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Twenty years in, Cannexus holds more than a program or a schedule – it holds memory.
For some, it marks a first moment of professional orientation, a place where learning, confidence and community begin to take shape. For others, it has become a touchstone – a space to return to, recalibrate and reflect on how the work has changed.
Cannexus26 brought together first-time delegates and long-time attendees alike, including leaders who have been part of the conference since its earliest years. One thing became clear: what people carry away from Cannexus is less about the sessions they attend and more about how the space meets them at a particular moment in their career.
Finding orientation and relief
For many early-career attendees, Cannexus represents grounding. Not necessarily answers, but reassurance – a sense that the questions they are holding are shared.
Sarah Delicate recalls that her earliest Cannexus experiences were less about absorbing content and more about recognition. “It was at Cannexus that I found peers who recognized the same tensions I was feeling in the work,” she shared. “It helped me realize I wasn’t behind or missing something – I was simply learning.”
Others echoed that sense of relief. Rather than feeling pressure to perform or prove expertise, Cannexus offered permission to arrive as they were. In those early moments, the conference functioned as a space of reassurance – a reminder that career development is complex work, and that uncertainty is not a personal failure, but part of a practice we don’t have to navigate alone.
“Earlier, I came to Cannexus looking for methods and models. Now, I value the space it creates for integration and stewardship – and for reaffirming the quality and responsibilities of our work as a sector.”
Moving from orientation to affirmation
As attendees return over time, the tone begins to shift. The need for reassurance gives way to a quieter form of validation.
Dinuka Gunaratne describes this evolution clearly. Early on, Cannexus helped him understand the sector and its breadth. Now, he sees it as “a place to celebrate the sector – to recognize the impact of the work and the people doing it.” Rather than seeking direction, he comes to Cannexus to sharpen thinking, reconnect with peers and reaffirm the values that guide his practice.
At this stage, the experience is marked less by discovery and more by resonance. Attendees speak about moments where a conversation, a comment from a peer or a shared frustration reflects back something they already know, but haven’t always had space to articulate. Cannexus becomes a mirror rather than a map.
For some, this shift also brings weight – one that sits between affirmation and stewardship. As Žana Dragovich reflected, “Earlier, I came to Cannexus looking for methods and models. Now, I value the space it creates for integration and stewardship – and for reaffirming the quality and responsibilities of our work as a sector.”
Carrying responsibility and holding space
For long-time attendees, Cannexus takes on a different gravity altogether.
Deirdre Pickerell, who has attended Cannexus across many stages of her career, reflected that what stands out now is not how much she learns, but how the conference holds the field itself. “At this stage, it’s about raising ourselves up,” she wrote. “Recognizing the importance of the work, the professionalism in the room and the responsibility we have to one another.”
There is a noticeable shift from being held by the conference to helping hold it. These reflections speak to stewardship – care for the values, tone and depth that Cannexus represents. Long-time attendees are not just participants; they are custodians of a professional culture they want to see sustained.
What changes – and what doesn’t
Across all career stages, one tension surfaced repeatedly. While the field continues to evolve – shaped by new technologies, policy shifts and growing complexity – the need for connection, reflection and ethical grounding remains constant.
Žana captured this balance succinctly when reflecting on Cannexus26. “What stayed with me most was not a single session, but the feeling that this is still a place where depth matters,” she shared. “Where people are allowed to think slowly and care deeply about the work.”
Others reflected on how the conference feels different not because it has fundamentally changed, but because they have. As Lorraine Godden noted, “What has shifted most for me is how I listen. I pay closer attention to what’s being named, what isn’t, and the values shaping the conversations in the room.”
In that sense, Cannexus has not simply grown older – it has grown more layered. The conference now holds multiple timelines at once: newcomers seeking orientation, practitioners seeking affirmation and seasoned leaders carrying responsibility for what comes next.
Holding the field together
Taken together, these reflections suggest that Cannexus functions less as a milestone event and more as a shared professional practice – one that evolves as the field does, shaped by the people who show up, listen closely and carry its values back into their work.
As Cannexus enters its next chapter, attendees are not simply asking that it continue – they are asking that it continue well. Grounded in relationship. Generous in spirit. Attentive to the depth of care this work requires.
That responsibility does not sit with the conference alone. It belongs to all of us who gather there, year after year, at different moments in our careers, to learn, to listen and to hold the field together.
Career stage shapes how Cannexus is experienced – but it isn’t the only thing that leaves a mark. As one attendee hinted, “I didn’t expect the thing that stayed with me to be a session at all. It was something said in passing – a moment that quietly shifted how I was thinking about my work.”
Those moments deserve their own attention.
Thank you to the career development professionals who generously shared their reflections for this article. We’re grateful to Deirdre Pickerell, Dinuka Gunaratne, Lorraine Godden, Sarah Delicate and Žana Dragovich, whose experiences and insights – shaped by different roles, organizations and stages of practice – helped bring this collective reflection to life. Their willingness to pause, look back and think forward offers a meaningful snapshot of how Cannexus continues to meet people where they are in their work.
