The OAAS hosted a series of webinars last year because of COVID-19. The virus is still around, and so are the webinars. These webinars are an opportunity for our fair members to learn about the tools and techniques others are using in these times. Online meetings provide the kind of information you can share with your Board and Committees. You and your organization will benefit by having knowledge and the ability to improve.
There are five sessions planned for the upcoming Wednesday evenings beginning May 5, 2021. Each session will last for one hour.
You must register in advance to gain admittance into the Zoom call. Register for each of the sessions you would like to attend.
Register at the OAAS Website.
What’s Up Wednesday #1 – May 5th 2021
Planning for holding in-person events while adhering to all COVID-19 Safety Protocols.
Speaker, Harry Stoddart (General Manager, Lindsay Exhibition) Harry will be discussing lessons learned from hosting in-person events and live stock shows in 2020 as well as the work they have done around safety protocols.
Speaker, Cheryl Muir (General Manager, Paris Agricultural Society) Cheryl will be sharing ideas about going ahead with a traditional 2021 Fair as much as possible and what their agriculture society are planning on keeping the same and what changes are occurring this year.
What’s Up Wednesday #2 – May 12th 2021
Roundtable Discussions – Note, we may not have sufficient time to discuss all the questions based on the amount of discussion and comments on each question.
Topics Discussed
- What actions are you taking to remain viable until you can operate again?
- What are your biggest concerns about re-opening?
- How are you keeping your members and volunteers engaged?
- What are you doing to capitalize on the forced “downtime” in your organization? Its been said now is the time to either try something new or work on things that have been on your to-do list for some time, governance policies for example.
What’s Up Wednesdays #3 – May 19th 2021
District One COVID-19 Assessment Checklist
Speaker, Valerie Allen (District 1) will be discussing their Assessment checklist they developed for District 1 Agricultural Societies to prepare for their upcoming fair and events.
Speaker, Cheryl Muir (General Manager, Paris Agricultural Society) will be providing a testimonial as to how they used and adapted to the District 1 plan for their fair.
What’s Up Wednesdays #4 – May 26th 2021
Roundtable Discussions – What Agricultural Societies have done over the past 12 months to engage their communities, volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors with modified fair events and other activities.
Speaker, Jean Sullivan (Carp Fair) will be discussing a topic that was well received at convention “When you can have a Fair, have a showcase”
Speaker, Grace Mullen (Comber Agricultural Society) will be discussed the various events their community organized this Spring such as the Comber Easter Hunt and Colouring Contests.
Speaker, Tina Hiddink (Picton Fair) will be sharing their Fair’s drive-through ideas from 2020 and plans for 2021
What’s Up Wednesdays #5 – June 2nd 2021
Discussions on the importance of Websites, Facebook and social media platforms – how to keep these up to date, what works and what doesn’t.
Speaker, Doug Van Wolde (Past President of the Markham Fair, Owner of WeGo.ca) will be discussing websites and how to keep them updated effectively.
Speaker, Jane Matthews (Lead, Marketing Communications – Digital Initiatives at the Canadian National Exhibition) will be speaking on how to best utilize social media platforms.
