Like all Exhibitors in the Virtual Show – we are learning how to understand our Statistics and Attendance at the Virtual Show (aka Analytics).

We do not need to tell you that exhibiting at an In-Person Show is very different than a Virtual Show. And its completely different being the Show Producer. We are learning just like you.

Here are some updated statistics to share with you, as of show closing on Saturday evening:

Registrations by Attendees so far: 34,164 (# of individual people who have Registered to Attend the Show)

Attended Unique: 24,595 (# of individual people who have attended the show so far, during the first 6 days, counted 1 time even if they attended multiple days)

Total Attendance: 42,208 (# of attendees cumulative; this is comparative to attendees who come to the in-person show more than 1 day; if an attendee comes to the show on Saturday, Sunday, Monday – it counts as 3 in Total Attendance).

Virtual Show – Page Views: 1,113,800 views. Over 1.1 Million pages views in 6 days.

Seminar Attendance: 16,795 (# of attendees viewing and participating in seminars over the first 6 days. Attendees in this statistic are counted each time they attend a unique seminar)

More on Seminar Attendance: Attendees per seminar are ranging from 75 to 500. Most seminars are seeing 200 – 300 in each session. Some much higher; some a bit lower.

Boat A Boat & Win Entries: 216 (# of Boat Buyers that have entered their purchase in the Contest to Win $10,000) Reminder – entries for boat sales to qualify are accepted until 1 day following the close of the Virtual Show (6pm on Monday, January 25, 2021).  Attendees may enter on their own, or Dealers may enter on their behalf. Duplicates are eliminated from the entries. ANY BOAT purchased qualifies: New, Used, Big, Small. Boats under $10,000 can spend the remainder of the balance, outfitting their boat with products and accessories.

The next Exhibitor Newsletter will be POST SHOW. It will include updated final statistics & analytics, plus a post show survey to get your feedback, ideas, and suggestions. It will be sent early this week.

On Sunday (tomorrow), we will be in the process of gathering some preliminary feedback on Exhibitor’s experiences with the Virtual Toronto Show. 

If you have any comments that we could include in the post show press release, please let us know – we would genuinely appreciate hearing from you for inclusion in the post show release:

Linda Waddell lwaddell@canadianboatshows.com 905-951-4051

Cynthia Hare chare@canadianboatshows.com 905-951-4054

Friendly Reminder – the Virtual Toronto Boat Show platform will remain open for 6 months following the close of the Live Virtual Show at 5pm on Sunday night. The functions of the platform that have a Live perception to them will be hidden (Chat, Video Chat, Schedule a Meeting). 

The tab to contact Exhibitors by “Email” will remain active for 6 months following the show. Also, all of your content will be accessible if you would like to change or revise products, specials, brochures, videos, descriptions, etc. 

The Toronto Boat Show will continue to promote the Virtual Platform to consumers. We will be communicating direct access to exhibitors and your products for 6 months, through the spring and peak boating season. The seminars have all been recorded and will be available On Demand for attendee viewing.

The Virtual Toronto Boat Show's PR campaign has generated quality coverage across the GTA, Ontario, and beyond! 

A press release “Innovations, Trends and New Products” was distributed on Opening Day, generating coverage in community newspapers across Ontario including Metroland Media (Muskoka Region, North Bay Nipissing, and Parry Sound). 

Online articles also appeared in the Burlington Gazette, Markham Review, Peel Region Review, North Bay Today, Orillia Matters, Bradford, Barrie, Newmarket, Thunder Bay, and Midland newspapers – many of whom also shared on their social media platforms. Boating magazines and websites have also been very supportive in promoting the virtual show to their audiences including Canadian Yachting, Boats & Places, Power Boating, Ontario Sailor, Lake Simcoe Living, Scuttlebutt , and Quebec Yachting among others.

Online coverage also appeared on BNN.com, TO Times, Rudy Blair podcast, and Curiocity; and awareness reached outside of the province, with a feature segment on CBC Calgary’s afternoon drive show, The Homestretch. 

Radio interviews with Show Director Linda Waddell have aired across stations in the GTA and out-of-town including 680News, Newstalk 1010, The Wolf (Peterborough), 107.7 FM (Stratford), Dock FM (Simcoe County), and syndicated across Moose FM’s 15 regional stations including Muskoka, Timmins, Parry Sound, and Haliburton to name a few).  

Listen to Dave Trafford share his Boat Show memories with Linda Waddell on Newstalk 1010.

A press release on the exhibitor survey results was distributed to media on Thursday to generate interest for the last weekend of the show, and to anchor the second phase of PR to drive the urgency of supply vs. demand. The survey stats helped to secure additional radio interviews on AM800 (Windsor), Newstalk 1010 with Ted Wolosyhn, and weekend business feature on 680News; and online coverage in Yahoo, Muskoka411, Canadian Business Journal and more.

As well, CTV’s Pat Foran interviewed Linda Waddell and boat show exhibitors to highlight the growing demand for boats, and outlook for 2021. The feature segment on Consumer Alert aired Thursday on CTV Toronto and CP24, as well as on CTV Barrie, Northern Ontario, London, Kitchener , Ottawa, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Montreal, and even made it on the evening news in CTV Calgary and CTV Vancouver Island.

A half-page story was published in today’s weekend edition of the Toronto Star. “featuring the Virtual Toronto Boat Show, exhibitor survey, and various interviews on the demand for boating, and how more Canadians are choosing to spend their money on boating and recreational activities instead of vacationing, in light of the pandemic.  An article was also syndicated in the Hamilton Spec.

Read the Toronto Star article:

If you have additional staff you would like to receive this newsletter, please email Wendy McCarroll, wmccarroll@canadianboatshows.com.

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