Insider Events – Unfinished Business, The Ottawa Treaty at 20 – Working from Afar

Article written by Marie-Louise Doyle, Doyle and Associates Event Planners

Basic details of the event:

Title: Unfinished Business, The Ottawa Treaty at 20
Date: December 4 and 5, 2017
City, Country: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Host Venue: The Westin Hotel, The Provinces Meeting Room and Foyer

Organizing Team:

• Staff from each of the following organizations made up the Program Team
  • The Halo Trust
  • Mines Action Canada
  • Mag International
• Marie-Louise Doyle was the only person from the Event Management Team

Number of Attendees: 150

Specific Event Questions:

Who was the target audience?

• Prime Minister’s Office
• Minister
• Members of Parliament
• High Commissioners
• Ambassadors

What was the main objective of your event?

The main objective of the event was to check in with Canada on its successes in moving forward with its promise to help reduce and eradicate land mines across the world.

The half-day event brought together parliamentarians, diplomats, civil society, active de-miners and landmine survivors. It aimed to examine the role that the Ottawa Treaty and the clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war plays in addressing the contemporary challenges of women’s empowerment, food security and displacement caused by conflict.

The event was to reflect on the success to date of the Ottawa Treaty but also explore current policy issues relating to its implementation. These discussions included Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy agenda, the new landmine emergency in the Middle East, Ukraine and Myanmar, and the policy change needed to meet the political goal to complete the objectives of the Ottawa Treaty by 2025.

Panel Topics were:

• Panel 1: The Ottawa Treaty and the feminist international assistance policy
• Panel 2: Landmines: Removing lethal barriers to development
• Panel 3: Landmines, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and displacement

The partners were:

• Mines Action Canada (MAC)
• The HALO Trust
• Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
• Handicap International (Canada)
• International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
• Canadian Landmine Foundation
• Canadian Red Cross
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• Landmine Free 2025 Campaign

What was unique/different about this particular event for you/your organization?

What was unique about this event? Hmm, a few things actually. I had never met any of the program team or the lead. I was referred to the primary lead by another client. He emailed me, we chatted, and he said: “You’re hired!” and “Let’s get started, today!”. I work both as an independent, 3rd party planner and as Director, Business Development for MyEventApps and am cautious with my time, but this was such an important event due to the subject matter and because they really did need someone with a strong network I accepted the challenge. Normally, during the RFP process you have the opportunity to meet your prospective client, get to know the program and its objectives, have a chance to be creative. This time, there was no time for any of that process, so what was unique was after 23 years in the business, I knew absolutely nothing about the program, the team or the event six weeks out. We didn’t even have a venue – so I threw caution to the wind and that’s what made it a unique experience/event.

What was the biggest obstacle you/your team had to overcome?

TIME!

What was your biggest triumph?

The biggest triumph was that we pulled it off! Having started very late into the process of planning for the event and knowing who the target demographic was left me worried throughout the planning that no one would be free to attend. We hit our target numbers and not only got the numbers BUT also got the right people in the seats. Hardly any substitutes were in attendance.

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

I think the most innovative thing I did for this team, was the management of my client and their team. Two were based in Ottawa, two were based in Manchester, England and one was based out of Washington, D.C. They had all worked together often, but I was the new kid on the block. I won the gig as a referral, so I had to live up to my own reputation of being a strong leader, efficient with my time and being no-nonsense. It’s dangerous to believe your own press, so the first few meetings were a little choppy, because I didn’t know who anyone was, I didn’t understand the dynamic of this already established international team and I was a little unclear as to the roles everyone played on that team. For them, being focused wasn’t the issue – it was that we had six weeks to pull this event together – and we had to do it, across countries, across time zones and against their very high work demands. So, I taught them how to use Google Sheets and Wiki. One of the team members loved Google Sheets and learned a new tool and used it successfully. Google Sheets allowed all of us, regardless of the hour or battling time commitments, to provide information enabling the rest of us to move forward. I created a set of rules of engagement to ensure that no one obliterated the work sheet or its content accidentally. So, we ended up using Google Sheets as a form of communication and project management. Ultimately, for this team, Google Sheets was extremely innovative and thankfully made my life a lot easier.

What challenges did you have putting the features together?

The biggest challenge was time. Most events are planned at least six months to most often one year out from the event, we had six weeks. The team assumed there would be tones of venue space, but of course, there wasn’t. The Westin Ottawa came through for us, but even then, it was tight. I’ve been parachuted into save events, but rarely have I been pulled in six weeks prior to the event without even a venue. But, we pulled it off – it was a scramble, but we made it happen. Also, because it was so tight, getting the speakers was a challenge, as many #1 picks were busy, but they changed their schedules to accommodate the event – because the topic was so important to them and the program team.