Media centre
Don Boyle named Chief Executive Officer of Toronto’s Exhibition Place
TORONTO (June 14, 2019) – After an extensive executive search, the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place is pleased to announce that Don Boyle has been named the new Chief Executive Officer of Exhibition Place.
Don joins Exhibition Place after spending twelve years as Chief Administrative Officer in Haldimand County, in South Western Ontario. Over his time there, Haldimand County achieved four credit rating upgrades by Standard and Poor’s and are now ranked 4th in in the Province of Ontario for their municipal financial health. Prior to working in Haldimand County, Don served nine years as Director of Parks, Forestry and Recreation for the City of Toronto from the onset of amalgamation in 1998.
"The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the overall management and leadership of this landmark 192 acre entertainment venue located along Toronto’s waterfront” said Mark Grimes, Chair, Board of Governors of Exhibition Place. "Don brings to this position an appreciation of the complexities, challenges and opportunities Exhibition Place faces and I look forward to working with him as we continue to build on our past successes. Don’s consensus building approach and stakeholder management skills will benefit Exhibition Place."
"I am very excited to join the team at Exhibition Place," said Mr. Boyle. "Toronto is now the fourth-largest city in North America and likely the most diverse and vibrant. Building on the success of Exhibition Place and its stakeholders while maximizing potential synergies with a redeveloped Ontario Place makes this position an incredible career opportunity I felt compelled to compete for."
With new CEO at the helm, Exhibition Place will move ahead in alignment with the City of Toronto’s Master Plan Project, focusing on key development of the Exhibition Place grounds with a cultural and heritage preservation mindset. This year the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place will develop a 5-year Strategic Plan for the site. The forthcoming 2020–2025 Strategic Plan will establish goals and objectives to meet the emerging needs of Exhibition Place and its stakeholders, while the Master Plan will play a significant role in the future of Exhibition Place development and evolution. Both plans will work in conjunction with the on-going revitalization of Ontario Place.
2019 plans for development include the construction of a pedestrian skyway from Beanfield Centre to Hotel X allowing for fully integrated hotel and conference facilities on the grounds. This will continue to amplify Exhibition Place’s position as a sought after venue in the events, conference and trade show industries.
Exhibition Place is a leading destination for exhibitions, conventions, meetings and events - Toronto’s Gathering Place, and a contributor to the economic growth of the City of Toronto.
Don’s progressive leadership, extensive experience building longstanding relationships coupled with his entrepreneurial approach to public services will serve Exhibition Place well. He will assume the role August 12 and report to the Board of Exhibition Place.
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About Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is Canada’s largest entertainment and convention site, attracting over 5.5 million visitors a year. The 192-acre site is an integral component of Toronto and Ontario’s economy, particularly with respect to conventions, sport, festivals, recreation, culture and tourism.
Exhibition Place boasts the award-winning, LEED Gold Enercare Centre; Canada’s largest exhibition and convention centre, and the Beanfield Centre LEED Silver conference venue. Since 2004, Exhibition Place has undertaken an environmental stewardship initiative, entitled GREENSmart; which includes the promotion of sustainable development, environmental initiatives and leading edge green technologies and practices across the site.
www.explace.on.ca, @ExPlaceTO
Mark Grimes
Chair, Board of Governors of Exhibition Place
councillor_grimes@toronto.ca
416-397-9273
The new multi-year plan builds upon a strong foundation of exceeding stakeholders’ accessibility needs
TORONTO (Dec 14, 2018) – Furthering its commitment to ensuring Exhibition Place is responsive to the accessibility needs of its guests, Canada’s largest entertainment venue has released the Exhibition Place Multi-Year Accessibility Plan 2019-2025. This plan coupled with an enhanced focus on serving the needs of customers demonstrates Exhibition Place’s goals to continuously improve and be open to all.
As a City of Toronto public agency, Exhibition Place welcomes 5.5 million visitors to the grounds annually. Echoing the City’s motto “diversity our strength”, Exhibition Place is keen to ensure that all who visit the grounds are afforded the same access. It is through this belief held in the organization’s core values that it fully supports the mission of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) by working closely with members of the community to identify barriers and work to improve or alleviate them at the grounds. This seven year plan also exceeds the government’s normal requirements for a five year plan allowing Exhibition Place to align itself with the Province’s goal of being accessibly by 2025.
“We are passionate about continuing to identify, remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities and becoming a barrier free environment…” said Dianne Young, CEO, Exhibition Place.
