Issue #141 | January 16, 2024
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EXCLUSIVE IN THE TORONTO STAR |
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Happy New Year, Team! We're starting off 2024 on high note with an exclusive feature about ExPlace published in the Toronto Star (print, online and e-edition) that generated a total of 14.5 million potential impressions!
Our CEO, Don Boyle spoke with Clarrie Feinstein and shared his vision to make Exhibition Place a 365-days-a-year hotspot.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AT EXPLACE |
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Exhibition Place is proud to be hosting the following events:
- Toronto International Boat Show – January 19 to 28 in Enercare Centre
- The Motorcycle Show – February 16 to 28 in Enercare Centre
- I Heart Beer – February 17 in Enercare Centre
- National Home Show – March 8 to March 17 in Enercare Centre
- Cann Expo – March 22 to March 24 in Enercare Centre
- Planted Expo Toronto – March 23 to March 24 in Enercare Centre
- One of A Kind Spring Show – March 27 to March 31 in Enercare Centre
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TORONTO INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW |
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Paddle boarding on the lake |
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Complimentary Tickets for Staff
Show management has kindly provided complimentary tickets to the Toronto International Boat Show. These are available on a first come, first served basis. Please contact Jen Foster at [email protected] to get your tickets. If you wish to attend the show this weekend, please request and pick up your tickets by end of day on Thursday.
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Toronto International Boat Show features the world’s largest indoor lake? In case you hadn’t heard, we convert the hockey rink in the Coca-Cola Coliseum into a temporary lake by installing a flexible liner and pumping in water! This requires a permit from the city for filling, which is done via an external fire hydrant and two feeds from inside the arena, and a second permit for pumping the water out to a local sanitary drain. In total, 3078 cubic meters or 677,065.3 imperial gallons of water are required to fill the lake, which features a ton of fun programming over the course of the show.
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The first Canadian Boat Show (now the Toronto International Boat Show) took place from February 6 to 14, 1959 in the Queen Elizabeth Exhibit Hall. The Toronto Daily Star declared it the “FINEST DISPLAY of boats and marine equipment ever assembled in Canada.” Admission was fifty cents and show highlights included:
- Lorna Anderson, a stenographer, and avid water skier from the Bay of Quinte, was named Miss Boating.
- Dr. Bernard Willinsky, Chief Surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital, was honoured by the Canadian Boating Federation for his improved life jacket design; and,
- Daily musical performances featuring CBC stars “Our Pet” Juliette Sysak and Lorraine Foreman.
The inaugural show featured 175 boats and 170 exhibitors, but due to the ceiling height in the exhibit hall, the show was unable to accommodate sail boats. They resolved this by moving the show to the Automotive Building the following year.
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Performance reviews for 2023 were rolled out in mid-December to the Reviewing Managers. Managers will set up meetings to review your performance and set goals for 2024. Historical reviews are available as of last year; you can review or download your Performance Review for 2023.
All 2023 reviews must be finalized by March 1, 2024. A quick reference on the performance dashboard can be downloaded from the intranet or accessed on ADP; login in, go to Home and to your top right you can downloaded the quick references.
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SUSTAINABILITY AT THE 90TH UFI GLOBAL CONGRESS |
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Laura Purdy, GM, travelled to Las Vegas in early November to attend the 90th UFI Global Congress. UFI is the global association of the Exhibition Industry. As reported in the November staff newsletter, Laura serves on the UFI Board of Directors and the Executive Committee and is the inaugural Chair of the newly established North American Chapter of UFI. |
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At the Congress, Laura was a panelist with Julie Pazena, Nevada State Senator and District 12 Chair, Natural Resources, and spoke about Exhibition Place’s sustainability journey and how our industry partners can all play a roll in addressing climate change. Laura credits Mark Goss and his team for their innovation and hard work over the last 20+ years; we have them to thank for putting us on the map and setting the standard for our global industry. Way to go, Green Team! You make us proud!
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Smart Commute is hosting Winter Commute Month from Thursday, February 1 to Thursday, February 29. This year’s program features the Winter Commute Month Contest (you could win a $100 gift card!), a Cycling in All Weather Conditions Webinar (hosted by Cycle Toronto), and a community Coldest Day of the Year Ride (cycling).
for a chance to win one of five $100 gift cards!
Learn more about For more information on the Coldest Day of the Year Ride on February 10th here.
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Congratulations to Chi Duong!
We are thrilled to announce that Chi completed her CEM (Certified in Exhibition Management) designation in December and was welcomed into the CEM fold at the CAEM Holiday Luncheon in December. Congratulations, Chi! We are so proud of you.
New Purchasing Software
We are implementing our integrated purchasing software, Workplace (by PairSoft) and will be integrating this with our ERP system GreatPlains.
Here are a few reasons we're moving away from RPGS to PairSoft:
- Reduce manual tasks and streamline invoice processing.
- Able to save all documents with Microsoft GreatPlains, our ERP system making easy to retrieve.
- Better analytics and reporting.
- Better Peer 2 Peer (P2P) communication throughout the procurement and payment process.
- Management of full procurement process including payment under one system.
Our old system RPGS is not being supported by the City as they move to SAP, this was an opportunity for ExPlace to implement an integrated solution to create greater efficiency.
Training has been scheduled for January for those that will be using Pairsoft.
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NEW YEAR'S EVE DRONE SHOW AT EXPLACE |
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Exhibition Place partnered with Illumin and Hotel X to deliver an amazing 8-minute drone show to the public on New Year’s Eve.
This was the largest New Year’s Eve drone display in Canada to date, involving 400 drones flying 400 feet above the Princes' Gates! Exhibition Place staff worked quickly to plan and deploy this event in under two weeks.
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WHAT'S NEW IN FACILITY SERVICES |
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Since just before the holidays, the Facility Services department has seen a few new faces at the top of our Genie boom lifts. Led by Rudy McPherson, a two-week training program for Sign & Banner Hanging has been implemented to deepen our roster of staff who can perform this work.
The Facility Services department is excited to kick off the year with the Toronto International Boat Show and the many events coming later this year.
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Other Facility Services projects included refurbishing the flooring tile between the two escalators in the Galleria at Hall A to remove stains and resurface. It took two weeks to remove the old wax, rebuff and reseal. The staff in this photo were with the contractor for this work, THOR. We love our sparkly new floors! |
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Concrete floors in Heritage Court were also repaired over the holidays. Chips in the concrete were a cosmetic issue and a potential trip hazard. This Carpentry Department took off all damaged areas and poured new concrete, then the Painting Department painted over the new concrete to make the same color. This photo features Edward Ishida of Carpentry. Thanks for the great work, Edward! |
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The Staff holiday party in December was a huge hit. Our team attended in record numbers, the food from OVG was incredible, and a good time was had by all. Thank so much to Debbie Sanderson and all her helpers for their hard work on set up and tear down after the event. The event was more beautiful than ever before – it takes a village!
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We are thrilled to welcome the following new staff to the Exhibition Place Team:
- Lily Ng, Transportation Support Representative
- Mike Medeiros, Facility Coordinator
- Lexi Ramjass-Spicer, Production Assistant
- Andrew Brodkin as the Manager of Production Services
We’re so happy to have you on board! As well, the following staff have been promoted to other positions. Congratulations on these well-deserved promotions.
- Aracelly Delgadillo, Senior Account Executive, Association
- Rocco Giorgio, Grounds & Fleet Coordinator
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