Table of Contents 6 2012 OVATION Awards Winning Entries

d) Being She: The Culture of Women’s Health and Health Care Through the Lens of Wholeness. Hosted by
volunteer committee member Christina Zeidler at her hotel (Gladstone), WCH displayed photos from an
open competition asking the public to explore issues of women’s empowerment, diversity, identity and
embodiment as they relate to women’s health. Thousands of people visited the exhibit while it
remained on display throughout the summer months.
e) 100th Birthday Party. With a committee of hospital staff and volunteers at the helm, a birthday party
was planned for internal audiences including the presentation of a series of one‐time‐only staff awards –
The Century Tributes; Women’s Got Talent, a staff talent show; and limited edition gifts including a WCH
100th lapel pin and calendar commemorating 100 years of WCH.
To promote these events, WCH created a 100th anniversary brand which was applied to all materials
throughout the year. Toronto city buses were adorned with WCH 100th branding, as were street
banners around Queen’s Park and throughout downtown Toronto. A riveting and emotional 100th
„centrepiece’ booklet traced the evolution of WCH and was incredibly well received (we received
requests to purchase copies!). A dedicated 100th Calendar of Events was distributed through the Globe
and Mail and Toronto Star. And WCH’s 100th anniversary was highlighted in all corporate publications
including the hospital’s annual report, bi‐annual publication, Connect, and its bi‐weekly e‐newsletter, e‐
Connect.
A digital marketing campaign included a 100 Years of Women’s Health website to promote events, drive
attendance and engage audiences. The extensive site also hosted the open call for Being She, held
contests, and invited women to participate in a dialogue about women’s health.
Implementation and Challenges:
The primary challenge was funding. Consultations with advertising/media buy agencies revealed that an
awareness campaign to achieve objectives as outlined above would cost upwards of $2‐million over a 1‐
year period. However, hospitals are not permitted to spend substantial operating dollars on advertising.
So WCH had to think outside the box. WCH decided to build a strategy based on events that could: a)
Generate media coverage b) Use vehicles such as speeches, event programs, and other communications
materials to clarify misconceptions c) Connect with audiences in a deeper, more meaningful way d)
serve as a basis for a two‐way digital media program and, e) offset costs through in‐kind donations.
Budget: The budget broke down as follows: 1) Events – including all venues, food, speakers, event
planners etc. for all five events – $100,000. 2) Promotion – street banners, bus ads, website, posters,
brochures, branding, agencies, design and printing etc. – $100,000. In order to stay within this tight
budget, WCH relied on its volunteers to help plan and execute events, and in‐kind donations were
sought at every opportunity. Donations included venues (Brookfield Place; Macdonald Block, Queen’s
Park; Gladstone Hotel); beverages at the launch; curators from the AGO for Being She; entertainers and
hosts including Juno‐Award winner Dan Hill, comedian Sandra Shamas, Ilana Landsberg‐Lewis, and
reporters Melissa Fung and Anne‐Marie Mediwake. Sponsorship dollars were provided by Shopper’s
Drug Mart for the Spirit of Discovery conference (amount remains confidential due to agreements).
Human resources: Resources were tight, but a highly skilled team of just four staff members in the
Strategic Communications Department, WCH’s archivist and the hospital’s director of community
engagement, along with volunteers executed all initiatives, including all writing and media relations.
Timeline: All dedicated anniversary events took place between January – November 2011, with only two
months between each initiative. Added to that were the annual hospital events, which WCH
incorporated under the anniversary umbrella (International Women’s Day event, a summer staff BBQ, a
commemoration event marking the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, etc) – in all, 10 events in just