The job of the Programs and Events Committee is to ensure the development of a full range of activities during the bicentennial period to animate the significant sites as well as to reinforce the vision, mission, goals and thematic messages of the bicentennial in Maryland.
The Chair is Colm O’Comartun, Democratic Governors Association.
Major accomplishments to date
- Collaboration with US Navy, OpSail, Sail Baltimore, City of Baltimore and other partners has begun for the June 2012 maritime event in Baltimore Harbor. This event will be the national War of 1812 bicentennial kickoff. Sail Baltimore is under contract to assist with the planning efforts. The first of the Navy’s Advisory Group meetings was held in Baltimore City September 15, 2010. The event is expected to attract more than 1.5 million visitors; generate more than $100,000,000 in expenders, and create over 2,200 full-time equivalent jobs.
- Working with local partners, the Commission presented a series of six-daylong workshops to strengthen partners statewide. The workshops were held in 2009-2010 in Southern Maryland, Prince George’s County, Head of the Bay, Upper Eastern Shore, and North Point. The series’ sixth conference will take place in Baltimore City on November 10, 2010.
- Inaugurated in September 2009, the commission maintains and populates a comprehensive statewide calendar of events on its consumer website, www.starspangled200.org.
- Secured the Army-Navy Game for December 2014.
- The homecoming for Maryland Olympic Heroes at Fort McHenry on October 4, 2008 provided valuable experience for staging a large televised event at the Fort. More than 12,000 attended the event, and millions of viewers nationwide watched the event or heard it mentioned on Access Hollywood. The 2012 Olympics to be held in London provides a great opportunity to market and strengthen the national bicentennial in Maryland
- Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum and the Calvert Marine Museum were the lead partners in bringing the 2008 War of 1812 North American Grand Tactical to Maryland in September 2008. The two-day event on land and water brought more than 5,000 people from as far as the west coast, Canada and Great Britain. The excellent location and expert management of the event should provide opportunities to bring the similar re-enactment events to Maryland during the bicentennial.
Meeting notes
June 9, 2010
June 22, 2011
Sept. 8, 2011
Communications and Marketing
Development and Sponsor Relations
Education and Curriculum
Operations and Management
Resource Stewardship and Visitor Experience
Transportation and Capital Infrastructure