Insider Events – 150th Anniversary Celebration

Article written by Darlene Kelly-Stewart, Stonehouse Sales & Marketing Services

Title: 150th Anniversary Celebration
Date: Fall 2016, a day late in October, 8am–3pm
City, Country: Ottawa, Canada
Host Venue: Various locations in Ottawa, including Billings’ Estate and Bekta Fine Dining
Organizing Lead:  Stonehouse Sales & Marketing Services as contracted by Wolfworks Communications. Stonehouse and Wolfworks collaborated on concept and logistics, working with direction from the client on celebrating the Anniversary of a company one year older than Canadian Federation.
Number of Attendees: 40-50 Local employees, Invited Guests and Senior Management

What is the main objective of your events?

To provide a full day program of interesting activities that celebrated the 150 year Anniversary of the company. Provide an experience that would be memorable to all participants, provide a diverse but connected program recognizing the milestones of achievement over the lifetime of the company.

Who is the target audience?

Participants included union staff, management and senior management from Canada and senior management from abroad. All participants had varying terms of service with the organization.

What is unique/different about these particular events for you/your organization?

The nature of the celebration was to mark the 150 year lifespan of the company. The event needed to provide the context and contributions of the company throughout its history.

What is the biggest obstacle you/your team have to overcome?

The biggest hurdle was making a great first impression on the participants. Other than being told they would be away from work for the entire day, they had no idea what was planned. We had to get the participants to buy into the concept of a “Time Machine” that would take them in and out of historical moments for their company and for Canada. We needed to achieve this within minutes of the group being corralled and ready for departure, all while maintaining the time travel surprises throughout the program day.

What was your biggest triumph?

Our biggest triumph was finding the right suppliers who could see and understand our vision of how the day would unfold, how their part was integral in the overall plan for time travel and leveraging the company history to provide the best experience for the guests. We knew if the suppliers had an understanding of the premise, that their contribution could be as authentic as possible.

Did you do anything new or innovative? If so, how did it go?

Our search to make the day happen was in creatively matching fact with fiction, using the city of Ottawa, various landmarks and historical figures to tell the story of the company. We researched the company founders and milestones, made some assumptions and commissioned several actors to portray prominent citizens, politicians and storytellers to participate in the day and matched these performances in historically feasible locations around the city. We hired a travelling MC in character of a Native Guide to link the events from the Time Machine (ok – it was a motor coach). We infiltrated a secret pre-confederation meeting with the company founders and young Sir John A. Macdonald at the Billings’ Estate; the guests were brought into the performance as willing participants in the plan for the company and the country. We went back and forth in time and visited several sites where their office facilities had been located around Ottawa; some of the employees had actually remembered working in these locations and shared memories when we reached the sites. Our Time Machine travelled through older parts of Ottawa and our MC provided the history of the locations, landmarks and neighbourhoods relative to the company and historic Ottawa. We lunched at Grant House (Bekta Fine Dining) to celebrate the company’s “25th Anniversary” with the guest of honour, the Prime Minister of the Day who reflected on that secret meeting so many years ago. We were brought back to reality with the presentation of mementos celebrating the 150 years of the company; the Time Machine faced current day traffic to return everyone safe and sound to their office location.

What challenges did you have putting the features together?

In planning the event, it really was critical to have the decision makers understand the concept and be open to the free flow of the experience on the day of the event. Commissioning the performance pieces and providing enough research for the actors to include relevant and accurate facts in their dialogue but also understanding that there were Improv moments that would just happen. We also needed to work with timing to be sure we were not running too fast or slow for the performances in their specific locations. Also in consideration of the performances, all the other components needed to be flawlessly arranged and organized and executed from menu concepts, décor, commemorative gifts, gift wrap, logistics of the historic route around Ottawa, loading and unloading the bus, parking, accommodation for performers, photographer to costume changes and swapping a young Sir John A. Macdonald for an older one.

Matt Donovan as young Sir John A. Macdonald

Brian & Renée Porter as Sir John A. Macdonald and wife Agnes

Outcome

This day-long celebration was several months in the making. The end result was excellent. The employees were surprised and really took to the concept well. It was a relaxing day filled with interesting stories, they were not asked to do anything physical or uncomfortable just enjoy the experience. The performers were very skilled and incorporated Canadian history and doses of the company history with enough plausible circumstance and humour that it could have happened that way. The facilities we selected enjoyed playing their part in the celebration and delivered their services with excellence. Several days following the event, our primary contact provided some very positive feedback on what a truly different program we provided and that the employees were really engaged by their day in the Time Machine. She also shared that the senior management and international guests had a new appreciation for not just Ottawa but also for the history of the company and for Canada.

 Article compiled by Jill Garner, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

Article edited by Cynthia Beaudin, Canada Foundation for Innovation