How many gallons of water would it take to fill Ricoh Coliseum? Well let’s see… if it takes 7, 851 fans to sell out the building, and Lake Ontario is just down the street, then… I don’t know what I’m taking about. But what I do know, is that Tanya Smither, Coordinator, Ricoh Coliseum/BMO Field Event Operations is the motor behind 3 grandfathered events: The Royal, The CNE and this week’s feature, The Toronto International Boat Show. A onetime part-time Event Supervisor with MLSE, Tanya has quickly matured into a fearless leader amongst her peers. Tanya was recently honoured as one of MLSE’s Stars of the Month (November 2011) for her relentless commitment and dedication to her craft.
Every event is different… make sure you’re proactive rather than reactive, and anticipate things before they happen. – Tanya Smither
Ricoh Coliseum is the world’s largest indoor lake! Coliseum… lake… not exactly synonymous with one another, but Tanya and her Operations team make the annual Boat Show a perennial success! Unlike the majority of events that pass through Ricoh Coliseum, The Boat Show runs for 10 days, not including the ever so important “load in” and “load out”. The transformation of rink to lake, and conversely lake back to rink, takes
1 week each just to set up! Suffice it to say, the event is an undertaking of considerable complexity…
Here are some cold hard facts for those wet behind the ears:
Liner is 250 feet long by 119 feet wide ♦ 12 Hours to fill man-made lake, 10 hours to drain it ♦ +65 Workers required to help convert rink into lake ♦ Water is 2ºC to 5ºC on average ♦ +500 Exhibitors at The Boat Show
Curious how they get the caramel inside the Caramilk bar (water into the Coliseum)? Watch Tanya’s explanation and takeaways below!
- Duke
