CanSPEP Day - 2025

7:30 - 8:00 am - CanSPEP Member badge pick up and Coffee/Tea

8:00 - 9:45 am – CanSPEP Members Pricing Session
Learn to develop pricing strategies that work in challenging environments. We'll spend a couple of hours exploring pricing exercises to ensure you are charging what you need and what you're worth.  This session is open to CanSPEP Planner Members only.

9:45 am – Registration and Breakfast for ALL CanSPEP Day attendees

10:30 am – CanSPEP Day Opening and Welcome Remarks

10:45 am - Build an Unstoppable Sales Machine with Shawn Casemore

11:45 am - Collaboration Activation with Jess Janz (Dinner With Strangers)

12:30pm - Lunch, sponsored by Explore Waterloo

1:30pm - The Power of Negotiation: A Fireside Chat with Fotini Iconomopoulos and Sue Mercer

2:30 pm – Coffee Break

3:00 pm - Growth Lessons from Successful Entrepreneurs: A Panel Discussion with Angela Chorney, Carly Silberstein, and Cass Bayley. Moderated by Samantha Mele. 

4:00 pm Networking reception sponsored by Explore Edmonton

6:00 pm – Safe Travels

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Build an Unstoppable Sales Machine

Proven Methods to Earn Attention, Enhance
Relationships, and Close Deals in Today’s Economy

Selling has changed. Your skills, methods and approach must shift to accommodate a new generation of buying behaviors and expectations.

Today’s top performing sales professionals and sales leaders leverage (or employ) a new way of selling that out-performs accepted norms. Long lunches and afternoons of golf are no longer at the top of their list of prospecting activities. Instead, they deploy powerful strategies to generate new business opportunities, and close deals.

Based on his popular book, The Unstoppable Sales Machine, Shawn explores new skills, methods, and strategies to not only survive, but to thrive regardless of the state of the economy. In this high energy presentation, he will show you new ways to fill your pipeline with prospects who are eager to buy.

Presented by:  Shawn Casemore

Shawn Casemore is a sales expert and professional speaker who inspires his  audiences to new levels of sales performance, sharing insights and actionable takeaways that can be applied immediately. He is the author of five books including The Unstoppable Sales Machine (2022), and The Unstoppable Sales Team (2023) as well as his latest book The Sales Multiplier Formula (2024).

Having spoken professionally for 15 years, Shawn consistently studies top sales performers, sharing new insights on selling in today’s economy. His keynotes and programs enable his audiences to create an environment of Unstoppable Sales^SM.

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Collaboration Activity, with Jess Janz

Jess Janz is a writer, community facilitator, and the creator of Dinner With Strangers, which brings people from different walks of life to share their stories over a meal - all while omitting what anyone does for work. Her work examines identity, connection, and what binds us all together. Jess has hosted events for Wealthsimple, lululemon, Altea Active Club, The W Hotel, Staub, and Writers Collective of Canada, and runs monthly writing workshops and Poetry Club for her writing community of over 70k people. Her forthcoming book, 'The Table Where We Meet,' will be published by Source Books in March 2026. 

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Lunch, sponsored by

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The Power of Negotiation, A Fireside Chat with 

Fotini Iconomopoulos and Sue Mercer 

Whether you are leading a company, team or yourself, the power of negotiation is all about communicating persuasively. So, how can you make your voice stand out? Become more influential day-to-day, and start achieving the results you want? In this fireside chat, expert communicator Fotini Iconomopoulos will reveal the principles of persuasion and negotiation, and how to use them to become the kind of leader that people want to follow.

Fotini Iconomopoulos is the person Fortune 500 executives call in to help with their high stakes negotiations or to empower their teams through her intensive workshops on negotiation, communication and persuasion. Fotini occasionally returns to the classroom as an instructor of MBA Negotiations at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. She’s a regular media guest on outlets including CBC, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, CNN, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, and CNBC. She’s also been recognized with a number of awards including a Top 40 under 40 award.

