Français   |   Site Map   |   Search

Home Our Club Membership Events Contact us Members' Lounge

Our Club

President's Message

"Why do you do it?" Such is the question of family and friends as I balance personal commitments, work responsibilities and serve on the board of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Club of Quebec (PMCQ). When I first joined the Board at the end of 2004, my reason at the time was simple: To meet new people. Since then, however, my reasons for staying on the board have deepened. I do it for selfish and altruistic reasons alike. On the selfish side, the PMCQ gives me access to a Board that collectively must have more than 100 years of professional experience and oh, how I learn from them! They inspire me, they ground me and mostly, they teach me. Serving on the Board allows me to learn about myself in a context that complements life and work. I learn about community, about sustaining the industry in which I work and, ultimately, I continue to learn about one of Canada's enviable resources, healthcare.

As incoming President, this is where I get to give back to the Board that has nurtured me, seen me grow as a professional and as a person. It is also my chance to leave a mark on an institution that is heading toward its 52nd anniversary, longer than most marriages I know, so I’d better not mess up! The Club has achieved the objectives it set at last season’s strategic planning meeting. Many thanks to Alexandre Grenier for his tenure as President and to Past President Greg Buie, who as many of you know, made history by serving two consecutive terms in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

My vision for this season remains the vision of those before me: To inspire Education, foster Expertise and facilitate Exchange, hence the tagline that embodies all that the Club does, Education.Expertise.Exchange. Our strategic goals include growing membership to ensure the financial viability of the club, delivering an educational platform that is relevant to our audience and planning for the future by recruiting new talent.

As a manager at my day job, I foster an open door policy. In this same spirit, I invite you all to become part of the PMCQ. I don’t just mean sign up for membership – although that is the first step! I invite you to become an active part of this collective, to give us feedback, to offer suggestions and, perhaps most importantly, to become an advocate for the PMCQ.

I think it is important to give you a bit of insight into the inner workings of the PMCQ. Every summer, board members convene for a one day Strategic Planning Meeting. We set the course for the season ahead and much like business, the remainder of the year is focused on implementing the plan. We are structured by subcommittees and these consist of the Speaker Subcommittee, the Membership/Sponsorship Subcommittees, as well as the Golf and Christmas Ball to name a few. We convene once a month for a few hours at a time to ensure that everything remains on track.

There is one subcommittee that I would like to emphasize – ePMCQ. This season, I encourage you to visit our website, www.pmcq.qc.ca. It contains a wealth of information ranging from calendar of events to past meeting information. More and more, we will leverage the website to garner your feedback and insights so that we can continuously improve what we do.

I will provide more glimpses into the inner workings of the Club throughout the season. For now, let’s turn our eyes to the outside, where our industry continues to sustain waves of transformation. We are heading into unprecedented changes in healthcare. Healthcare reform in the United States will serve to perhaps heighten the issues in our own country. Access to medicines remains a cornerstone of the debate. Our ability to understand who our customers are, what they want and how we can be of service will be paramount.

Pipelines are a little dry, decision makers are changing, our daily work as we know it is being transformed, We are all being called to sustain current levels of activities with fewer and fewer resources. I have lived through four mergers and a few restructurings in nearly 15 years in the industry. Perspective is easily displaced by fatigue and cynicism. And you thought this would be a motivational piece!

But here is where the PMCQ can help. As a collective force, we can exchange with each other, debate the issues, learn about the macro environment and convene, over bacon and eggs, in the sanctity offered by this half-century tradition. With a protein rich breakfast, and a speaker line up designed to educate, there is no limit to how the PMCQ can transform our thoughts, our knowledge and our perspectives, if you let it.

September begins with Mike Lipkin, a master of self-transformation with his preeminent talk "Become the One." Mike will be followed in October by Warren Jestin, Chief Economist from Scotia Bank, who will help us understand the economy’s transformational powers. More details about the remaining line up will be provided shortly. The other two dates we can confirm, and which you should place in your calendars right now, include the PMCQ Christmas Ball, slated for Saturday November 28, and the Golf Tournament set for Monday, June 14. Both of these events will deliver on their historical appeal along with a sprinkling of transformational spice.

For those of you who know me, you know that I am fairly easy-going, open and transparent. My professional strengths are planning and building teams. The plan is in place. Now I invite you all to come play on our team, to make the 2009-2010 PMCQ season yours to remember! You with me?

Enza Cignarella
President