Speaker: Kylie Clark, University of British Columbia
What were your highlights from attending CONNECTION?
2024 CIP/APPI national planning conference
Kylie Clark: My highlight from the 2024 CIP conference was the variety of sessions that were available. I really loved some of the more research and academic based conference sessions. I learned quite a lot in some of those, but I also really liked how a lot of the sessions were from across Canada. And so you could learn about different local governments, different plans that they had developed. And I learned so much in the sessions and I really appreciated the opportunity to learn about different contexts outside of where I live and focus.
Were you able to make good connections with other attendees?
Kylie Clark: I felt I was able to make a lot of really good connections with other attendees at the CIP conference this year. I definitely made some very good connections with the other scholarship recipients. and just being able to chat with them about their research and learn more. I was able to talk with a bunch of planners from across Canada and learn more about their different contexts and the different work that they're working on. planners who worked for consultancies as well as planners who worked for government. It was really interesting to learn the diversity of planning work that's out there in Canada. And I really value the connections that I made and that I was able to grow my LinkedIn network.
How do you think the experience will impact your future career?
Kylie Clark: I think this experience is going to really benefit my future career just in terms of giving me an understanding of the breadth of planning work that's available in Canada. And speaking to people about their own career trajectories and their kind of thoughts and feelings on working for the private sector versus the public sector. and understanding the different work that they were doing in each. I think it was really helpful at the beginning of my career to kind of have that baseline understanding. And it really has helped me in sorting through the types of jobs I wanted to apply for. I also really appreciated the sessions that were focused on professional development. Coming to mind is the meet and mentor session that was available. I really appreciated talking to some people at the top of their respective fields about what they were looking for in an entry level planner. And also their career trajectories. It was really great to learn the different pathways that people took.
Lastly, do you have a message for the Ages Foundation, the funder of the travel awards program?
Kylie Clark: Thank you so much, Ages Foundation for funding the travel awards program. It was a really great experience to be able to go to this year's CIP conference and I genuinely would not have been able to go without your very generous support. So thank you for enabling me to have that experience. And thank you for your generosity.