In an effort to showcase Canada as a destination for business, investment, and tourism, the federal government spent $1.9 million to create a lounge at the International Media Centre—called the Experience Canada pavilion—for journalists in town to report on the G8 and G20 summits, held in Huntsville and Toronto Friday through Sunday.
The project—funded by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada—included three separate experience zones within Heritage Court at the Direct Energy Centre. The Northern Ontario Oasis zone (dubbed the "fake lake" by local media) aimed to promote the lifestyle in Muskoka; the Cityscape area highlighted Canadian industry and investment opportunities; and the bridge connecting the two zones featured a bar and reception space with live feeds from the summits.
"In fact, it's a $2 million marketing project. We must not miss this opportunity," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a recent statement defending the project, which became a symbol of the controversial costs associated with hosting the summits. "The Experience Canada space will host over 3,000 media and other guests, and will serve to highlight Canada's pristine natural beauty, as well as promote leading Canadian businesses and industries."
Dale Morgan, president of Astound Group Inc., the Toronto-based company that built the 20,000-square-foot pavilion in conjunction with a team spearheaded by Lord Cultural Resources (which won the bid to develop and implement the project), said it would have been an "absolute shame" to miss out on an opportunity to profile the Muskoka region and promote Canada as a global leader.
"It’s an easy thing to attack, but it’s going to send all the right messages, and I’m sure we’ll get a return dozens of times over in the impression we’re creating," said Morgan, who described the Northern Ontario Oasis zone as an "amazing cinematic experience" and the best possible way to give international delegates, unable to make the two-hour trip north to Muskoka, an opportunity to experience what it’s like to be in northern Ontario.
"We built a giant cedar dock, so you get to sit in a Muskoka chair on the dock, and you’re looking out at an 18- by 30-foot high-definition projection screen that’s showing all of the beautiful Muskoka scenery," he said. "The lake that’s in front of the screen is really more of a reflecting pool, so you get this beautiful reflection off of the lake, and overhead we have little LED lights that simulate a starry night; and that’s wrapped with these two huge walls of canoes on either side. It’s really cool."
The bridge connecting that space to the Cityscape zone served as a multipurpose area with information kiosks, live feeds from the summits, and a 50-foot bar with a clear acrylic top. "You look through it to images of Canada. On one end of the bar we have the west coast, and it takes you all the way through to the east coast," Morgan said.
In the Cityscape space, interactive exhibits—including a 4-D theatre—highlighted various sectors (like renewable energy and digital media) identified as priorities by the Government of Canada’s Foreign Direct Investment Strategy. Organizers also used Christie Digital's MicroTiles, a new product featuring tiny HD cubes, to deliver content (including Canadian success stories in business and industry) from eight hanging structures designed to look like city buildings.
"We’ve embedded LED tickers and plasma screens through all of these hanging buildings," Morgan said. "It’s all about delivering the content and the messaging. Nothing is there just for the sake of being there … we really wanted to drive home these messages wherever you turn."
Additional project partners included HPA Architects, Nussli Group consultants, and Infinite Stage Design.
