The number of sites for this years Door’s Open in Quinte West is limited to make the transition to a completely virtual event easier. This year, fan favourite locations from the past will be included, such as Research Castings International, The National Air Force Museum of Canada, Quinte Waste Solutions and the Trent Port Marina. Content for these locations will be available through the Digital Quinte West Doors Open Facebook page and http://quintewest.site/DoorsOpen2020.
By Edna Caroline Byenkya [1]
BELLEVILLE–Quinte West’s 9th annual Doors Open event is going online.
It will provide a different experience this year as residents are encouraged to participate from home. From now until Nov.1, some of the traditional Doors Open Quinte West sites will be explored through digital tours.
“Doors Open has been a popular event in Quinte West for several years,” said Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison. “Going digital this year allows us to continue to highlight some of Quinte West’s most exciting organizations while providing a safe alternative to the traditional event,” he added.
Colleen Vickers, the special events coordinator for the city of Quinte West, said it is disappointing that the event won’t be held in person due to the pandemic, but she’s excited by this year’s event.
“We love getting folks out into the community to visit hidden gems and behind the scenes sneak peaks of places they may never get the opportunity to see,” Vickers said.
“COVID has definitely made this impossible for us to do, but we are still excited to be given the chance to host the event virtually.”
Vickers said because the city was unwilling to let go of the popular event, Doors Open Ontario and Ontario Heritage Trust offered them the opportunity to highlight some virtual sites.
“The city is very excited to be able to offer this unique event in Quinte West,” Vickers said “The ability to provide the event virtually on the Doors Open Ontario portal also offers participants the opportunity to explore many other community offerings from the comfort of their own homes until it is safe to travel and enjoy them in person in the future,“ she added.
Hannah Brown, the community engagement officer for the city of Quinte West, said social media is one of the biggest mediums the city is using to ensure the community takes part in the event in big numbers this year.
“We have worked with a number of different organizations to create videos that will be available to the public for the duration of the event,” Brown said. “We are going to be sharing access to the videos through our media channels for now while we look for other avenues of promotion,” she added.
Vickers agreed.
“We have got a great communications team that is working tirelessly to put this campaign together,” Vickers said. “From media releases to setting up the Facebook page for the event, our team is ensuring maximum accessibility for our community to easily engage with the virtual event.”
Brown said that the event will be promoted through the avenues of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and some of the videos will be available for access on Youtube.
Vickers also mentioned that public reaction towards that online event has been good with many people showing interest and looking forward to the virtual tours. She said that the city is expecting a large outpour of people because the event has been moved online especially because it will be held for a longer time than previous years.
“A lot of folks that look forward to the event annually were disappointed by the cancellation of the in-person tour,” she said. “We have gotten some excitement from the community and this gives us energy to continue doing what we are doing,” she added.
The number of sites is limited to make the transition to a completely virtual event easier. This year, fan favourite locations from the past will be included, such as Research Castings International, The National Air Force Museum of Canada, Quinte Waste Solutions and the Trent Port Marina. Content for these locations will be available through the Digital Quinte West Doors Open Facebook page and http://quintewest.site/DoorsOpen2020 [2].