Green at Work is an annual environmental initiative held at Fairview Park Mall, promoting sustainability through fun, family-friendly activities and engaging visual displays. This year’s event, “Green is the New Black,” partnered with local organizations in the Waterloo Region to encourage sustainable behaviours at home, at work, and on the go.
This event was a component of my project and event management course for my Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program at Conestoga College. The event was organized by my entire class of 23 students and engaged a record-breaking ~750 mall guests who stopped by to discuss the event and participate by playing a game. Thanks to the efforts of our media relations team, the event was promoted in The Cambridge Times, The Record, Snapd, and Spoke.
My role for this project was to forge community partnerships between community organizations and Fairview Park Mall for the event. My team’s efforts resulted in:
- A record breaking 37 retailers who engaged with our event in Fairview Park Mall to hand out locally sourced black-eyed susan flower seeds on the day of the event
- 10 retailers to donate prizes to our draw and coupons for our swag bags
- 15 overall prizes for our draw
- 6 partnerships with local community organizations including THEMUSEUM, Bingemans, Drayton Entertainment, and Kitchener Rangers
- Securing a sponsor for printing Green is the New Black “Passports” (used to encourage public participation in all 3 booths at the event)
The prizes were used to encourage the public to participate in the event and activities. Mall guests were encouraged to participate at all three stations through a designed and branded “Passport.” A passport allowed you to collect stamps each time you completed an activity at a station. Three stamps got you a ballot for the draw to win prizes. Making an environmental pledge got you a second ballot for the draw.
Along with forging partnerships with community organizations, a few creative classmates and I also constructed 9 foot tall cardboard trees for the event. The trees were made from entirely repurposed cardboard and helped visually unify the event. Each booth had one tree in it’s vicinity.
We thought they added a little bit of art to the event… and plus, they were a lot of fun to make.
Nina Vasic 