Dr. Jim Weese - The 5C Approach to Leadership: Exceptional Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Times
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Jim Weese is the former Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at The University of Western Ontario. He is a current professor Emeritus, internationally recognized leadership expert, author, and speaker. Throughout his distinguished career, he has held several senior academic leadership roles, including Dean at the University of Windsor, Acting Vice-Provost (International), and Founding Executive Director of the Western Leader Academy.
Widely recognized for his work in transformational and team-based leadership, Dr. Weese is the author of The 5C Leader and a sought-after consultant and keynote speaker for universities, corporations, and organizations across the globe. His contributions to leadership, higher education, and sport management have earned numerous prestigious honours, including the Queen’s Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee Medals and the 2026 Lester B. Pearson Award.
Today’s leaders must navigate uncertainty, rapid change, and increasing operational demands while continuing to inspire and support their teams. Dr. Jim Weese will explore leadership practices that strengthen resilience, adaptability, and organizational success during challenging times.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Identify leadership strategies for navigating change
- Strengthen adaptability and decision-making skills
- Inspire resilient and collaborative team cultures
Heather Reid - Level Up Your Event Contracts
Opening Keynote Speaker
Heather is the CEO and Founder of Planner Protect Inc., Canada’s first event contract agency dedicated to helping event planners and vendors negotiate balanced, risk-conscious contracts. A former event professional with more than 30 years of experience planning association conferences across Canada, Heather founded Planner Protect in 2013 and has since helped organizations generate more than $10 million in cash savings and avoided risk.
A respected speaker, educator, and industry thought leader, she is widely recognized for her contributions to event contract education and innovation, including the launch of the first Certified Event Contract Professional certification program. Heather has received numerous national industry honours, including induction into the Canadian Meetings & Events Expo Hall of Fame, Smart Women in Meetings awards, and multiple leadership and innovation awards from the Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners.
Heather will share her professional and personal journey, highlighting key lessons and practical strategies for strengthening event and accommodation agreements while balancing service, risk, and financial sustainability.
Key Learning Outcomes:
• Identify common contract risks and mitigation strategies
• Strengthen negotiation and communication practices
• Build more resilient, client-focused agreements
Dr. Mathieu Yuill - Communication that Drives Revenue
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Mathieu Yuill is the founder of Leading With Nice, a Toronto-based marketing and strategy firm that works with organizations across Canada and the U.S. His work sits at the intersection of leadership, communication, and collaboration, helping teams work together more clearly across departments and roles. Mathieu completed his doctorate in leadership in 2025, focusing on how alignment is built through everyday communication rather than top-down messaging. He brings a practical perspective shaped by experience in journalism, marketing, and higher education, and regularly works with nonprofits, associations, and institutions navigating growth, change, and internal complexity.
Strong communication and authentic leadership are key drivers of client trust, sales success, and revenue growth. This session explores how empathy, accountability, and people-focused communication can strengthen marketing efforts, help increase leads, improve conversions, and grow revenue within campus events and accommodations.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Strengthen communication strategies that build client trust and generate business opportunities
- Apply people-focused leadership practices to support sales, marketing, and client retention
- Explore how authentic leadership can improve conversions, collaboration, and revenue growth
The True Cost of Service: Navigating Internal Charges in Higher Education
Panel Discussion:
Internal charge structures continue to be a significant challenge across colleges and universities, often creating tension around cost transparency, service expectations, and budget management. This panel discussion will explore how institutions structure, communicate, and manage internal charges while balancing operational needs and financial realities.
Panelists will share common challenges, lessons learned, and different institutional approaches, offering participants an opportunity to discuss strategies for improving understanding, collaboration, and accountability across campus partners.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Compare approaches to internal charge structures
- Improve communication around service costs and expectations
- Identify strategies to strengthen campus collaboration and accountability
Moderated by: Jen Nadon, Manager, Guest Accommodations, Simon Fraser University
PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES
Karen Gallimore is the Assistant Director of Conference & Events Services in the Business Development department at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC). Her portfolio includes overseeing Conference & Events Services, the historic Miller Lash House, a beautifully restored 1913 estate and one of Toronto’s premier venues for weddings, corporate functions, and special events, and The Print Hub, UTSC’s full service printing and signage centre.
