Item - 2021.EP17.9

The Board of Governors of Exhibition Place:

1.  Received the report (March 30, 2021) from the Chief Executive Office, Exhibition Place for information.

Exhibition Place has a 96-seat presentation theatre within the Enercare Centre since the facility was constructed in 1997. Over the past 24 years, the theatre has undergone regular maintenance and upgrades under our state of good repair.

Since March 2020, the global pandemic has forced mass gathering events to be cancelled until further notice. The traditional face-to-face interactions that are the cornerstone of the meeting, convention, and exhibition industry has been decimated due to the pandemic, and organizers have been forced to utilize technology to simulate interpersonal engagement. In order for meetings, conferences and conventions to survive, to make it to a post-pandemic period, the industry has utilized a variety of virtual platforms to maintain business continuity. 

Exhibition Place has recognized the client need for a broadcast studio, which provides multiple functions for our clients; the ability during the pandemic for clients to record, and broadcast content for their online virtual events, and post pandemic clients can use the broadcast studio to pre-record content for promotional use and customer engagement. When the exhibitions and convention industry resumes later in 2021, we anticipate that our clients will plan hybrid-events, a combination of live in person and streamed content on virtual platforms. Having the ability to offer our clients a combination of physical and virtual space will further support their businesses and increase engagement of their audience. Exhibition Place worked cooperatively with Encore, our official AV Supplier, and our IATSE production employees on this initiative.

The studio will be re-branded, and launched with a promotional sales campaign.