Ottawa. The new Ottawa Convention Centre (OCC) launched the “idea BUILDERS OCC Conference Grant Program”, a ground-breaking initiative designed to provide financial assistance for public conferences that focus on important issues that affect Canadians and the National Capital Region.
The OCC aims to financially support multi-disciplinary public conferences, and enable the advancement of social, health, and economic policy development through events taking place in Canada’s new iconic convention centre, set to open in April 2011.
Grant recipients will be organizations or individuals who hope to undertake a public conference in Ottawa at the OCC between April 2011 and March 2012. Relevant areas for consideration could include: peace and security, innovation, technology, economic development and competitiveness, human rights, environment or public policy, among others. The program will provide cash and in-kind cost reductions totalling up to $10,000 in value to eligible conferences which can be applied to direct costs associated with producing the event, including marketing, travel, accommodations, and speaker services.
The program’s initial Call for Applications will run from October 13 through January 31, 2011, with evaluation of submissions in the course of 2011. Evaluation will be undertaken by a peer review committee convened by the OCC and comprised of experts from multiple disciplines.
