The 10th Annual Career Development Conference (CDC) took place on March 14th and 15th 2007, in beautiful Vancouver, BC. This conference, aptly themed Celebrating our Success – Building our Future, is BC’s largest professional development event for career practitioners. Over 500 delegates from across the province shared in this event and were able to experience the wealth of knowledge and expertise that their colleagues brought to the two day event.

Hosted by the Career Management Association of BC, the conference kicked off with an inspirational keynote from Warren Macdonald who, among many other valuable messages, taught delegates the importance of attitude and perspective in overcoming obstacles. One delegate commented that Warren was “a great example of how to believe and challenge yourself when everyone else is afraid to let you try”.

After Warren Macdonald’s opening challenge, delegates were invited into over 40 sessions on a variety of challenging and current topics. Other sessions included current sector information from sector councils representing construction, tourism, plastics, arts and culture, non-profit/voluntary and apprenticeship.

As both a volunteer and participant, Alison Ireland from Pacific Community Resources Society felt that the conference sessions were, “informative and valuable, with focus placed on specific aspects of career practitioning, such as using career exploration assessments and online career counselling; and also offered a broader perspective on human resource related issues that concern my personal career development and client work, like motivating leadership in employees & clients, and the pressing challenges of recruiting and retaining the right staff”.

The Awards and Networking reception was an enjoyable add-on to this year’s conference offering a time to reflect and celebrate the 10 years of the CDC, while honouring the contribution of individuals, teams and organizations in BC with the Career Development Award of Excellence. On the second day, delegates were able to participate in CMA’s Annual General Meeting, which included an opportunity for open dialogue around certification in BC.

The conference was a lively and exciting venue for practitioners and the two days provided opportunity for learning, networking with new colleagues and reconnecting with long time friends. CDC 2008 is approaching quickly and we are all looking forward to continuing the wonderful legacy that is BC’s Annual Career Development Conference.

Written by Fionna Main with contribution from CMA members, volunteers and delegates.