Must-see events of October 10

An effective and evolving business model:

There you have it – the theme for yet another exciting day of compelling events and new ideas about the relevance of the cooperative movement, that will remind us once again of “The Amazing Power of Cooperatives.”

When the curtain rises at 8:30 a.m., come check out the opening conference with Huguette Labelle, President of Transparency International, Canada and Charles Gould, Director General of the International Co-operative Alliance in Switzerland, followed by the case study “Doing business our way – Winning strategies for doing business differently” at 9:00 a.m., chaired by Isabelle Santenac, Global Assurance COO, Ernst & Young, France, accompanied by panelists Denis Richard, President of La Coop fédérée, Canada; Clemente Jaimes, Executive President of La Equidad Seguros, Colombia; Martin Lowery, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, United States; and Peter Marks, Chief Executive, The Co-operative Group, United Kingdom.

At 10:45 a.m., take part in one of the following six forums: Argiculture and Agri-food, Workers and Producers, Public Services, Consumers, Financial Services (cooperative banks, credit unions) and Insurance.

At 12:15 p.m., Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001), will be the star guest speaker of the highly anticipated Lunch and Learn offered by the PwC.

At 1:30 p.m., the conclusions of another international study by McKinsey & Company will be presented for the first time. The topic covered will be “Achieving the full potential of cooperative organizations – strengths, challenges and best practices,” presented by Éric Lamarre, Associate Director of McKinsey & Company, Canada, and presided by Liz Bailey, President of the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) in the United States.

Eight other forums, including two special forums, will be held simultaneously at 3:30 p.m.:

• Governance and democratic decision process
• Performance management in a cooperative context
• Innovation to meet members’ needs
• Attracting and retaining talent through cooperative values
• Alliances between cooperatives
• Integrating cooperative values into management practices
• North/South Intercooperation
• The reality of future leaders in the co-operative world – their participation, their actions and their commitment

Next, at 5:15 p.m., we will hear a speech from Jacques Attali, Economist and Writer, President, PlaNet Finance, France.

We will conclude with a final word from Tom Webb, Executive Director of Imagine 2012, who invites us to join him as we move “Towards the declaration of the 2012 International Summit of Cooperatives.”

At 7:00 p.m., come to the dinner gala featuring the flavours of Quebec, followed by an exciting show with a performance by the Cirque du Soleil, a Quebec-based company recognized the world over for high-quality, artistic entertainment.