2022 Convention & Trade Show wrap-up

It felt great to return to the Stampede City last week after a five-year hiatus for our annual Convention & Trade Show! The event attracted nearly 1,100 municipal leaders and featured more than 80 speakers.

The 16 education sessions that were delivered on Day One of Convention offered something for nearly everyone. While participants only had time to attend two sessions, recordings of the slides and audio files from all sessions will be posted to our website later this week. Participants will receive an email once the recordings are up and running.

The United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership contestants’ forum was a crowd favourite because it gave participants a chance to hear from all seven of the contenders on a range of key issues, including the possible creation of an Alberta Provincial Police Service (APPS). Three leadership hopefuls – Loewen, Smith and Toews – said they supported the creation of an APPS, while four others – Aheer, Jean, Sawhney and Schulz – said they would not support such a move.

While the Ministers’ Dialogue sessions were informative, the speeches given by Opposition Leader Rachel Notley and Premier Jason Kenney on Friday morning were among the highlights of the three-day event. Notley told members she wouldn’t waste any time or effort creating a provincial police service when no municipalities were calling for the RCMP to be replaced. Kenney focused his self-deprecating and occasionally humorous remarks on the economic successes Alberta has enjoyed over the past year or so.

More than 120 exhibiting vendors took part in our Trade Show, which proved extremely popular with delegates this year. The ABmunis Trade Show booth’s prize wheel was a huge hit, with 400 attendees winning an Alberta-made product made by small businesses across our province.

The Calgary TELUS Convention Centre did not disappoint as the venue for Alberta Municipalities’ marquee event. The main convention room and numerous break-out rooms allowed ABmunis to deliver an action-packed, high-energy event. The countless coffee dispensers, mountains of croissants and beautifully prepared meals ensured everyone was well fed and watered.

While last week’s Convention & Trade Show went very well, we know there is still room for improvement. We look forward to hearing from everyone who participated in this year’s event. If you have not already completed our Convention satisfaction survey, which was distributed by email shortly after things wrapped up, we encourage you to take a few minutes to do so between now and October 7. Everyone who completes the survey is eligible to win a $500 gift card.

Planning for next year’s event, which will run from Sept. 27 to 29, 2023, is already underway. We look forward to seeing many of you at the 2023 Convention & Trade Show in Edmonton!