry BWF is about eliminating the wasteful presence of commercially packaged single-use water bottles from event sites and offering practical and environmentally-friendly onsite hydration solutions that use existing municipal water sources.

The responsibility of keeping event attendees hydrated is an ongoing challenge for event coordinators, especially those planning large public events, festivals, concerts and athletic events. Coordinating water stations at runs, walks, and bike-a-thons can be a significant logistical undertaking especially when it means pouring water from bottles into cups. Meanwhile with the passing of the extended festival liquor licensing in the province of Ontario, at many licensed festivals beer is more readily accessible than water, presenting an array of health and safety concerns for coordinators. The traditional source of hydration, bottled water, can be expensive to supply without a sponsor, and regardless of its origin, single-use bottled water inside an event site has a negative impact on an event's waste management plan.

For these reasons and others, many events across Ontario are choosing to encourage patrons to 'bring-your-own-bottle', and providing free onsite access to sources of municipal drinking water such as drinking fountains, or hydration stations and refill stations that connect to hose bibs or fire hydrants inside the event site. In an ever increasing number of municipalities across Ontario, the BWF concept runs deeper than the environmentally-conscious planning choices of individual event coordinators. Ontario municipalities such as London, Peel Region, Goderich and Blue Mountain, among others, currently have bottled water bans, by-laws, or minimization plans in place aimed at limiting the environmental impact and decommercializing access to water in these communities. As of December 31, 2011 Toronto is expected to complete transitioning in its municipal bottled water ban prohibiting the sale and distribution of bottled water at all remaining City facilities including parks and event spaces. Coordinators with events on City of Toronto property in 2012 will be some of the next in the industry to utilize alternative hydration options at their event sites.

The dedication to going bottled-water-free is also prevalent across college and university campuses such as Fleming College Frost Campus, Queen's University, and Ryerson University and school boards including, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and Waterloo Region District School Board; significantly decreasing the number of single-use bottles present at the multitude of events that occur in these environments. Additionally, campaigns such as Bottled Water Free Day endorsed by a variety of provincial employees' unions and corporations, demonstrate the desire for bottled-water-free corporate events such as conferences, tradeshows and meetings.

Providing patrons with access to free water refill stations positively influences more than just the event's environmental impact. One water refill station connected to a continuous-flow municipal water source such as a hose bib or a fire hydrant can easily provide enough clean, filtered, chilled water to refill over five thousand 500mL reusable bottles in an 8-hour period. Making this quantity (or more with multiple stations) of water available for free to event-goers can significantly decrease the number and severity of dehydration cases presenting at an event's first aid and EMS stations. Additionally, replacing the presence of single-use bottles with refill stations at sporting events and festivals can result in considerable waste management cost savings in the areas of litter picking, waste disposal and recycling charges. Adding value to an event's sponsorable assets, water refill stations can be sponsored by existing event water sponsors or new companies with environmental mandates in exchange for station branding rights and onsite bottle-filling activations.

Bottled Water Free events are emerging as an industry best practice in response to society's expectation that event coordinators continuously evolve and improve their efforts to decrease event waste and provide sustainable alternatives. Water refills stations provide a practical solution to accessing existing hydration infrastructure at event sites and for bringing the water to the people; making blue the new green.

Follow me on Twitter

@wateronwhls - tweeting about the events we are helping make #bottledwaterfree, Toronto event news, event industry trends and news!

First to undertake new festival liquor laws!

I'm proud to say that last weekend (June 25-26) for the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, as part of the Management Team at the Distillery District, I was the first event coordinator in the City of Toronto to undertake the new AGCO extended festival liquor licensing!

Check out the press we received!

We successfully licensed the Distillery District west from Cherry Street to Parliament Street and north to Mill Street, making the entire District a licensed premise. We'll be licensing the District again for the second weekend of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival today (July 1) through 7:00 PM, Sunday, July 3 and are hoping for the same wonderful public response and positive festival environment as last weekend!

Come out and enjoy the Distillery Historic District this long weekend!

GOTR GTA Honours Rebecca Cotter With Their First-Ever Volunteer Recognition Award

At the Girls on the Run GTA Gala helt at The Local Co. this past Wednesday, June 15, I was honoured to recevied the first-ever Volunteer Recognition Award for my ongoing volunteer efforts in support of GOTR. Thank you to the entire GOTR community for their support and for allowing me the opportunity to work with such a wonderful and worthwhile cause!

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Toronto, June 15 – In collaboration with the Girls on the Run GTA Community Challenge, it also launched its first-ever Volunteer Recognition Award to honour someone who lives the lifestyle that supports these same “Acts Of Kindness.” Girls on the Run GTA is pleased to announce that Rebecca Cotter, their Volunteer Run Director, is the recipient of this year’s award.

“This is an exciting week for Girls on the Run GTA. We are thrilled that the Girls on the Run girls are showing their true attributes of being kind and generous social citizens. We are extremely proud of their enthusiasm to all of the Community Acts of Kindness challenges and we thank them for their continued personal growth this week,” said Rina De Donato, Director of Girls on the Run GTA. “As we look at the reasons behind creating our Community Challenge, it became very apparent that we wanted to acknowledge our own “Acts of Kindness” Champion. We are thrilled that Rebecca Cotter, this years’ 5 KM Event Director has been touched by Girls on the Run GTA and we are incredibly proud of her support and her work that she has done on our behalf.”

