Friday, November 21, 2014
6:00-8:00
Trade Show Set Up
7:30-5:00
Registration – Information
7:30-8:00
AGM Sign-In
7:30-8:00
AGM Continental Breakfast in Trade Show
Regency Ballroom
8:00-9:00
CAFE AGM
Regency Ballroom
9:00-5:00
CAFE Trade Show Open
Regency Ballroom
9:00-10:00
Concurrent Seminars/Workshops
Regency Ballroom
Regency Foyer
Workshop: Engaging Your Community and Increasing Your Relevancy
Presenter: John Peco, General Manager
Markham Fair
John Peco is a marketer, entrepreneur, professor, and corporate executive. As the General Manager
of Markham Fair he integrates his experiences to provide leadership as the organization faces
unprecedented population growth and multiculturalism.
John is currently a Director on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Association of Fairs and
Exibitions.
In an age of urban sprawl and declining rural populations, how can your fair remain relevant…to your citizens? To
your politicians? To your neighbours? To your members? What is the common thread that speaks to each of your
stakeholders?
Workshop: Implementing Change in Your Annual Fair
Presenter: Mike Vokey, Executive Director
New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition
Mike Vokey, Executive Director of the Fredericton Exhibition, joined the non-profit organization in
2012 to lead and implement change and growth. Mike has turned challenges into success’s playing a
key role in mapping out a new vision for the provincial exhibition, while staying true to the 187 year
old mission and purpose. The changes to the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition have been
welcomed by the community in no small part due to the efforts made to engage the people of
Fredericton and involve the community.
With over three decades in operations, marketing, and most importantly, real-life, in-the-trenches
business experience, he has brought a team leadership and winning attitude to the exhibition. Most recently Mike
accepted the position of President of the New Brunswick Fairs & Exhibitions Association.
This is a common and difficult challenge for fairs of all sizes and every location. The backbone of many
organizations is the volunteers or staff that has been a big part of producing the annual events. This first challenge
is often getting these people to accept and embrace change. Our demographics have drastically changed over the
past two decades. Has your fair changed to keep up, or is the event simply replayed year after year? I have had
some success in implementing changes in the fair and I can share some secrets and tools that you can use and
implement right away that will provide you with immediate results.
While implementing change is a necessary step in long term success of your fair or exhibition, it is not as simple as
in with the new and out with the old. Firstly our heritage is something we are proud of. Unfortunately pride doesn’t
automatically translate to success, however it can.
Workshop: Strategic Customer Care - Setting Mutual Expectations
Presenter: Randy Hnatko, President
Trainwest Management and Consulting Inc.
Randy Hnatko is President of Trainwest Management and Consulting Inc., a Sales and
Management Training and Consulting organization powered by Sandler Training. Randy has over 33
year’s senior business experience, and is a Trainer, Speaker, Author and Consultant to domestic and
international companies. He is the Official Sales Trainer of The Vancouver Canucks & The PGA
of BC and is a multiple award winner in the Sandler organization, being awarded the Canadian
Franchisee of the Year Seven (7) Times from 2006-2013. Randy Hnatko believes national culture
influences how individuals make decisions and interpret their roles. Differences between cultures
create important opportunities for growth and development, but can also cause serious problems if they are not
understood. "Today individuals need to have cross cultural skills combined with the proper on-going training,
coaching and support network in order to succeed."
Effective Communication
A customer service provider must be a professional communicator. Every customer and prospect is different, and
our ability to establish a trust relationship quickly is essential to solving their problems, developing long-term
customers, and creating a relationship based on loyalty beyond the product or service. Having the skills to lower
barriers between people, ask questions and really listen for the meaning, create win-win solutions and build trust is
far more powerful than any other aspect of client interaction.
Up Front Contracts
Any time we need to get mutual consent, we need to set the expectations of the purpose of our meeting, what needs to
happen and each responsibilities for what; a timeline or when it should happen; and the outcomes expected. We’ve
all experienced the anxiety of having a conversation deteriorate into an aimless rant. Or hung up the phone from a
conversation and asked yourself: “I wonder what should happen next?” We’ll explore a simple methodology that
puts you in control of a conversation, lays out expectations on both sides, and is a comfortable way to ensure
everyone involved is on the same page.
