Do you want to further advance your career? How to find the fine balance between technical skills and interpersonal skills? How to make your boss notice your contribution and ability? How to break the glass ceiling while facing industry downturn and cultural difference?

Canada China Commercial Association (CCCA), Canada China Cultural Association (CCCA), together with Calgary Immigrant Educational Society (CIES), are hosting the 2nd Cultural Forum to help you advance your career in Canada. At the forum, experts will provide you with practical skills and techniques to concur the barriers in your career, and successful Chinese immigrants will share their experiences and stories.

The Recruitment Officer of Calgary Fire Department (“CFD”), Sean Hoy, will be at the event with information about CFD’s recruitment process and information about CFD’s cadet program for young men and women aged 15 to 18.

Time: October 22, 2016 1:30pm to 5pm. (Registration starts from 1pm)
Address: Welcome Centre for New Immigrants, 3820 32St. NE, T1Y 7L9 (near Whitehotn C-train station)

• 1:30 – 1:45pm: Opening
• 1:45 – 2:45pm: Would You Hire You? – Matt Adolphe
  Matt Adolphe is the author of Canadian Workplace Culture: Mastering the Unspoken Rules and Would You Hire You?. Matt is an instructor at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). He holds a B.A. in Indigenous Studies and History from Laurentian University and an M.A. in Communication Management from the University of South Australia. He has been teaching English, history, culture and communication for over 15 years in Korea, Japan, Macao and Canada. Matt is an experienced course facilitator who has developed communication courses for immigrants and job seekers looking for success. He teaches a variety of professional courses in the oil and gas industry and education sector, typically focused on diversity, leadership, and communication skills in the workplace.
• 2:45 – 3:45pm: The Secret of Top Performers: Deliver Results, Manage Perception, and Be Visible – Spring Zhu
  Spring Zhu is a Supply Chain Manager, Market Intelligence & Business Analytics of a major oil& gas company in Calgary. In her role, she directs business analytics including market intel for strategic sourcing, supplier risk management, and supply chain performance management. Spring Zhu holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese Language & Literature from Suzhou University, China and an MBA from Richard Ivey Business School in Canada. Spring is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (Certified Management Accountant) of Alberta Canada.
• 3:45 – 4:00pm Coffee Break
• 4:00 – 5:00pm: Panel Discussion
  • Dr. Sally Zhao, CIES: Dr. Sally Zhao obtained her Ph.D. in ESL (English as a Second Language) Testing and Assessment and an MA in Language and Communication from Cardiff University, UK, an M.Ed. in Teaching English for Specific Purposes from University of Exeter, U.K., and a BA in English Language and Literature from Lanzhou University, China. Sally has been teaching English as a Second Language since 1987. Sally started her career at CIES in 2005. Sally has been the manager of LINC program at CIES since 2007. As of November 1, 2014, Sally is the Executive Director of CIES.
  • Mr. Davis Zhang: David is one of the most successful private market dealing representatives in Canada. He is a registered dealing representative with Pinnacle Wealth Brokers and the Vice President of the company’s Asian Division. He joined Pinnacle in 2011 and has been managing the Pinnacle office in Richmond, British Columbia since 2013. David was Pinnacles’ top producer for a number of years and was recently celebrated with his peers at Pinnacles’ top producer’s conference in January 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona. David’s unique path has seen him transition from an engineer in China to a real estate investor and referral agent in Alberta, and to a top producing dealing representative for Pinnacle.
  • Mr. Andy Wu (P. Eng., MSc): Any is the Director of United Engineering Corp. Andy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University, China and a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from University of Saskatchewan, Canada. In his successful career in Canada, he has held various management and leadership positions in VECO CANADA LTD., MEG Energy, Worley LTD., Colt Engineering LTD., Worley Parsons Canada, and Vista Projects Ltd.
  • Colyn deGraaff: Colyn is a seasoned writer, designer and public speaker with over 10 years of experience in marketing, web development, and program design. Colyn received his Bachelor’s degree in English from St. Mary's University in 2010. As a native-born Calgarian, Colyn joined CIES in 2012. Currently, Colyn manages Calgary’s only free English language distance-education program, LINC Home Study (LHS), and oversees the CIES Special Projects department which is responsible for the upkeep and design of the CIES website, training videos for students, and the Syrian-focused language project, Refugee Express Drop-In ESL & Integration (REDI).
  • Melissa McKinnon: Melissa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. She double majored in criminology and sociology and obtained a minor in religious studies as well. After her undergrad, Melissa earned her Bachelor of Education from the University of Maine. Melissa has taught youth and adults in various settings and grew a passion for teaching English as a second language after spending a summer in Uganda, Africa volunteer teaching. Prior to joining CIES, Melissa taught in a public school setting in her hometown, Sussex, New Brunswick. In April 2013, Melissa joined CIES as a Senior LINC Coordinator until she became Manager of ESL and Volunteer Programs in August 2014.

