I am delighted with the turnout and presentation of our first Canadian WHIA Conference this past weekend.I would like to personally thank all the speakers who came to the conference. Each one of them was handpicked by me for their quality, professionalism and passion for the equine industry. I succeeded in landing exceptional speakers who reached out to captivate our members, a good start to "Making 2011 The Best Year Ever" my theme for the conference.
The night before the conference the speakers and exhibitors were invited to a “get together” with drinks and appetizers, compliments of J’Equine Sport. This gathering as well as the morning yoga and mini luncheon fashion show were little extras done by J’Equine Sport, intended to bond the group.
The food and service provided at the Crowne Hotel in Toronto were exceptional and needed little direction.
It was an intense couple of days with much information and ideas exchanged. It didn’t take much effort to encourage people to network and develop new friendships, exactly what Catherine Masters at Global WHIA intended.
EBPM (Equine Business Professional Members) certificates were presented to the newest members which included: WHIA Global; Equine Wellness Magazine; Richvale Saddlery; Performance Sales International (P.S.I.); Just Add Horses; Christilot Boylen and Udo Lange and our newest member, Sutherland-Chan School and Teaching Clinic who offers an equine massage elective in addition to their well established Massage Therapy Diploma Program. Businesses across the board are viewing the EBPM accreditation program as prestigious and necessary to establishing credibility in the equine business sector. It takes about five days to complete the verification and referral requirement of the EBPM application.
A big thanks to John Allan of Redstone Media who was an MC extraordinaire, to Nanette Levin, WHIA global representative and Kathryn Hendricks,volunteer and a special thank you to my daughter Lauren who was my “mini me” filling in the gaps in everyway. Lauren read the commentary for the video created by Christilot Boylen of J’Equine Sport’s sponsored horse, DeNiro’s Exception, aka Dream . Udo Lange has successfully trained and ridden Dream to the FEI Grand Prix Dressage Level and Intermediare II in Germany. Watch for Udo’s special training tips in the Equine Wellness Magazine.
I personally feel that what J’Equine Sport set out to accomplish as a WHIA conference facilitator was accomplished and as the Ontario Chapter Director, I personally look forward to our first meeting which will be held during the second week of June at the Equine Expo in Burlington. Contact me if you plan to attend.
I am excited about the next WHIA conference and I have already started planning to make it bigger and better. Reviews for the first Canadian WHIA Conference will be added to the directory later this week so take the time to log into jequinesport.com directory...select WHIA CONFERENCE category and rate or review.
Come visit the J'Equine Sport and EBPM booth at the CanAm.
Our pink logo pins will be available at the CanAm for $15.00 ...10% goes directly to the breast Cancer Foundation and $7.00 goes towards sponsoring a rider or family member affected by breast cancer. Show your support by wearing a pink pin.
Thanks Lucie and all the attendees for a wonderful experience. This is a powerful group destined to do great things. I look forward to getting to know many better and testing some of the products featured at the trade show. In addition, a number of us are already talking about sideline initiatives directed at helping people find good information concerning horse issues. What fun!
ReplyDeleteA HUGE round of applause to Lucie Burdon-Sereda who did a fabulous job coordinating and running our first event in Canada. It was a BIG success and everyone did business and made some great friends.
ReplyDeleteI have worked with a lot of talented professionals in my lifetime and Lucie ranks right up there with the very best. She is one talented and capable businesswoman!
I cannot tell you how impressed I was with her dedication and determination to make this event successful. She is a SUPERSTAR and I know the Ontario Chapter will be one of our very best!
My sincere congratulations to her and everyone who helped us make this a great kick off for our Canadian members!
A JOB WELL DONE!
Catherine Masters
Executive Director
WHIA GLOBAL
Thanks Nanette. I agree.
ReplyDeleteAs women in the horse industry we wear many hats: we take care of the house, the family, our horses, nurture relationships and we have a business! Taking care of ourselves is most likely the last thing on our list. We need to find a way to be productive yet have fun.
This conference was somewhat of a break and relief for me. Just knowing that there are many other women like me who have been able to balance all this work and network to foster business opportunities was motivating in itself.
I was introduced to many women of "like mind", women who I know I will be doing business with in the future. Women who I hope will take an active roll in the Ontario WHIA Chapter, giving this Chapter power to foster growth in quality horsemanship and equine businesses. As a chapter we can make a difference working together utilizing each others expertise.
A win win situation.
Nanette, it's been a pleasure getting to know you and have you as a supportive team member.
Look for Nanette's book available on-line at jequinesport.com store.
Thanks Nanette. I agree. As women in the equine business we wear many hats , we take care of the house, the family, our horses, nurture relationships and we have a business. Taking care of ourselves is most likely last on our list. We need to find a way to be productive yet have fun.
ReplyDeleteThis conference was somewhat of a break and relief for me. Just knowing there are many other women like me who have been able to somehow balance all this and to network and foster business opportunities was motivating in itself.
My daughter made her connections too.
A win win situation.
Nanette it's been a pleasure getting to know you and to have a supportive team member.
Look for Nanette's book at J'Equine Sport's on-line store.
It was an energizing weekend for all involved (even though I was exhausted as we wound down on Saturday, I still drove back to the States with a smile on my face and fire in my mind from all I had gathered at the Conference).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words, Lucie. More books to come in 2011 (including the next from Canada's Robert Fera 'Bringing Up Baby'). I'm happy to offer all of our titles through J'Equine with a donation on each to your worthy cause.
This is a super group of talented and accomplished ladies (and men). Let's not lose the momentum we rode during the two days (three for some of us) we bonded and collaborated on so many levels. Thanks for making this so.