Message to May 9, 2025 Ticket Holders

Thank you for helping us sell out this event more than a week in advance!

We have received a few key questions, which is understandable, so here we are with some answers.

QUESTION: What happened to the online auction?

We decided to keep things simple this year, so we are doing a prize raffle with about $1500 worth of different prizes, from Senators tickets (for next year) to Canadian Tire $100 gift certificates to special edition LiveWorkPlay 30th Anniversary Fleece Jackets. Every attendee will receive one compilmentary raffle ticket, and we’ll be selling additional bundles of raffle tickets, for which you can pay cash or use credit or debit. If you are worried that your particular credit or debit card won’t work, instead of me telling you it should be fine, just bring cash – we’ll be keeping it simple with an arm’s length of tickets for $20 (you can buy multiple of course).

QUESTION: What about the menu?

1. Garden Salad (Italian dressing) 2. Penne Pasta (tomato sauce) 3. Chicken Supreme (potatoes and vegetables) 4. Chocolate Cake (coffee/tea) and there will be a cash bar.

This is a catered event, so the kitchen team does not have access to a fridge full of items to whip up an alternative meal, so we have to have special orders placed ahead of time via Rebecca Coxon, our event coordinator, who is also in charge of the seating plan: rebecca@liveworkplay.ca. Let your server know that you have requested a replacement meal and what the change is – for example “I will not be having chicken, I am having a vegetable plate instead.” This can get complicated in terms of communicating with the food service team, so if you are expecting an alternative item, if something goes wrong, just communicate that directly to the server, immediately – and if they do not understand, find Rebecca or myself, immediately, and we’ll take care of it. But prior to the event, please work with Rebecca, as you can imagine, it only complicates things further if you are contacting multiple people for the same request.

QUESTION: Do I need to print out my ticket? What’s the deal with seating?

No, when you get to the reception with Rebecca there will be a seating plan and she will find your name and tell you which table (numbers are on stands on the tables). We got a lot of seating requests, and in some situations (for example) there isn’t a way to seat 14 people at a table for 8, so we’ve had to rely on doing our best to keep people close together for those type of requests. No matter what, rest assured, we didn’t organize the seating to mess with you, it’s just because it’s very hard to fit everyone in and meet every request. You can always take turns and switch tables with every course! We are sold out and table management is really difficult, and it gets even more difficult on the night of the event when there is so much to manage all at once, so if you have questions, please (please!) ask Rebecca now, not on the 9th.

QUESTION: Is there on-site parking?

There is a tiny amount of on-site parking (please respect all signage!) but you should definitely not plan on any being available. The best place to park is the city lot across the street at 301 Preston Street and you can use kiosks or the paybyphone app (available for Android and Apple). There are other parking options in the area, please carefully observe all signage and use designated crosswalks. Please consider using Google maps or other applications to plan your trip and arrive on time – if you can aim for a 5:30-5:45 arrival that would be greatly appreciated, so we can check in our guests and allow some time for them to stop by the cash bar and get settled as this will be a full house.

QUESTION: Is this a physically accessible venue?

Yes, but it’s not great. There is a spot to be dropped off right at the front door, and there is a lift to get from the ground level to the banquet hall level. The lift requires a Preston Event Centre staff and a key, and sometimes it takes a minute to flag they down, so we apologize for the highly imperfect system. The washrooms are generous in size including accessible stalls, but again, not perfect, although we have not had any concerns raised about those facilities in the past. The Preston Event Centre is more financially accessible than most any other venue in Ottawa that can accommodate this many diners, so we are always trying to balance a variety of needs, and the Preston Event Centre (St. Anthony’s Banquet Hall) is a huge part of our history, so it was difficult to imagine having this anniversary in a different place. Thank you for your understanding, your safety and comfort is important to us, if you have concerns, please reach out in advance.

QUESTION: Is there a dresss code?

There’s no requirements, but of all of our events, if you want to dress up for this one, whatever that means to you, that’s great. There will for sure be some people in formal dress. We don’t know what the weather will be, but certainly it can get warm in a room with 250 people, so your comfort comes first, don’t feel like you have to wear a tuxedo, unless that is something you really enjoy!

QUESTION: Is this thing going to go on forever?

You must have been at the 2015 anniversary! No, times have changed. The 30th anniversary is a big deal, but we aren’t going to have long speeches. We are trying to limit the formal remarks to the time in between the serving of the four course meal, so while everyone is eating, you’ll have time to talk (and eat). All we ask in return is to pay attention (or at least pretend to pay attention) to what is happening at the podium, and especially clap nice and hard when people are being celebrated. We have already completed most of the annual awards for 2025, so we have only a couple of formal award presentations, the rest of the night is a more relaxed type of recognition and celebration. After dessert and we’ll have the prize draw and then we’ll move right into the music of the Dueling Pianos with Dave Kalil and Tyler Kealey, and Todd Huckabone on guitar. This is another dress code consideration: dancing is encouraged! But not mandatory.

I probably forgot something, so just let us know. Contact Rebecca!

Keenan Wellar