By: Whymark Austen, Director, Professional Development
In 2014, APRA Canada held three professional development events:
On February 12, 2014, we hosted a TwitterTalk as part of APRA International’s inaugural Education Week. Sarah McCarthy, the Ivey Schools of Business’s Associate Director, Research volunteered to moderate this event which covered a diverse array of subjects.
Our first webinar was held in May 2014 and our presenter was the University of Toronto’s Director, Advancement Research and newly minted APRA Canada Board Member, John Hermans. We were fortunate to have him give a presentation titled “Private Company Valuation for the Canadian Prospect Researcher.”
Our second speaker was Erin Moffatt, a Prospect Management and Research Officer at the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation and we were lucky to have her respond to an open call for presenters with a strong understanding of SEDI. Erin’s webinar presented a step by step approach to searching and understanding information found within SEDI and provided members with an enhanced understanding of what is widely regarded as a confusing, but useful, research tool.
Overall, both presentations were very well-received and attracted more than 90 attendees each. Thanks to Sarah, John, and Erin for their awesome contributions!
For the coming months, we have currently scheduled, in collaboration with APRA International’s Education Week initiative, our second annual Twitter Talk, which will be held on February 11, 2015 at 1pm EST. Sarah McCarthy will again be the moderator and we are hoping for a strong turnout. As for webinars, I will be looking to hold several in 2015 and we have so far secured one speaker for an event in mid-April. We will release more details about this event closer to the date. As always, if anybody would like to volunteer to do a webinar or suggest a speaker or subject, feel free to contact me:
Whymark Austen, Prospect Research Officer at Western University, jausten2@uwo.ca.