The Quebec Restaurant Association (ARQ) – the province's umbrella organization representing the restaurant, hotel and food services industry – presented its 29th annual Salon Rest-Hôte at the Quebec City Convention Centre March 16-18, 2008. The SOCAN Licensing Department was represented by Industry Relations Representative Yanik Hardy and External Business Development Representative Daniel Lemay at this year's event, which was attended by some 200 exhibitors.

Our representatives had an opportunity to greet many visitors at the SOCAN booth as part of the 2008 trade show, which took place under the theme of "Gonflé à bloc" (“Raring To Go”). Again this year, they were pleasantly surprised to realize how many people are aware of SOCAN and of the important and necessary part it plays in today's evolving music industry. In fact, our performing rights organization's role and how it is being perceived by the public are slowly changing: Besides providing quality service to its members, SOCAN also offers its clients much more than just an efficient and cost-effective way of accessing the world's musical repertoire. SOCAN's expertise in the areas of copyright in general and performing rights in particular makes our company a major partner of the restaurant, hotel and food service industry.

As Yanik Hardy commented, "We are now being viewed as a reference and a solid pillar on which people can count to help them succeed in business. Year after year, our strong presence at such events reinforces our brand image and shows that we are here to stay in our efforts to promote the rights of our members and those of our international affiliated societies."