Palais des congrès

2010 Recognition Award Gala marks 25^th anniversary of
the Palais des congrès de Montréal Ambassadors' Club

The 2010 Recognition Award Gala was held just recently, and it was a special edition as the Ambassadors' Club turned 25 this year. The event, which also served as the closing ceremony for the very first Rendez-vous du Savoir, showcased the powerful collaboration between the university sector and the Palais. The proof was in the ever-widening scope of the Ambassadors' Club, to which seven new members were appointed.

The Ambassadors' Club was established in 1985. It has been growing constantly year after year, for 25 years. Today's Club membership is over 280 strong, and it forms the natural tie that binds the Palais, the university community and the business sector as they collectively strive to promote Montréal as a leading host city for conventions.

Your work as Ambassadors is one of the main reasons why Montréal ranks today as the Number One host city in North America for international associative events. Thank you all for your tireless commitment!


Paul Gérin-Lajoie, a pioneer in education in Québec, paid a moving tribute to the representatives of Québec's universities.	The gastronomic symphony that was part of the 2010 Recognition Award Gala, which drew over 650 guests, was orchestrated by Capital Traiteur, the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, Westin Montréal, Sheraton Centre Montréal, Casino de Montréal, Intercontinental Montréal, Hilton Montréal Bonaventure, Mariott Château Champlain, Delta Centre-Ville and Hyatt Regency.

See the pictures we've posted online for a look back at this glorious evening.

Partenaires du Gala

Thank you, Dr. Corcos… Welcome, Dr. Pavel Hamet!

After presiding over the Ambassadors' Club for four years, Dr. Jacques Corcos seized the Recognition Award Gala to pass the torch on to a new president. Palais President and CEO Marc Tremblay thanked Dr. Corcos warmly for the earnestness with which he performed his task.

Dr. Pavel Hamet, co-spokesperson for the Rendez-vous du Savoir and new president of the Palais des congrès de Montréal Ambassadors' Club. "We are all members of international associations or networks. Have you ever talked to your peers about Montréal as a potential host city for their future events?

Dr. Pavel Hamet takes over as president of the Ambassadors' Club from Dr. Corcos, and he will hold the position for the next three years. Appointed a Palais Ambassador in 1985, Dr.Hamet is an Officer of the National Order of Québec and the recipient of numerous international distinctions. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Predictive Genomics, and founded the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal research centre, which he headed for 10 years. A tenured professor at Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine, he is also the head of the Ecogenomics Platform for Complex Diseases at the Technopôle Angus business park, the director of the CHUM research centre's Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, chief of Gene Medicine at the CHUM, and a member of the CHUM's Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition.

Rendez-vous du Savoir: a new step toward greater collaboration between higher learning and business

The organizations that partnered together to hold the Rendez-vous du Savoir wrapped up the first edition of the event, which ran October 20 and 21, with a pledge to host this forum annually for the purpose of fostering a better convergence of the university and business sectors. Expanding the quality and number of university-business collaborations will have a significant impact on both the training our emerging talent will receive and how well Québec companies will perform.

"The objectives of the Rendez-vous du Savoir were primarily to showcase the collective wealth the university sector generates and to build more bridges between the academic and business communities. This first edition gave us the opportunity to start determining the types of partnerships that would benefit both parties and to initiate the process of thinking about solutions we could continue to develop," indicated Dr. Pavel Hamet, co-spokesperson of the event.

A new competition for emerging star researchers titled Ça mérite d'être reconnu was launched during the Rendez-vous du Savoir. Five winners were selected and their work was recognized during the Recognition Award Gala. "Our young researchers seek opportunities to have their talents acknowledged. They constitute an immense pool of potential Ambassadors' Club members, and they deserve our help to join our ranks," stated Dr. Hamet at the Gala.

Buoyed by the success of the first edition of the Rendez-vous du Savoir, the event's partners are already planning the second edition for fall 2011.

The first edition was organized by the Palais des congrès de Montréal, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal, the Conference of Rectors and Principals of Québec Universities (CREPUQ), Conférence régionale des élus (CRÉ) de Montréal, Montréal International and Ville de Montréal. To learn more: www.rendezvousdusavoir.com.

