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Event planning professionals prepare province for Olympic-sized parties

News - Feature

Despite tighter budgets in 2009, conventions and events remain big business in B.C.

Andrew Petrozzi
Employment paper

Event planning and management remains big business despite an economic downturn that has seen some events or conferences scaled back.

While companies, organizations and associations are trimming event budgets and scaling back, conventions, conferences and events remain on the books. Event planning and management remains a multi billion-dollar international business, and with Vancouver set to host the world in 2010 and a newly expanded convention centre to fill, the need for industry professionals will strengthen as demand returns in mid to late 2010.

“At the moment, the entire industry is experiencing the fallout from the economic downturn, however there are areas such as festivals and concerts that still require larger amounts of staffing,” according to Kathie Madden, president-elect for the Vancouver chapter of the International Special Events Society. “Conventions remain big business, however larger corporations are under extreme scrutiny by their stakeholders.”

The industry has grown so quickly that the demand for educated professionals is more important than ever, she said. New standards established by the Canadian Tourism and Human Resource Council outline industry-specific abilities and knowledge to manage all aspects of events.

Some spending with target-specific industries such as construction and hospitality

The B.C. government will spend $17 million on 10 projects around the province to help provide small businesses with new training resources.

While some projects are designed for small businesses across all sectors, others will be targeted to the manufacturing, forestry, hospitality, construction, horticulture and food-service industries.

Training can be either job-specific or can focus on building skills such as computer use, literacy and working with others.

“These projects will help solve one of the biggest concerns facing B.C.’s small businesses today – and that’s making sure they have the well-trained staff that will help them grow and prosper as the economy recovers,” said Iain Black, minister of small business, technology and economic development.

The projects include:
• Continuous improvement training: the Alliance of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters will deliver projects to provide workers in manufacturing who have low skills with training to develop tools in problem-solving and upgrade foundational literacy and numeracy skills;

Police and fire and rescue services offer a career less ordinary as retirements take their toll

Andrew Petrozzi
Employment paper

The risk and reward found in an emergency services career are found in no other job. Policing and fire and rescue work remain a fulfilling and in-demand occupation as increasing numbers of retirements deplete the ranks of police officers and firefighters, and recruitment efforts heat up. To serve and protect: municipal police forces and RCMP still hiring in Western Canada as demographic shift accelerates retirement of veteran members

Current employment opportunities are excellent, according to Cpl. Mark Le Page of the RCMP Pacific Region recruiting team, with the greatest need for officers found in Western Canada.

“The RCMP is hiring approximately 2,000 police officers nationwide. There are significant opportunities for rank promotion with as little as five years of service with the organization,” he said. But the application process is competitive, he added. The RCMP receives more than 16,000 applications nationally for approximately 2,000 positions.

While applicants must be prepared to serve anywhere in Canada, after a minimum of three years of general policing duties in an RCMP detachment, officers can compete for more than 150 specialized career opportunities with opportunities in computer science/information technology, engineering and mechanics, business administration/commerce, education and kinesiology and health studies, said Le Page.
There is no prescribed course of study to be a police officer, according to Le Page, but volunteer work in any field will make an application more competitive, he said.