CMP
Senior Event Manager & Founder
Maestro Conference and Event Management Inc.
Marie-Claude is a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) and has 20 years of experience in coordination and management positions and more than 15 years in event management. She has extensive experience in planning and successfully executing a wide range of events in North America, South America and Europe, including annual conferences, members’ meetings, symposiums, and international commemorative ceremonies.
Marie-Claude has in-depth expertise in registration, exhibition, promoting clients’ events to their target clientele, and guiding sponsors to maximize return on their partnership investments.
Marie-Claude is fluently bilingual, which allows her to work in both official languages without hesitation.
Marie-Claude holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and International Management from Université de Montréal, École des Hautes Études Commerciales, Montreal, QC, as well as an Event Management certificate from La Cité Collégiale. She is an active member of CanSPEP and was vice-chair of the 2016 Annual Conference.
Derek Hughes
CanPM Consulting Inc.
Derek Hughes, CanPM Consulting Inc., is a senior project manager and retired military officer [35 years in Canadian Submarines and Canadian Patrol Frigates (CPFs)] with a range of experience in complex program management, marine engineering and complex systems engineering.
Gerry Lanigan
Gerry’s professional career spans ship systems operation and maintenance, project management, procurement management in government and industry, engineering design, , and quality system development and implementation. He has extensive experience with technical and engineering support contract and project management for DND, DFO/CCG, TC and other government departments.
He has been an active member of CIMarE since 1981, including Chairman of Ottawa Branch, National Council, and Mari-Tech Conferences.
Jeffery J. Smith
(Co-Chair)
Professor and Lawyer
Jeffrey Smith is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering and a former Royal Canadian Navy Chief Engineer. Before becoming a law professor, he was counsel to the United Nations for law of the sea matters. Jeffrey’s current areas of research include marine safety, ocean environmental protection, and the effectiveness of global shipping governance. He advises marine classification societies on shipping legislation and the implementation of the NATO Naval Ship Code and was advisor to the government of Canada for contract matters in the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (now the National Shipbuilding Strategy). Jeffrey’s recent publications include assessments of the Polar Code for Shipping and reviews of the IMO regime to regulate air pollution.