Event

Boost Your EV IQ Hybrid Event


Submitted ByRegional Municipality of Durham

Durham Region is the Clean Energy Capital of Canada and has nearly 200 years of automotive engineering and innovation combined. We wanted to showcase our abilities and raise awareness of our assets in the electric vehicle ecosystem by hosting a promotional event in partnership with several organizations.

The Region of Durham’s Economic Development and Tourism division (Invest Durham)—in partnership with Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), the Durham Regional Technology Development Site (Durham RTDS), and Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN)—are all collectively working to empower the transition to Electric Vehicles (EV) through collaboration.

On August 17, 2023, Invest Durham and partners hosted a Boost your EV IQ Hybrid event as an opportunity to share learnings from industry leaders and promote funding opportunities, investment opportunities in the EV value chain, and industry supports in Durham Region. Held in-person and additionally streamed nationally, this event was targeted to automotive and automotive tech companies of all sizes—from startup, small and medium enterprises, to original equipment manufacturers—as well as researchers, academic community, technology innovators, industry professionals, skilled trades, corporations interested in corporate training information, and others interested in EV.

In order to host an event with an attendee reach greater than the local community, and also create local networking opportunities we offered this event in a hybrid model. There was an opportunity for in-person networking, and we also invited investors and companies involved in the EV industry from across Canada, expanding the reach of our messaging.

To promote this event, a custom email was shared with partners to invite key companies and organizations. A package of marketing materials was provided to partners, along with crafted messages for X, Facebook/Instagram and LinkedIn, so partners could promote and amplify messaging across their channels. The circulated content provided all relevant tags needed for each platform to tag other event partners to increase engagement.

The event was held and streamed from Durham College’s Corporate Training Immersive Hub (CTS) which delivers workforce training solutions across all industries, with a specialty in automotive, using in-person, virtual and hybrid formats. The space is often used for automotive training and had a variety of electric vehicles on site for attendees to view. At the event, presenters from each partner organization walked attendees through their services, from funding opportunities to research facilities in Durham Region and educational programs available to train the workforce of tomorrow.

The event attracted 50 in-person attendees and the virtual event had 135 registered attendees. A recording of the event was circulated afterwards via social media channels and email marketing campaigns, receiving an additional 162 views.

The event was very effective in promoting Durham Region as an ideal choice for companies in the EV supply chain looking to amp up their business by accessing talent, research and development facilities and establishing a footprint. We received 172 new contacts and 1 promising lead after the event for further follow-up.

To watch the event, visit this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PwVCpfVFDM.

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