Event profs are very creative thinkers who find ideas that make magic happen because that is their DNA.

CSE Live, produced by Canadian Special Events Magazine, has been the backbone of our industry in Canada for the past 21 years, supporting event professionals and recognizing outstanding achievements in a variety of categories from coast to coast. This boutique event firm was founded by Stacy Wyatt and is an annual pilgrimage for anyone who curates creative, innovative and award-worthy work.

Combined with an experiential trade show and conference, the Canadian Event Awards are always the last evening of the three-day CSE Live and, like most award galas, they roll out the red carpet. Everyone gets dressed to the nines (some coming in limos), and many wait with bated breath to take home the big prize.

When the pandemic hit in March and the show was cancelled, the submissions for the awards had already been collected, judged and were ready to be announced. CSE was not going to let the pandemic take the joy of winning away from anyone. What happened next was purely Canadian strong.

We wanted to prove that events that had taken place for years in venues could be taken virtual with a team, with professionals, with collaboration, enthusiasm, fear of the unknown, risk and for the love of events.

CSE waited to see if this lockdown would blow over, and when it became clear that live events would be cancelled for 2020, they started connecting with industry vendors to help pull together a reimagined virtual gala. After exploring five different virtual platforms and turning all of them down, Jason Koop, VP of sales and marketing at CSE, began conversations with TK Events, who took the opportunity to sponsor so they could share their sophisticated new software—strong enough to run live-streaming parties across the country, entertainment, lounges, photos, slides for presentations and a lot of content and visuals.

From there, they engaged BB Blanc—a well-known AV company that had just built a state-of-the-art warehouse when COVID hit—to stage the show with lighting, sound and enough highly skilled techs to run the backend. Slidepusher, along with Live Media, joined the team to support the technology and streaming components. Working with Slidepusher, CSE designed and delivered high-quality, colorful slides and brought the show to life while ensuring that it also stayed on brand.

The entertainment had to be powerful enough to leave a virtual impression. The Idea Hunter sponsored it all—the emcee, the virtual photobooth, Bacardi (which sponsored the VIP lounge) and lots of Canadian talent that had to be specifically geared to a virtual audience. 

We opened the show with a spoken word poet who gave the most dramatic performance of her career—uncensored, authentic and hair raising. Then a young teen who came from America’s Got Talent sang “You Raise Me Up,” which brought tears to the eyes of many. Next would be an LED bongo and beat boxer performing together for the first time playing “We Are One,” a Bacardi ambassador teaching everyone how to make a cocktail and an eight-member a cappella group who closed out the event with a custom song performed for the first time.

What we did not realize at first was that we were creating an experience that would serve as a model for planners to design, pitch and produce their own events.

The Idea Hunter chose to bring a professional newscaster from one of the networks to emcee the awards because of his experience behind the camera. His delivery was superb, and he was hilarious during the streaming parties while poking fun at anything that could get the crowd laughing.

You can go to school to become an event professional, take an online course or just work your heart out for a few years to understand the dynamics of the industry, but nothing can prepare you for a virtual event like a virtual event. We worked morning, noon and night emailing, texting, calling, complaining, convincing, trusting, trying new things and getting down on our hands and knees begging. Why did we do it? We did it because of our passion for what we love. We did it to see if it could be done. We did it because we wanted to prove that events that had taken place for years in venues could be taken virtual with a team, with professionals, with collaboration, enthusiasm, fear of the unknown, risk and for the love of events. We did it because CSE is deeply committed to the Canadian event industry and they were not going to let the pandemic rob event professionals of their right to celebrate their achievements.

What we did not realize at first was that we were creating an experience that would serve as a model for planners to design, pitch and produce their own events and that it would open up opportunities for all event professionals in Canada and the U.S. Many people have sat back over the last few months waiting, wondering, asking questions, networking with others, learning, taking courses, contemplating and researching all types of virtual platforms along with finding the right AV partners to take on a very different production than normal. We wanted to set the bar high and provide a case study for other event professionals to follow.

Until the night of Tuesday, July 7, no one felt any kind of camaraderie or had seen each other for more than a year. What this award show brought was HOPE, STRENGTH and a sense of COMMUNITY. I was in the studio all night watching the production, watching the team of technicians and the outstanding work that they contributed. The emotion of having others run your show the night of the event is gut-wrenching, yet CSE had no choice but to trust us to do that.  

So after 21 years, a show that had run live annually had one final rehearsal and Wyatt and her team sat back and enjoyed it virtually like everyone else.

Here is what we know. People want to come together and be safe. Short term, the future of events will rely on decentralizing them.

For now, this was a great experience that taught me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

#Eventstrong