Notes For Special Event Report

Group: Ana, Wendy, Zach, Michelle, Josh, Su

Event: Howl-O-Ween

Date: October 14, 2023

Location: The Halifax Beer Garden

Main sponsor: Garrison Brewing Co.

Fundraiser for: Good Bones Dog Rescue

Brief description event: An afternoon where dog-owners went to the Halifax Beer Garden with their
dogs dressed in costumes. About a dozen dog-related businesses tabled at the event and were able to sell
their goods. The event was a fundraiser for Good Bones Dog Rescue. People could donate directly at the
Good Bones table, could donate through the Beer Garden POS system, or donate by buying Garrison beer
($1 from each Garrison beer sale went to the cause).

Interview with Laura Oakley, marketing consultant for Legendary Hospitality group

PR objective:

• Generate goodwill for the business by helping a charity

• “It positions you as someone who supports the community and supports worthy causes.”
• Additional benefit: introduce dog owners to dog businesses.
Business objective:

• To have a good business day for the Beer Garden in mid-October

• “Anything we can do to keep bringing people down in the shoulder season for the business is great.”
• To get new customers
Target publics:

• Primary external: Dog owners in the HRM

• Primary internal: staff who could enjoy the dogs
History:

The event goes back to pre-pandemic days, but in a different iteration. They had a couple of dog events
before the pandemic. Laura couldn’t quite remember if the last one was in 2018 or 2019. But she said
they definitely did it in 2018 and it was called “Brews and Chews”. That one was also with Good Bones
Dog Rescue. She said the 2023 event was a post-pandemic comeback. Garrison was also their sponsor for
the 2018 event.

RACE Formula:
• Research: Laura Googled dog businesses, dog treats in Halifax, dog food in Halifax, doggy daycares in
Halifax.
• Action and planning: Laura sent a general callout to dog businesses to participate. She emailed busi-
nesses directly and used Instagram to make the callout. She said she picked up about five more busi-
nesses due to direct emails. As for planning, she said it was a collaboration between The Halifax Beer
Garden and Garrison Brewing Co. The idea to do Howl-o-Ween came up in another meeting about an
Oktoberfest event they also collaborate on. They just decided to bring the dog event back, since both
parties “love it”. That idea turned into a couple of Zoom calls, but most of all, planning took place on a
Google Doc, where they all collaborated and assigned each other tasks to get done.
• Communication and relationship building: The communication and relationship building is touched
upon in the ‘action’ section explained above, where Laura directly reached out to dog businesses and
put out an Instagram post. Communication vehicles used to promote the event included Facebook
posts, Instagram posts, internal posters at other restaurants under the Legendary Hospitality umbrella
along with Garrison. They also tagged businesses and asked them to share posts. And of course, they
networked, Laura said. It can also be mentioned that they maintained their past relationship with Good
Bones Dog Rescue by bringing them back and fundraising for them.
• Evaluation: After the event, Laura said “I feel the event was a tremendous success given the attendance
and amount of vendors we had participate, plus the number of dogs in costumes. All of the BG staff
had a wonderful time during their shifts. Next year I’d like to figure out a way to raise even more
money - perhaps we auction off the prize basket.” They raised $450.75 total for Good Bones.

Participating businesses:
• Crafty Beasts Dog Beer “Yappy Hour” with free samples!
• Homeward Bound Pet Food Delivery Halifax
• Garrison Brewing
• Global Pet Foods - samples
• WanderPaws Dog Training Services and Group Hikes
• Cheesy Paws Dog Bakery
• Wet Nose Photography
• Antojo Tacos & Tequila branded dog neckerchiefs
• Wag & Purr Pet Bakery
• Uptown Tails Pet Resort
• GreenPaw dog treats
• Dogtopia
• Jollytails Resort
• Wet Nose Pet Photography

Special Event Notes

Throughout the event, a couple of people at their respective setups were able to provide me with
some brief but solid details on things like why they attended, how they found out about it and the
overall picture of what they had set up on their tables.
 · The owner and operator of Homeward Bound Pet Food Delivery explained that they at-
tended because they thought it was a great idea and they found out about it from his
daughter who found out through word-of-mouth. Their table featured basic samples of
dog and cat food and treat and food items they were selling during the event. They also
wanted to provide information about what they do (home delivery at no cost).
· The representative from WanderPaws Dog Training Services & Group Hikes explained
that she was there to get the word out about their business and raise some money for the
cause. Her table featured a gift basket from Deedee’s Ice Cream and North Brewing,
Good Robot human and dog beer, and items for dogs and people. There was no mention
from her about anything on sale, however. It was more of an opportunity for her to talk
about the company’s services.
During the event, I noticed that people who attended did not immediately visit the tables upon ar-
rival but did so as the event progressed, which is common. They settled into the event by relax-
ing at the venue’s picnic tables while having some food and drinks and taking in the ambience.
Once that feeling-out process was done, people sporadically visited the setups as the event went
on. In speaking with the representatives towards the end of the event to get a sense of how things
went, they seemed pleased. They were impressed by the number of people who offered support
and by the positive, fruitful interactions with attendees who stopped by. In general, attendees ap-
peared to be happy to be there and had great interactions with other attendees. Overall, the event
had a very laidback feel while being organized with little to no issues.