October 2023 President’s Note

Happy October.

As we head into the Thanksgiving weekend, and I enter month eleven with the CMA, I have much to be thankful for. You top the list.

Thank you for being a valued part of our profession and the CMA. The thought leadership, comradery, great debates and conversations we have as a community make us all stronger. These qualities are why I love my role so much.

The many ways the CMA supports the profession and helps ensure you and your organization thrive is another reason I love my role. 

Advocating on behalf of the profession is a key priority. Our team was in Ottawa last week for the Minister's appearance in Parliament, and the start of parliamentary committee hearings on privacy law reform and the regulation of AI (Bill C-27). We’re also continuing to advocate on behalf of marketers around guidelines under Quebec’s new privacy legislation (Law 25), and responding to amendments to the Competition Act.

Canada’s Privacy Commissioner is speaking at our Building Trust as Technology Transforms event on October 12, which is free for members.

Ensuring an environment where businesses can flourish and consumers are respected and protected is a top focus for us. You can learn more about the latest updates on the privacy legislation, including Canada’s newly released voluntary Generative AI Code, on our website. 

We’ve expanded our AI training sessions to help marketers at all levels understand Generative AI and learn how best to use it. Our training sessions on how marketers can leverage AI sold out quickly, so we will host them again soon. We’ve also introduced a new topic Why Loyalty Programs Need AI to Thrive on November 1 that is filling up quickly. 

We’re excited to celebrate Canada’s outstanding creativity together with you at the CMA Awards Gala on November 10. Thanks to our judges, we will be awarding more than 100 trophies in our full range of categories, including Best of the Best, Marketer of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award and our inaugural AIM Award, which recognizes emerging talent. 

We topped last year’s total number of award entries, and ticket sales are outpacing last year, so it’s going to be a terrific evening. I hope to see you there.

Ensuring marketing is diverse, equitable and inclusive continues to be a priority for the CMA. I had the pleasure of speaking with two members who are leaders in the field on the latest episode of our CMA Connect podcast that was released this week. They shared great insights and actionable ways we can all help advance DEI. 

None of this would be possible without your support through membership and your active engagement with the CMA. The CMA is powered by highly engaged members, and I thank you for your commitment to strengthening our profession and community. 

We’re accomplishing a lot and there’s always room for improvement. To that end, we’re doing a quick check-in survey to gauge our progress. You will receive it later this month and it will only take five minutes to complete. It’s another way to ensure each of you has a voice, so we can evolve the association together in ways that will create the most value for you. 

As always, I welcome the opportunity to meet one-to-one. So, don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to chat.

I hope you have a memory-rich Thanksgiving weekend with your family and friends.

Alison Simpson
President & CEO