Summer is in full swing in most of Canada and I hope you are enjoying rest and relaxation with friends and family!

It was a busy year for CIRI, and we are taking advantage of the quiet summer period to prepare for fall programs and workshops. In the meantime, CIRI National has several free-to-members webinars planned over the summer, the last of which was on August 12, entitled Trends and Best Practices in Investor Presentations. The archived webcast can be found on the website at www.ciri.org.

Capping off the 2014/2015 CIRI program year was the Annual Conference in Banff from May 31 to June 2. I would like to thank all those who attended the conference for their energy and enthusiasm – Western Canada’s natural resource sectors may be in the doldrums, but spirits were high in Banff! As expected, registration was down from previous years, but the 200+ people in attendance experienced one of the most memorable Conferences to date. The organizing committee – co-chaired by Brian Ector and Shirley Chenier – worked tirelessly to put together an impressive lineup of speakers, and the social events were top notch.

At the Awards Luncheon during the Conference, CIRI presented the inaugural F.CIRI distinction to seven longtime CIRI supporters: Mary Brebner, Joey Brown, David Carey, Glenn Keeling, Tracy Lutz, John Rogers, and John Wheeler. This new award recognizes CIRI members who, by their achievements, bring distinction to the profession and serve as role models for others. Also in Banff we presented the Belle Mulligan Award for Leadership in IR to Paul Carpino and the CIRI Award for Excellence in IR to George Kesteven. Congratulations to all award winners!

Your Board is working hard to stay current on issues facing the IR profession, and continues to provide in-depth analysis of regulatory changes and trends in IR. At our next in-person Board meeting in November, we will be holding a two-day strategy workshop to ensure all Board members are fully aligned in terms of vision and strategy, and to develop a well thought-out strategic plan to be executed over the next three to five years. The results of this workshop will be shared with members in the following months.

As always, I welcome your comments, questions and feedback on anything CIRI related. I can be reached at mbrown@edrsilver.com or by phone at (604) 640-4804.