Click here to download the Rendez-vous du Savoir newspaper supplement that appeared in Les Affaires.

Congratulations to our newly appointed Ambassadors

Alexandre Sigouin-Duquette
59^th General Assembly of the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA)
July 30 to August 6, 2010 — 800 delegates — 1,820 room nights

Alexandre Sigouin-Duquette, a third-year medical student, presided over the Montréal AM 2010-59th IFMSA Meeting organizing committee. The event brought together medical students from all over Canada and the world to discuss global health issues and challenges.

Claude Hillaire-Marcel
22^nd Goldschmidt Conference
June 24 to 29, 2012 — 3,000 delegates — 5,850 room nights

Claude Hillaire-Marcel is a geoscientist and professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). In 1979, he founded the GEOTOP geoscience research and training centre, which is recognized worldwide. His body of work over the last 30+ years has helped us better understand the ongoing geological and climate changes.

Ferri Hassani
30^th ISARC 2013 International Symposium on
Automation and Robotics in Construction
June 18 to 23, 2013 — 600 delegates — 1,560 room nights

A professor with McGill University's Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, Ferri Hassani is the current holder of the Webster Chair in Mining Engineering. He is a graduate in Mining Engineering from Nottingham University (BSc and PhD). His teaching and research relate principally to mine design, rock mechanics, renewable energy from mines, geo-sensing and mine backfill.

Jayne Engle-Warnick
2011 Ecocity World Summit
August 22 to 26, 2011 — 1,500 delegates — 3,120 room nights

Jayne Engle-Warnick is an urban planner and vice-president of the Montréal Urban Ecology Centre. She has extensive international urban renewal as well as community and economic development experience working with public, private and non-profit organizations. Ms. Engle-Warnick has lived and worked in Canada, the USA, Great Britain and Eastern Europe.

John Eggena
American Cheese Society 2011 National Conference & Competition
August 3 to 6, 2011 — 800 delegates — 1,445 room nights

Ambassador Emeritus of Québec fine cheeses to the world, John Eggena has served since 1992 as a consultant in the export and development of Québec food products, while acting as a sales representative for Damafro Inc. He is the recipient of the 2008 Prix d'excellence à l'exportation alimentaire du Québec.

Luc Rabouin
2011 Ecocity World Summit
August 22 to 26, 2011 — 1,500 delegates — 3,120 room nights

Executive director of the Montréal Urban Ecology Centre since 2006, Luc Rabouin has 20 years experience in the sustainable development of Montréal's neighbourhoods. He is a consultant for numerous local, regional and national organizations, and has worked as a public healthcare community organizer for more than 10 years. He is the author of the book Démocratiser la ville, published in 2009 by Lux Éditeur.

Michel Béland
International Polar Year 2012 Conference
April 20 to 27, 2012 — 4,000 delegates — 14,800 room nights

This is the second time Michel Béland is honoured as an Ambassador. The first was in 2006 for the July 2009 IAMAS/IAPSO Joint Assembly he helped organize. This year he is being recognized for the International Polar Year 2012 Conference. Mr. Béland's has enjoyed a 35-year career with Environment Canada, where he worked as a meteorologist, a research scientist in predictability and global atmospheric modelling, a research manager, and eventually as director general of atmospheric science and technology. He was recently awarded the Patterson Medal from the Meteorological Service of Canada for distinguished service to meteorology. Mr. Béland sits on the Ambassadors' Club advisory committee.

