EOCP’s Inaugural Tradeshow and Conference, September 2018 – by Kalpna Solanki BSc MBA CPHI(C)
At the age of fifty-two, the EOCP held its very first tradeshow and conference for British Columbia and Yukon Operators.
So, how did this all come about? Two years ago, when I joined the EOCP as its CEO, we surveyed our membership to find out what Operators wanted. Amongst other things, BC and YT Operators said they wanted a tradeshow and conference that was theirs – Designed by Operators, For Operators, and our entire team worked together to make it happen.
I have to say that I am very lucky because I have an awesome job, and I work with some truly remarkable people:
- Over the years I have worked with many boards, and I have to say that the EOCP board is excellent and works hard to serve its membership;
- I also work with the most amazing staff team. Over the past year, in addition to implementing a new Customer Relationship Management system, new Facility Classification models, and their regular responsibilities, all of them took on major roles related to the conference so that we did not have to hire any extra staff to take care of the numerous conference details.
A huge thank-you also to all of our attendees – we had a sold-out attendance of our goal of 300 Operators. With the theme of ‘Enquire – Learn – Apply’ the EOCP team worked really hard to put together a robust program that involved the ‘who’s who’ of the water/wastewater training industry. All of the presenters were well received, and volunteered their time to come and present. Last, but definitely by no means least, my sincere appreciation to our sponsors whose generosity enabled the EOCP to offer such an inexpensive registration fee for Operators.
The Awards Gala also provided us with an opportunity to celebrate the champions of the water/wastewater industry. We had numerous submissions, and the Awards went to:
- Operator of the Year – Warren Brown, Lytton First Nation
- Bert Caine – Brian Thorburn, EPCOR
- Corporate Recognition – J. Ivor Norlin and Interior Health Authority
- Outstanding Student – Lauren Lacey, Okanagan College
- Innovation – Utility Services Maintenance Division, City of Kamloops
Thus far, the response to the announcement of our next conference, 14-16 September 2020 (Marriott Pinnacle, Vancouver), has been immensely favourable – please mark the date in your calendar. We will send you a reminder, or two, or three to make sure you don’t forget! In the meantime, feel free to review the #EOCP2018 presentations and enjoy the photo collection at http://eocp.ca/eocp-conference/.
You can also see more follow up information about the conference in our Fall 2018 Digest.