By Cheryl Connors, Executive Director

With great enthusiasm, we would like to announce the dates and location of our very special Tenth Anniversary ASED conference! The conference will take place November 10-12, 2011 at the five-star Hilton Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec (minutes from downtown Ottawa). We felt it was particularly appropriate to mark this special event by holding the conference in Canada’s Ottawa Capital Region.  

We are also pleased to announce that Lisa Cicutto, PhD, CAE, and one of the two recipients of the 2009 A Les McDonald Award for Innovation & Excellence in Respiratory Care & Education, has agreed to chair the Conference Planning Committee. We will once again be sending out Calls for Plenary Session Speakers & Topics as well as Workshops & Facilitators. Lisa has already assembled an enthusiastic team of planners, who will be carefully reviewing the feedback from Whistler and seeking your input to make our tenth anniversary conference our best ever. (Don’t I always say that?)  

The conference will take place at the luxurious Hilton Lac-Leamy Hotel. The hotel is just 10 minutes (6 km) from downtown Ottawa in Gatineau, Quebec. (Some of us older folks will still remember it as Hull!). The hotel is situated on the shore of Lake Leamy and Des Carrieres Lake, bordered by a beautiful, all-season walking/biking trail. The fitness/recreation area is state of the art. The swim-in/out all season heated pools & Norwegian sauna baths reminded me of the pool area at Whistler (which we knew was going to be a tough act to follow). Travelling to Ottawa for meetings several times a year, I had never been to the Hilton Lac-Leamy so was amazed that such a unique and special hotel was so close to downtown Ottawa and all of the sites that Ottawa has to offer.

Ottawa-area hotel prices are pricier than some parts of the country but we were still able to secure a fantastic rate of $163. That’s why we’re giving you lots of advance notice so you will have time to budget! The hotel is relatively new and the rooms are large, beautifully decorated and all offer breathtaking views of the lake. (For the ladies, bathrooms are huge, with Italian marble tile and deep mahogany cabinetry. And there is a 17-treatment room spa on site.) There is a casino and theatre on the property as well as shops, six restaurants, state-of-the art fitness facilities & activities (tennis courts, playgrounds, video arcade).  

To take a peek at the hotel: http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/YOWOVHF-Hilton-Lac-Leamy-Quebec/index.do  

For those of you have not been to the Ottawa-Gatineau region before, make sure you plan to take some time to tour some of the area’s attractions ­ Parliament Hill, museums for every interest (Canadian Museum of Civilization, National Gallery of Canada, Canadian War Museum), the Rideau Canal and of course, not trip to Ottawa would be complete without spending some fun time in the Byward Market area, filled with restaurants and bars.  

It is definitely going to be fun planning for our tenth anniversary conference. I just checked and traditional 10th anniversary presents are aluminum and tin... but modern is diamond jewelry…

Have a wonderful summer!