Conventions confirmed in 2010 (without an Ambassador)

9^th Annual National Managers Community (NMC) Professional Development Forum,
March 2 to 4, 2010
18^th International Congress on Palliative Care, October 6 to 8, 2010
Canadian Mortgage Conference and Expo, November 21 to 23, 2010
26^th Annual Conference and Exhibition – CANADIAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION,
October 31 to November 3, 2010
Forum international d'économie sociale et solidaire, October 18 to 20, 2011
63^rd Annual Tax Conference, November 27 to 29, 2011
National Festival 2012 – REGIONAL DANCE AMERICA, May 1 to 5, 2012
NASPL – WLA Joint Annual Conference 2012, September 8 to 15, 2012
ISHLT 33^rd Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, April 24 to 27, 2013
104^th AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo, April 28 to May 2, 2013
2^e Congrès International francophone de soins palliatifs, May 5 to 7, 2013
30^th ISARC 2013 International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction
(Civil, Mining, Petroleum), June 18 to 23, 2013
SSR 46^th Annual Meeting, July 23 to 26, 2013
19^th International Conference on Composite Materials ICM-19, July 29 to August 2, 2013
Materials Science & Technology 2013 Conference & Exhibition, October 13 to 17, 2013
ACVP 2013 Annual Meeting, November 9 to 12, 2013
Canadian Labour Congress Constitutional Convention, May 4 to 9, 2014
ISPOR Annual International Meeting, May 31 to June 4, 2014
2014 Rail Conference and International Rail Rodeo, June 15 to 18, 2014
SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, June 22 to 27, 2014
2014 North American Irish Dance Championships, June 30 to July 6, 2014
17^th World Congress of Food Science and Technology – IUFoST 2014, August 17 to 21, 2014
61^st American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine Annual Meeting,
September 16 to 20, 2014
2016 SGI Annual Conference, March 15 to 19, 2016
2016 Annual Education Conference and Resource Exhibition, April 13 to 16, 2016
2016 CFA Institute Annual Conference, May 8 to 11, 2016
CHF Canada's 2016 Annual General Meeting, May 11 to 14, 2016
54^th World Council and World Congress –INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, October 13 to 27, 2017
ISMRM 27^th Annual Meeting & Exhibition, May 11 to 17, 2010

2009-2010, a record-setting year: the Palais hosted 267 events and over
613,000 participants and visitors

The Société du Palais des congrès de Montréal recently released its annual report for 2009-2010, a year during which it hosted a record-setting 267 events and welcomed over 613,000 participants and visitors, posting its best performance since 2004-2005. The events and those who attended them generated over 132,000 room nights for Montréal hotels, representing a total of $166 million in economic spinoffs for Montréal and Québec.

For the final quarter ending September 30, the Palais concluded agreements for nine major events, which will generate over $33 million in spinoffs for Montréal. An unequivocal record! Browse our Quarterly Report for July-September 2010.

Advisory committee meeting

The most recent meeting of the advisory committee, on November 4, was chaired for the first time by Dr. Pavel Hamet. Topics included determining the subject matters for the second Rendez-vous du Savoir, and the city's participation in the events the Palais is bidding for.

Ambassadors' Club membership privileges

The Ambassadors Companion Program now includes two new university-focused incentive measures. An updated version of the Program literature will soon be posted on the Ambassadors' Club secure page on the Palais website. This is in keeping with the Palais team's ongoing commitment toward the members of the Ambassadors' Club and local individuals championing event hosting efforts in Montréal, through tangible and practical resources that are part of a complete companion service tailored to their needs.

University Sponsorship Grants – Palais des congrès de Montréal and Tourisme Montréal
These grants make it possible to promote schools nationally and internationally, and also actively take part in Québec's economic and intellectual development by hosting major events. Grants of $5,000 are awarded to teams comprising one local champion and one collaborator associated with a university. A rising star in his or her field, the collaborator will be given the opportunity to help organize a large-scale event, and in the process widen his or her network of contacts.

University Fundraising Program – Palais des congrès de Montréal
The Palais believes in the importance of funding Québec universities. As a result, we contribute to university fundraising activities of 700+ guests by providing the organizers the complimentary use of our venues for events that include food.(Certain conditions apply.)

This companion program further solidifies the Palais as a partner committed to promoting universities and researchers internationally.

Have good news to share?

Just received an award, a promotion or some form of international recognition? Feel free to share any piece of good news about yourself or a fellow Ambassador, and we'll gladly report it to the rest of the Club membership.