Executive Director’s Message

In the lead up to our first virtual conference in June, it was increasingly clear that the “new normal” brought on by COVID-19 would be virtual.

Every year, immediately following our annual conference, we quickly turn our attention to Boot Camp. This year was no different except of course that we had the added task of finding a way to virtualize this intensely interactive 5-day residential program. Like the annual conference, the transformation needed to be undertaken without hesitation.

In “normal” years, we would welcome attendees to the program at the University of Victoria, it would be sunny and warm. Attendees would spend the early hours of the program getting to know their teammates, getting an overview of the program, and learning about the important role of the local government finance officer. Usually by Property Taxation day, everyone is settled into the rhythm and rigor of Boot Camp’s long days followed by late nights—sometimes later than required by the program, but I digress. By this time, everyone has grown accustomed to the many luxurious amenities that university dorm life has to offer and are well on their way to competing for the coveted Golden Boot.

From my vantage point things played out very much the same way for Virtual Boot Camp in many respects as we all became a little more familiar with the intricacies of the Zoom platform. By Property Taxation day, attendees were zooming in and out of the breakout rooms with ease, they were fully in on decorating their virtual team tables with colorful and imaginative backgrounds representing

team colors and sometimes over the top characters, Joe Exotic and a burgeoning bromance. We had glimpses into the lives of a few attendees with cameos of kids, pets, and someone in pajamas, who will remain nameless. Attendees stayed engaged right to the very end thanks largely to the Financial Accounting & Reporting dream team, Chris Paine, Mario Piroddi and Carolyn Gillis. Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Congratulations to the Red Team, this year’s Golden Boot Camp winners and this year’s Deb Humphrey Scholarship Award winner, Ryan Carter, Director of Finance for the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality. And a big thank you to this year’s Boot Camp class for rising to the challenge of a virtual Boot Camp! Thank you to the faculty and guest presenters who shared their knowledge and expertise with this year’s Boot Camp cohort and took the added time to strategize the virtual delivery with us. A big round of applause for this year’s faculty presenters: Nyla Attiana, District of Tofino; Kevin Bertles, City of Armstrong; Myriah Foort, Comox Valley Regional District; Carolyn Gillis, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary; Shelley Hahn, MFA; Lauren Kerr, MFA; Rianna Lachance, Capital Regional District; Jennifer Lockhart, City of Victoria; Chris Paine, District of Oak Bay; Mario Piroddi, BDO; Talitha Soldera, Cowichan Valley Regional District; Doug Stein; Farouk Zaba, City of Port Coquitlam.

And lastly, thank you to my colleagues Kisha Pellerin and Lya Iglesias for their assistance in delivering this year’s program.

Kala Harris Executive Director