All Hands on Deck 2011

Thanks to all of you for making All Hands on Deck a true success story. Right from the keynote speaker Rear Admiral Ray Smith, I believe the business program was one of the strongest we've ever put together. We hopefully stretched you a bit by introducing some new topics such as predictive modeling and structured settlements along with some HR best practices courtesy of State Farm Canada and the San Diego Zoo. Our annual sessions were excellent (Tax and Accounting) but I also felt the executive panels were ably handled due to some well-prepared moderators (Jonathan Simmons and Dave Thompson). We were very diversified in the program offerings and I hope it made for a meaningful conference.

The CIAA continued its tradition of raising funds for a local charity. Once again, the CIAA showed its generosity and kindness towards kids in need. We raised $6,700 and are in the process of selecting local school projects that our donations will fund. Check out the charity's site to see all the good work they do www.donorschoose.org

Our final attendance numbers met our target – attracting 142 delegates of which 25 were first timers. This bodes well for our Association as we need to keep attracting 'newbies' – you keep us relevant and fresh.

Many thanks to my committee – Annette Pohle, Jim DeJeu, Dan Tworzewski, Dave Paterson and Jean-Guy Leclerc for supporting me in my role. And a special thank you to all the sponsors who supported us. We've posted helpful links to our sponsors in this conference recap.  

My best wishes to long-time CIAA member Adrian Serge who will host our 2012 conference in Lake Louise, Alberta. Check out the powerpoint link to see the beauty of the area and excellent facilities. I thank you for attending San Diego and I look forward to reconnecting September 16-19, 2012.

Rick Keeler, 2011 conference director

PS. check out the Conference location at Lake Louise