MB Produces Another Successful Ottawa Event

After months of careful and dedicated planning, Marketing Breakthroughs produced the 26th Annual Gold Plate Dinner on Tuesday June 14, 2011.


Marketing Breakthroughs' Steve Klein has been the volunteer Executive Producer of this unique Ottawa event since 2008, providing event production and design expertise. This year proved to be one of the most successful years ever with nearly 600 attendees.

Now in its 26th year, the Gold Plate Dinner is a gala fundraiser with proceeds going to the Hellenic Community of Ottawa and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. The Gold Plate Dinner is a unique and exciting gala on Ottawa's fundraising dinner landscape, due in part to the traditionally unconventional "elimination draw" where, one-by-one, every attendee is taken out of the running to win a brand new 2011 Mercedes-Benz C250, valued at over $40,000 from Star Motors of Ottawa. In addition to this phenomenal prize, there were live auction items and additional prizes.


Marketing Breakthroughs managed all aspects of this event, including graphic design of menus and table cards, video production, live auction coordination, website copywriting and design, staging, audio/visual production, decor, food and beverage planning, production of the day itself, and countless hours of meetings and planning to ensure that the event ran very smoothly.


Before the wonderful dinner, guests feasted on hors d'oeuvres under the big top - a 5,900 square foot tent erected at the front door of the Hellenic Meeting and Reception Centre. After guests took their seats, they enjoyed a presentation of the making of the Gold Plate Dinner and feasted on succulent duck salad, anti pasto, orange sorbet, a Frenched 14 oz rib steak with pearl onion au jus, sweet salty roasted potato, micro carrots, asparagus, and sweet pepper bundles accompanied with a butter crusted lobster tail. And for desert? A delicious trio of savory delights: deep fried cheesecake, tapioca pudding in a chocolate cup, and a delicious fruit tart.

Hosted by celebrity Emcee, Majic 100's Stuntman Stu, the dinner and live auction raised more than $130,000 for the Hellenic Community and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Attendees ate fantastic food, bid on trips to Europe and the Napa Valley, and had a wonderful evening.

After this year's event, Erin Giakoumelos said the following about Marketing Breakthroughs' successful event production.

Thank you for taking care of the endless details of this event. It is a great comfort to have such a caring team to work with, and I am so grateful for your interest, dedication and professionalism that contributed to the success of the Gold Plate Event.

Erin Giakoumelos, General Manager, Hellenic Community of Ottawa

MB would like to issue a special thanks to the Gold Plate Dinner organizing committee and partners: Dean Karakasis, Erin Giakoumelos, the Hellenic Meeting and Reception Centre, Gold Plate Chair, District Realty's Steve Ramphos, Doris Ramphos, Duocom, Event Design, and Miller McConnell signs.

For more on our Ottawa Event Design and Event Production, be sure to contact Marketing Breakthroughs.

Jane's Walk Ottawa

Looking for something to do this weekend in Ottawa? You may be interested in checking out one (or more) of the 35 free walking tours that are part of Jane's Walk Ottawa. It is described as "a pedestrian-focused event that improves urban literacy by offering insights into local history, planning, design, and civic engagement through the simple act of walking and observing." This initiative began in 2007 in Toronto and is now held in numerous cities across North America. Jane's Walk was inspired by the late Jane Jacobs, urbanist, activist and author of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities." For a schedule of this weekend's tours, click here.

I just learned about this annual event and think it's fascinating. It sounds like a great opportunity to get out and about and learn more about the city we live in.

Ottawa Writers Festival 2010 Spring Edition Starts This Week

The Ottawa Writers Festival was launched in 1997. For the last 13 years, the festival has brought hundreds of celebrated authors to Ottawa, honouring "the world's best writing from home and abroad with an electric program that presents interactions with leaders in the worlds of science, history, poetry, politics, spoken word, economics, drama, fiction, biography, music, religion, spirituality and more." For more information about the festival, click here.

The 2010 Spring Edition runs from April 22nd to 27th. Most events will be held at a pretty cool venue - the Mayfair Theatre in Old Ottawa South. There are also some post-festival events lined up for May, June and September. The full schedule can be found on the official website.

I think I might check out Terry O'Reilly and Mike Tennant's presentation on Sunday, April 25th. Their CBC Radio show The Age of Persuasion is consistently interesting and Terry has a pretty compelling website as well. If you're interested in marketing and culture, this would be a great event for you. Maybe I'll see you there!