“ In my last year of school, I was voted Class Optimist and Class Pessimist. Looking back, I realize I was only half right.” -Jack Nicholson
It seems like the right thing to do at this time of year – celebrate the holidays and also reflect on the past year, regardless of your perspective. Not being one to break with this tradition, I wish all of you a great holiday season with a healthy helping of friends, family and just the right mix of serenity and chaos!
Image Courtesy of Creative Commons
Looking back, I can’t resist listing some top moments of the past year:
- Alberta’s National Conference, which came together so nicely in early November blending economic and social forecasts with practical ways to make the most of a challenging year;
- Finding a harmonious way to deliver services to Institutes by taking the guesswork out of who does what;
- Launching a new website that allows us to share ideas, discuss what’s important to the community and show off a little bit when someone has earned some plaudits;
- Welcoming some new academic communities into our circle –McGill Continuing Education (Montreal), Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) - and just waiting until after Christmas for George Brown College (Toronto)!
- Hosting an impressive delegation of consultants from far away places like Singapore, France, China, Cyprus, Italy, and Austria to shape an international standard for management consulting (ISO 20700);
- Welcoming Americas Hub delegates from ICMCI and the Americas to share experiences, discuss common issues and look forward to possibilities;
- Coming together as a community when a few of our CMC-Canada builders passed away earlier this year;
- Establishing a certification program for agricultural consultants;
- Receiving a kudo or a thank you when adding new courses and services to benefit members;
- Listening to the stories of members and discussing our mission and purpose with hundreds of participants at a variety of tradeshows;
- Discussing and writing about the issues that affect our community on the radio, in blogs, in magazines, in classrooms; and
- Meeting friends, colleagues and new members at our own events across the country to talk about what works and what could be better.
I wager that each of us has their own variation on this list. Upon reflection, the events all line up in a way that makes sense. At the time, I am not sure anyone knew where we were going despite our intentions. However, building on our successes, we have two substantive conferences to look forward to in the New Year, an energetic Board that is plotting to make us bigger and more engaged, changes to make it easier to welcome younger members, new programs scheduled for introduction and a steady influx of new members with different ideas about where we need to go.
I encourage you to renew your membership this week - for what we have done and for what’s ahead.
Your fees make it all possible.
