SERVICES
EXPERIENTIAL EVENT MARKETING
Events are a great way to connect prospective clients with your brand. They also provide fun ways to engage with your employees, family and friends and your community. Wither it be a comedy night fundraiser, a gala dinner, a conference or a concert, we are connected with marketing and production teams as well as sponsorship, fundraising and grant writing professionals to help you create memorable experiences from the idea stage through to implementation.
Some of Derek's event experience includes working with national organizations such as Little Ray's Nature Centre to plan and execute event bookings and marketing campaigns for educational wildlife tours across Canada. He has also worked with the President's Choice SuperDogs as a production assistant during the Canadian National Exhibition and Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in addition to helping create and market their WOW Family Day theatre experience in Sudbury and Barrie. Occasionally, he works as a stage hand with IATSE Union Local 634 assisting with event productions at the Sudbury Arena. Derek is currently the managing director for the Reading Town Sudbury Ville Lecture literary festival and was a founder of the Greater Sudbury Celtic Festival and Highland Games, Winterfest Sudbury and the 2020 Capreol Winter Carnival.
TOURISM MARKETING
One of the campaigns that Derek is most proud of is the "We Are Ready" campaign which brought together the Town of Capreol to attract visitors to the town during the 2020 tourism season. Through a strong social media campaign using video combined with traditional media, he told the Capreol story to help visitors plan their visit and to demonstrate the town is prepared and ready to welcome visitors during the pandemic as a way to build visitor confidence and promote community economic vitality. The campaign had over 7000 video views and doubled attendance in the month of August during a pandemic.
Derek is an active participant in the Sudbury Tourism partnership program and is engaged with organizations such as Destination Northern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario Tourism and the Ministry of Heritage, Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture.
Professional development and opportunities for learning are important to Derek. He has completed the Ontario Tourism Education Council Resiliency Training certificate program which included workshops on Service Excellence, Communicating for Excellence, Stress and Conflict Management and Leading for Excellence. He has participated in numerous workshops on tourism, marketing, sponsorship, fundraising, and event planning virtually through Destination Northern Ontario, The Heritage Rail Alliance and the West Coast Haunters Association and in person at the Northeast Ontario Tourism Summit held in Timmins, Ontario in 2019.
COVID-19 RECOVERY MARKETING
The one positive thing that has come from the pandemic is the ability to be connected through video conferencing platforms as well as harnessing the potential to think differently about our current business practices. Through these connections we are provided opportunities to learn from our peers and attend conferences around the world without having to physically be in the conference hall and to re-imagine what is possible.
Derek lives by the motto "Perseverance - there is no substitute for hard work." which is on a photo that has been hanging above his office desk for over 20 years. We have all been persevering throughout the pandemic which in the end combined with our ability to adapt, pivot, and create safe experiences for our customers, will make us more resilient and aid in our economic recovery. Let's us put our pandemic response management experience to work for you.
“I worked with Derek Young with several community projects and events. In that time, I observed his dedication and love for his community. I particularly remember his hard work with Reading Town and with the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre. Derek is a great spokesperson for community synergy projects and a leader in community event planning.”
— Pierre Dubuc, Coordinator of Outreach, Programs and Partnerships, Greater Sudbury Public Library
"Derek is committed to making the City of Greater Sudbury a better community. He approaches all his tasks the same way – through thoughtful consultation of stakeholders, strategic planning, writing grant proposals if required, and then executing the plan with buy-in from the organization, who in many cases, has a volunteer component."
— Brian P. Vendramin, Professor, Cambrian College School of Business
