Charity in Changing Times seminar was a breath of fresh air

April 13th, 2010

Participants listening to the panel members at the InnAid Charity in Changing times seminar, Burnaby

The Accent Inns‘ Inn Aid “Charity in Changing Times” seminar was a breath of fresh air, and a welcomed addition outside of my daily routine. I was able to connect with other professionals in the non-profit world and find out our common challenges and provide helpful solutions.Dawn Chubai’s personal approach on how to work with the media was insightful because a large percentage of my work entails gaining media coverage for The Land Conservancy of BC. Her passion for storytelling and representing non-profits in her community is completely sincere and genuine. Since the conference, I have contacted Dawn about a film screening TLC is doing on Earth Day, April 22 in Vancouver, and she is working her magic from the inside to see what CityTV can provide us. Melinda Jolley’s presentation on gaining media coverage for your organization from a PR perspective and tips for developing a strategic communications plan couldn’t have been more timely as I was about to embark on writing a comm. plan for a major fundraising campaign on Vancouver Island. Melinda went above and beyond the call of duty and emailed me additional information about how to measure media coverage in terms of actual dollars. On top of these valuable connections, I met a woman who attended a meeting at one of our cottage properties, Baldwin House on Deer Lake in Burnaby. She loved the site so much she agreed to tape a video for promotional purposes on our website. I would definitely like to attend another Inn Aid seminar, and would recommend it to others in the non profit sector.

Panel of experts at the Burnaby Accent Inn seminar

Heather Skydt, Manager of Communications, The Land Conservancy of BC