Highlights of my experience
2000 - 2010
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Developed a niche for event planning through my experience in student government at Cambrian College
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Numerous special event planning roles with the Lung Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Music and Film in Motion, Sudbury Manitoulin Children's Foundation, Alzheimer Society and the United Way.
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Promoting shows working with organizations such as LEG Event Management and Blood Sweat and Ears to produce sports entertainment events which included professional wrestlers El Tornado, Chris Kanyon, Doink the Clown, Brutus the Barber Beefcake and Buff Bagwell.
2006
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Worked my first show as a stage hand with IATSE Union Local 634, which was a CATS musical followed by numerous other live concerts and touring theatre productions at the Sudbury Arena.
2008
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Founded the Sudbury Celtic Festival and Highland Games to celebrate the Scottish, Irish and Cape Breton culture in Greater Sudbury. The event captured the interest of the Scottish Affairs Department at the US Embassy and featured talent such as Ashley MacIsaac, North Sea Gas, Knights of Valour Full Contact Joust and the Mudmen.
2011 to 2021
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In 2011, I was awarded Young Male Professional of the Year by the Young Professionals Association followed by the Queen's Jubilee Plaque of Honour from the Sudbury Multicultural Folks Arts Association in 2013 and a Forty Under 40 Award by Northern Ontario Business in 2015.
2011
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The Sudbury Celtic Festival ended, however I continued to build on my relationship with the Knights of Valour which led to planning national educational touring exhibitions for Little Ray's Nature Centre and the Canadian Raptor Conservancy
2016
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Introduced to the President's Choice SuperDogs and was fortunate to learn from an organization with over 40 years of event production experience on the national stage. My experience with the SuperDogs included events at the CNE and Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto as well as assisting in developing the WOW Family Festival in Sudbury and Barrie.
2016 to 2020
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Contracted by the National Reading Campaign to coordinate the Reading Town Sudbury Ville Lecture Festival. The festival had support from the late Alex Trebek and former Governor General David Johnston. Reading Town left a legacy with numerous story trails and little libraries throughout the city.
2019 to 2021
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Operations Manager for the third largest tourist attraction in Greater Sudbury where I introduced new events and patron experiences and helped to elevate existing events. Throughout 2020, I developed and implemented a COVID-19 operating plan and created new marketing materials to raise the organization's profile and to help patrons better plan their visit.
2021
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Throughout the winter and spring, I participated in numerous virtual conferences and symposiums with Destination Northern Ontario and the Ontario Tourism Education Council. In May of this year, I reintroduced the Reading Town Sudbury Ville Lecture Festival as a stand alone event and rebranded as Derek Young Tourism and Event Marketing.
