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Health Work & Wellness™ Conference Leadership Team Deborah Connors, MPE Visionary. Passionate. Pioneering. Founder of the Health Work & Wellness™ Conference, Deb has passionately pursued her vision of bringing like-minded professionals together to discuss workplace issues at this annual think-tank on organizational health. Winner of the Canadian Workplace Wellness Pioneer Award in 2004, Deb has created her life's work around energizing organizations to be healthier. She founded Well-Advised Consulting Inc. in 1991 to provide companies with the thinking and tools to improve organizational well-being. Deb, husband Mike and daughter Jordan enjoy the quality of life they have found on Vancouver Island.  Muneerah Kassam, MHA Muneerah has been involved with the Health Work & Wellness™ Conference since its inception in 1997. She oversees programming, sponsorship and communications and is an integral member of the Leadership Team. Muneerah holds a Masters in Health Administration from the University of B.C. As a consultant, she works with the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer on pan-Canadian cancer workforce strategies. She thoroughly enjoys being a mom of two children and discovering the joys of life through their eyes.  Jonathan Buchwald, BA Jonathan is the founder and president of PRIME Strategies, one of Canada's leading meeting planning companies. He began his meeting management career in 1986 and has worked in virtually every aspect of this niche market. He relocated to Vancouver in 1991. His greatest strength is providing consultative, strategic advice to clients to help them develop conference, meeting and incentive travel programs. Today PRIME services large corporate and government clients from its offices in Vancouver and has won many awards for its work. Jonathan has worked with the Health Work & Wellness™ Conference since its inception in 1997 and has discovered a new work-life balance in the past couple of years by helping to raise a young family at home!  Karen Hopkinson, FLMI With over 25 years of planning meetings, Karen brings a wealth of experience to the team. Prior to joining PRIME Strategies, Karen worked in the insurance market providing conference and incentive programs involving from 15 to 500 people. Many events were specifically designed to showcase "out of the box" and "new to the industry" speakers and destinations. As Senior Project Manager and a newly designated Certified Meeting Professional, Karen bring to the Leadership Team a positive, optimistic and "let's go gang" type of approach, all of which provides a fun, healthy and positive conference environment for the delegates as well as the Leadership Team!  Dal Palmer, BBA, CMP Dal holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a joint major in Communications from Simon Fraser University, and has also earned her Certified Meeting Professional designation. Prior to joining PRIME Strategies, she planned events for both CIBC and BC Lottery Corporation. Now an Account Manager with PRIME Strategies, she has managed a wide variety of meetings and incentives all over the world. Dal loves to travel, and is often sent on business to warm locales where she can indulge her passion for fresh pineapple. Dal is happily married to a professional limbo dancer and enjoys being Mom to two hilarious kids.  Vanessa Walrond, BA Vanessa joined the Leadership Team in 2006 after graduating from University of B.C. with a BA in English and International Relations. After two years as the voice behind confirmation emails and the face behind the registration desk, she has taken a step back from her former duties to help the new team members learn the ropes. So although you may not see her, she's still behind the curtain making sure everything runs like clockwork!
 Trine Wildhagen Trine joined the Leadership Team in early 2007 and is excited to be heading into her second HWW Conference! She is the keeper of all records related to Sponsors and Exhibitors, and plays a key role in training new team members on registration policies and procedures. And thanks to her background in interior design, Trine's creative touch ensures that we not only do the job right, but we make it look pretty!
 Chris Freimond, MBA Chris manages marketing and communications for the Health Work & Wellness™ Conference. Before establishing his own company in 2006, he was General Manager and Vice President in British Columbia for Hill & Knowlton, a global public relations firm. He has worked in corporate communications and marketing for 12 years. Previously, he was a journalist in Southern Africa for 20 years covering business and politics. He specializes in helping organizations integrate business objectives with communications programs to ensure clear and consistent messaging targeted at specific audience groups.  Andrea Mau, BComm (Hons) Andrea is an invaluable part of the Leadership team. As the Superwoman, she coordinates Ambassadors, solicits exhibitors & early-bird gifts, updates the conference website, assists in sponsorship coordination and is deeply involved in various marketing projects throughout the year. She is the voice behind email inquiries and provides her expertise to the entire Leadership Team in various program-related initiatives. One of her favourite projects is the development of the Conference Handbook. Andrea holds a Direct Marketing & Communications Diploma from BCIT and a Bachelors of Commerce in HR Management from University of BC.  Erica Baird This is Erica’s first year working on the Health Work & Wellness™ Conference. She is delighted to be joining us after completing her BA in Political Science at the University of British Columbia. She is the keeper of all records related to the database, processing registrations, sending confirmations, and answering all your general phone calls and emails regarding the conference. She is looking forward to meeting all of you in person!  Laura Balsor Laura joined the HWW team in 2008 as a Project Coordinator. She is our primary point of contact for the Conference Speakers handling speaker communications, contract fulfillment and overall speaker administration leading up to and during the event. In addition she is in charge of creating and managing onsite our 2008 Conference food and beverage plan (making sure everyone gets fed well!). In her spare time, Laura also helps with general event coordination, which includes assisting with our onsite exhibit management. Laura looks forward to meeting everyone!  Emily Kwong Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Fine Arts and minor in Commerce from the University of British Columbia, and has earned her Management Certificate in Marketing Media from BCIT. Prior to joining PRIME, Emily worked in the music industry where she has planned concerts and competitions, and has also worked as a free-lance graphic artist for almost 10 years. Emily joined PRIME Strategies in January 2008 and has become a part of the Leadership team since. Emily does not only bring her graphic skills and event experience to the team, but also looks forward to learning new knowledge and exercising health-work and wellness with the rest of her comrades. Special thanks to Brenda Hewer, our design queen, all the folks at iPower Strategy, our web experts, and Todd Mitzak, our database guru.
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