Smoke & Felt Drives Recovery Day Ottawa's Historic 2021 Return to City Hall
(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) – Recovery Day Ottawa made its historic return to Ottawa City Hall this month in a celebration of wellness and hope that reached its biggest audience ever with a multimedia campaign supported by Smoke & Felt.
“Recovery Day Ottawa 2021 is always an incredible experience,” said Matt Dusenbury, Founder of Smoke & Felt. “But this one was unlike any that came before it. Not only did the event mark its return to City Hall to safely host its first in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but we were able to drive significant engagement both on the ground and online. RDO 2021 was a phenomenal show that our hosts, Community Partners, and participants can be proud of.”
Held every September, Recovery Day Ottawa is hosted by the Community Addictions Peer Support Association (CAPSA). In coming together for a day of live speakers, outreach, and entertainment, CAPSA uses the day to engage the community in support of stigma reduction, build a platform for dialogue on increased resources for new and existing community services, and celebrate the many pathways people take on their way to wellness.
“Recovery Day Ottawa provides optimism to those with substance use disorder that wellness is possible,” Anthony Esposti CEO of CAPSA. “RDO 2021 was the best ever thanks to our Community Partners and to reach new people with the help of S&F.”
Recovery Day’s return to a live show had to be a monumental celebration after 2020’s successful virtual event – and it delivered. On Friday, September 17, 2021 Ottawa City Hall became a beacon wellness for the community, hosting live speakers including Dr. Vera Etches of Ottawa Public Health, President and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada Michel Rodrigue, Scott Hannant of the Canadian Centre on Substance Use, and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who appeared via video to declare September 17 as Recovery Day in Ottawa. Dr. Joanne Bezzubetz of The Royal Mental Health Centre acted as the Master of Ceremonies for the day.
Over 70 Community Partners also set up booths throughout the grounds to offer information and support to attendees. After the main stage program concluded, guests were treated to an afternoon of live entertainment by The Academy Choir, party band Starfire, and comedian Alex Wood.
To push the message of Recovery Day even further, Smoke & Felt worked closely with CAPSA to build a completely new digital experience into this year’s Recovery Day. Using lessons learned from last year’s production, Recovery Day Ottawa 2021 launched a messaging campaign that dominated social media. By engaging an expansive community partner network, launching a multi-channel livestream across six networks, and leveraging social ad buys, Recovery Day Ottawa earned over 1 million impressions of the event hashtag during the campaign period, and thousands of views of the day’s program – a monumental success.
“The response to Recovery Day Ottawa is overwhelming,” said Dusenbury. “We knew that CAPSA wanted this day to be unforgettable, an opportunity to connect with the community and engage with supporters in ways the organization wasn’t able to last year. The positive feedback and conversations we are seeing are proof that Recovery Day continues to change the conversation around stigma and wellness in Canada.”
In a surprise announcement, CAPSA closed the event by telling the crowd that Recovery Day Ottawa was evolving. Beginning next year, Recovery Day will officially become the “Working on Wellness” or WOW Festival to better capture the size and spirit of the day.
“Next year’s WOW Festival will bring together Community Partners from the Physical Health, Mental Health and Substance Use Health fields under one tent, to discuss something important to all Canadians: Health,” said Esposti. “We can’t wait for the new WOW Festival next year, and to work with S&F to bring it to our community.”
The all-new WOW Festival will debut next year with a bigger mandate, but the goal will remain the same: to continue to reduce the barriers of stigma and discrimination, build a dialogue for resources, and celebrate wellness as a community.
“I’m thrilled Smoke & Felt could help give Recovery Day Ottawa the show it deserves. With such an important vision, it’s crucial that CAPSA continues to invite more people into the conversation of increasing wellness and reducing stigma. I can’t wait for CAPSA and S&F to continue its partnership and build an even bigger event for the first ever WOW Festival next year.”
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About Smoke & Felt
Smoke & Felt is a full service communications agency that stands at the intersection of technology and progressive politics. Founded by Matt Dusenbury after more than a decade delivering innovative solutions to complex marketing and communications challenges, the company began with a focus on creating digital books and other media for progressive Canadian clients and publishers. In 2013, this work won a Canadian Digital Publishing Award. Since 2017, Smoke & Felt has expanded to offer a full range of products and services, working with labour unions, think-tanks, political candidates, and Canadian Members of Parliament, as well as many other companies, clients, and charitable organizations. The company is based in Toronto, Ontario and works with a national clientele. Through media and storytelling, we use our expertise to help progressive companies, campaigns, and causes grow their audiences, reach their ideals and elevate their messages into movements.