Telephone & Email Communication
More and more, technology is replacing old, slower ways of doing business. One thing remains constant: customers
are unique individuals who want to be treated with courtesy and respect – whether it’s in person, on the telephone
or by email. We don’t help voice mails, we don’t sell to the internet – it’s always about the people. These tools
cannot replace the one-on-one direct communication that connects us to our customers and builds trust and rapport.
We can, however, use them more effectively to avoid disconnects between ourselves and the customer. This session
we’ll review both the telephone and email – our connections to the outside world and our customers - to ensure our
communication skills are building the relationships we value, not damaging them.
10:00-11:00
Coffee Break in Trade Show Floor
11:00-12:30
Concurrent Seminars/Workshops
Regency Ballroom
Workshop: 3 Essentials for Your Association's Resilience
Presenter: David E. White, President
Synergy Solutions Group
David understands the personal, professional and organizational resilience needed to live in this time
of exponentially deep challenge and change. He has worked through challenge, change–even trauma–
over my career and life. The benefit? Developing—and learning to nurture—resilience. This is the
experience he brings to my consulting, coaching, speaking and writing—transforming challenge into
greater clarity of purpose, improved performance and fulfillment.
During his early career, he led the growth of a processing company. David grew from six employees
to ninety-five while revenues grew over 1000% in eight years. During this time, he felt the
excitement of rapid growth—but also the painful urgency of downsizing (cutting 40% of your workforce hurts).
Later, he started and led a company incubator as a partnership between government, industry and university. And
was introduced to the world of politics in an order of magnitude that was shocking at first. My next–enormous–
challenge was restructuring a company that had been hemorrhaging money over several years. Think complete
brand, product, equipment, customer and distribution channel overhaul.
So yes, he knows what it is like to struggle with some truly difficult decisions, such as:
 Human Resources – Relationships
 Asset Management – Confidence in direction
 Direct Reports – Trust
 Cashflow – Survival
You’re getting the idea by now: challenge, change and resilience are my thing. Orphaned at twelve, White knows
what it is like to struggle to gain mastery over personal confidence, and to feel unequal to the task at hand. And yet
do it anyway. He’d like to bring these lessons—in the form of building personal, professional and organizational
resilience—to you. You’ll not only live to tell about it, but you’ll grow stronger because of it. The call has never
been clearer—and the need has never been greater—for leadership resilience. It’s your call.
The demographics of many of our communities have changed significantly over the past decade. The future
sustainability and effectiveness of our associations will require that we adapt to serve this changing demographic
well - and to serve the change, we must find ways to BE the change. David E White will speak to us about key
principles that every association can work with to facilitate ongoing resilience.
Workshop: The Do’s and Don’ts of Entertainment Buying
Presenter: Carl Schlosser, Director of Events
Prairieland Park
Carl currently sits as the Director of Events for Prairieland Park. As the Director of Events he is
responsible for overseeing most of the revenue departments, which also includes the annual
Saskatoon EX. He has been involved in all aspects of the entertainment/event/hospitality industry
throughout his total career of 35 years. Carl feels very strongly about CAFE and what it stands for.
“It provides us all an opportunity to share ideas and strengthen our own organizations by utilizing this
knowledge we gain by sharing”. Carl is 54 years old and is married to his best friend and life partner
Celine, in Saskatoon. They have two married children and a brand new grandson.
This session will take you through the process of booking entertainment, from building the budget to ensuring the
band has enough black socks and ice for their trip down the highway to their next gig!! If you're coming just to
listen, you are coming to the wrong session. Questions will be answered, thoughts will be heard and concerns will
be addressed!!! Come be part of the mayhem…
Workshop: Strategic Customer Care - Understanding Others
Presenter: Randy Hnatko, President
Trainwest Management and Consulting Inc.
Randy Hnatko is President of Trainwest Management and Consulting Inc., a Sales and
Management Training and Consulting organization powered by Sandler Training. Randy has over 33
year’s senior business experience, and is a Trainer, Speaker, Author and Consultant to domestic and
international companies. He is the Official Sales Trainer of The Vancouver Canucks & The PGA
of BC and is a multiple award winner in the Sandler organization, being awarded the Canadian
Franchisee of the Year Seven (7) Times from 2006-2013. Randy Hnatko believes national culture
influences how individuals make decisions and interpret their roles. Differences between cultures
create important opportunities for growth and development, but can also cause serious problems if they are not
understood. "Today individuals need to have cross cultural skills combined with the proper on-going training,
coaching and support network in order to succeed."
Understanding our Customer (D.I.S.C.)
