Top-notch Education and Networking at GO WEST in Edmonton

When Arlene Schilke and Brent Taylor launched GO WEST for meeting industry professionals in Edmonton, Alberta, three years ago, they figured they would be fortunate to get maybe a couple hundred attendees and wondered if they would make it past the first year.

Instead, GO WEST has established itself as a premier meeting and event industry event, wrapping up its third year with more than 600 attendees who participated in three days of vibrant education sessions, a trade show and networking events while also showcasing a dynamic destination in the city of Edmonton, presenting an outstanding array of food and beverage and giving meeting planners in western Canada an anchor for professional development.

Those were among the goals set by Taylor and Schilke, co-owners of Timewise Event Management based in Edmonton and members of the MPI Greater Edmonton Chapter, when they created GO WEST. The first event attracted 380 attendees—they were hoping for 120. The success of the first year motivated them to continue the event, which attracted more than 500 meeting professionals last year, and the numbers again increased this year to more than 600.

The growing impact and success of GO WEST has resonated with attendees.

“Our industry is about relationships; connecting people; meeting face to face,” said Andrea Cliff, strategic communications and events team lead at the University of Alberta and president of the MPI Greater Edmonton Chapter. “The event producers (Schilke and Taylor) get that. Event professionals planning a conference for event professionals. I wouldn’t want that gig, but Arlene and Brent are creative, innovative, big-picture thinkers. It’s obvious they have their participants top of mind when they create their program.

“GO WEST is planned from a planner perspective and they understand what we want and need from an event like this before we know it ourselves. They brand GO WEST as ‘Canada’s Event for Event Professionals,’ and I couldn't agree more. I've loved watching it grow over the past three years and I'm looking forward to seeing it grow even more. Each year I wonder how they will top the previous year, and they just do. It’s so great to have GO WEST here in our back yard.”

With strong sentiment like that, Taylor and Schilke will be clearly motivated to continue to grow GO WEST.

“The biggest lesson we discovered about this event is that it’s all about community,” said Taylor, who is also on MPI’s International Board of Directors. “It’s about relationships and our industry as a community. It’s about bringing people together, and we knew we had to provide value to get people here. Too often we have to travel a significant distance for this type of programming and that’s tough for a lot of us. The credit goes to Arlene when it comes to our program.”

Schilke, the current past president of the MPI Greater Edmonton Chapter, said she and Taylor knew the success of the event would be measured by the sophistication of the education.

“We knew we had to be good and different, and present something that would raise the industry,” she said.

One of her ideas, for example, was to revamp the education breakouts and align them with the mainstage presentations. She wanted to give attendees insight into each of the breakout speakers, so the first mainstage presentation included presentations from each of the breakout presenters.

“By doing mini-sessions on the mainstage, everyone would have a better idea of which breakout they wanted to attend,” Schilke said.

She worked with partners FMAV and OneWest Event Design to connect with the speakers to design and deliver breakout rooms customized to each speaker. There was the Darkroom, for example, where everyone was given a flashlight; the Laboratory featured lab tables with science beakers; the Gym had chairs with pedals for cycling; the Oasis had a tropical theme including a waterfall; and the Playground had a pool of ping pong balls that attendees could jump into.

Keynote speakers included Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group; Dan Berger, founder and former CEO of Social Tables; David Adler, chair and founder of BizBash; Leanne Calderwood, vice president for global accounts at Conference Direct; Dahlia El Gazzar of Dahlia+ Agency; Dustin Westling, partner with OneWest Events; and David Merrell, CEO and creative director at AOO Events.

“The thing that most impressed me about GO WEST is the quality of speakers,” Cliff said. “Typically, when I attend industry events there are one or two outstanding speakers and I can take or leave the rest. At GO WEST they are very in tune with the industry and they move mountains to get the best quality speakers, presenting relevant topics.”

The quality of the education was cited by other attendees, as well.

“My favorite education experience was learning from the industry leaders that pave the way for change,” said Zaman Ishaad (MPI Toronto Chapter), conference coordinator with the Academic Internship Council in Toronto. “It was amazing to hear from the various speakers on the main stage before attending the breakout sessions, which allowed us to connect with them personally and learn about their topics in-depth. GO WEST is truly a collaboration of industry partners and leaders that thrive to advance our industry.”

Taylor said GO WEST could not have succeeded without an array of partners who stepped up and contributed to the event.

“I have never witnessed our industry coming together with the level of support we have received through in-kind services,” he said. “They have caught our vision and understand the value that GO WEST brings to our industry here in the west.”

Other important touch points revolved around creative culinary presentation from Serge Belair, executive chef at the Edmonton Convention Centre, which was quite impressive.

The city of Edmonton was also in the spotlight. The destination is thriving with new developments in the Ice District around Rogers Place, a range of hotels including a recently opened JW Marriott and the historic Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, two conference centers and a meeting business focus on health sciences, AI research, education and agribusiness. The Edmonton Convention Centre is leading groundbreaking innovation around sustainability.

But the main focus for three days in Edmonton was GO WEST and the engagement for meeting professionals. Devon Campbell, sales and customer success specialist for Duuo, an event insurance company based in Toronto, said he was impressed by the technology used throughout the event, including facial recognition software and the event’s chatbot.

“I got a lot of value out of the information I received on social media throughout the conference,” he said. “The speakers were knowledgeable on the subject and were able to provide insightful information that businesses could implement right away. My colleague Eric and I attended the event on behalf of our company with the intention to promote our event insurance product to the planners attending GO WEST. Not only did we meet a ton of great contacts, I learned a lot more about the event industry in general. I will definitely be attending next year.”

Networking was also an important component. Barb Robinson, CMP, CMM (MPI Greater Edmonton Chapter), conference management coordinator at the University of Alberta, said she was impressed with the eagerness of attendees to share ideas. 

“It doesn’t matter what type or scale of events each person plans or assists with, there’s an abundance of knowledge that is gladly shared by participants,” she said. “Everyone wants to share their experiences to help move themselves and our meeting industry forward. I loved all the tips and ideas shared in all the sessions and during networking. I appreciated that even though the idea examples originally may have been done at a large event they provided me with inspiration on how they might be customized to suit my specific event.

“It’s great to have a conference that we can attend with such amazing content. As an educational institution we are restricted resource-wise to participate in educational/networking opportunities that are not within our province. GO WEST allows us exposure to top-notch presenters, and of course stellar meeting professionals, at a very reasonable price.”

For Taylor and Schilke, who are married, they are already thinking about what to do in 2021, even after an exhausting three days.

“There’s no rest for me,” Schilke said on the final night with a laugh. “I have to get up at seven to drive the kids to school.”