Events in a Changing World
I’m delighted to be a part of the Canadian Special Events & Meetings Expo …more on that later. As we all know, there are tremendous challenges facing Canadian event & meeting planners today. Along with events, inbound conventions and meetings are being scaled back or canceled all together. The CSEME show, scheduled from March 25-27, 2009 in Toronto, has responded to these issues by focusing all of its education and exhibit floor design to offer attendees and suppliers the tools and information they need to succeed in these times.
The first change at the international event is the green initiative. CSEME09 has partnered with Toronto’s Innovolve Group, Fashion Takes Action, Third Eye Media and It’s Personal, planners of the Eco Weddings & Lifestyle Show, to act as consultants and marketing partners to increase awareness of the conference, speak with attendees and to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the event itself.
Keynote speakers include Dr Anthony Watanabe PHD, President of Innovolve Group Toronto and a front runner in merging economic and environmentalism, Lori Hill, a Washington DC based expert on sustainable planning and Kenneth Kristoffersen CEM, CSEP a multi award winning Canadian event designer who has been on the cutting edge of creating CSR impact events for his fortune 500 clients with amazing results.
In addition to the Environmental issues, education sessions and discussion groups at CSEME focus on affordable planning, leveraging volunteer experience, raising money in this climate, marketing in tough economic times and a full day intensive workshop on Sustainable event planning and CSR. The exhibitors have also been urged to be as eco friendly as possible and a green booth will be judged and awarded by a panel of experts. The event also features 4 fully designed GREEN theme rooms on display. Post event MTCC will be having the event audited for official green certification.
The 3 day event wraps on March 27th with the Annual Canadian Event Industry Awards, the Oscars of the special event industry produced by Canadian Event Perspective Magazine and Eclectic Events Intl at One King West. The theme of this years gala is Simply Brilliant and will be an example to the 250 international event planners of what a Green Awards Gala is all about.
The Tradeshow
Roam the show floor at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on March 26th from 11 AM to 6:00 PM and Explore over 110 unique & creative event exhibits, interact with the most creative And cutting edge planners and suppliers who have the products and tools to help you plan the best events possible for your company or organization.
Be captivated by cutting edge Entertainment showcases on the main stage
. HUNDREDS OF INSPIRING IDEAS,
. FREE 30 minute mini seminars running from 2- 6 on the industry’s hottest topics
. Over 75 UNIQUE EXHIBITS,
. SPECTCUALR THEME DISPLAYS,
. The Freshest ideas in corporate catering
. Tour FOUR designed GREEN Theme Rooms
Drop me a line if you will be attending the event. I hope to see you out there!
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
President – ISES Toronto
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