This marks seven years since we held our business conference in Banff, Alberta. We had a remarkable time, and the agendas were meaningful and productive. I was thrilled at our team that put together such a great experience for all. I was looking over the pictures from those few days and it struck me how much has changed!

We were going to meet in Toronto, but when we did the math, it was actually less expensive to do it in Banff as we were in the shoulder season! And of course, people loved coming to Banff,

We have a different operating model. Our IT department has advanced mightily. The property department has launched a centralized service for our 1700 properties,s bringing more rigor and professionalism to our work. The finance department continues to work well, and they, too have benefited from a strong IT team. I wish I could have addressed more fully our procurement work, but that too is maturing. The legal team continues to be overworked with the number of litigations and contract demands only increasing.

But back to Banff for a few days.

Our guest, Patricia O’Malley, spoke well and highlighted the need for women to step into leadership. We had a presentation on the Internet of Everything – a topic even more important in the world of AI.

I wish this picture had come out better, as it represented a remarkable working group! A wonderful team!

We presented some certificates of appreciation for support too.

Since I was never in the business stream until reaching the role of TSBA, I suppose I might have been surprised by the depth of content and expertise of leadership that we demonstrated. But we had a great team.

This is a great memory, but more than that, it set the stage for more significant work to be accomplished in later days.