IR / Influence & Impact
As an IR practitioner, you know that our profession is, well, different. Unlike succeeding as a doctor, lawyer, or a banker, winning in the profession of investor relations relies on mastering a set of skills that, generally, are not found in one individual. The best IROs are adept in a range of domains, from accounting, finance and communications to business management, stakeholder relations and the regulatory landscape. The best IR professionals can reach across and within organizations and create deep relationships. The best manage up, down, laterally and externally. The best IROs keep up with news flow on everything from economic data, geopolitical changes and industry news to what is happening in their own companies.
It is a huge challenge. And let’s face it – we love it! But we also know we don’t do any of this alone. Critical to our ability to deliver a strong investor relations program is galvanizing people within our organizations and influencing key stakeholders beyond our organizations.
Hence the theme for this year’s Conference: IR / Influence & Impact. Very few roles within a company engage with such a broad cross-section of stakeholders, which puts IROs in an excellent position to influence for impact.
We kept this IR superpower in mind in building CIRI’s Conference program. We aimed to capture the issues and trends in investor relations today that will increase our influence and impact as an IR leader. Hearing the latest innovations investors are applying to gather and use big data to inform their views on your company, as you will in our opening session and exploring all the value to be had from capital markets players you don’t otherwise hear from, as you will in the maximizing relationships session, are just two of many issues we are excited to explore.
Gaining knowledge on broader topics, as you will gain with an overview of the Canadian economy and the session on blockchain, is useful to influence for impact as well. These are areas we need to understand in the context of our professional lives and our everyday ones, too.
As valuable as we think these sessions are, we feel it’s through the informal conversations with our IR colleagues that we will get some of the best takeaways from the Conference. So please don’t be shy about speaking up and taking part. It’s the best way to make sure you leave this year’s Conference inspired, well connected and well tooled.
Before closing, we want to send out a special thank you to the 2018 Annual Conference Committee members, whose consistent contributions have resulted in something we are proud of and that we hope will be truly valuable to you. And finally, we couldn’t have come together without the help of our sponsors, who are also our much-valued partners in IR. So a heartfelt thanks to them as well, for all of their support.
Janet Craig Katie Keita
Principal Director, Investor Relations
Endeavour IR Shopify Inc.
Conference Program
Sunday, June 3
6:15am 22nd Annual Golf Tournament
9:30am 'A City in a Park' Bicycle Tour
10:30am Insider's West Queen West Art Tour
12:00pm Registration
2:30pm Expanding Your Influence Through Networking
Sponsored by TMX Group
3:30pm From Underground to Industry: A Look at Canada's Cannabis Market
Sponsored by Cision
4:30pm The Future of Financial News
Sponsored by Business Wire
5:30pm Conference Kick-Off Cocktails
Monday, June 4
7:00am Registration / Breakfast with Exhibitors
8:00am Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:15am The Data Tsunami – Are You Leveraging It?
9:30am Breakout Sessions (select one)
Option #1: Cultivating & Communicating with a Retail Investor Base
Option #2: Long-Termism: How to Win the Tug-of-War
Option #3: Model Behaviour: How the Sell-Side Looks at Your Company
10:15am Break with Exhibitors
10:45am In Conversation with the Street
Sponsored by Scotiabank
11:45am CIRI's Annual General Meeting, Awards Ceremony & Lunch
Sponsored by West Corporation
1:30pm Breakout Sessions (select one)
Option #1: Blockchain For Dummies
Sponsored by Broadridge
Option #2: What's on Their Mind: Perspectives from Investors & Directors
Sponsored by AST Trust Company (Canada)
Option #3: Small Cap Issuers: How to Get Investors' Attention
Sponsored by BTV - Business Television
2:30pm Break with Exhibitors
3:00pm Breakout Sessions (select one)
Option 1: Regulator Update: What IROs Should Know
Sponsored by Computershare
Option 2: Award-Winning IR: How the Pros Do It
Sponsored by IR Magazine
Option 3: Marketing: Research, Targeting, Segmentation – Putting It All Together
Sponsored by Nasdaq
4:00pm Breakout Sessions (select one)
Option 1: What IR Program Can You Deliver on a Small, Medium or Large Budget?
Option 2: Top Ten questions Investors Are Asking About Sustainability
Sponsored by Donnelley Financial Solutions
Option 3: Board Essentials
5:00pm M, M & M Cocktail Party
Sponsored by Ipreo
6:30pm Munch, Mingle & Mischief (The Rec Room)
Tuesday, June 5
7:30am Breakfast with Exhibitors
8:30am The Canadian Economy: Onward & Upward
Sponsored by TD Bank Group
9:30am Breakout Sessions (select one)
Option #1: The Fall-Out of MiFID II & How It Impacts You
Option #2: Small Cap Issuers: Getting Analyst Coverage & Alternatives If You Can't
Option #3: Investor Days & Site Tours: Investors On Your Home Turf
Sponsored by Corbin Advisors
10:30am Break & Prize Draws with Exhibitors
11:15am Breakout Sessions (select one)
Option #1: Portfolio Management: Different Strokes for Different Folks
Option #2: Managing Career Progression, Brand & Visibility
Option #3: The Power of the Message
12:15pm A Deep Dive on Market Structure & Lunch
Sponsored by National Bank Financial Markets
1:30pm Maximizing Your Relationships with Various Capital Market Players
2:30pm Reflections on Influence & Impact
3:30pm Closing Remarks
***Sessions are subject to change