Thank you!

Media Street

Thank you to Media Street, the show’s producers, for over 25 years of incredible creativity and for helping make the Business Excellence Awards one of the best events in WindsorEssex. Media Street creates the finalist videos, stage presence and visual production. We also congratulate Kelly Blais, a lifelong supporter of Windsor-Essex, on becoming the new owner of Media Street.

Thanks to: Kelly Blais, Keith Chinnery, Jarrod Ferris, Susan Toth-Wachter and Mike Kakuk.

Cogeco/YourTV

Thank you to YourTV, their production team, and volunteers for their continuous support of the event. For the second year in a row, they will broadcast the

Business Excellence Awards live on YourTV. Check the listings for additional broadcast dates and times by visiting yourtv.tv/windsorleamington.com

Thank you to Terry Doyle and Dave Renaud

St. Clair College Centre For The Arts and Chrysler Theatre

Joe D’Angela, Veronica Mancini, Tim Mussio, Rosita Blackman-Smith, Rob Price and the many staff and volunteers responsible for ensuring the event’s success.

Event Supporters

• Soffi Studios

• Mike Kovaliv and Mychailo Photography

• Swanky Affair Event Design

• Josh Johnson Band

• Sal Albano of New Dimensions Sound and Lighting

Continued from pg. 10 which seats roughly 1,150 audience members.

At the end of the award ceremony, guests are ushered into the Alumni Skyline Ballroom where they’re presented with formally served, plated meals.

“It’s a pretty unique event,” says D’Angela, “during which you have two elements of a night out rolled into one – from a guest’s perspective, they have double the entertainment. It’s not like a traditional award ceremony, like the Emmys or other broadcasted award shows where you’re sitting down in a dining room and watching the awards at the same time.

“This is the chance for guests to experience an awards presentation in a gorgeous commercial theatre, and then they make their way into a ballroom for more socialization with the winners, family members and friends.

“It really is quite the evening.”

Because the centre belongs to an academic institution, D’Angela says the night is used not only to provide guests with an unparalleled, outstanding experience, it also benefits the hundreds of students in the college’s hospitality and culinary programs. Fifty per cent of the staff who work on the Business Excellence Awards’ gala night are students, while the other half are regular part-time staff.

“It’s the sheer magnitude of the event,” D’Angela says. “The number of people involved in an event like this is in the hundreds, because you’re talking not just meal prep, but also your table settings, preparing the room, the organizing, the cleaning, the washing, the food preparation, the cooking and the serving of the food.”

D’Angela says that a night like this is a true showcase of a successful collaborative effort, speaking to the partnership between students, peers, mentors and teachers.

“There’s so much that people don’t see behind the scenes,” he says.

“There are co-ordinators assigned to each program. Chef Carmen Incitti represents the kitchen department, and he liaises with the culinary co-ordinator to work on schedules, discussing the services and the expectations of the event and what is required.

“And then on the opposite side is the dining room – the banquet manager would coordinate with (his peers) on the setup of the room, what time to serve dinner.

“There’s a lot of complexity to this event, not just because of the size, but because the abundance of service we promise. At St. Clair College, you have a lot more attention to detail, more table service. The food gets served quicker, and the guests are happy, and the students really grow from the learning component.”

D’Angela is very proud of how the college caters to those with dietary restrictions or specific dietary needs.

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We extend our congratulations to all of the 2023 BEA finalists for their outstanding accomplishments.