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.

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@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!