More than 12,500 visitors filed through the Montreal Convention Centre's 175 booths during the 28th annual Salon de la mariée, Feb. 2-3, 2008, where SOCAN was represented by Éric Chouinard, Michel Giguère and Yanik Hardy. (Their spouses need not worry as none of them received any marriage proposals!)

SOCAN's participation was appreciated by the visitors who stopped by our booth. These brief personal contacts allowed us to confirm, with regard to SOCAN's Tariff 8 (receptions, conventions, assemblies and fashion shows), that the operator of the premises is the one who should apply for the SOCAN licence, but that the SOCAN fees can legitimately be included in the rental contract. In fact, the vast majority of our visitors confirmed that the fact that they did not have to worry about a licence for the use of music on their special day had allowed them to concentrate on other things such as table decorations, their guest list and the choice of a limousine service.

According to SOCAN Licensing Department's business development relationist specialist Yanik Hardy, "by attending such events, we can reassure the public, as well as the premise owners who are SOCAN clients. They know that we are doing our job looking for new users in order to legitimize all public uses of music. At the same time, they understand that we cannot get in touch with all of them at once and that this is groundwork. Hence the importance of being seen and heard."