Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About

With apologies to Bonnie Raitt, that was the goal our Board set for our Spring Workshop, and for our 60th Anniversary year. I think it’s fair to say we delivered!

On the heels of COVID, and what has been a challenging few years for our profession (to say the least), this Spring’s gathering was an important opportunity to come together to celebrate our diamond jubilee, and to explore and discuss the many exciting new topics and opportunities we face in our profession.

One of the keys to the success of our Spring Workshop was your attendance, participation and engagement. Our Spring Workshop featured:

• 140 OMHRA members and over 160 individuals in total in attendance;
• 19 presentations – all of which were well attended; and
• 4,118 page views of our conference website. I am so pleased you found the site to be such a useful reference tool!

And, the preliminary feedback we have received indicates that:

• 92.3% rated the Spring Workshop highly;
• 96.15% thought the program provided them with new information, knowledge and skills; and
• 92.31% said the program met their professional interests

While the metrics are important, your qualitative feedback is equally important. Please take the time to complete the surveys sent out to participants at the end of each day. Your feedback really does help ensure that we develop programs and activities that are meaningful to you. In the meantime, I am very pleased to share some of the feedback we have already received regarding our Spring Workshop:

“As a long-time attendee, I can attest that OMHRA workshops always provide an excellent opportunity to increase my knowledge, develop my skills and network with colleagues who share the unique challenges of working in a municipal environment as a Human Resources Professional.” Victoria Woolridge, City of St. Catharines

“Amazing conference! Gathering with colleagues across the sector again after missing this opportunity for years due to the pandemic was highly positive.” Anonymous respondent

“…a great opportunity to receive updates on current legislation, insightful presentations with tips and tricks to support our toolboxes, and as a refresher on some information. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with colleagues and students working towards a career in Human Resources. Being my first OMHRA big event, I was impressed and am looking forward to when I can participate again.” Tracy Stephens, Town of Essex

“Once again, the Education Committee at OMHRA was able to put together an excellent line-up of speakers that were relevant to where we are today and where we are going. The OMHRA workshops are always of excellent value and a lot of fun! It is great networking with colleagues from other municipalities who understand your challenges and may have solutions or ideas that you can learn from.” Tracey Macaulay, Regional Municipality of Durham

“I thought the conference was excellent. There were so many little details attended to. I really appreciated that the team sourced out the best location to view the Falls for us.” Liana Patterson, City of Kawartha Lakes

“Thank you to everyone at OMHRA for giving us a lovely experience at this year’s Spring conference! Interesting presentations and great meals and networking opportunities.” Vicki Pawelchuk-Craig, Peel Police Service

Thank you everyone for helping to make our Spring Workshop, and OMHRA, something to talk about!