INDIGENOUS TOURISM ALBERTA (ITA) HYBRID ROADSHOW SUMMIT 2020

Main Services: Event Design & Management | Conference Design & Management | Virtual & Digital Production

Always Included: Experience Design | Project Management | Program Strategy | Creative Strategy | Health & Safety

Key Elements: Entertainment Management | Food & Beverage Management | Speaker Management | Content Creation | Speaker Management

The Indigenous Tourism Alberta (ITA) Roadshow Summit took place over two days in two Alberta locations, with the Virtual Summit several weeks later over two days for a larger audience. During the height of COVID-19 we needed to ensure extra health and safety measures and logistical planning to provide and maintain an exception and safe guest experience.

The purpose of this multi-day hybrid summit was to highlight the social and economic benefits of Indigenous tourism in Alberta, teach tourism industry partners how to work with Indigenous communities, and educate stakeholders on how to tell the Indigenous story and market these experiences to domestic and international travellers.

The Experience

In-Person Summit
The Roadshow Summit took place over two days at Métis Crossing in Smoky Lake and the following week at the Grey Eagle Hotel & Conference Centre in Calgary.

An in-person event during the pandemic meant safety was top of mind. Both events featured a mixture of outdoor and indoor spaces to allow for social distancing. A COVID-19 self-assessment was sent to all participants 24-hrs before the event to ensure all guests were symptom-free. Masks were mandatory for all participants, venue staff, and suppliers and a safety consultant was on-site to take temperatures and provide individual bottles of hand sanitizer.

To eliminate waste and touch points individual tent cards were placed at each participant's seat with a QR code to access the program and a space to write their name. Participants enjoyed a day of combined keynotes, panel discussions, and breakout sessions. During lunch participants were asked to stay seated to enjoy a cultural dance performance showcasing the local nation, during which they were delivered individually-packaged meals created with local ingredients.

Aesthetically, it was important to establish the ITA brand. Clean minimalist banners were used to indicate one-way traffic and punctuate the space with all other colours kept neutral and natural.

Virtual Summit
Due to the limited capacity available at the two Roadshow summits, the Virtual Summit was intended to cater to those who were unable to make it to one of the in-person events and to reach a broader audience.

The virtual platform used was chosen due to its ability for guests to network with each other. There was a general chat in the event “lobby” as well as a Networking tab where guests could either have a one-on-one chat or video discussion with another attendee, or join one of 8 video networking groups of up to 25+ attendees. There was also an Artisan Marketplace built into the platform wherein attendees could connect directly with Artisans and view and purchase their handicrafts.

Content included a mix of keynote, breakout, and panel sessions that were a mix of recordings from the roadshow summits as well as live only for the virtual event. The decision to have both prerecorded and live sessions was so attendees felt like they were able to experience a taste of what they missed at the in-person event, but also so it didn’t feel like they were simply watching a recording.
Whizbang Moment[s]

During the evening virtual networking event Indigenous Chef and educator, Scott Iserhoff did a cooking demo where he prepared potato pancakes live on the virtual platfrom. You could almost taste them through the screen!

Oh, and zero cases of COVID-19!

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INDIGENOUS SPEAKERS

IN-PERSON

ATTENDEES

COMMUNITY

UNITED

Mackenzie Brown

Indigenous Tourism Alberta

“e=mc² helped our organization host two successful, in-person, socially distanced outdoor summits and a virtual summit. The team was professional, culturally sensitive and took all COVID precautions into place. They went above and beyond with their customer service. We highly recommend e=mc² for any event."