1 September 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As of today, the Day of Visibility for the Live Event Community has an event hashtag all their own. Event
organizers are asking venues and landmarks across the country to light up their buildings and marquees
in red on Tuesday 22 September to raise awareness for an industry that remains dark.
Early response has been overwhelming. Organizations, grassroots groups and individuals are coming
together to ask and assist with illuminating landmarks in red, bringing to light the many performers,
creators, technical, logistical, and management support personnel who drive a $100 billion Canadian
economic engine.
The selected hashtag #LightUpLive #EclaironsLesScenes draws attention to locations that have been
primarily dark for over six months due to social distancing restrictions. Live event workers are encouraged
to participate using social media, and participating venues and installations can be tracked on an
interactive map at the event website ( https://lightuplive.ca ).
“This grassroots movement has seemed to catch fire,” says Morgan Myler, co-founder of the Live Event
Community group, which formed in March as a result of the cancellation of events worldwide due to
COVID-19. “We started with a resource guide for workers to access critical health, financial and training
opportunities when COVID-19 hit.”
According to Statistics Canada1, the arts, entertainment and recreation sector lost 152,000 of 486,100
jobs between June 2019 and June 2020, and 86% of businesses experienced a high level of impact due
to the decrease in demand or cancellation of services2. Those that are still employed have seen a 45%
reduction in hours worked 1 . The corporate and business events sector directly employs an additional
229,000 Canadians according to a 2017 Oxford Economics3 study.
“I’m always impressed to see how quickly the event industry can respond,” says co-founder Rob Duncan
“but considering how quickly the work stopped, people are really looking to do something, however
symbolic it may be.”
The Day of Visibility for the Live Event Community will run Tuesday 22 September from an hour after
sundown, coast to coast. Follow along at https://lightuplive.ca . Live event workers looking for resources
can visit https://liveeventcommunity.org
(647) 483-4102
[email protected]
Media inquiries:
Morgan Myler, 416-720-6477 [email protected]
Rob Duncan, 416-809-2488 [email protected]
1 https://capacoa.ca/en/2020/07/employment-in-arts-and-culture-june-2020/
2 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310022901&pickMembers%5B0%5D=3.4
3 https://insights.eventscouncil.org/Full-Article/2018-global-economic-significance-of-business-events
Backgrounder
Live Event Community Mission
It’s in our name – we were founded as a community of Live Event Workers, to support and amplify the
voices of freelancers and gig workers who do not belong to a representative organization. We speak to
government and advocate for essential support for event workers not covered by traditional programs
such as Employment Insurance. Finally, we offer a crowd-sourced database of health, financial, industry,
and training resources for Canadians. We provide a place for those in the community to help each other.
Who Are We?
Live Event Community was created on 12 March 2020 in the aftermath of mass event cancellations
across North America due to COVID-19. Live event freelancers were worried that their livelihood had
disappeared overnight. Four live event professionals in Toronto registered a URL, spun up a phone
number and launched a social media presence on Twitter , Instagram , LinkedIn and Facebook to provide
a vetted source of information available to all.
We have no funding and no membership. We do have an organic reach of 30,000 and 1,200 followers on
Facebook, and a mailing list that has nearly tripled in the last week.
Our organization has a similar request to the government as many other travel, tourism and live event
organizations:
1. That the government recognizes that our industry has been devastated by the effects of
COVID-19, and there is no set date for return. We were the first out and will be one the last to
return.
2. Continue financial support for live event workers until the industry is back to work.
3. Assist companies throughout the supply chain who work to create, produce, manufacture and
support an industry that will have to wait until large gatherings are safe again.
