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ILEA Canada Partners With CSELive EventFest – Join Us In Toronto!
A message from the National Chair, ILEA Canada
It’s been just over a month since Go West 2025 wrapped up in Edmonton, and the ILEA Canada Board has been hard at work planning what’s next.
We were honoured to be a partner in this year’s conference and proud of the outcomes from the four sessions led by ILEA leaders. Thank you to Timewise Events and Go West 2025 for the opportunity to collaborate.
One session that sparked significant buzz was the panel held on the final afternoon. This panel was created in response to feedback from our industry survey conducted in late August 2024, which highlighted a strong call for associations to take a leadership role in advocating for best practices and serving as a voice for industry members on crucial issues. The goal was to initiate an open, constructive conversation on pressing topics, fostering collaboration and transparency within the events industry.
The ILEA Canada Board believes the subjects covered — rising costs, preferred vs. exclusive suppliers, and contract negotiation tools — are critical to the live events community. As an industry association, we have a responsibility to be a forum for these conversations in a balanced and constructive way. The content, questions, and responses were authentic reflections of industry sentiment. The session was educational, transparent, and provided valuable insights, reinforced by the positive feedback and additional questions we received afterward.
To keep the conversation going, we’re working with two fantastic partners: Matthew Byrne, host of Production Values Matter: The Business Events Podcast, and Stacey Wyatt, Founder and Creative Director of Canadian Special Events.
Plans are in progress for a podcast series to dive deeper into the discussion started at Go West, bringing back some or all of the original panel members and rebroadcasting portions of the panel. Stay tuned for more details on the release!
ILEA Canada and Canadian Special Events are discussing a partnership for the upcoming Live Event Fest, particularly the Business of Events Forum on the final day. The morning will be dedicated to building a blueprint for a stronger, more effective industry through round table discussions on key topics:
- Balancing Burnout & Workload: Protecting ourselves from overwork.
- Fair Pricing & Contracts: Ensuring event professionals get paid what they deserve.
- Leadership Buy-In: Proving the value of in-house planners and securing resources.
- Levelling the Playing Field: Supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses.
- Industry-Wide Change: Steps toward standardizing and strengthening our profession.
These discussions will be followed by a panel of industry representatives — including association leaders, corporate planners, entrepreneurs, wellness experts, and suppliers — culminating in a call to action and a blueprint for the future of events, co-created by those in attendance. Post-conference, these outcomes will form a shared industry standard.
ILEA Canada encourages members from across the country to join us and be part of these important conversations. As an industry association, we believe these initiatives are crucial steps in shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future for our industry. We look forward to collaborating and creating meaningful change together.
Sincerely,
Jody Paulson , CSEP (she/her)
National Chair, ILEA Canada 2024/2025