Northern Lights Display - April 2021

March 22^nd, 2021

The stadium's Northern Lights Display is recognized around the world as a landmark of Vancouver’s skyline. BC Place is honoured to be able to help bring awareness to events, charities and non-profit causes that are important to communities in British Columbia.

Here are the stadium's lighting initiatives for April:

April 1st - Yellow for Daffodil Campaign

April 2nd - Blue for World Autism Awareness Day

April 3rd - Orange and Blue for World FND Month

April 4th - Purple for Oral Health Month and Dental Hygienists Week

April 6th - Red and Blue for Emergency Service Dispatchers and 9-1-1 Awareness Week

April 7th - Green for Green Shirt Day

April 8th - Blue for Global Meetings Industry Day

April 9th - Periwinkle for IBS Awareness Month

April 11th - Teal and Magenta for World Parkinson's Day

April 12th - Pink for Creative Industries Week

April 13th - Rainbow for Sikh Heritage Month

April 14th - Pink for International Day of Pink

April 17th - Red for World Hemophilia Day

April 18th - Green for National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week

April 19th - Blue, Pink and Yellow for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) Awareness Day

April 20th - Red for National Volunteers Week

April 22nd - Lights Off for Earth Day

April 23rd - Purple for Adenomyosis Awareness

April 24th - Teal for PMDD Awareness

April 28th - Orange for National Day of Mourning

April 29th - Blue for World Wish Day

In addition to these lighting initiatives, the stadium will continue to light up with a special animation at the top of each hour (between sunset and 11pm) every night to show support for health care professionals across the province who are working tirelessly to support our communities through the COVID-19 pandemic.

To learn more or to submit a lighting request, visit our Northern Lights Display page.

Centerplate team at BC Place continues to help neighbours

March 18^th, 2021

The Centerplate team at BC Place continues to help support our neighbours on the Downtown Eastside with regular donations to The Salvation Army Vancouver Harbour Light. Today, our team was able to arrange a donation of nearly 500 pounds of food, including items such as chili, hot dogs and meat pies.

Since the postponement of major events at the stadium in March 2020, BC Place and Centerplate have donated over 15,500 pounds of food to charitable organizations.

Once again, we want to thank our team for their continued commitment to supporting our most vulnerable communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic!

About The Salvation Army Vancouver Harbour Light

For 65 years, Harbour Light has been a place of miracles and new beginnings in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

Harbour Light is a team of nearly 200 hard-working, fun-loving professionals who feel called to work in and for the Downtown Eastside community. Together, the team bring a wide range of personal and professional experiences to work, united by the belief in the missions of Harbour Light and The Salvation Army.

From the front lines to leadership, approximately 35% of Harbour Light employees are alumni of the programs. Their lived experiences are integral to Harbour Light's ability to walk alongside our clients in their journeys to housing and recovery.

About Centerplate

Centerplate is a leader in live event hospitality, "Making It Better To Be There®" for more than 115 million guests each year at more than 200 prominent entertainment, sports and convention venues. From hosting VIPs at the Super Bowl to superheroes at Comic Con, the company provides hospitality services to North America's premier events and destinations. A Sodexo company, Centerplate creates unique, locally inspired menus, best-in-class guest service, and one-of-a-kind experiences backed by world-class design and insights teams.

Where Memories are Made! with Brian Griffin, Director of Facility Operations

March 10^th, 2021

The 'Where Memories are Made!' feature is an opportunity for BC Place team members and the community to share their favourite memories of the stadium, as well as their hopes for the future as we work towards welcoming guests back to live events.

In this first edition, we speak to Brian Griffin, the Director of Facility Operations at BC Place. Brian has worked at the stadium for over 25 years and is responsible for all day to day facility operations, including engineering, maintenance, setting up and conversion of events and environmental services.

Every industry has been affected by the pandemic over the past year, including the live events and entertainment industry. How has COVID-19 impacted the operations at BC Place?

"There have been a lot of challenges. For me personally, the thing I love most about my job is the fast pace and rapidly changing work environment. The event world is unique. There's a saying, 'If you don’t like the way it's going, wait 5 minutes,' because it's going to change. It might sound crazy but that's what drives us. Not having had that over the past year has been a huge challenge mentally for me and a lot of our team because events are what we do. We've had to change our focus and now we're in more of a strategic, planning phase. We're looking at what this new world will look like going forward. We don’t know what it’s going to look like but we know that it is going to be drastically different. Instead of planning for the 'what', we've been spending the past year planning for the 'what if' and that has been the most challenging."

