Currie Communications Ltd. : Corporate Event Planning : Edmonton, Alberta

Joan Currie, President, General Services Partner

Since 1993, Joan Currie has been providing independent event management services and communication support to businesses and organizations. Joan is noted for her excellence in understanding an organization’s objectives and translating those into the events she creates and organizes. Joan has a proven track record for creating unique event concepts and for the fine attention to detail required to produce superior events.

Under Joan’s leadership, Currie Communications has won several awards including
Premier’s Award of Excellence, Government of Alberta for work on Canada Career Week
National Best Conference Award, Canadian Event Industry Awards for work on the Alberta Government’s Career Craze Conference
Edmonton Tourism’s Outstanding Meetings and Events Award for work on the You’re Welcome Awards
National Finalist, Canadian Event Industry Awards for their Best Fundraising, Best Trade Show and Producer of the Year Awards

Joan has experience with all types of events including grand openings, fundraising celebrations, conferences, meetings and symposiums, trade shows, information fairs, award shows, silent and live auctions, and golf tournaments. In addition, Joan is skilled at developing sponsorship plans, critical paths, budgets and conducting market/sales research.

Prior to opening Currie Communications Ltd. in 1993, Joan was Director of Marketing for Deloitte & Touche, chartered accountants and Director of Development for Edmonton Opera. Joan’s formal education is in Journalism and Public Relations. Joan was also nominated by RBC for their Woman of Year Entrepreneur Award. Joan is presently a Director on the Better Life Charities Board, Chairman of the Events Committee for Waters Edge Estates Group and a Director on the Edmonton Meadowlark Constituency Board. Joan has 30 years of business experience.

Clare Denman, Senior Manager

Clare Denman brings a unique and diverse experience in marketing, creative show production, and event management expertise to Currie Communications clients. As a founding member of Toronto’s oldest educational theatre, Clare began her career writing, producing and touring social-education productions to schools and communities in the greater Toronto area. She later became the executive producer and co-creator of several syndicated television shows which she successfully marketed in over fi ve countries. Later, productions included a collaboration with the Retail Council of Canada and CIRUS (U of A) to create the first ‘Retail Job Fair’ in Alberta. The event was featured on the front page of the Edmonton Journal’s business section.

Clare’s event management experience with Currie Communications includes producing the annual “Canada Career Week Fair”, the City of Edmonton’s “Salute to Excellence” Hall of Fame Awards, the TELUS World of Science “Brightest Minds Program”, and several events with CAREERS: The Next Generation. Clare has been with Currie Communications for three years.

Bev Hempel, Manager (sub-contractor)

Bev has been involved in different aspects of meetings and events planning for over 20 years, and has been contracted by Currie Communications Ltd. since 2001 to work on a variety of projects.

Throughout her working life and as a volunteer, Bev has gained solid experience with the practical aspects of events, meetings, workshops and conferences. Her educational background includes Administrative and Events Management from NAIT and Grant MacEwan respectively. Bev brings strong organization skills to each project as well as a keen sense of attention to detail.

This knowledge and experience has been applied to her work with Currie Communications and she has been called upon to assist on a number of projects but has managed or led the following: Registered Apprenticeship Program Awards, YWCA Edmonton 100 Year Celebration, Syncrude 30th Anniversary Celebrations, Supreme Group Customer Appreciation, You’re Welcome Edmonton Awards, Gold Medal Plates Fund Raiser, Excellence in Teaching Awards, Order of the Bighorn Awards, Canada Career Week, Conference specific experience includes:, Building Tomorrow Today Conference, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Inukshuk Conference, Alberta Economic Development “How to Hire Foreign Workers” Seminars.

Angela Faechner, Senior Administrator

As Senior Administrator for Currie Communications, Angela is responsible for the accurate processing and invoicing of revenues through Currie Communications. She is also responsible for taking minutes of client committee meetings, responding to exhibitor inquires, creating name tags for events, organizing mass mailings, managing client marketing databases, conducting basic database market research, organizing client golf tournaments, and assisting with the organization of conferences. With excellent interpersonal skills, Angela has demonstrated the flexibility to handle numerous client tasks and the resourcefulness to calmly problem solve when issues arise. Angela has developed positive relationships with clients, exhibitors, volunteers and suppliers. In her role at Currie Communications, Angela has worked on the following clients: Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, TELUS World of Science, the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, Alberta Science and Technology Awards, Syncrude, Collins Industries, U oU of A Pediatrics, and CAREERS: The Next Generation. Angela has been with Currie Communications for three years.

Rick Newcombe, IT administrator

Rick is a valuable part of the team keeping our systems up and running along with providing input into all technical matters. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional as well as a Certified Novell Administrator. We benefit from his experience building and maintaining databases and web-applications.