Special Event Production: The Process
After 22 years in the Canadian Armed Forces serving as an aeronautical engineer, Doug Matthews began his second career in the entertainment industry when he joined Pacific Show Productions in 1985. This company produced special events and entertainment in Canada and overseas for many diverse clients. For example, these included: original musical theatre productions in Barkerville, BC; the millennium First Night celebrations in Vancouver, BC; the annual Leo Awards for BC film and television; and four entertainment show tours for the Canadian Armed Forces to the Arctic, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Egypt, and Israel. Pacific Show Productions was regularly nominated for special event awards both in Canada and the United States and won several awards under Matthews's leadership. The company was sold in 2004.   Matthews is an accomplished speaker, delivering seminars at special event conventions and courses at community colleges in the areas of entertainment, creativity, and event production management. He is currently on the faculty of Capilano College in North Vancouver, BC, where he teaches Special Events as Tourism Generators and Advanced Special Event Planning and Production to Asian and North American students. Matthews remains involved in the industry as a member of the Canadian Special Event Society and serves on the advisory board of an international consortium of special event production companies called TEAM Net, based in Atlanta, Georgia, of which he was president in 2002-04.  His published articles range from technical engineering papers for military audiences to pieces for special event publications, as well as original music and mini-plays. His most recent publishing success is a self-published book on special events, How to Create Fantasies and Win Accolades: A Practical Guide to Planning Special Events, which has received critical acclaim in the USA and Canada.