There’s a meme circulating the social networks like Linkedin that goes something along the lines of:
“The CFO of a company goes to his CEO, worried about the state of the budget and questioning the money they’ve designated for L&D. “Imagine if we spend all this money on training, and they leave!” the CFO says. The CEO replies, “imagine if we don’t spend all this money and they stay!”
This idea underlines one of the core principles that founded our company on. We feel that investing in our team is a necessary part of doing business. One element in this training regime is visiting academic and industry related conferences.
Last year, John, Gabe and I traveled to Northern Sweden for the Jokkmokk Winter Conference, which focused on the following issues:
Lena Ek, Swedish Minister of the
Environment presents John with an award.
- A Planet under Stress: How much human activity can the biosphere afford?
- Climate Change, Energy Production and the Arctic: conflicts and solutions
- Covenant of Mayors: European municipalities planning actions for Sustainable Energy
- Traditional indigenous knowledge: A resource for today’s decisions?
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The opening of the Sami Winter Market.
We had a blast in Jokkmokk last year. We learned how people all over the world are addressing the same challenges that we see here in Canada’s north. We made friends and even made some business contacts that lead to a partnership on a Biomass Energy feasibility study for a potential mine in the Dehcho. Last October, Chuck attended the Canada’s North Summit in Whitehorse. Here Chuck attended some very relevant sessions on great topics like: Energy in the North – Building Resilience Through Energy Diversity, Evolving Approaches to Resource Development–Shale Oil in the Northwest Territories, The Impact of Land Claims and Land Use Planning on Economic Development in the North–Lessons from the Yukon , Connections, Community, and Commerce: Translating Economic Growth into Local Prosperity. This fantastic conference was put on by the Conference Board of Canada and we would definitely consider attending again.
A side trip to Gränsfors Bruk highlights how dedication to craftsmanship is integeral longevity in the business world.
So, the time has come, we’re looking for our next Jokkmokk… We’re putting a call out for suggestions for a good conference to attend. Our current project load means that we need to shoot for a January – March timeline. Currently, we have Arctic Frontiers is our top choice for a conference. Let us know if you have any suggestions for where we can go to develop, network and learn from others involved Cultural Resource Management, Sustainable Energy in the Arctic, or any of the many other fields we are involved in!