With extensive experience in hospitality, operations, and team leadership, Karen is known for her creative and collaborative leadership style. Karen thrives in dynamic environments and is passionate about building strategies that elevate the campus event experience. She enjoys reading, art galleries and museum visits, gardening, and exploring small historic towns, along with a love for diverse global cuisines.
Rich Caccamo, EdD, APM is a higher education leader and scholar-practitioner with more than 18 years of experience advancing student success, organizational strategy, and campus operations at Western University. He currently leads strategic initiatives within Western's Division of Housing & Ancillary Services, where he recently established the university's centralized Campus Events Office. Campus Events is a new institutional function responsible for streamlining event planning, risk management, venue governance, and cross-campus collaboration while enhancing the experience of thousands of students, staff, faculty, and external guests.
Throughout his career, Rich has specialized in bringing people together to solve complex organizational challenges. His work has included designing student success initiatives, leading campus-wide change projects, and building new operational services. He is passionate about creating practical systems that improve the experience of students, staff, and guests while helping diverse teams work more effectively toward shared outcomes.
Kelsey Currie is Manager of Co op Education and Entrepreneurial Services at Fanshawe College, where she leads a diverse, unionized team supporting student success, community engagement, and experiential learning. With over a decade of public-sector experience, she oversees multi million dollar operations, policy implementation, and cross-functional partnerships. Kelsey works closely with teams across campus to support program delivery and events, bringing a practical, collaborative perspective to navigating policy, compliance, and day to day operational realities.
Building Resiliency Through Shared Experience
Scenario-Based Roundtable:
This interactive round table exercise immerses participants in realistic, high-pressure scenarios from conference services, accommodation, and event operations. Working in small groups, attendees will analyze complex challenges where policy, client expectations, and operational realities conflict.
Participants are encouraged to focus on practical, real-world solutions by identifying systemic areas for improvement, testing assumptions, and applying thoughtful decision-making under pressure. Each group will present a final response, simulating real-time, cross-functional decision-making.
Learning outcomes include:
- Strengthening decision-making under pressure
- Identifying system and communication breakdowns
- Enhancing client service & recovery skills
- Developing practical, scalable operational solutions
Concurrent Sessions
Concurrent Session #1: Accommodations & Meeting Room Contracting
Presented by Heather Reid
Building on Heather’s opening keynote, this session will take a deeper, practical look at developing stronger contracts, reducing risk, and strengthening client relationships in today’s evolving event landscape.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Identify and mitigate key contract risks
- Apply practical negotiation and communication strategies
- Develop clearer, more resilient agreements that balance institutional and client needs
Concurrent Session #2: Turning Client Experience into Revenue Growth
Presented by Dr. Mathieu Yuill
Building on the keynote, this interactive workshop explores how to strengthen client relationships, improve conversions, and support revenue growth. Through practical exercises and real-world scenarios, participants will apply the “Leading With Nice” principles to sales, marketing, and customer experience within campus events and accommodations.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Practice communication and relationship-building techniques that strengthen client trust, engagement, and conversions
- Apply the “Leading With Nice” principles to real-world sales, marketing, and customer service scenarios
- Develop actionable strategies to improve client retention, referrals, and revenue growth through people-focused interactions
Concurrent Session #3: Operational Excellence: Applying a LEAN Process Improvement Model to Campus Event & Accommodation Operations
Presented by: Raquel Gavey
Continuous Improvement Specialist, Projects and Performance
McMaster Housing and Conference Services
This session introduces Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt principles as a practical approach to improving efficiency, reducing waste, and strengthening campus event and accommodation operations. Participants will explore simple, data-informed tools to support continuous improvement and more resilient service delivery in a fast-paced environment.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Understand core Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt concepts
- Identify process inefficiencies in event and accommodation workflows
- Apply basic improvement tools to enhance operational consistency and efficiency