United Nations 2012 International Year of Co-operatives

Jim Carroll - Strategic Futurist
Leading locally. There’s something odd going on — as the world gets global, we’re all going local. We’re seeing it with sustainability  and local foods; angst and anger at banks and moves to credit unions; and a new volunteerism – as unemployment grew to 7.6%, volunteer service grew by 16%! We’re seeing it with local business – a University of Pennsylvania study found that areas with small, locally owned business (<100 employees) had greater per capita income growth than those with the presence of larger, nonlocal firms! There’s a new focus on local co-ops — with more than 100 million people employed worldwide in some type of local co-op. Thats’ why its fitting that 2012 is the International Year of the Cooperatives, a business model that has stood the test of time for over 150 years. Where-ever you look, while we are thinking global, we’re acting local.

Tim Sanders - People Centric Business Expert
Social Innovations - Sanders believes there is a revolution underway in the business world where companies will compete based on social innovations. Consumers, talent, and investors are gravitating to companies that achieve high levels of social responsibility towards people, communities, and the environment. The key for a company to thrive during this new era of business, according to Sanders, is to innovate how it does business and achieve high levels of employee participation.

His session “Corporate Responsibility, Saving the World at Work: What Companies and Individuals Can Do to Move From Making a Profit to Making a Difference” has an empowering message: A single employee can change the culture of an entire organization. A single employee can band together with like-minded coworkers and create a powerful group for good. Sanders’ presentation will challenge attendees to improve the quality of life of all employees, connect with local host communities and strengthen them, and reduce the environmental footprint of individuals and the organization.

Credit Union Reality Check 2012, held February 27-29, 2012 at Harrah’s Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., was a unique conference in that it will deliver a mix of credit union industry speakers with speakers that have broad business experience, but are in no way connected to credit unions, such as Sanders. This outsider's perspective can be invaluable in helping us see things in new ways.


Wendy Holm - Economist & Sustainability Expert
Co-operative networks as a source of organizational innovation - Co-operatives that adhere to the principle of co-operation among co-operatives are more likely to create innovative solutions for their members.  When the vision of the drivers of innovation is clear and member-focused, complex networks are more likely to be created. The most unique characteristic of complex networks is their dynamic adaptability: driven by shared buy-in, linkages are created that result in unplanned outcomes which resonate across the network.

Dianne Buckner - Dragons' Den Host
Co-op business success - Dianne Buckner, host of Dragon's Den, recently spoke at Federated Co-operatives Limited's Annual General Meeting and referred to the success of ‘Holy Crap’ cereal available at Calgary Co-op. 

Members of Calgary Co-op may do a double-take when they walk down the cereal aisle at one of the co-op's 23 locations: one of the co-op's more popular items is a healthy, organic product with a slightly off-colour name, Holy Crap.  The cereal, produced on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, is made with such natural ingredients as organic chia, hemp hearts, buckwheat, cranberries, raisins and apple bits.

An update on the cereal's success was featured on the February 29 edition of the CBC television program Dragon's Den; the idea for the cereal was originally pitched to the "dragons" on the program in

November 2010 and the business grew over 2,000 per cent in the six months following the broadcast. A CBC Dragon's Den news release issued this week specifically mentioned the cereal's availability at Calgary Co-op.

Chantal Hebert - Political Columnist
Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World - OTTAWA, June 21, 2012 /CNW/ - More than 250 leaders of co-operatives and credit unions from across Canada will gather in Montreal from June 27-29 to celebrate the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives and discuss issues of importance to the Canadian co-operative movement.

Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World is the theme of both the International Year and the joint Congress organized by Canada's two national co-operative associations, the Canadian Co-operative Association and the Conseil Canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité.

Judy Rebick - Social Activist
Emerging Social Movements - June 23, 2012 - Judy Rebick  speaks on the dynamics of emerging social movements in Canada: "From Occupy to Maple Spring", on Redeye Vancouver Cooperative Radio, produced by an independent media collective at the studios of Coop Radio in Vancouver's downtown eastside.

Darryl Bricker & John Wright - Leading Ipsos Reid Pollsters
Canada's premier pollsters, Bricker and Wright, know what Canadians are thinking, the changes that are taking place in Canada, and what these trends mean for your organization. With exclusive access to statistics from thousands of polls across Canada and around the world, their presentations are highly entertaining and packed with insight and cutting-edge stats as current as a month to hours old.

At the 2012 Credit Union of Central Canada Conference, Darrell Bricker and John Wright talked about what’s going on in the minds of Canadians. When companies and organizations need a better grasp on what the public is feeling, they turn to Darrell Bricker and John Wright. How much are people willing to spend for something? How often do they read the newspaper? Do they go to church? What percentages of workers often skip lunch, or eat at their desk in order to leave work on time? As two of Canada’s top statistical analysts of leading pollster Ipsos Reid, Bricker and Wright have the answers to these questions, and many more.