Dear <<First Name>>,

We hope that this note finds you well and excited by the return of in-person events in venues and on stages across the province. We, for one, are pleased to share the return of Ontario Present’s annual showcase, Contact ONTour, as an in-person event this coming Sep 15 to 17, 2022 in Orillia. The program will build on previous versions of Ontario Contact and last year’s virtual Contact ONTour, while also keeping in mind how much the world and our industry has changed during COVID, with a need to reflect on those changes and the subsequent evolution of our practice.

In order to ensure our ongoing work reflects these changes and continues to serve our community and stakeholders, we would like to update you on a critical break in the Ontario Presents program repertoire, in the form of a planned hiatus for Contact ONtour 2023. The decision to make Contact ONtour this September in Orillia the end of the program in its current format was not an easy one. Yet, we are excited by the possibilities of using 2023 as an opportunity year to measure what is happening in the sector, across the province and nationally, to serve you, as stakeholders and partners, better. We therefore anticipate engaging and learning from you over the next two years what a revitalized and renewed program could look like, especially as we begin to critically interweave equity, diversity, inclusivity, accessibility, and decolonization (EDIAD) lenses into all our work.    

In the meantime, plan to schedule your attendance at showcasing and professional development opportunities as they arise over the next two years as our industry returns to a new normal. We want to stress that we are eager to use 2023 to network and connect with you and your communities, to understand how to bring back a programming event in 2024 that has learned from the closures of the past two years. Keeping in mind, the transition to something new will put EDIAD at its center.

Please anticipate upcoming opportunities over the next two years to engage with us, and or start the conversations yourself in reaching out directly with any member of our board or team via email or phone. We also welcome you to join us at our annual retreat and AGM in Huntsville this summer to network in a more informal and relationship-oriented environment, and discuss ongoing and future showcase ideas. We look forward to hosting you at the 2022 Ontario Contact event in Orillia, September 15th to 17th.  

Until then,