Typically, people are more comfortable interacting with people who are like themselves. In this session, we’ll
examine peoples’ communication preferences to improve understanding and communication with both internal and
external customers. Using the DISC behavioral profile, we start by examining the four quadrants, and our own
preferences. We will learn the differences of the four styles, how to quickly identify a person’s dominant style, and
the basis of communicating with each one. Once identified, we can modify our styles to our customers’ to facilitate
optimum communication.
Understanding Customers (Transactional Analysis)
Who said that? Understanding our customers is central to helping them with their problems. Part of a deeper
understanding is to understand the language and tonality they’re using and where it’s coming from. Often when
someone speaks, they are ‘talking from the inside’. They sound like someone or something has triggered a recording
of someone else speaking. To be a business person on the frontline we need a slight edge to better connect with
people. The study of transactional analysis and how it adapts to the business world gives us that slight edge.
Dealing With Difficult People
No matter where SNAFUS happen within a company, customer service providers often are the frontlines for dealing
with angry, upset or difficult people. It’s part of the job, but many frontline people find it to be a stressful part of
their day, and can lead to burnout unless there is an established, step-by-step process in place. This session will
look at difficult people. What makes them difficult? Why do we often feel uncomfortable with these situations? How
can we use proven Sandler techniques to institute a step-by-step process to resolve conflict without escalating it, and
fixing both the problem, the upset customer while maintaining our own confidence and self-esteem?
12:30-2:30
Presidents Lunch and 2015 CAFE Convention Invitational
Hosted by the Canadian National Exhibition
Regency Ballroom
Closing Keynote Speaker
Max Fritz, Director of Western Events Agricultural, Calgary Stampede
Animal Care - A Step by Step Journey not a Destination
A 30-year team member at the Calgary Stampede, Max Fritz is the Director of Western
Events Agriculture for the Calgary Stampede. That covers a lot of ground, with oversight
for rodeo and chuckwagon racing, plus year-round western performance horse
competitions and agriculture. Max also oversees the Calgary Stampede’s role as
ranchers, operating a 22,000 acre ranch and the Born to Buck horse breeding program as well as a cow-calf cattle
operation on 8,000 acres.
Over the years, Max has experienced many changes in how Stampede’s guests engage in events and attractions on
the Park over the year. Much of his time is spent working with a variety of key stakeholders and associations to
ensure the organization and industry is aligned with the values of the community. Fairs and exhibitions play a
critical role in the community to gather people to celebrate and present unique opportunity to showcase working
animals to an increasingly urbanized population. While differences of opinion and challenges are ever-present, Max
believes that there are no magic answers, other than ensuring that we are aligned in our values and our actions
continue to be meaningful to the community in the future.
Animals play an important role in our overall guests’ experiences at the fairs and exhibitions, creating important
and meaningful linkages between our urban and rural audiences. Our guests trust and expect that our industry has
the highest standards of care when showcasing animals in competition or education. Through insights and learning
from the past five years, the Calgary Stampede has gained a better understanding of how animal codes of practice
and conduct, communication plans, advisory councils and research can inform an animal care strategy for your
organization.
2:30-3:30
Concurrent Seminars/Workshops
Workshop: Extreme Makeover for Your Fairgrounds
Presenter: Virginia Ludy, Assistant General Manager
Canadian National Exhibition
Virginia Ludy’s wide ranging experience in the fair industry encompasses more than 25 years. She
currently serves as the Assistant General Manager for the Canadian National Exhibition, where she
manages a diverse and talented team with responsibility for: emergency planning and preparedness,
security, parking and traffic management, gate operation, midway, food services, safety engineering,
visitor services, guest relations, information services, volunteer services, event services, site planning
and improvements for the annual fair.
Virginia also serves as the Chair of the Amusement Devices Advisory Council for the provincial Technical
Standards and Safety Authority, is the President of the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions board. She is a
member of the Educational Committee of the Canadian Association of Exposition Management. Virginia also
volunteers within her community.
Prior to becoming the Assistant General Manager, Virginia held the positions of Director of Operations, Operations
Manager, Senior Concessions Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator and Research Analyst for the CNE. Before
embarking on her career in the fair industry, she was employed in the financial sector.
Simple ideas on how to give your fair an inexpensive make-over that will enhance your event's image and attract
more visitors. Bring pictures of key areas at your fair. This will be an interactive session where we can make
suggestions on how to improve the look of your fair.
