Salon A & B

Join us for a morning networking session and a chance to win some prizes from other municipalities.

Early Bird Draw Prizes: if your unit has early bird prizes to give away please drop them off at the registration desk. Make sure your municipality’s name is on the prize.

Please note: While we'll provide light breakfast items, we strongly recommend having a nutritious breakfast before joining the conference.

Digby Hall

Speaker: Phil Jewell, Leadership Specialist and Certified Executive Coach, Impact Leadership

Phil Jewell will share his three most important leadership principles, two practical questions any leader should ask, and one thought to ponder. He will do this whilst recounting his times on patrol in the wadis and deserts of Afghanistan, and the lessons he learned on the way; ones that had been introduced to him during his training and became embodied during some of the most intense challenges a leader can face. Subsequently becoming the cornerstone of his leadership, he will share how he has successfully transferred and applied them in his second leadership career outside the army.

Digby Hall

Garden Room

This session will provide a comprehensive look into the current state of recreation facilities in our province, covering essential topics that shape the success and growth of these vital spaces:

• Employee Retention and Recruitment: Acquire valuable insights into effective tactics for enticing and keeping skilled personnel. Cultivate a motivated workforce that propels the triumph of your recreation facilities.
• Proactive Approaches for Part-Time/Seasonal Staff: Take proactive measures to preempt potential challenges and guarantee a seamless experience for your part-time and seasonal workforce. Foster an environment of harmony and productivity.
• Training and Advancement for Recreation Facility Staff: Explore innovative methods to invest in the professional development of your staff. Empower them to excel in their roles and deliver exceptional services.
• Managing Capital Expenses, Addressing Aging and Damaged Infrastructure: Navigate the complexities associated with aging and compromised infrastructure. Investigate pragmatic remedies for handling capital expenses, including essential upgrades.
• Integration of Recreation Facilities and Emergency Management (EMO): Examine the intersection of recreational facilities and Emergency Management Organizations (EMOs). Explore how these entities should be integrated into community emergency readiness strategies.

Digby Hall

Speaker Panel:

• Bruce MacDonald, Manager of Emergency Management, CBRM
• Dwayne Hunt, Fire Services Coordinator, Municipality of Barrington
• Shane Strong, Regional Emergency Management Coordinator, Yarmouth REMO
• Daniel Bryce, Senior Planner, DMAH

Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your preparedness and strengthen your municipal response to emergencies. Join us for a compelling session where you'll gain invaluable insights from municipality emergency management offices. Explore successful collaboration strategies, resource-sharing approaches, and how they safeguard assets during natural disasters.

Digby Hall

Speaker: Kathryn Brooks, Mental Health Clinician, Nova Scotia Health; Member of NS Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) response team

Join us for a crucial mental health focus on self-care during high-stress situations. Discover effective strategies and techniques to protect and nurture your well-being. Learn what self-care entails and how to implement it during challenging times.

Digby Hall

Come join us for updates from various Province of Nova Scotia departments on the following topics:

• Housing Programs and Nova Scotia Building Officials Association Update
• Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing Update
• Emergency Management Office - Staff update
• Opportunities for Collaboration on Radon
• Addressing social, climate, and economic issues through forestry

You were required to register for this dinner beforehand in order to attend. Delegates who did not register will be responsible for their own dinner.

In Churchill’s Lounge, we’ll be having a strolling station supper. The stations will feature a variety of options, including but not limited to a poutine station, an assorted salad bar, a Mexican station, and a dessert station. If you have registered, your name badge holds your dinner ticket to attend the strolling station supper! A cash bar with a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will be open

Digby Hall (Entrance Area)

Our friendly registration desk staff are here to assist with check-ins and address any questions or needs you might have.

Speaker: Harriette Schumacher, Executive Coach & Leadership Development Expert

Leaders today face such rapidly escalating complexity, uncertainty, and market volatility that they must accelerate their development to stay competitive. Developing leaders who can navigate this complexity is now a strategic priority - and, if done well, a competitive advantage. Leaders set the agenda for the future. Their influence is so pervasive that our global future is intertwined with their development. We need better leaders at all levels - leaders who are dedicated to creating a thriving business - and our sustainable collective welfare at the same time. In this session, Harriette will share:

• Why Leadership Development matters now more than ever before
• The Promise of Leadership for a sustainable future
• Six Leadership Practices to increase leadership effectiveness

Salon A & B

Don't miss out on the chance to meet our vendors in the exhibitor area. Make sure to get your stamp card stamped for a shot at the Grand Prize Draw!

Salon C

Speaker Panel:

• Elise Johnston, Accessibility & Inclusion Coordinator, Region of Queens Municipality
• Sharon Bristol, Director, Community Living, Town of Amherst
• Laura Beth MacPherson, Senior Policy Analyst, Nova Scotia Accessibility Directorate, Department of Justice

This session showcases municipalities' successful Accessibility Plan implementation. Discover firsthand how these municipalities have successfully navigated the path toward inclusivity and gain valuable insights into their strategies and best practices. This session provides the tools, practical knowledge, and inspiration to drive positive change within your own municipality.

Garden Room

Speaker Panel:

• TBC, Municipality of Argyle
• DeMario Dunkley, Town of Yarmouth

This session will unlock the door to funding opportunities for your municipality. Hear the triumphs of municipalities and gain valuable insights into the art of grant writing and the strategies that led to their funding success.

Digby Hall

Speaker: Max Chauvin, Director of Housing and Homelessness, Parks and Recreation, Halifax Regional Municipality.

Max will speak on recent developments, provide advice to addressing homelessness at the municipal level, and share details from the Frameworks for Addressing Homelessness. He will also discuss the provincial roles and responsibilities of housing and what role municipalities play in the coordination of provided services.

Garden Room

Speaker: Rob Knoblauch - VP Information Security & Control & Deputy CISO

Join us as we dive into tips to help you keep your business safe from fraud. Delegates will hear about common attacks, and explore best practices for protecting themselves and their municipality.

Grand Lounge

A small reception preceding the President’s Banquet will take place before the President's Banquet in the Grand Lounge.

Executive Cottage

Join us in Cottage 29 for the after-banquet hospitality suite. Bartended by DMAH and sponsored by Thinkdox. A variety of local beverages, specialty drinks and non-alcoholic options will be available.

Digby Hall

Speaker: Jennifer Komar, Professional Development Consultant, IWK Health

Join us for a session with Jennifer Komar, where she will shed light on how negotiation strategies and research can be effectively applied in various everyday interactions and relationships. Learn how to deal productively with conflicts and harness negotiation as a mechanism to generate innovative solutions to problems.Whether you encounter high-stakes negotiations or handle low-stress situations, understanding and effectively communicating your goals, as well as understanding the other person's objectives, are crucial. Jennifer will guide you through the art of creative problem-solving, enabling you to explore solutions that lead to "win-win" outcomes, benefiting all parties involved.

Speaker: Karen Dean, inspirational speaker, best-selling author, entrepreneur and coach

Karen will share personal stories of her own Raw, Real and Resilient journey in life and business that will inspire audience members to find new ways to move ahead into the next chapter of their lives, surviving and thriving. Karen analyzes her resiliency through struggle and provides concrete strategies on how others can also find lessons in their own challenges and use them to become stronger, more resilient and more successful, professionally and personally.