Cineplex Gives National Bank the VIP Treatment

Article by Garry Murdock

It’s June, 2017 and Philip Leger, Assistant Vice President of Mortgage Development for National Bank of Canada, has a challenge on his hands. In the fall he’s planning to host a half day kick-off event for his sales force, to announce strategies for the new fiscal year. The event needs to include 130 employees scattered throughout Ontario and Western Canada.

The kick-off was nothing new as Philip had organized the event on four previous occasions. But this time, he wanted something different.

Philip explains, “I was tired of the typical hotel conference set up and was looking to elevate the experience of all participants”. Philip’s wish list was not a small one. Rather than spend time travelling to each team, he wanted to address audiences simultaneously in multiple locations. Each location needed to offer convenient access, parking, catering and be able to meet his simulcast audio visual needs. He also wanted something unique that would allow the event to expand on the experience of previous years. In short, he wanted his team wowed by the experience.

“I happened upon Cineplex as an option,” Philip says, “It was an out of the box environment, which I appreciated for its creativity and comfort. A vast departure from the corporate boardroom environment.”

Philip ended up booking his event at three Cineplex VIP theatres in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. Each of the auditorium’s over-sized, extra wide seats would provide a new level of comfort for attendees, and Philip would also have the ability to showcase his presentation on the big screen, using the auditorium’s immersive sound system. He saw all of this as an opportunity to help him engage his audience.

Philip also had one additional challenge. As host of the event, he needed to focus on prepping his presentation, not worrying about the details.

“Their in-house Event Planner took care of everything,” says Philip. ‘Everything’ also meant taking care of food.

The Event planner worked with the in-house catering department to offer Philip a wide variety of menu options that ranged from fresh mixed salads and crispy spring rolls to mini samosas and chicken and tofu wraps. In addition to bottled water and juices, beer and wine were also offered as options.

The day of the event came and although Philip was confident, he had one lingering question – would the simulcasting from Toronto to Ottawa and Vancouver work well?

“The event went exactly as planned,” Philip told me, “No surprises, which from an organizer’s standpoint is exactly what I wanted. Cineplex provided flawless execution.”

Philip’s team enjoyed it, and so did Philip, who was so impressed that he’s returning to Cineplex this fall for his next event.

“Cineplex was able to look after my needs from that first phone call and support me throughout the planning process with proactive solutions. They delivered the ‘WOW’ factor I was looking for.”

Add impact to your next meeting. Explore the possibilities with 164 available theatres across Canada at www.Cineplex.com/BusinessEvents.

Garry Murdock is a marketing specialist based out of Toronto. He is a researcher and writer of blogs, websites, social media content, digital ads, and more.

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