Some of Exhibition Place’s new tactics include: the creation of a notice of service disruption on the website when facilities and services are inaccessible; hiring of new Exhibition Place Ambassadors, who themselves have mobility disabilities, as dedicated points of contact for guests attending events at Enercare Centre and Beanfield Centre; making accessible documents available online that can be read by screen readers; ensure emergency, plans and public safety information procedures that consider the needs of individuals with disabilities; updated human rights training made available through in-house continuing professional development.
Guided by its core values: Continuous Improvement; Safe Environment; Respect for People; Place-Making; and Stewardship, and under the execution of the Exhibition Place AODA Implementation Team, the Exhibition Place Multi-Year Accessibility Plan 2019-2025 builds upon the foundation previously by the last multi-year plan to ensure that the needs of employees and visitors are met. By including employees with disabilities or who care for people with disabilities in AODA meetings and planning sessions, Exhibition Place is better able to identify and remove barriers.
To learn more about Exhibition Place’s multi-year accessibility plan, please visit the Accessibility section of the Exhibition Place website.
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About Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is Canada’s largest entertainment and convention site, attracting over 5.5 million visitors a year. The 192-acre site is an integral component of Toronto and Ontario’s economy, particularly with respect to conventions, sport, festivals, recreation, culture and tourism. Exhibition Place boasts the award-winning, LEED Gold Enercare Centre; Canada’s largest exhibition and convention centre, and the Beanfield Centre LEED Silver conference venue. Since 2004, Exhibition Place has undertaken an environmental stewardship initiative, entitled GREENSmart; which includes the promotion of sustainable development, environmental initiatives and leading edge green technologies and practices across the site.
www.explace.on.ca, @ExPlaceTO
Tiffany Moreside
Media Contact
tmoreside@explace.on.ca
416-263-3036
TORONTO (May 1, 2018) – “Collision”, North America’s fastest growing tech conference will be moving to Enercare Centre, Toronto, Canada’s largest exhibition and convention facility for the next three years starting in May 2019.
“We are thrilled to welcome Collision to Enercare Centre in 2019/2020/2021, said Councillor Mark Grimes, Chair, Board of Governors of Exhibition Place. Securing Collision was a truly collaborative effort by Enercare Centre, Tourism Toronto, City of Toronto, Toronto Board of Trade, and the Toronto and regional tech community with the support of the Provincial and Federal Governments; and builds on the existing strength of Toronto’s dynamic tech ecosystem.“
Now in its fifth year, Collision has gone from 5,000 to an expected 25,000 attendees in New Orleans in 2018. Created by the team behind Web Summit, the world’s largest and most influential tech event, Collision attracts CEOs of the world’s largest companies, founders of most exciting startups, leading investors and media, from more than 120 countries.
“We know that the venue’s robust ICT infrastructure, commitment to sustainability and demonstrated success in delivering high profile international events was a key component in this win,” said Dianne Young, CEO, Exhibition Place.
Toronto ranks as the largest tech sector in Canada and the third largest in North America. The sector employs 401,000 people, accounting for 15 per cent of all Toronto jobs and 14 thousand tech companies – outpacing the growth of New York City and San Francisco. Based on that growth rate, Toronto will have more technology jobs than Silicon Valley within two years.
The four-day international tech conference is the umbrella under which 12 other conferences take place over six stages, with sectors including AI, automated and connected vehicles, data, security, design, investment, software development, marketing, music and sustainability.
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About Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is Canada’s largest entertainment and convention site, attracting over 5.5 million visitors a year. The 192-acre site is an integral component of Toronto and Ontario’s economy, particularly with respect to conventions, sport, festivals, recreation, culture and tourism. Exhibition Place boasts the award-winning, LEED Gold Enercare Centre; Canada’s largest exhibition and convention centre, and the Beanfield Centre LEED Silver conference venue. Since 2004, Exhibition Place has undertaken an environmental stewardship initiative, entitled GREENSmart; which includes the promotion of sustainable development, environmental initiatives and leading edge green technologies and practices across the site.
www.explace.on.ca, @ExPlaceTO
About Collision
Collision is the fastest growing tech conference in North America. Now in its fifth year, Collision has gone from 5,000 to an expected 25,000 attendees in 2018. Created by the team behind Web Summit, the world’s largest and most influential tech event, Collision attracts CEOs of the world’s largest companies, founders of most exciting startups, leading investors and media from more than 120 countries.
www.collisionconf.com, @CollisionHQ
Contacts
Laura Purdy
Director, Sales & Marketing, Exhibition Place
lpurdy@explace.on.ca
416-263-3020
Arlene Campbell
General Manager, Sales & Events, Exhibition Place
acampbell@explace.on.ca
416-263-3030
Exhibition Place assists Homeless with Emergency Winter Respite Service
For immediate release
Toronto, ON – December 21, 2017. Following Toronto City Council’s call to action to provide emergency winter respite services for Toronto’s homeless; Exhibition Place, together with our clients, will provide access to a portion of the Better Living Centre to create a temporary Emergency Winter Respite Service.
