I didn’t attend Cannexus20.
I was living in Victoria, BC at the time, anticipating a posting to Ottawa that summer, so I figured “I’ll just go next year.” If only I had known what was in store for us in 2020.
Fast forward a year and wow, have things changed!
I’ve been thinking about Cannexus since last year, so when Career Advisor Ana Lokotkova asked me whether I’d like to present at Cannexus21, I said yes before she was finished her sentence.
While we may not be gathering in Ottawa this year, CERIC has gone to great lengths to get us all together this month as Cannexus21 goes virtual.
From presenter to delegate
Since the call for proposals went out, Ana and I have worked behind the scenes to create an outline for our presentation, build it, research it, curate and write content, then review it, edit it and put the finishing touches on the presentation.
Next, we did a few dry-runs on Zoom, made some tweaks, then reached out to three career professional colleagues to critique our presentation. We recorded and edited the video. Earlier this month, we created our online profiles on the Cannexus platform, uploaded our presentations and began promoting our on-demand session on social media.
Now I get to switch hats from presenter to delegate.
Last Sunday, I sat down as a delegate to review the Cannexus schedule and platform. It was then I realized the deadline had passed to participate in the automated “hallway meetings” feature, but thankfully, there are so many other ways for delegates to connect.
Where do you start at a delegate (Cannexus attendee)?
1. Watch this
If you are registered for Cannexus21, an email was sent to you with your login information the week of January 4th. Want to make your virtual experience more personal? I highly recommend you spend 12 minutes watching the Virtual Platform Tour and take some time to practice navigating the online platform. You will learn how to:
- complete your profile,
- add sessions to your personal agenda,
- watch ON-Demand and LIVE sessions, and
- engage with other attendees on the homepage chat.
2. Do this
Once you’ve established your agenda for Jan 25-27 and Feb 1-3, set aside time between sessions to create your own “to-do” list. This is a list of all the ways you’ll take what you’ve learned from Cannexu21 and apply it right away.
For example: You might spend 5-10 minutes creating a rough outline of the first video you’d like to create after watching Ana Lokotkova and I present Mastering Video: Give Yourself More Time for Clients.
You might pick up a few journals from the dollar store to use in an upcoming workshop after watching Wayne Pagani and Michelle Precourt’s session Meditation and Journaling for Career Exploration.
The time spent planning now will prove valuable in the weeks and months ahead because you’ll have the tips and resources, along with your notes of how to implement what you learned in your work environments.
3. Enjoy this
You’ve done your homework to ensure you get the most out of Cannexus. You’ve read up on presenters and exhibitors, set goals for your learning and challenged yourself to meet your career heroes. Now it’s time to participate in the live sessions and watch the on-demand sessions. This is also the time to reach out and engage with your career professional colleagues through hallway meetups and chats, networking and engaging with exhibitors.
Cannexus will be as good as you make it
Just because we aren’t in the same location physically, doesn’t mean you can’t get to know other attendees and reconnect with your industry peers like you would at the in-person conference.
Start new relationships by introducing yourself and engaging with others in the chat box. Take a few moments this week to set yourself up for the meaningful topics of conversation we’ll be discussing during Cannexus21.
This is our opportunity to come together, virtually, to share what we learned in 2020 and how we can prepare ourselves to serve Canadians in the weeks and months ahead.
BONUS TIP: If you are missing Ottawa, you can virtually visit the area via any one of the many Instagram users like:
Please share your favourite Ottawa Instagram accounts in the comment section below.
