The Scots of Canada Symposium for Growth and Success
Four sessions will be held, one for each of the topic areas described below.
- Member Connections, Saturday, October 28, 2023, 4 pm ET
- Volunteers and Events, Sunday, November 19, 2023, 4 pm ET
- Heritage, Saturday, December 16, 2023, 4 pm ET
- Sustainability, Saturday, January 20, 2024, 4 pm EST
Join us for this Symposium, hosted by Scots of Canada, as we focus on the growth and success of our Scottish Clans, Families and Societies. This is an opportunity for us to learn from each other while we hear from our panelists as they share their organizations’ successes and best practices. Be part of the open and interactive Q&A forum with answers to your questions, feedback on ideas and more.
Each sessions will run for approximately 2.5 hours and will be conducted through Zoom. These will be recorded and made available privately to all Symposium registrants. As scheduling, panelists and more details become available, this web page and additional web resources will be updated. As registrants, you will be kept up to date on the sessions and changes through email notifications.
Attendance is free for all who are in organizations which are members in good standing of Clans and Scottish Societies of Canada. For non-members, there is a registration fee of $50 CAD per person for access to all sessions, live and recorded, as well as to other resources from the sessions. For those in organizations which are not members of Scots of Canada, an option to join is also available which will include free access to the symposium for all your organization's members. Membership in Scots of Canada is only available to groups and organizations including clans, families, societies, highland games, festivals and businesses. Individual memberships are not available at this time.
Preregistration is required.
Payment is only required for non-Scots of Canada members
To register if you are part of an organization that is already a member of Clans and Scottish Societies of Canada or you wish to register and be sent a payment request then click here for our Symposium Registration Request page.
To pay and then register, use the following.
Upon payment processing you will be forwarded automatically to the Symposium Registration Request page. If payment is not processed, you will return to this page.
Upon approval and payment processing, if needed, a registration confirmation and your unique link to attend the sessions will be emailed to the email address provided during registration.
If you have selected the Membership option with Symposium registration included, we will contact you by email for more details on the your organization.
Member Connections, Saturday, October 28, 2023, 4 pm EDT
We all want to succeed! So, how do we grow our memberships? What is the key to retaining members? And how do we effectively engage our members? What role does communication play, whether it’s in person, by email, social media or virtually? Marketing and public relations is another key component of growth, retention and engagement. And we can’t forget the importance of social interactions with our members.
Volunteers and Events, Sunday, November 19 2023, 4 pm EST
We all have enough volunteers, right? Wrong! This was identified by our survey respondents as one of our biggest concerns. How do we recruit, on-board and manage our volunteers? How do we avoid volunteer burn out? How do we encourage our members to host Clan and Society tents at Highland Games and Society events and encourage our members to attend? Do Commissioners/Conveners/tent hosts have a guide to ensure they are successful?
Heritage, Saturday, December 16, 2023, 4 pm EST
Genealogy and DNA are two strong drivers that inspire people to join our organizations. Has using genealogy and DNA increased membership? Do you have a robust heritage and history knowledge centre that is available to your members? Do you have merchandise that allows your members to celebrate and promote their history and heritage? What strategies work?
Sustainability, Saturday, January 20, 2024, 4 pm EST
When we retire from positions of leadership, we want to leave our organization better than the day we stepped forward. How do we do this? By focusing on succession planning; identifying barriers to success for our organization; using technology for efficiencies and communications; and creating a robust system for payments processing. Another important discussion point is governance. Do you have the optimal structure, policies, procedures and practices in place?