Organizer: Canada China Commercial Association (CCCA):

CCCA is a registered non-profit organization in Alberta dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of trade developments, business investment, innovation and technology exchange between Canada and China. CCCA’s principles include resource sharing, strength complementary, mutual benefit and cooperative development between all company and individual members. CCCA hosts different seminars, workshops, conferences and networking events according to its member’s requests.

Co-organizer: Calgary Immigrant Educational Society (CIES)

CIES is a non-profit, charitable organization established in 1988 with one basic goal: to provide immigrants and economically challenged Calgarians with a solid foothold in Canada and afford them the opportunities to grow into productive and contended Canadians. CIES offers a broad palette of immigrant programs and services, which include Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Program, Care for Newcomer Children Program, Drop-in ESL Program, Entry Level Job Trainings, Computer Programs, Accounting Programs, Financial Literacy Program, Welcome Resources Information Program, workshops and seminars.

Sole Sponsor

Pinnacle Wealth Brokers

Tickets

• Current CCCA Members (2016): Free - Until all tickets sold out and before Oct 10. (Please send email to:info@ccca88.ca to register)
• None CCCA Members：
  • Early Bird (Before September 30): $10
  • Before October 22: $15
  • At the Door: $20

October 22, Saturday afternoon, Canada China Commercial Association (CCCA), Canada China Culture Association (CCCA) and Calgary Immigrant Educational Society (CIES) hosted the 2nd Cross-Cultural Forum at Welcome Centre for New Immigrants in the north east of Calgary.

The subject of this forum is How to Succeed in Canadian Workplace. The goal is to provide advice on how to break the glass ceiling and advance your career with soft skills that are required in Canadian workplace.

The forum was monitored by Ms. Zhao Lei. At first, she introduced the special guests, Consul, Mr. Wang Xu Hong, and Vice Consul, Mr. Gao Qing Jun, from the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Calgary; Associate Professor, Ms. Cai Wei from University of Calgary; and Recruiting Officer, Mr. Sean Hoy, from Calgary Fire Department.

Mr. Sean Hoy mentioned that Calgary Fire Department serves Calgary, a growing and culturally diversified city. He has seen his team grown to be more diversified through the years. He also recalled experience of responding to emergency situations when language and culture is a barrier, but fortunately some teammate can understand different language / culture that helps deliver full service in a timely manner. His main message is that Calgary Fire Department serves the community with a caring heart. And in order to better serve Calgarian in case of emergencies, his team welcome people including immigrants and people of minority cultural background to join the team. And finally, the Fire Department has the intention to recruit more people and some opportunities will be posted publicly and on website. Please help to spread the message.

Next, the forum started with the speech presented by the first keynote speaker, Ms. Spring Zhu, on The Secret of Top Performers: Deliver Results, Manage Perception, and Be Visible. She shared her experience of how to advance her career from Accounting Generalist after obtaining her MBA to a Supply Chain Manager, Market Intelligence & Business Analytics at a major oil & gas company in Calgary. She explained about how to set SMART goals and meet goals at each career level especially for the Chinese immigrants. The audience was deeply touched by her stories and learned a lot of advice from her experience.
The second speech was presented by the old friend of CCCA, also one of the keynote speakers at the 1st Cross-Culture Forum, Mr. Matt Adolphe. He is the author of two books, << Canadian Workplace Culture: Mastering the Unspoken Rules >>, and << Would You Hire You? >>. He not only is an instructor of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), but also teaches English, history, culture and communications in other countries and areas. At the Q&A section, Matt answered lots of questions on the unspoken rules at workplace. The audience was impressed by his experience, research results and his communication skills.

After the keynote speakers' presentations, CCCA's board member, Ms. Cherry Ma, briefly presented what CCCA is, the upcoming forum about Import and Export, and 2017 New Year Gala. The representative of the main sponsor, Pinnacle Wealth Brokers, Ms. Maggie Hu, gave a short speech of her company and the collaborations between CCCA and Pinnacle. Ms. Christina Wei from Mapleville, the gift sponsor, also talked about their company.

The last section of this forum was the panel discussion monitored by Dr. Sally Zhao, the Executive Director of CIES. She introduced the penal speakers - Mr. Andy Wu, Director of United Engineering Corp and Senior Advisor of CCCA; Mr. Colyn deGraff, seasoned writer, designer, public speaker and Manager of CIES; and Ms. Jana Ciobanu, LINC Manager of CIES. After Colyn and Jana made short presentations on cross culture communications, the two keynote speakers, Matt and Spring were invited to join the panel discussion. The audience asked lots of questions regarding the day-to-day communications at work and how to improve their communication efficiency at Canadian workplace.

Time flew... Dr. Sally Zhao had to announce the end of the panel discussion at 5pm. The Chair of CCCA handed the appreciation certificate and gifts to the keynote and panel speakers. The audience provided very positive feedback about this event, looking forward to the next forum.