Last fall, BC Place became the first stadium in Canada to achieve Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC) STAR™ accreditation. Are initiatives like this part of that strategic planning?

"Absolutely. We're not just thinking about the events, we're thinking about our guests. I am very proud of the GBAC STAR accreditation because as a facility and as a leader, we didn't wait for this to happen. We went and made it happen. We were one of the first venues to be forward thinking and recognize this is something we should be doing. We know that this will be an absolute necessity when we re-welcome our guests whenever it is safe to do so. I think guest confidence is so important. We want the people coming into our building to feel safe in every way and this has accreditation has helped us accomplish a huge part of that."

What do you miss most about pre-pandemic events?

"I miss welcoming people into our venue and making experiences. I miss having that human connection. Whether it's a trade and consumer show, a concert or a sporting event, I never thought I would miss our guests as much as I do. Our guests are our business and I think it's important to make sure every interaction is as positive as possible. We want every person to feel they are treated respectfully. I love walking the building during events and engaging with our guests. It’s amazing. If I walk the building during a football game, people will wave at me and say hi. There are people, like season ticket holders, that recognize me from throughout the years and I recognize them too. That’s what makes coming to work every day so fun. That's why this past year has been such a challenge. It's the people who come here that give this building its real energy."

You've been with the stadium for over 25 years and have truly seen it all. Do you have any favourite events or experiences?

"We have a lot of wonderful repetitive business, but for me the ones that stand out are the 'one off' events. For example, the NFL exhibition game called the American Bowl in 1998 or the NHL Heritage Classic game back in 2014. I remember we hosted the APEC World Leaders Summit at the stadium in 1997. We hosted world leaders from 18 different countries and were able to showcase the building and the city. It's pretty cool when you get to be a part of something like that. The FIFA Women's World Cup was also an amazing event in 2015 because it brought us a lot of people from south of the border, a lot of people who hadn’t been in this building before. When I think back to that event, I can't overstate how big of a deal that was for the stadium. Initially there was doubt about how big of a draw women's soccer was and I can tell you that I have never heard the building louder than during the World Cup final between Japan and USA. We had people lining up six hours before gates opened. The excitement in and around the facility was unbelievable. I think support for women's soccer truly grew with that event, not just for Team Canada but for the sport as a whole. It was pretty incredible."

The events you mentioned are all incredibly diverse. What makes BC Place such a unique venue?

"When we say we're a multipurpose facility, we really have done it all. Not all venues can do all types of events and there's very little we haven't done over the years. The phrase 'multipurpose' can be thrown around but we truly are. Over the years we've done almost everything you can think of and we've done it well. It's our team that makes the difference. We always go that extra mile for our clients. In order to host such a wide variety of events, we have to go above and beyond for our guests and clients."

Speaking of your team, how have staff at the stadium responded to the challenges over the past year?

"The success of our building over the years is how we’ve been able to adapt. The past year has been our biggest challenge ever. In my 25 years of experience, I feel we have assembled the best team we have ever had and that says a lot. The possibilities are unlimited when it comes to what we can do. As I said, this is the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced but I’m confident that we are ready to knock it out of the park. I’ve never been surrounded by such a talented group of people and felt more supported than I do today."

Looking back on your career at BC Place, what do you love most about your job?

"Someone asked me the other day: when it comes time for me to walk away from this, what will I remember the most? And it is that I have been a part of some of the largest events, not just in this city or province, but in this country. I've been involved with some amazing events and it’s a sense of pride. I feel very proud to know I had a role in bringing these successful events to life. Those are the memories I will take away with me when it's time."

What do you want people to remember as we move closer to welcoming guests back into the building?

"I think it's important to remember that we've never closed and to recognize the work that has been going on behind the scenes over the past year. Not just the people on-site at the stadium, but the teams working from home too. We have never stopped working and to see all that hard work pay off when we invite our first guests back will be so rewarding. We've been busy preparing for whenever that date might be and we'll be ready for that date. In this business, you cannot miss a deadline. You can't miss having the floor down, you can't miss having the lights on, you can't miss a cue. In 25 years, our whole crew, has never missed a deadline. We've never missed a deadline and we never will. The show must go on."