Message

executive director’s message

There is no denying that a lot of work goes into planning a conference. The venue is booked three years out, the theme is decided a year and a half out, and topic selection begins a year out. By the time March rolls around, three months out from the conference, the final agenda is ready to be announced. At this point eighty percent of the conference work plan is complete.

This year planning progressed much like it had in previous years. The March newsletter, including the final conference agenda, was scheduled to be sent out on March 16. Even while the newsletter was being prepped in February, it was becoming increasingly clear that the conference might not happen. So, while the conference agenda was being announced we were discussing our conference options, cancel the conference outright or virtualize it.

By April 6, with the Board’s approval, the virtual conference was announced and work began in earnest to undertake the monumental task of transforming the in-person event into a virtual event. Once speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors were on board we set out to secure audio-visual support and confirm the conference platform. By the time everyone was lined up we had a little over three weeks to pull everything together.

I can’t lie, there were a few sleepless nights in the lead up to the conference, but there was never any doubt about our intention. While we know that there is no substitute for catching up with friends in-person at the welcome reception and networking with colleagues in between conference sessions, we wanted to try as hard as possible to ensure that members could enjoy something as close to a full conference experience as possible.

Based on the feedback we received during the conference and following, it’s safe to say, that our inaugural virtual conference was a huge success. A big thank you to the Board for their guidance, my colleague, Kisha Pellerin, for handling the mammoth task of registration and coordinating the conference app, and AspectBC, EventMobi, and Shawn Lam Video for ensuring that everything ran pretty seamlessly even when there was a glitch or two.

And, a big THANK YOU to the more than 450 delegates, speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors who joined us on this journey. This conference simply would not have been a success without your participation.

Kala Harris Executive Director