On April 2nd, 2016 JUNO Awards nominees, winners and special guests got to savor mouthwatering, truly Canadian fare at this year’s JUNO Awards Gala. Canadian bison tenderloin was the star of the menu which was dubbed #Albertalove when presented to over 1,200 guests of the JUNO Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony, held at the TELUS Conference Centre in Calgary.
Edmonton Alberta raised, Roger Mooking was the celebrity chef who curated the palate tempting three course menu which was specially designed to awaken your taste buds.
What a spectacular opportunity for the Canadian Bison Industry & Canadian Rangeland Bison to have been invited to support this high profile Canadian event. The visibility and profile created for the bison industry through this event was significant with over 30 marketing and media partners joining forces to promote the 2016 JUNO Awards. Some of the recognition that both the Canadian Bison Association and Canadian Rangeland received was through a ¼ page ad placement in 223,000 JUNO Week Event Guides distributed throughout the week. This ad highlighted the contribution of both organizations and spotlighted both as official supplier partners. The recognition did not stop there. Throughout the evening of the Gala, a digital in-house loop continued to highlight all event sponsors which visually branded the CBA and Rangeland logos throughout the night. Moreover that same digital loop was played during all commercial breaks at the televised awards held at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday April 3rd, 2016. This digital loop was viewed by thousands who attended the Sunday night event included the logo images of both the CBA and Canadian Rangeland. These are just a few of the highlights and recognition opportunities that were received – please visit www.rangelandbison.ca to view the full post report which details all the perks of sponsorship.
It is important to note that the visibility for #Albertalove, 2016 JUNO Gala Dinner main course, started weeks before the main event. Two weeks before the JUNO Awards, Canadian Rangeland Bison and the Canadian Bison Association participated in the “first time ever” official media launch for the celebrity orchestrated JUNO Gala menu. These activities began at an “invitation only” launch party which was attended by dozens of media medium representatives. This launch included an exclusive tasting of the spectacular food and drink that was served at the gala dinner on April 2nd. During the official menu launch, JUNO Award winner and celebrity chef Roger Mooking revealed the three-course menu he curated especially for the star-studded event while highlighting the contributions made by Canadian Rangeland Bison & Elk and the Canadian Bison Association, who were the official suppliers of the bison for the gala meal.
The credit for establishing the relationship with the JUNO organizers goes to the leadership provided by Canadian Rangeland and their commitment to maximize the value of this event for the bison industry. In recognizing their leadership Member of Parliament for Red Deer – Lacombe Blaine Calkins stated “I can think of no better opportunity to showcase Canadian bison and elk products than at a premier event that showcases the Best in Canadian Talent.”
Overall feedback from the event has been awesome and the social capital that has been created by being part of this event is unmeasurable. We would like to commend the commitment by the staff of the TELUS Conference Centre in Calgary. In talking to representatives of the Centre, this is the feedback which was received. “It was a great experience to host the Juno Awards Gala and to work with the Juno’s organizational body, Roger Mooking and Canadian Rangeland. A great relationship is formed and everything that was generously donated worked out perfectly. There was some trimmed product that we at the Marriot are repurposing into other items like tenderloin sliders and stews. We would FOR SURE use Canadian Rangeland Products and BISON again, and will look for them when purchasing from our suppliers” Executive Sous Chef Hussin – Calgary Marriot – Downtown
There were many winners at the Juno’s- the Canadian bison industry was certainly one of them.