It is the second week of September and the kids are back in school. My seven-year-old daughter is fully engaged in grade two. She thrives on school. She said all summer, “When can we go back to school?” (That did not come from her father’s side of the gene pool!) But she knows a good thing when she sees it. She thrives on school because she has a thirst for knowledge and growth.
Knowledge and growth should not be applicable only to grade two kids or university students. It applies to all of us. Five weeks from today, the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada’s (SMCC) Western Sponsorship Congress™ will begin with a bang. Delegates from coast to coast will come to Calgary for the nation’s largest and most complete two-day sponsorship industry event this fall. With over 300 registered delegates expected to be in attendance and over 25 presenters, this event will provide industry professionals from Quebec through British Columbia with the networking and professional development they are seeking. For more details or ongoing up-to-date information on the nation’s sponsorship conference this October, download the mobile app.
A month later in Halifax on November 6-7 at the Westin Nova Scotian, the Atlantic Sponsorship Forum will deliver a showcase of networking and professional development for Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec. The Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada (SMCC), the voice of sponsorship in Canada, hosts not only the SMCC Western Sponsorship Congress™ in Calgary with delegates from Toronto and throughout Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and the west, but also delivers the SMCC One Day Sponsorship Training Workshop Series. The 2013 SMCC One Day Workshop Series will be unveiled with locations and dates across Canada at the SMCC Western Sponsorship Congress™ in five weeks’ time.
Other sponsorship professional development opportunities include the presentation to the Calgary Legal Marketing Group on September 19, the BC Fairs Annual Conference in Kamloops, BC in October, the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions annual conference in Winnipeg in November, as well as upcoming workshops and sessions with the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Edmonton, Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Vancouver, and the Canadian Public Relations Association in Ottawa. And of course in April 2013, the SMCC will hold its annual Toronto Conference and Sponsorship Marketing Awards, the annual showcase Toronto event for professional development and industry networking.
Learning and knowledge abound for all of us in the industry. The learning does not stop with a diploma or degree. It is ongoing. It is through formal events such as the SMCC Western Sponsorship Congress™, the Atlantic Sponsorship Forum, the Canadian Sponsorship Forum, and of course, the Toronto event in April each year, the SMCC Conference and Sponsorship Marketing Awards. In addition, there is one-day training across the country, sponsorship workshops, different industry sector events, and one-on-one mentoring and training services. We are a lucky industry to have so much training and development available. I encourage you to engage yourself and attend that which is available.