The Annual Conference of the Economic Developers Council of Ontario, held in Toronto on Feb 3-4, 2010, was a remarkable opportunity to meet and to network with people from all around the province who are involved in the field of economic development and who are working towards creating vibrant and healthy communities. This was the sentiment shared by the 17 current LED students who attended the event.
For Noha Alsayad Tarek, an international student from Egypt, the conference was an amazing chance to hear the real-life experiences of economic development practitioners. What inspired her most was “the sincere commitment and enthusiasm that I sensed from people who work in the field, who are all stimulated to realize one vision: developing an economically viable and environmentally responsible Ontario.” For Lindsay Polkinghorne: “it was great to see so many students from both cohorts there, and even meet some from previous years. It was kind of like a reunion and great networking opportunity between students and beyond.”
The EDCO conference is an opportunity for students in the LED program to engage themselves in the professional network. The seminars and workshops bring together government officials, academics and field experts. The discussions during these workshops provide important food for thought for students developing their major research paper.
Pranab Shah felt there were three primary benefits of the conference for LED students: meeting economic development professionals to discuss trends and issues in the field; getting information sources for papers; or even coming out the conference with an internship. Attending the conference for the second year in a row, he declared that “overall the conference leaves us more informed, inspired and excited about our field.”
