At this year’s ASAE conference in Cleveland, one exhibitor took the concept of “breakout session” to a whole new level. On Aug. 13, the final day of the annual meeting, Destination Canada used a free afternoon to fly 13 lucky attendees to Pelee Island on Lake Erie, which is about a 25-minute flight from Cleveland—and located over the border in Ontario, Canada.

The idea for the excursion, the first of what the DMO is calling “Breakout-Breakout Sessions,” came from Destination Canada’s new marketing campaign, “Leave Inspired. Not Tired.”

“We all go to conferences, and there’s so much content thrown at us that we might not have the time to take it all in,” says Virginie De Visscher, executive director of business events for Destination Canada. “What we’re trying to share is that when you meet in Canada—because of our open spaces, open minds, and open hearts—we hope people can take it all in, and when they go back home, that they feel inspired and not necessarily tired.”

So, how did this work? Destination Canada, with support from ASAE, encouraged attendees to bring their passports before heading to the show. Once on site in Cleveland, they could enter into a drawing to be part of the select group taken on the excursion (which was scheduled during a gap in ASAE programming before its closing reception). The lucky winners were announced a day before the trip. 

De Visscher says Pelee Island was chosen for its proximity to Cleveland—just a quick up-and-down flight—and for its “magnificent story.”

“It’s home to the oldest winery in Canada, and it’s just a beautiful location, which aligned so well with the theme that we were going to share [at the conference],” she says. “The idea was, let’s break out—why not to Canada?”

On the island, the group was given a tour through the ruins of Vin Villa Cellars by winemaker Tim Charisse. They enjoyed tapas and wine tastings, then gathered for a talk by Canadian sustainability expert and author Leor Rotchild, who spoke about his most recent book, How We Gather Matters: Sustainable Event Planning for Purpose and Impact and integrating sustainability into events.

“That was the message we wanted to leave our delegates with, giving them that sustainability message in a space that inspires them,” De Visscher says. “We were sitting on these old ruins and on what looks like an amphitheater that looks over the lake; it’s so magnificent. You feel like, ‘This is the planet and the Canada that I want to maintain.’ But at the same time, the stories are fueling your mind. We wanted the participants to absorb those takeaways and go home with them.”

It was a message that tied in with the sustainability theme that Destination Canada brought to ASAE, specifically with its “Sustainability Story Pavilion.” At the show, attendees could take in large displays of Destination Canada’s sustainability initiatives that highlighted best practices in sustainable event hosting from communities across Canada (Destination Canada is also offsetting the carbon emissions created from the trip to Pelee Island.).

And although the excursion was ultimately a success, it wasn’t without its challenges. De Visscher says one surprising speed bump was the fact that many U.S.-based attendees didn’t travel to the show with their passports, which meant they were ineligible for the trip. Her team also had “plan B, C, and D” in case the weather would be an issue—thankfully, it wasn’t.

In the end, she credits the DMO’s planning partners, the Pelee Island community, and ASAE for pulling off such a unique feat—and the 13 participants, of course, for taking the leap with them.

“We had CEOs and executive directors, but we also had entry-level career folks from the membership team and others,” De Visscher says of the group that was created from a drawing. “We also had people with different backgrounds and different ethnicities, and who came from different regions of the world.”

This is only the beginning of Destination Canada’s “Breakout-Breakout Sessions.” De Visscher says her team is already planning the next iterations that will take place during IMEX America and PCMA Convening Leaders.

“We might not be taking people to Canada every time—it just happened to work out in this location—but the concept of ‘Breakout-Breakouts’ will definitely return,” she says. 

Just in case, don’t forget your passport.

This article was originally published in our sister publication, BizBash. Photos courtesy of Destination Canada.

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