Hello WABE friends!

A few weeks ago, I did some hiking in Nordegg, Alberta. We did an overnight back packing trip up to Allstones Lake. It was quite a grind with a lot of vertical climbing. We did not know what to expect as I had not done this type of hike before. We were heading up there for the night, hoping to catch some fish for dinner, but were not sure if we would catch any, or if there would be enough deadwood around where ever we were going to camp to keep us warm as the night grew cold. It seemed like it was a constant straight uphill hike. We got to what we thought was the peak and enjoyed the view for a few minutes before heading out for the last few KM’s on our quest to reach the lake. Well that was not the peak as the elevation continued (like one or two switchbacks would have been nice). After another hour of hiking, the pack on my back felt like it was getting heavier. But when we finally reached the destination, the place was amazing with a mountain top lake and aerial view of Abraham Lake and it made all the pain and sweat worth the hard work.

We are less than a month away from our 70th annual, and first ever virtual convention, being held Nov 4th & 5th. I kind of understand how the original WABE committee felt when they were starting this convention 70 years ago, excited to bring this community together and anxious to see how it will work out. We are once again heading into uncharted territory. And much like my hike, there were times when we were not sure what was ahead and not sure if we would make it to this point. I feel like now we are at that same false peak on my hike and we need to get the final push in to make this a success. This is were you come in! Registration is now open, so please take some time to sign up to attend the conference, and spread the word with your colleagues, especially those that would have not normally have been able to attend due to travel budget restrictions. Delegate registration is only $25 + gst! To encourage early registration, we will be doing a draw from the first 50 people who register. You could win one of two $50 prepaid visa gift cards! To access the online registration, please see our website: www.wabe.ca. And if you are a student or retired delegate, please contact Kathy at the office to get your discount code.

We have some great paper sessions lined up on Wednesday, November 4th and Thursday, November 5th including Gord Landon on MPEG Video Monitoring, Francis Lacombe on Tower lighting, Darrin Paley on emerging technology and AES67 integration, and Telos on Virtualization. We will also be having a few panels this year as they have been highly engaging over the last few years. In addition, we will have a video library where all these papers will be stored so that you can view them after the event. We will also be adding informational videos throughout the year. Keep checking our website for further updates to the schedule.

We will also be having an awards presentation during the lunch break on Thursday, November 5th, so if you know of anyone that is deserving of an award please go to wabe.ca and nominate under the awards tab. The award categories include the Ambassador Award, Excellence in Engineering, WABE Spirit Award, the RW Lamb Award, and of course the Retirement Awards. We are doing things a little differently this year with the retirement award as we want to nominate anyone that has retired in the last few years regardless of what city they are in (typically would only give it to retirees in the city that the convention is being held). Now I cannot guarantee the same level of awesomeness that we have had with our awards ceremony hosts from last year, but we will do our best to keep you entertained!

This year is also a nomination year, which means that we are looking for someone to join the executive as Secretary Treasurer. So, if you are interested, please attend the AGM.

On the Friday, November 6th, we will try to host local meetups in 10 cities across Canada (pending local Covid restrictions). So, when you register, please select the city in which you would attend and then we will coordinate with you the locations for the meetups. I am looking forward to seeing some of you again (from a safe distance of course).

I am excited for this event as the entire committee has been working hard for many months to make this come to fruition, I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication.

WABE Committee:
Rob Brown
Bill Stovold
Mark Crichton
Eric Becker
Mike Modney
Tessa Potter
Marco Auriti
Sarah Boutette
Kathy Watson

I also want to extend a big thank you to all the sponsors who have already pledged their support of our virtual convention. Without their support, we would not be able to meet our objective in providing our members with continued education every year, and especially in this most challenging year as we forge ahead with a virtual platform.

Thank you, and I am looking forward to seeing you all, online and in person on November 4-6th!

Clint Hollinger
President, WABE