President's Pen • November 2008

Hello all,

Here we are again, approaching the winter months. With the fall now behind us we can all set our sights on a bit of a break over the Christmas season.

Last month a few of the executive had the opportunity to attend a conference in Toronto held by the OIAA for all Chapters. The conference provided a lot of insight, and we have taken away a lot of ideas to bring to our Chapter. In the coming months we are planning some events that I am sure you will be interested in.

As in the past we are asking if anyone has any articles or pictures to have printed in the newsletter or posted on the web page, to please forward them to anyone on the executive council. If you would like to share information with the membership, we encourage you to send your article along!

We hope to see all of you at the upcoming dinner meeting and at events over the coming holiday season.

Best Regards,

Jason Hess, CIP, CFEI
OVAA President

Reps Ramblings • November 2008

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!

In early October the OIAA Executive hosted a conference involving representatives from each Chapter’s Executive. The purpose of this event was to discuss and address the various issues / concerns of the organization as a whole and to plan for our future. Attending on our Chapter’s behalf were Jason Hess, President, as well as two of our Directors, Jane O’Shaughnessy and Lori Guimond. I unfortunately was not able to attend due to my wedding, however, I understand the conference was a huge success! The conference led into the OIAA’s first general meeting of the year, the Past President’s Night, with special guest speaker Rex Murphy of CBC fame.

On November 12th, 2008, the OIAA will be hosting an afternoon seminar at the Grand Hotel in downtown Toronto. The seminar, entitled “Demystifying Whole Person Impairments”, is being presented by Jamie Pollack of Laxton Glass, LLP. The seminar will be followed by a cocktail reception and the “Insurance Industry Wymant Fundraising” event which will include silent and live auctions.

Our next event is, of course, the OIAA Holiday Celebration, which this year is being held on December 10th, 2008 at the CN Tower. I refer you to Page 32 of this newsletter and/or the Without Prejudice magazine and the OIAA website for further details – noting that space is somewhat limited. Also, don’t forget to mark your calendars for December 22nd, 2008, when we will be having our 7th Annual local Inter-Industry Christmas Social.

Every year each Chapter of the OIAA has a spotlight in the WP magazine. Our spotlight will appear in the February 2009 issue. The spotlight normally involves an overview of the Chapter’s events, as well as an article from one of its members. The articles are normally in the range of 1500-2000 words, so if anyone is interested in submitting an article for our spotlight edition, please give me a call. The deadline for the WP is November 10th, 2008.

Jennifer Graham, Hons BA, CIP
OIAA Delegate, OVAA Past President (2004/05 & 2005/06)