Pink Ponies: Check out this video!

This Youtube video was recommended to me by a student in the Special Event Management class I teach at Humber College. It is a fantastic case study about planning a young girl's birthday pary. This video demonstrates perfectly the importance of knowing your audience, using emerging social media for event marketing, and building an event that not only attracts but retains your guests. It goes to show that your event doesn't need to have a huge budget or thousands of guests to be a success. Check it out!

My Online Portfolio

I've created an electronic online portfolio that showcases pictures of events I've coordinated and highlights my professional event coordination resume in greater detail. Feel free to browse through my pictures!

www.krop.com/rebeccacotter/portfolio/

Instructor of Special Event Management at Humber College

I have joined the part-time faculty in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism at Humber College as the instruction of Special Event Management in the Hospitality and Tourism Operations post-diploma program.

Check out my bio featured on the Humber College website here: http://hospitality.humber.ca/content/rebecca-cotter-0

I'm looking forward to sharing my experience with budding event coordinators!

VISIT WATER ON WHEELS AT THE 2011 FEO CONFERENCE

The company I launched earlier in 2010, Water-on-Wheels (http://www.wateronwheels.ca/) will be featured as an exhibitor at the 2011 Festival & Events Conference Marketplace on March 3rd & 4th at the Hilton Suites Toronto/Markham Conference Centre.

Come and speak with us, see our set-up, sample our environmentally-friendly water bottle refill service, and receive a discount coupon to use when you book Water-on-Wheels at your event in 2011.

Water-on-Wheels is committed to assisting events decrease their environmental impact by providing water refilling stations that help decrease the presence of harmful plastic water bottles at event sites. Stop by the Water-on-Wheels booth at the FEO Marketplace where we will be showcasing our refill stations and our helpful staff will be onsite to answer your questions and take bookings for 2011.

Looking forward to meeting you at the conference!

Appointed Race Director for Girls on the Run GTA

After two years of working with Girls on the Run GTA (GOTR), http://girlsontherun.ca/, in various capacities I am pleased to undertake the role of Race Director for the 2011 "It's Cool to Be Me" 5K Race on June 11, 2011.

Girls on the Run Greater Toronto Area is a life-changing, charitable non-profit prevention program for girls in the 3rd through 8th grade that promotes its mission "to educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living." through training for a 5K running event with healthy living education. GOTR programs instill self-esteem and strong values through health education, life skills development, mentoring relationships, and physical training - all of which are accomplished through an active collaboration with girls and their parents, schools, volunteers, staff, and the community.

Check out the GOTR website for more information about this valuable program, http://girlsontherun.ca/. If you'd like to volunteer with the GOTR race, email me at cotter.rebecca@hotmail.com - we're always looking for running enthusiasts and people looknig to make a positive impact on their community.

Water-on-Wheels - Making your event bottled water free!

In 2010 I started a business called Water-on-Wheels (WOW), wateronwheels.ca, that provides mobile water refill stations to events and festivals across Ontario. Water-On-Wheels stations connect to existing municipal water sources to provide event guests with the opportunity to refill their re-usable water bottles onsite at events.

Water-on-Wheels meets the growing bottled-water-free trend in the event industry. Having a WOW water station at your next event, festival, concert, or sporting event is a great way to decrease the event's environmental impact and improve its sustainable initiatives. WOW stations allow guests to re-fill their reusable water bottles for free thereby helping to decrease or eliminate the presence of commercially-packaged bottled water at your event.

WOW stations are great for indoor and outdoor events, athletic competitions, concerts, and public festivals. Having a fully-staffed WOW station at your next event is economical and environmentally friendly.

Visit the WOW website for more information wateronwheels.ca/ or to book a WOW station email me at bookings@wateronwheels.ca.

Vancouver 2010: Whistler Medals Plaza

For the 17 days of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics I had the extreme fortune of being an official VANOC volunteer with the Event Services Team at the Whistler Medals Plaza in Whistler BC. As a Host on the Event Services Team I performed multiple roles related to crowd management, access control and the spectator experience including: reading and interpreting accreditation, assisting customers through pedestrian screening areas, greeting and providing directions, ripping or scanning tickets (competition venues), attending to seating areas and assisting with emergency situations.

Without a doubt, the opportunity to be involved with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was an event coordination experience I will never forget.