An accomplished and passionate connector, Sue is renowned for transforming ideas into innovative projects and events that consistently exceed expectations. With a unique ability to balance creativity and execution, Sue excels at fostering partnerships and leveraging synergies to deliver exceptional results. As the founder of STEP IN MARKETING & EVENT SOLUTIONS, launched in 2014, Sue continues to serve as the unflappable glue that binds teams and visions together, orchestrating a wide array of events including galas, conferences, trade shows, culinary competitions, and more.

Currently serving as President of the Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners (CanSPEP), Sue is a highly regarded leader and award-winning specialist. Honours such as the Canadian Meetings & Events Expo Hall of Fame Planner of the Year (2023) and multiple accolades from CanSPEP and the Culinary Federation highlight her dedication and impact. Guided by a passion for innovation, collaboration, and purpose, Sue continues to inspire and elevate the industry, ensuring every client and project achieves extraordinary success.

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Growth Lessons from Successful Entrepreneurs

In this engaging panel discussion, our guest speakers will share real-world stories about how they’ve navigated challenges and scaled up their teams successfully. Through candid conversations and expert advice, this session offers valuable insights and inspiration to turn your business goals into a reality.

A Panel Discussion with Angela Chorney, Carly Silberstein and Cass Bayley.  Moderated by Samantha Mele

Angela Chorney is a VP & Managing Partner of CanPlan Event & Conference Services with over a decade of expertise in meticulously organizing meetings and conferences across Canada. She holds a Certificate in Advanced Project Management and a degree in education. She previously served as a Paralegal and Project Lead in Legal Services for the British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General.  A strong proponent of using “why” as a catalyst for informing “what and how”, Angela believes in the curious exploration of both in-the-box and out-of-the-box solutions when planning events. Combined with her intentional stewardship of long-lasting client relationships, she continues to earn consistent repeat business and accolades from the clients she works with.  In 2021, Angela was recognized with CanSPEP’s Volunteer of the Year Award, and she was recently elected to its Board of Directors as the Secretary/Treasurer.

Carly Silberstein is the CEO and driving force behind Redstone Agency – a full-service event and association management agency that was recognized by The Globe and Mail as one of Canada’s Top Growing Companies. A devoted entrepreneur, she has nearly two decades of experience creating strategic partnerships and valuable client experiences.  Carly is an authority on live streaming, digital and hybrid events. She is one of the first people globally to have earned the Digital Event Strategist (DES) Certification from PCMA’s Digital Experience Institute, and holds the Virtual Event and Meeting Management (VEMM) certificate from the Event Leadership Institute. Her commitment to keeping a pulse on industry best practices, a strong professional network, and access to exclusive resources strongly positions Carly to continue delivering innovative and impactful results for both the Redstone team and their clients.  

Cass Bayley started her career in sales and convention services with the Royal York Hotel followed by a tenure as the Director of Sales with the Park Hyatt in Toronto.  She launched The Bayley Group in 1992 and has built this agency into a successful, full-service PCO with nine full-time, professional meeting planners who work on a wide range of clients in Canada, US and Europe.  When the Bayley Group started, the client base was more event oriented and there were several years of managing events such as the Mercedes-Benz World Cup Qualifiers in Show Jumping, the Canadian Comedy Awards, A Military Tattoo for the City of London, a consumer women's show to name a few.  Through industry contacts and colleagues, the company was introduced to several associations that pivoted the company focus to the design and execution of conferences. BG has many clients and staff that have been with the company for more than 20 years. 

Samantha Mele is the Founder and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) of THE CREATIVE CONNOISSEUR, a boutique consultancy offering dynamic creative direction for corporate events. As a solo-preneur, Samantha operates as a fractional creative director, seamlessly stepping in as a white-labeled consultant under the client’s brand or as a bold, strategic creative partner. Driven by curiosity, playfulness, and a passion for innovation, she curates experiences that captivate event attendees. 

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Networking Reception, sponsored by

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Thank You To Our Exceptional Sponsors