Ms Cotter, is a professional event co-ordinator and she is currently employed as the Event Coordinator for the Distillery District. . She is also a part-time instructor of Special Event Management in the School of Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism at Humber College. Under her supervision at Humber College, her 40 students have organized several events including an 80’s night, a gently-used shoe drive, a silent auction, and a bingo night to support Girls on the Run GTA.

“Foremost, I am proud to connect with an organization whose only agenda is to promote and empower positive self-esteem, healthy lifestyles and positive self identities in the next generation of girls and young women. I was attracted to the model of the GOTR program, the quality of its curriculum, the dedication of its staff, volunteers and coaches, and the value of the impact the program visibly makes on the participating girls,” said Rebecca Cotter, Girls on the Run GTA Volunteer. “Volunteering with GOTR has been a very personally rewarding experience, and I would encourage individuals looking to get involved in/contribute to a worthwhile youth mentorship/leadership/athletic/character building program to consider supporting GOTR.”

The goal of the program is to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, and physical development. We encourage participants to talk with their family every day about what is going on with them. The 10-week curriculum attempts to help each girl find and stay true to her REAL self.

“Girls on the Run” is best suited for prevention purposes for girls between the ages of 8 and 14 years old. This is a time when young girls are still receptive to what adults have to say -- yet they are beginning to feel the pull of peer pressure. Studies have shown that around the time of 5th grade, girls tend to go to a place that we call “The Girl Box”. The Girl Box is a place where girls feel as if they are valued more for their appearance, who their friends are and what kind of clothes they wear – as opposed to the strength of their character,” said Rina.

The Girls on the Run program combines training to participate in a non-competitive running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts and a community service project. The teams - which consist of 8 to 15 girls - meet two times per week right after school for an hour and a half. For the past six years, Girls on the Run GTA has been providing young girls with the skills that they need to ultimately affect their self-esteem, their self-worth and their outlook on the world.

I've joined the FEO Supplier Advisory Council

As the owner of www.wateronwheels.ca I have joined the Festivals and Events Ontario Supplier Advisory Council - a group of FEO supplier members dedicated to shaping and growing the supplier presence within the FEO organization and improving the benefits offered by the organization to supplier members and general suppliers to the events industry.

There are lots of great ideas on the Council on how to diversify and improve FEO supplier awards, recognition, association value and the presence of suppliers at the FEO Convention and Tradeshow. I am hugely looking forward to being a part of this wonderful team and being able to contribute to the professional excellence of suppliers in the industry!

Girls on the Run 2011 - June 11, 2011

As the volunteer Run Director for Girls on the Run GTA, a not-for-profit organization that promotes healthy living and positive lifestyles in girls aged 8-14, I am getting SUPER excited for our annual 5K run, this Saturday at Downsview Park! With over 1200 girls enrolled in the program, under the encouragement and support of 307 wonderful coaches + approximately 650 support runners who will be running with the girls at 10AM on Saturday, this year's run is going to be the biggest and the best yet!

We're hoping for great weather - but after 12 years of running in the rain, we're prepared for anything! The logistics are in place, the route is great, and the training is almost complete. I am proud to have connected with Girls on the Run - an organization whose only agenda is to promote and empower positive self-esteem, healthy lifestyles and positive self identities in the next generation of girls and young women. I was attracted to the model of GOTR program, the quality of its curriculum, the dedication of its staff, volunteers and coaches, and the value of the impact the program visibly makes on the participating girls. As I become more involved in volunteering for the organization I drew a deeper connection from the inclusive nature of how the organization is expanding the program; increasing the number of sponsorship schools in the program to ensure access to the program is available to girls who may otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in such advantageous extracurricular programs. I believe in the lessons the program teaches and I have had the opportunity to see the benefit of the program delivered first-hand to the girls.

I would encourage individuals looking to get involved in/contribute to a worthwhile youth mentorship/leadership/athletic/character building program to consider supporting GOTR and coming out to cheer on the girls on June 11 at Downsview Park. See you there!

My Humber College students raised $1,895 for charity

A huge congratulations to the Hospitality & Tourism Opeartions Management post-diploma students in the Special Event Management class I teach at Humber College, who raised a total of $1,895 for Girls on the Run GTA through the efforts of their student events.

Students in my HTOM 511 class had the opportunity to take the Special Event Management theories and best practices they learn in class and apply their knowledge and build their skills through planning and executing one of four Class Events. In groups of between 9 and 11 people, each Class Event executed the planning elements they learned in class this semester and hosted an event to raise money for Girls on the Run GTA. The events included a Charity Bingo tournament, a 80's theme night at a local pub, a Silent Auction, and a Running Shoe Charity Drive.

In a mere 15 weeks these Hospitality & Tourism students were taught the fundamentals of event coordiantion, and took their skills to the real world very successfully!

About Girls on the Run GTA - Girls on the Run GTA is a registered charity organization that runs an extra-curricular healthy-living and life skills program for girls aged 8-14 in elementary schools across the GTA. Successful in combating key social issues including obesity and bullying in today’s youth Girls on the Run operates strictly as the result of grants, donations, fundraising and the fees raised through hosting their running program. For more information about Girls on the Run GTA, visit: http://www.girlsontherun.ca/.

Celebrate Ontario Announces 2011 Grant Recipients

The province of Ontario has announced the recipients of 2011 grant funding through its Celebrate Ontario initiative. Check out the list of 2011 winners online. I'm proud to announce that the grant application I submitted for Downsview Park's Trail of Lights while working in my previous role as Programs & Events Supervisor for Downsview Park, received $75,000 - its maximum eligible funding. Congratulations to all grant winners!