This temporary Emergency Winter Respite Service, operated by Fred Victor, will provide approximately 80 to 100 spaces to support local community needs from December 21 to February 26; and from March 5 to April 15, 2018. The service will be located in the southeast pod of the Better Living Centre and be separated by a demising wall from the rest of the exhibition hall for the safety and security of all occupants and attendees to the building.
“Exhibition Place is owned by the City of Toronto and is known as the centre for Meetings, Conventions, Exhibitions, and Sporting Events. We are Toronto’s gathering place for the community and business alike. Offering our assistance to provide this Emergency Winter Respite Service for the homeless reflects our historic and ongoing commitment to the local community” said Councillor Mark Grimes, Chair of the Board of Exhibition Place. “I would like to thank our clients who came to the table to assist where they could, by providing a portion of their licensed exhibition space to assist the City of Toronto in accommodating emergency respite services to the City’s most vulnerable homeless.”
The Better Living Centre will continue to be used for our annual exhibition and events clients for shows such as The Toronto International Bicycle Show, Wizard World, The Artist Project and the Canadian National Exhibition.
For information:
Dianne Young
CEO
Exhibition Place
416-263-3611
About Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is Canada’s largest year-round entertainment and convention site, attracting over 5.5 million visitors a year. The 192-acre site is an integral component of Toronto and Ontario’s economy, particularly with respect to conventions, sport, festivals, recreation, culture and tourism. Exhibition Place boasts the award-winning, LEED Gold Enercare Centre; Canada’s largest exhibition and convention centre, and the Beanfield Centre LEED Silver conference venue. Since 2004, Exhibition Place has undertaken an environmental stewardship initiative, entitled GREENSmart; which includes the promotion of sustainable development, environmental initiatives and leading-edge green technologies and practices across the site. Exhibition Place was the 2017 recipient of the “Give Back Award” by the Canadian Association of Exposition Management. www.explace.on.ca @ExPlaceTO
The 4,500 attendees spent Sunday in conference sessions at Enercare Centre before culminating in a lavish gala dinner for all delegates. Over 9000 meals were served in a traditional Chinese culinary style serviced by the exclusive in-house caterer Spectra FS.
With over twenty years in service, Perfect (China) is one of China’s leading direct-sales businesses. In previous years, cities such as Milan, Amsterdam and Los Angeles have hosted the company’s annual event. This was the first Canadian visit for Perfect (China), as the City of Toronto welcomed it’s largest-ever incentive travel group.
“We were so pleased to welcome the delegates from Perfect (China) at Enercare Centre.” said Arlene Campbell, General Manager, Sales & Event Management of Exhibition Place. “With Exhibition Place’s premiere convention centre, ideal location in downtown-west, picturesque grounds and proximity to Pearson International airport, we were a natural match for a group of this magnitude on their first Canadian visit.”
Dianne Young, CEO of Exhibition Place and Chair of the UFI Sustainability Committee stated, “Exhibition Place was delighted to welcome Perfect (China) and their 4500 attendees to the premier meeting place in the City of Toronto. With the dynamic Enercare Centre being a LEED Gold certified building and Allstream Centre a LEED Silver certified conference facility we were able to host this large incentive group in an environmentally sustainable manner.”
About Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is Canada’s largest entertainment venue, attracting over 5.5 million visitors a year. The 192-acre site is an integral component of Toronto and Ontario’s economy, particularly with respect to conventions, sport, festivals, recreation, culture and tourism. Located at Exhibition Place is the award-winning Enercare Centre, Canada’s largest exhibition and convention centre (LEED Gold), and the Allstream Centre (LEED Silver) conference venue. Exhibition Place recently was a major sports and international broadcast venue during the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American games, the world’s third largest multi-sport Games and the 2016 NBA All Star Game Jam Session fan fest in February 2016. Since 2004, Exhibition Place has undertaken an environmental stewardship initiative, entitled GREENSmart; which includes the promotion of sustainable development, environmental initiatives and leading edge green technologies and practices across the site. www.explace.on.ca
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For further information, please contact:
Laura Purdy
Director of Sales and Marketing
416-263-3020
lpurdy@enercarecentre.com