Montreal’s premier exhibition centre, Place Bonaventure, was abuzz with activity Feb. 7-9, 2010, with the Hotel and Restaurant Suppliers Association’s Rendez-Vous HRI Show 2010, which attracted more than 350 exhibitors. Special events programmed this year included a tour of a hotel especially built for the occasion.

Over the years, this three-day appointment with hotel and restaurant industry decision-makers has become a special time for SOCAN, and a place where SOCAN personnel and show visitors freely engage in conversations on what we do. This year, SOCAN was represented at the event by Jonathan Moreau, Michel Giguère and Éric Chouinard of the Licensing Department’s Business Development team. Relationship Specialist Yanik Hardy was also on hand.

Among the many SOCAN partners that Hardy had an opportunity to chat with was Yannick Lavaud, who teaches at Vatel Québec, a business and management college that trains hotel and restaurant managers. As many of the students now enrolled in that school will some day be SOCAN customers, they're provided with instruction on performing rights and the tariffs that apply to the type of business they are likely to be involved with after graduating.

Lavaud stressed the importance of SOCAN’s presence in teaching institutions and commercial shows. “SOCAN must attend events such as the Rendez-Vous Show,” he insisted. “It’s a fun place to be where people are more relaxed and more open to new information. If we never see you, how can we get to know you and understand where you’re coming from? Besides, playing a role in the schools that are training your future customers just makes plain sense. It is one way of preventing future misunderstandings too. If you ever have to contact a former Vatel Québec student a few years from now, for instance, he or she will know what you are talking about, and the matter can be settled very quickly.”

Collaboration with our educational and institutional partners is a top priority at SOCAN. Teaching institutions and customer associations are doing their students and members a favour by exposing them to SOCAN as part of seminars and training workshops. As for the Rendez-Vous Show’s 10,000 visitors, we say, See you next year!