Regional Reps Report

By Steven Sorenson, Director, Regional Reps

2015 Summary:

In 2015, seven people volunteered to become Regional Reps, while three people ended their tenure as Regional Reps. As of February 3, 2016, APRA Canada has 25 Regional Representatives.

In May, I sent out an email to the Regional Reps to get any questions, concerns, suggestions and/or issues regarding the role of Regional Representative and holding activities in their respective regions. Some of the issues that came up included:

• the challenge of locating fellow members to invite to activities (most notably an issue for regions with few APRA Canada members);
• coming up with solutions for growing membership in regions;
• better communication to the regional reps regarding social and networking events;
• clarification regarding money provided by APRA Canada for events organized by Regional Reps;
• clarification on sponsorship opportunities.

Some of the regional activities for 2015 included:

• APRA Canada Calgary – around 18 researchers held a get-together on January 21^st.
• APRA Canada Kitchener/Waterloo – 9 researchers held a get-together on March 4^th.
• APRA Canada Toronto – the following activities were held in the Toronto-region: 8 people attended a holiday party at Sambuca's on Baldwin in downtown Toronto in January; 5 people attended a gathering at the Imperial Pub in downtown Toronto in April; an event was held at the Madison Pub in downtown Toronto in June with 7 attendees, which included a drawing for a copy of What About Women? By Preeti Gill; an event was held in December with 8 people attending.
• APRA International Conference in New Orleans – On July 23^rd, a Canadian delegate dinner was held during the APRA International Conference at Broussard's (a French Creole-style restaurant) - pictures are below! The dinner was attended by 19 people, most of whom were APRA members. I would like to thank Melissa Young (QEII Foundation), Laura Avery (QEII Foundation) and Sarah McCarthy (University of Western Ontario) for organizing the event. 
• APRA Canada Edmonton – On October 28^th, Tawnia Daughton and Carly Koshman, Prospect Researchers at the University of Alberta, gave a lunchtime presentation on prospect research at the University of Alberta's School of Library and Information Studies.
• APRA Canada Montreal – The Montreal region holds quarterly meetings to discuss problems, possibilities and share research methods.

2016 Goals:

1. 1) Create a guidelines document for Regional Representatives.
2. 2) Encourage Regional Activities.
3. 3) Help maintain a full contingency of Regional Reps.
4. 4) Set up a get-together or session for Regional Representatives at the APRA Canada Conference.