Early Bird Registration Now Open for Congress 2018
by Teresa Cheng, CFRE and Congress 2018 Marketing Committee Chair
Join us in diSrupTing philanthropy Nov. 19-21!
Changes are brewing!
The theme for this year’s AFP Toronto Congress is DISRUPT Philanthropy. Whether you realize it or not, disruption has been happening in various industries for years.
When was the last time you called a cab? Arguably, most individuals now rely on Uber or Lyft to get around town. Uber has forced taxi companies to build apps and be more customer oriented. If you’re travelling for leisure, are you looking for a hotel or are you looking at an Airbnb? I recently went to a wedding in Niagara-on-the-Lake with six friends and it was more cost-effective to make a booking on Airbnb than to reserve 2-3 rooms at a hotel or inn. The Airbnb property we stayed at was well-maintained, it was clean and comfortable, checking in and out was easy, and it was only about a five minute drive to and from the wedding venue. When we surveyed the other options in the area, we felt that we were limited to staying at dinky motel at least a 15 minute drive away for the same price. Uber and Airbnb are just two examples of companies that are shaking up their industries and having a major impact on our day-to-day lives.
So, when our Management Team Committee started to think about this year’s Congress, we thought about how we could make a similar impact for our sector. After many brainstorming sessions, what resulted, was the decision to shake things up this year by highlighting the people and topics that are disrupting the traditional notions of philanthropy to inspire new ideas and create conversation.
In addition to the Red / Yellow / Green session tracks you’ve been accustomed to if you’ve attended Congress before, we’ve added all-new session tracks this year focusing on research, tough topics, and fireside chats. Research sessions will focus on the latest outcomes and studies in philanthropy and will allow you to explore in-depth, how these findings can be integrated into your fundraising and community programs. Tough topics will feature things we think about a lot, but need to talk about more. This is the time, this is place – let’s talk about it! There’s also a new session track called fireside chats with Cynthia Armour, David Love and Stephen Thomas. These experts will share what they’ve learned from their careers in fundraising and what they hope to see for the future of our sector.
I’m super excited to be part of disrupting the sector and I can’t wait for you to be part of it too!
Early bird registration is now open. Find out more here.
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About the Author
Teresa Cheng, CFRE
Teresa’s dedication to Canada’s not-for-profit and charity sector is undeniable: with over 25 volunteer roles in the past 10 years. She has energy and enthusiasm to share, and loves using her skills and experiences to contribute to various causes. She has experience in volunteer management, event planning and execution, data extraction and analysis, and the use of social media for communication and marketing. Teresa holds a CFRE designation, post-grad certificate in Fundraising and Volunteer Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Family and Social Relations with a minor in Applied Information Technology. Teresa is excited to use her expertise to serve as Chair of the Marketing Committee for AFP Toronto Congress 2018.