Star alumni to headline networking events across Canada
Take a cursory glance at Concordia’s roster of alumni networking events and invitees might be forgiven for thinking the university should hold chapter gatherings in Hollywood.
Daylight-starved November will be brightened by star speakers in oil and gas, media, wealth management and government sectors.
Stephen Meurice, BA 90, editor-in-chief of the National Post, kicks off the month’s four Canadian alumni chapter gatherings with a talk at Toronto’s Hilton Garden Inn on November 15.
The newspaper has earned several accolades under Meurice’s watch. Indeed, for the third time in its 13-year history the National Post this year was named World’s Best-Designed newspaper by the Society for News Design.
The daily has also seen spectacular digital growth and won a clutch of online publishing awards in October 2012.
Bob Baird, BEng 82, will impart his engineering and management wisdom to alumni at Calgary’s Co-op Wine Spirits Beer Tasting Centre on November 28.
“I mentor a lot of young people as they come up through the ranks,” says Baird, senior vice-president, Downstream, at Husky Oil Operations Ltd. “I tell them, ‘Your priorities in life change every five years.’”
Baird says despite having moved 14 times during his oil and gas career, he’s been wed for 30 years. “I’ve been fortunate enough to balance my family life with my professional life.”
Liseanne Forand, BA 80, president of Shared Services Canada, will offer her views on networking strategies at the Minto Suite Hotel in Ottawa on November 20.
Forand is overseeing an information technology project that, when completed, will manage government as a single enterprise rather than hundreds of departments and agencies operating independently.
Peter Boronkay of The Boronkay Team Wealth Management at Raymond James Ltd. wraps up November’s activities with a talk in Vancouver on investment strategy and his involvement with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
Boronkay, BComm 85, recalls his early alumni days as an era of discovery. “Among options I initially chose high-tech,” he says. “Later, I merged the skills into a wealth management career.”
Career reflection served Boronkay well. He developed unique investment models to help clients and advisors remove emotion and make rational judgements when making investment decisions.
Boronkay will speak at Culinaria Restaurant at the Art Institute of Vancouver on November 29.
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