The MEARIE Conference 2023

We Hope You Enjoyed Our 35th Celebrations

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us at the JW Marriott, The Rosseau in Muskoka. It was our great pleasure to celebrate this special milestone with you all. With constant change and pandemic disruption spanning the several years, we were very excited to reconnect and re-establish our ties with you at our first in-person Conference since the pandemic. 

We hope you found the programming enjoyable. Please see below for Conference highlights. We thank you for joining us in Building our New Future...Together.

2022 Program Highlights

The MEARIE Conference is packed into just over two days of plenty of learning networking opportunities and more.

• Speakers Program: Plenary & Stream sessions on current insurance risk issues and resilient leadership in today's climate.
• Wednesday Opening Reception: Featured excellent conversation to kick-off the conference.
• Thursday Annual Golf Tournament: Opportunities to enjoy a sunny afternoon with industry peers and meet up at a hospitality station.
• Special Anniversary Celebrations! The MEARIE Group marked an important milestone of 35 years of service to Ontario's energy sector on Thursday evening with live music, fireworks, and stunning views of Lake Rosseau from the JW Marriott's rooftop terrace.

Other opportunities included networking breakfasts, breaks and opportunities to share ideas with industry peers, conference sponsors and speakers over lunch and social activities. Connecting, learning and engaging with others about leadership resiliency is key in our changing world.

Opening Keynote

The Science of Emotional Intelligence

Dr. JP Pawliw-Fry

Leadership & Performance Expert

The Missing Ingredient Behind Building a Highly Engaged Organizational Culture

Why would anyone want to be led by you? This is the single most important question a manager or leader needs to ask themselves if they want to unlock the potential and creativity of their people. The reason your employees get up in the morning and choose to be engaged and productive has nothing to do with a manager’s level of IQ or technical capabilities, it has everything to do with their manager’s level of Emotional Intelligence (EI).

The research is clear that Emotional Intelligence is the single most important driver of an engaged, results-driven, highly effective workforce, especially in environments that are undergoing significant change and disruption. In this interactive keynote, your team will discover:

• What the brain does under pressure and specific tools to manage it more effectively
• Self-awareness: understanding the impact your leadership style has on your people
• Strategies to manage emotions when there is tension and conflict
• How to win the hearts and minds of your people by connecting to the emotions that drive their behaviour
• Engaging stories from the frontlines of leaders who are stepping up and winning in the most challenging pressure-filled circumstances

Plenary & Speaking Sessions

The MEARIE Conference is loaded with great plenary and speaking sessions. 

• Pre-Conference Workshop with LifeWorks: Resilient Leadership for Uncertain Times.
  Carlos Esteves, LifeWorks
• Opening Keynote, The Science of Emotional Intelligence
  Dr. JP Pawliw-Fry, Leadership & Performance Expert
• NOW WHAT? Prioritizing Personal & Organizational Growth
  Ron Tite, Marketing Expert
• Economic & Market Update
  Eric Lascelles, Chief Economist at RBC Global Asset Management
• Cutting Through the Myths of Forest Fires in Canada: Preventing loss during "interface" fire events.
  Glenn McGillivray, Managing Director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR)
• The First Line of Defence: Limiting the Liability Through Better Contracts: Issues and challenges in the liability claims arena.
  Alan Mark, Partner, Goodmans
• Cybersecurity - Closing the Gap Between IT & OT: Insights to helping utilities make the best cybersecurity risk management decisions.
  Dave Cullen, OTORIO
• Workplace Trends to Watch: Legislation impacts on HR policy & practices.
  Anne Gallop, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada
• The Strategic Component of Industrial Relations: How HR is taking a predominant role in organizations and strategy.
  David Kunsch, The Directors College
• Long COVID & Long-Term Disability: COVID impacts on the healthcare landscape and what it means for future costs.
  Barb Martinez, Canada Life
• Executive Panel, CEO Moment: Leadership for a New Era: A perspective on leadership, culture & Rejuvenation in these challenging times.
  Presented by:
  
  • Jenny Alfandary, Westario
  • David Fell, Utilities Kingston
  • Simon Wu, Rideau St. Lawrence Distribution Inc.
  • Moderator: Tim Wilson, Synergy North

If you have questions about The MEARIE Conference or wish to be a speaker or sponsor next year, email conference@mearie.ca.