Support career development – and stay warm – with new toques!
February 3, 2014New Canadian Career Development Researcher Database now online
February 18, 2014CERIC’s 10th anniversary year started off on a high note with a successful Cannexus14 National Career Development Conference! Over 750 career development professionals from across Canada met at the Ottawa Convention Centre from January 20-22 for three days of professional development and a number of special events.
Conference highlights included:
- Four inspiring keynote addresses, including a motivating presentation from Rich Feller about staying positive for clients; a personal address from Valerie Pringle about the importance of change; an energetic keynote from Jacques Demers on helping individuals overcome obstacles; and a passionate speech from Stephen Lewis about the impact that the global environment has on career development.
- The launch of Canada’s first textbook in the field, Career Development Practice in Canada: Perspectives, Principles, and Professionalism, which sold out on-site. Copies can still be ordered online at ceric.ca/textbook.
- The release of the findings from the new CERIC-commissioned Environics research, Career Development in the Canadian Workplace: National Business Survey that received coverage in The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star.
- More than 130 education sessions covering the latest approaches in career development for Canadians ranging from kindergarten students to newcomers to retirees. Some of the most popular sessions this year dealt with positive psychology, mental health, essential skills, mid-career change, social media and assessment strategies.
- A plenary panel of six Canadian leaders from business, education and government discussing the country’s talent disconnect and what can be done about skills gaps. This represented the culmination of CERIC’s year-long Canada’s Career Imperative roundtables.
- And many networking opportunities, including a First-Timer’s session to introduce new attendees, the Wine & Cheese, which allowed delegates to connect over drinks and food, the Cannexus Connections luncheon – a facilitated event where participants could discuss a topic of interest during their meal, and a new francophone gathering, bringing together French delegates from across the country.
Feedback on the conference has been very positive. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the conference survey. A total of 96% of attendees rated the conference as good to excellent with 84% of respondents indicating they plan to use what they learned at the conference right away to enhance their work. The winner of the Porter flight for completing the survey is April Chato from Career Colleges Ontario. Congratulations, April!
Here is what some attendees had to say about Cannexus14:
“Once again, your team pulled off an outstanding event. Every year I attend the conference I am just amazed at how smooth and professional everything runs from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned a lot.”
“All aspects of the conference I found beneficial. From the pre-conference workshops to the keynote speakers, breakout sessions and networking moments in between, all were worthwhile.”
Thank you again to all of our delegates, presenters, sponsors, exhibitors, supporting organizations, advertisers and volunteers who are part of the growth and success of Cannexus! And a special thank you to The Counselling Foundation of Canada for its continued support.
