This month I had the pleasure of taking part in the CAPS- Canadian Association of Professional Speakers conference as an attendee and a sponsor. This national conference for speaking professionals moves around the country and we were so delighted to have this enthusiastic, talented group of attendees here in our city. The venue over looked the Halifax Harbour and so many thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the water view and the fresh sea air. The Co-Chairs of the conference were Halina St. James and Ravi Tangri. Both speakers have been on our LimeLight roster for as long as I can remember.

We met one sunny summer day last year for lunch to talk about entertainment for the conference. My ultimate goal was to have the two of them wearing big smiles on their faces when the applause for entertainment happened. (And not to mention many standing ovations!)

Halina and Ravi gave me their vision, I gave them a plan and at the end of the day they gave me their trust. They trusted that I would deliver on what was promised. We stepped a little outside the box, as that’s the “Halina/Ravi/Stephanie style” and we delivered a successful line up of talent to wow the audience. We opened the welcome reception with incredible Celtic sister duo Cassie and Maggie MacDonald. They step danced, played jigs and reels, sang in Gaelic and did it all with ease. These two sisters would tour the globe, just for the love of music. The morning conference opener left most people in happy tears when poet Tanya Davis recited a poem she wrote about the speaking industry. It was one of those moments when she had the whole room  in her hand. She absolutely nailed it. She got right to the hearts of everyone. We also featured one of the best beat boxers in the country, Eric McIntyre and soul singing sister Reeny Smith who showed the rich diversity of our music industry in Nova Scotia to a room of people from across the country. To cap the whole conference off, The Mellotones performed at the President’s Gala. In true ‘tones fashion, they had a packed dance floor and a quote from one of the speakers saying “the band is the best in the country!”

I’ll note this conference as one big success, bringing my speaker family and entertainment family all together for showcasing what they do best and two people with smiles on their faces at the back of the room. The reason we do what we do!