Join Canadian Public Relations Society – Northern Lights for the annual building blocks professional development session. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, April 29, 2016. Lunch is provided for registered attendees. Cost for Members is $40 and Non-members have a registration fee of $55.

Timetable

10:00 a.m. – Welcome – CPRSNL President Jonathon Dyck 10:15 a.m. – Key Note Speaker

Kim Blanchette APR,
Vice President, Public Affairs Branch, Alberta Energy Regulator

Are you ready for the future?

Working on cool projects and winning awards is great, but does this translate into PR excellence or confront the challenges facing our organizations and our profession? Kim Blanchette, Vice President Public Affairs for the Alberta Energy Regulator and National Vice President of CPRS, will kick off a discussion about how embracing storytelling, strategic content management, and your inner mathematician can counter a declining media landscape, eroding public trust, and a seemingly infinite array of communications channels.

11:45 a.m. – Presentation

Matt Wood
Manager, Communications and Media Relations University of Northern British Columbia

UNBC’s 25th Anniversary

In June 1990, after more than 16,000 British Columbians demanded better access to post-secondary education in the North, the University of Northern British Columbia was created. Twenty-five years later, the University celebrated its proud history of providing outstanding education, research and service for the communities it serves. Matt will talk about creating a visual identity that reflected the University’s origins and aspirations, as well as some of the opportunities and challenges that evolved throughout the year-long celebration.

12:45 p.m. – Networking lunch

1:30 p.m. – Communications planning workshop Facilitator: Jonathon Dyck

3:00 p.m. – CPRS Northern Lights 2017 conference and other chapter news 3:30 p.m. – Networking opportunity – The Keg Prince George

****Livestreaming will be available for the presentations. It will be free for CPRS Northern Lights members outside of Prince George and $20 for non-members.****

2016 Building Blocks Speaker Biographies

Kim Blanchette, APR
Vice President, Public Affairs Branch, Alberta Energy Regulator

Kim has almost 25 years’ experience in public relations and communications management at the provincial, federal, and international level.

Following her work with the Government of Nova Scotia, Kim

joined the Government of Canada in 2000 performing a variety of communications roles with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, including

ministerial support, director of Corporate Advocacy Communications, coordinator for multidepartment pan-Atlantic and international events.

Kim has served as consul (Political and Economic Relations and Public Affairs) at the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle, representing Canada in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. She then moved to Veterans Affairs Canada as acting associate director general of Communications where she worked the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the 65th anniversary of D-Day, and development and introduction of new legislation for allied veterans.

Kim served as regional director of Issues Management and Communications (Atlantic Region) with the Canada Revenue Agency and as the communications manager for the Energy Resources Conservation Board prior to becoming vice president of Public Affairs for the Alberta Energy Regulator in 2013.

Kim serves as both the National Vice President and Treasurer for the Canadian Public Relations Society. The AER Public Affairs team has been recognized by the Canadian Public Relations Society, the International Association of Business Communicators, and the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management for excellence in public relations.
Matt Wood
Manager, Communications and Media Relations University of Northern British Columbia

Matt Wood has spent more than 10 years in the public relations field. He has been

the Manager of Communications and Media Relations with UNBC for three years, and served the City of Quesnel for eight years prior. Before entering the public relations world, he was an award-winning journalist, who wrote for the Ottawa Sun, Ottawa Citizen, and several community newspapers, including the Quesnel Cariboo Observer. He is married, has two daughters, is a long-time Northern B.C. resident, plays tuba with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, is past-president of the CPRS – Northern Lights chapter, and is an unabashed Star Wars fan.