Perplexed, mystified by Events East production
“Our multinational chefs put a multicultural twist on the menu, adding their own French, Irish, South Korean, and Sri Lankan influences. That’s why we call it ‘traditional East Coast with classic European skill and flair.’” I was nearly as perplexed by the preceding paragraph in the annual report of the Trade Centre Ltd. (TCL) as I was by the fact that I was reading the annual report in the first place.
The high-quality, 40-plus-page production — available in three-D online, or not — befitting of a money-losing, heavily-subsidized Crown corporation, was as chock full of happy news and self-promotion as could be stuffed onto the 27 pages that preceded the financial statements.
But hey, the World Trade and Convention Centre isn’t supposed to make money. It’s a money magnet. And, the little old WTCC could only lift so much cash out of the pockets of convention-goers given its steadily diminishing returns over the past five years.
Enter the new Halifax Convention Centre. All we’ll hear when it opens is a giant sucking sound — apologies to Ross Perot — as money is hoovered out of the pockets of legions of visitors from Pugwash and Poughkeepsie into the welcoming mitts of governments, with the spill over to downtown goods and service providers of every sort.
It will happen, just as surely as South Korea and Sri Lanka add a classic European flair.
The TCL, as it happens, is no more. On April 1 it was replaced by an outfit called the Events East Group — Events East to its friends. This bit of rebranding tells you the centre doesn’t pretend to be about World Trade anymore. So, in addition to being totally ambiguous, the name is ornamentally authentic. That’s the marketing daily double.
Events East will operate the Halifax Convention Centre as a tenant in the Nova Centre — latest completion date: pretty soon — the colossus rising up on two city blocks west of what was, and may be again some day, the finest nightlife/streetscape in the city.
EEG — that’s unfortunate — also has the keys to the Scotia Centre, the biggest and still best venue in the region for indoor sports and a serviceable site for concerts.
Is traditional East Coast (food, we can assume) better when prepared with classic European skill and flair? Is there insufficient skill on the East Coast, or is it flair that’s lacking? I’ve gotten past the multicultural twist of multinational chefs. The mystifying menu characterization aside, three levels of government have anted up about $170 million to help offset the costs of the one million-sq.-ft., $500-million building that by sheer bulk and position is the new centrepiece of Nova Scotia’s capital city.
Time will tell if the public extravagance pays off. Events East holds a 25-year lease on the convention centre and the province and city are on the hook for any deficits incurred. The Nova Centre — the convention centre, offices, a hotel and other amenities — is owned by Joe Ramia’s Argyle Developments.
The $5.8-million net debt of the TCL/Events East will be left, presumably with the old building and retired when a buyer is found for the no-longer-good-enough meeting and office space.
Fittingly, last year the WTCC hosted the Canadian Underwater Conference.
Other 2016 highlights included “an action packed event” for the Trauma Association of Canada and a meeting of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, where, the report reports, particular care was taken to alleviate some of the pressure of the small details.
Every event has to be a “wow!” They look for “wow” opportunities. And every convention-goer deserves the “full event experience” — undefined, but almost certainly inclusive of a hangover.
When the doors open on the new Halifax Convention Centre, “in addition to transitioning operations, a primary focus will be completing the governance transition of oversight of operations from TCL to Events East Group.”
If you change your name without “completing the governance transition of oversight of operations” you have to go back to the start and you lose a turn.
Remember when annual reports were, and promotional material was? Rather than meeting the function, this publication is all about form. No matter what they say, with skill and flair from any continent, it’s a tad twisted.