The Goal 

To bring CreativeMornings to a rural setting, to build community, and bridge the rural-urban divide. 

The Context

CreativeMornings is a free monthly breakfast lecture series held in over 200 cities globally. Altaira was planning a move from Toronto, Ontario to Gibsons, BC and after hosting the Toronto chapter for two years, saw the opportunity to bring something similar to a small town setting. She pitched a rural chapter model to CreativeMornings HQ, which involved holding an in-person event every month, just like the city chapters, but hosting a live speaker once a quarter and a remote speaker from other chapters the other months of the year. This was pre-pandemic, so at the time, remote events were not the norm!

• The Process  

• Built a partnership pitch deck, reached out to local businesses, researched the best channels for sharing information with local residents, and attended local events to show support and meet locals.

• Held several community engagement events to gauge interest, and solicit community feedback in regards to volunteer recruitment, speakers, sponsors, venues, and communications tactics that would work in the Gibsons setting. 

• Followed and engaged with local community groups and businesses on facebook and instagram.

• Reached out to other CreativeMornings chapters in the same time zone to gauge interest and ability to connect with our chapter remotely on their event days. 

The Results 

• Built partnerships with Gibsons Tapworks, Capilano University, Coast Community Savings, Community Futures Sunshine Coast, Beachcomber Coffee, Deer Crossing the Art Farm, and the Gibsons Public Market. 

• Held the first live speaker event with 70 attendees (huge for a community of 5000)

• Recruited day-of, photography and videography volunteers. 

• Held multiple events with remote speakers from other chapters, where we also set up an engagement station for attendees from our chapter to connect with attendees from the other chapter while they were getting settled into the event. 
  

*Altaira ended up moving away from the Sunshine Coast, so this chapter was short lived, but it was a great success for the time that it was active.