Ontario Tourism Resilency Award Winners!
It is such an honour to be recognized by the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. TIAO is the voice of tourism in our province. On October 26th members of the Westben team joined hundreds of tourism professionals at this year’s Ontario Tourism Summit. This year’s summit was focused on respect, collaboration, and rebuilding.
Westben was recognized for INNOVATION in both the ‘Attractions’ and the ‘Festivals & Events’ categories! Thank you so much TIAO for these awards. Click here to see all of this year’s finalists and winners: www.tiaontario.ca/cpages/2021-finalists-and-winners
A Message from Westben’s Co-Founder Donna Bennett
This is a first for Westben to win a provincial award like this and we are thrilled, especially during a pandemic.
Along with the rest of the world, Westben felt the impact of the pandemic and resulting lockdown. With devastating speed, our annual audience base went from 10,000 visitors to zero. Live performances, such as the beloved Concerts in the Barn, ceased to exist. Like nearly every other performing arts organization, our stages went dark.
Our efforts were focused on maintaining the Centre’s connection to the community.
Right away, Westben established a digital campaign called Sunshine Ahead! We ended up not only connecting with our local community but reaching the world. Our online presence grew from a pre-pandemic social media reach of 62,000 to new interactions with over 750,000 people. In the end, the Sunshine Ahead! campaign consisted of 8 new products and over 100 videos.
We created a brand-new interactive website, called the Westben Digital Venue, which hosted an array of online performances and workshops. Westben Digital Concerts at the Barn were streamed and then preserved on YouTube, to be watched at the audience’s pleasure.
The awards also acknowledge Westben’s partnerships with local businesses through the new digital Dare to Share program, featuring short videos of local food creators sharing their culinary secrets. Westben to Go was another innovative promotion that encouraged residents to patronize the take-out features of local restaurants while enjoying a digital concert at home.
As the world has opened up a bit, Westben has expanded its performing sphere, building a brand-new outdoor amphitheatre where visitors can listen to a concert from a hillside, at proper distancing. Just over the hill is an actual campfire area, where small informal evening concerts are held. These venues will be part of the Westben experience for years to come and will enhance its renown as the premier performing arts organization of its type.
I truly believe you don’t go from a cornfield to a multivenue performance and education centre in a rural location in 21 years alone. It takes a team, a village, creativity, belief, and passion.
I would like to credit the efforts of everyone involved for the success of their initiatives as well as the Tourism Ontario awards. I feel it’s a win for everyone involved in Westben. There are so many I’d like to thank and congratulate: our amazing staff, Board of Directors, Volunteers, Members, Donors, Sponsors, Tourism partners, Business partners, Performers, Audience Members and the Trent Hills Community as a whole.
Donna Bennett, C.M.
“The 2021 Ontario Tourism Resiliency Awards are unique to this year and have been designed to reflect resiliency through innovation, collaboration, and partnership.
TIAO and our partners, @attractionsont @culinarytourismalliance @indigenoustourismontario @otecexcellence have joined together this year in collaboration to present this year's awards. The trophy reflects this collaboration or partnership while embracing our unique role within our industry: partners working together, like that of the ribbons of a DNA helix.
Because Resiliency is in our Tourism Industry's DNA.”
- Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, @tiaogram
Photo from @tiaogram on Instagram