The GO Plan

This fall, the 740,000 square-foot, $400 million Trades and Technology Complex will open its doors on SAIT's main campus. When it does, it will be cause for celebration, and plenty of it.

To that end, SAIT has assembled a small communications and event planning team, called the Grand Opening or GO Team, to help show off SAIT’s expanded campus and to commemorate this success. For team members, Irene Chanin, Leanne Makinson and David Crosson, orchestrating the grand opening of the Complex is arguably the career project of a lifetime. They’re planning events in striking, state-of-the-art buildings to celebrate this expansion and the people who made it happen.

There are challenges to planning an event in honour of such a heady achievement, especially when there are so many people involved in this success and so many resources at hand. Just how do you plan a celebration for one of the crowning achievements of an institution that has been around for almost 100 years?

STEP ONE: TALK TO A LOT OF PEOPLE

“We’ve brainstormed with more than 80 alumni, staff and students. We collected 13 pages of ideas, some great, some outrageous, and we’ve narrowed it down to what meets our objectives and what is actually doable.” says Makinson. Some of the ideas that didn’t make the cut are an on-campus zip line, a multiple genre event theme song, 3-D projection mapping, and a gospel-style choir to sing the praises of SAIT staff and donors.

STEP TWO: PLAN YOUR GUEST LIST

“We want to celebrate with those who have been key in bringing this expansion to fruition,” says Complex grand opening director Irene Chanin. “We also want to celebrate with the community.” Their invite lists include current students, SAIT staff, SAIT alumni, donors to the campaign, industry partners, government and other community members. “That’s a lot of different interests to consider. We want to be respectful of people’s time, good stewards of our resources, and ensure that people get the acknowledgement they deserve for their tremendous contributions.”

Crosson’s approach to this challenge sounds downright scientific. “For each stakeholder group, I have devised a chart of audience needs and SAIT deliverables. The companion piece to this is a series of strategies and tactics that will help fulfill these objectives for all attendees in a meaningful way.”

STEP THREE: PLAN THE STRUCTURE OF THE CELEBRATIONS

Given the range of stakeholders in the project, one event won’t cut it. The team is planning four major events to mark this monumental occasion.

THE CRYSTAL BALL

The first of the events, which is designed to be a sneak peek of the grand opening, is called The Crystal Ball. “We want people to get a glimpse into the future of SAIT and we want them to come and have a ball!” says Crosson, who is leading the planning for this event.

Although the Trades and Technology Complex officially opens in September, the build-up will include an invitational preview in late August for people such as donors and SAIT staff, who’ve helped bring the buildings to life. It’s been a long haul for those who’ve had to endure constant construction, says Crosson.

SAIT’s entire community has been through an extended waiting period for this historical moment. Through this sneak peak event, Crosson hopes to remind people that the Complex isn’t just another set of buildings on campus. “They’re living breathing classrooms for thousands of students,” he says. “What we really want to do is get people excited.”

Crosson says the largest audience for the advance look is SAIT staff, and he wants the event to welcome them. “I want it to feel like it’s the biggest and best housewarming party they’ve ever attended,” he says.

THE FIRST DAY

The Trades and Technology Complex is truly a space for students, and SAIT plans to give them special treatment during these big-reveal events. Chanin says students, including more than 800 apprentices and students from SAIT’s satellite campuses, will be invited to experience the buildings in the first days of September. The first day of school for apprentices is Aug. 27 and on Sept. 4, classes begin for almost 12,000 full-time students on SAIT’s main and satellite campuses.

The activities associated with this event are still in development, says Chanin, but she says she hopes students will be able to make their mark on the campus in some way, and vice versa. The first day will be a legacy event, she says. “I hope students will look back on it as a significant moment in their lifetimes. We want them to say, ‘I was there when.’”

Other events will include an official opening ceremony for all SAIT students, dignitaries and media on Sept. 5 from 11 am — 2 pm.

THE WAVE

The main event for the grand opening is called The Wave.

Makinson, the lead for this main event, says the name is a playful reference to the rolling wave-like appearance of the roof that’s on the section of the Complex known as the Aldred Centre. This theme will encourage guests to “catch the wave of the future” and SAIT’s excitement about its opening.

Makinson is tight lipped about the itinerary, but says her goal is for guests to feel like they’ve enrolled in SAIT for a day. Hands-on, interactive activities will give visitors the chance to try out a number of SAIT careers. Whether they build a robot or ice a cupcake, Makinson wants people to take a little bit of SAIT home with them. “It’s not 100 per cent about the Complex,” she says. “It’s about profiling all of SAIT including our students, faculty, employees and alumni.”

Chanin says the polytechnic hopes to “use this day as an opportunity to show the world the power of a SAIT education.” Event planners are seeking out accomplished graduates – think: celebrities and trendsetters, “game-changers” as Makinson calls them – to engage people in activities they practice out in the real world in their chosen careers. The pride SAIT has in its alumni is profound, Chanin says. “Their pride inspires us.”

The Wave, with its festival-like atmosphere, will also feature the SAIT Talent Pool. Staff, faculty, students and alumni are asked to send in their submission, with their most unique talent - whether it’s singing, juggling, pet tricks or anything else. The top entries will perform on stage during The Wave.

This final celebration is open to anyone who’d like to attend, even those people who’ve “been driving past the Complex for two years,” Makinson says. “Now is your chance to check it out.”