Workshop: Effective Digital Marketing Strategies
Co-Presenters: Kim Madu, Marketing & Kari-Lynne Soucie, Manager Brand & Digital
Marketing
Pacific National Exhibition
Kim Madu has been a leader in the marketing industry for 15 years. Since 2007 she has
been an integral part of the PNE team and is responsible for all creative campaign
development, online strategy, ticketing, brand development and broadcast media buying.
She has a love for great creative campaigns that drive results, and this started early in her
career at Vancouver advertising agencies, Cossette and Saatchi & Saatchi Drum, and grew as she went over to
client-side marketing at Harmony Airways. Kim is a graduate of BCIT, and now teaches “Direct & Digital
Marketing” to the next generation of students. She remains on top of trends through involvement in BCAMA,
BCAIM, various conferences (SXSW, IAPPA, Art of Marketing) and through market research trips to a wide variety
of events, fairs and festivals across North America.
Kari-Lynne is a digital strategist that has overseen all the PNE’s web, social, mobile and email initiatives since
2011. As the PNE’s Brand and Digital Manager, she is responsible for driving cross-channel campaigns for a diverse
range of events including The Fair, Playland, Fright Nights and the PNE Prize Home Lottery. Before working at the
PNE, Kari-Lynne spent five years at the Vancouver design agency Traction Creative/Wasserman + Partners, and
worked in event marketing for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. Kari-Lynne is a graduate of the BCIT
Marketing Management program, and has also completed web and digital marketing courses through UBC and
Langara College. Through research, seminars, conferences and travel to other events across North America, she
stays current on upcoming trends. Kari-Lynne has been responsible for the exponential growth in the PNE’s online
communities and is known for her creative and engaging content.
Learn how the PNE uses digital channels to promote awareness and generate sales for the Fair at the PNE. Specific
tactics that you can implement in your social media, email marketing, mobile and online ad buying will be reviewed.
The seminar will also include a case study on how they developed an online contest that created interest, grew their
email database and increased social media followers, achieving over double the results of the previous year.
Workshop: Resilience in Action – new, vulnerable…and impactful!
Presenter: David E. White, President
Synergy Solutions Group
David understands the personal, professional and organizational resilience needed to live in this time
of exponentially deep challenge and change. He has worked through challenge, change–even trauma–
over my career and life. The benefit? Developing—and learning to nurture—resilience. This is the
experience he brings to my consulting, coaching, speaking and writing—transforming challenge into
greater clarity of purpose, improved performance and fulfillment.
During his early career, he led the growth of a processing company. David grew from six employees
to ninety-five while revenues grew over 1000% in eight years. During this time, he felt the
excitement of rapid growth—but also the painful urgency of downsizing (cutting 40% of your workforce hurts).
Later, he started and led a company incubator as a partnership between government, industry and university. And
was introduced to the world of politics in an order of magnitude that was shocking at first. My next–enormous–
challenge was restructuring a company that had been hemorrhaging money over several years. Think complete
brand, product, equipment, customer and distribution channel overhaul.
So yes, he knows what it is like to struggle with some truly difficult decisions, such as:
 Human Resources – Relationships
 Asset Management – Confidence in direction
 Direct Reports – Trust
 Cashflow – Survival
You’re getting the idea by now: challenge, change and resilience are my thing. Orphaned at twelve, White knows
what it is like to struggle to gain mastery over personal confidence, and to feel unequal to the task at hand. And yet
do it anyway. He’d like to bring these lessons—in the form of building personal, professional and organizational
resilience—to you. You’ll not only live to tell about it, but you’ll grow stronger because of it. The call has never
been clearer—and the need has never been greater—for leadership resilience. It’s your call.
The foundations of fairs, exhibitions and ag societies were all about adaptation to a new world – and that the need
for the fulfillment of this mission is just as relevant today as it was in the beginning. Though the need and mission
are the same, the context and faces have changed. In this session David shares experience from pilot projects in
Saskatchewan communities, the challenge of change and vulnerability, and the positive outcomes forming.
3:30-5:00
Trade Show Reception, Reach Your Peak Showcasing, 50/50 Draw
Regency Ballroom
Trade Show Reception Generously Sponsored by the Calgary Stampede
5:30
Bus Leaves for Pacific National Exhibition Host Night
Casual Dress
6:00 -10:00
Pacific National Exhibition Host Night
10:00-1:00
CAFE Hospitality Suite
Hosted by the Pacific National Exhibition
Suite 3308