Maximizing Effectiveness 2007

Alberta Ecotrust hosted its first Maximize workshop in Calgary in March 2007. The event brought about 100 Albertans (volunteers, consultants, board members and paid staff) together to take part in a series of interactive and provocative sessions. 

Presenters for the two-day event came from Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto and were selected to provide some of the best available training in the four capacity building areas identified as high priorities by Alberta environmental organizations (ENGOs): volunteer management, strategic communication, fundraising, and organizational governance.

To ensure accessibility for all ENGOs and to deliver a high profile list of presenters, the event was subsidized by support from EnCana Corporation and Suncor Energy Foundation through Alberta Ecotrust's Community Resource Fund. Further support to ME '07 was provided by Volunteer Calgary and CentrePoint.

Maximizing Impact 2008

Building on the Maximize series, Impact 2008 was held in October at Fort Edmonton and included participants from environmental organizations, watershed groups, government and corporate employees, and interested citizens. A high calibre line up of presenters included Keynote Speaker and presenter Dianne Russell of the Institute for Conservation Leadership in Washington DC, Angus McAllister of McAllister Opinion Research, Paul McLaughlin, reporter and journalist and Jeff Gailus of Bristlecone Communications.

Highlights included a sombre session on Environmental Burnout and a riveting presentation on Environmental Communications, which was followed up by a subsequent webcast on the topic a few weeks later that included interested participants from across Alberta and as far away as Toronto and Vancouver.