Much more than a tour
We have organized tours of businesses on the Saanich Peninsula for nine years for the Tour of Industry. To date, we have visited approximately 36 of them and this tour remains one of the most popular activities we undertake, for several reasons.
The first reason is that many of the businesses we have been privileged to see over the years are leaders in their field, but they do not have clients or customers in this area. They have developed ground-breaking technology, innovative products or services, and yet little is known about them at the local level. It is like a treasure hunt – uncovering these gems in our own back yard.
Another reason we know so little about many of these businesses is that business leaders are busy. Their work day extends far beyond the hours their employees work. It is not on their priority list to let the wider community know the fantastic nature of their operation. We never have an issue with businesses agreeing to open their doors to us despite the challenges present in shepherding almost 60 people at a time through their work areas. We present them with an audience of community leaders eager to hear their story and they are pleased to have the opportunity to brag, at our request, about their success.
When the tour ends, our guests frequently express two main themes for why it was a valuable use of their day: they learned fascinating features of each of the businesses toured, and they often had not anticipated the quality of interaction they would experience with their fellow guests.
The Tour of Industry is like networking on steroids. Imagine a moving mixer, attended by participants who are leaders in their own areas of influence. Kind of like speed dating with a different seat mate en route to each new destination.
There are a few other reasons this franchise has prevailed: we throw in a meal with a guest speaker, we have stellar organizations that step up each year to sponsor, and, crucial to the event’s success, we have an embarrassment of industrial riches on the Saanich Peninsula and have yet to exhaust our possibilities for interesting, successful enterprises to tour.
“The Tour of Industry is like networking on steroids.”