Fièvre Latine!!

I was lucky enough to spend the weekend at Calgary’s hottest music festival Expo Latino held at Prince’s Island Park.

The three day event featured live bands, dancing, food and an art market. I took advantage of it all, especially the great food! Thousands came out to enjoy the event and many of them were interested in SAIT.


(Looking at the main stage)

With school starting next week, most people were interested in learning about next year's admission criteria. However, there are still programs with seats available for this year and I encourage anyone who may be interested to apply.

The SAIT boomerangs were a huge hit. Adults, children and dogs seemed very happy to get one!
Our summer recruitment initiatives are winding down and we are gearing up to hit the road for our regular recruitment tour. We will continue to post our upcoming events on this site and are looking forward to meeting future SAIT graduates!

Lightening, heavy rain and crazy windstorms, these were the challenges of my recruiting adventures, which took place July 26 and 27.

I was lucky enough to get to attend Calgary Folk Fest for free, as I was manning the SAIT booth. It is an awesome event! I would encourage anyone to check it out next year. Setting up my booth was a unexpected challenge. I quickly learned that one recruiter cannot set up the giant SAIT tent by themselves. Thankfully, my friendly booth neighbours helped me. More about the SAIT tent later.

We had a fantastic location, right in front of the Ship and Anchor Stage, so we had prime seats for the acts that appeared all weekend. Amanda, Tim and Janice, all from Customer Services, joined me at the event. Sadly, I had to leave before Blue Rodeo performed as I had to set up for a friend’s wedding.

On Sunday, there was a terrifying lightening storm. It was so bad, the festival was briefly shut down. During the heavy rainstorm, the SAIT tent became a very popular destination as people ran for cover.

It was a great weekend. I answered a lot of questions about SAIT and I saw some great bands perform live.

On August 9 we joined the celebration of African culture by attending Calgary’s Afrikadey. This event has great music, dance, cuisine and art. Lara, from our Program and Employment Advising Centre, joined me at the booth. We both ended up buying way too many dresses from one of the vendors at the event.

We then visited Marda Gras, in Marda Loop on August 10th and set up a booth there. The day was extremely windy. Thank goodness for my homemade sand bags, as they kept the tent from flying away. We were very lucky again, as our booth was set up close to one of the stages, so we saw some awesome bands and amazing dancing during our time there.

Amanda, from the Customer Care Centre joined me, which I was very thankful for, as we were inundated with questions about SAIT’s programs and services. All too soon, the weekend was over.

A huge thank you to all the members of Customer Services who helped us out during our summer adventures!

Check us out next at Latino Fest, taking place August 22 – 24.

A Visit to the Windy City

I just got back from attending the Noel Levitz Conference, which took place in beautiful Chicago, Illinois. The conference focuses on student recruitment and retention. There were over 1500 in attendance from all over Canada and the United States.


(View from Hotel)


I attended sessions focused on e-recruitment and enrolment management systems. There was a fantastic presentation on new students and their use of technology. I also participated in three amazing speaker sessions, facilitated by leaders in the industry. It was a great opportunity to network with people who knew so much about these topics, I even met someone who knew my father, it’s a small world!

Being this was my first time in Chicago I had some serious sightseeing to do. During my free time I went on a boat tour, a trip to the top of the Sears tower and visited the Art Institute of Chicago. I also ate at Topolobampo, which is owned by award-winning chef Rick Bayless.


(Melissa, left and I after our dinner at Topolobampo)

As soon as I returned from Chicago I set up an information booth for two days at Marlborough Mall. With the help my co-workers, we met with over 100 prospective students interested in SAIT. We are hoping for a return visit, so keep checking sait.ca for upcoming events.

I cannot believe it is already August! We are getting excited for another successful New Student Orientation, if you have not received any information on New Student Orientation, just visit mySAIT.ca to get all the details.