Adjudication Session Dates Revealed!

The Urban Animal Foundation is pleased to announce the dates of the 2015 Urban Animal Adjudication Sessions:

Western Sessions (Calgary) - Monday, April 20

Pacific Sessions (Vancouver) - Tuesday, May 5

Atlantic Sessions (Halifax) - Thursday, May 14

Central Sessions (Toronto) - Thursday, June 11

Each event includes adjudication sessions for the Urban Animal Scholarships, an opportunity to promote Summit Award nominees and an opportunity to fellowship with industry peers in the Alliance for Urban Animals, Sponsors of the Urban Animal program and Representatives of the Urban Animal Foundation. 

Nominations for the Scholarship programs will remain open until the adjudication schedule is filled or until nominations are closed by the Urban Animal Foundation. 

For information about the Urban Animal Scholarships please click on the following links:

• Emerging Leaders
• Research Posters
• Digital Journalists
• Innovation Showcase
• Summit Awards

Supporters of nominees and members of the Alliance for Urban Animals in each region are invited to attend each adjudication session. Events will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. including refreshments and a luncheon. Registration fees are $35 CAN if paid in advance or $50 at the door. Register Online!

Nominees in each Scholarship program will present to a panel of adjudicators that includes not less than three members of the Alliance for Urban Animals (Alumni, Mentors, Advocates) from inside the Region and up to three members selected from the Action Council outside the Region.

The Action Council of the Urban Animal Foundation will be guided by the results of these adjudication sessions as they select the recipients of the 2015 Urban Animal Scholarships. Recipients will be awarded a full delegate package to the 2015 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in Lake Louise, Alberta, October 14-17. Scholarships are valued at $2,650 and include Summit registration fees, meals and gratuities as well as up to $550 in travel subsidies. In 2014, the Urban Animal Foundation provided scholarships of more than 106,000 $CAN.

Nominees unable to attend the adjudication session in their area should contact Shannon Woodward or Anna MacNeil Allcock.

PetLynx Scraps Regional Conferences

‘ACTION’ is the DNA of the Alliance for Urban Animals

PetLynx moves from an education and conversation conference to a new structure which favours an Action and Adjudication approach to the 2015 Urban Animal program in each Region.

In 2015, Urban Animal celebrates 10-years, countless dilemmas identified and conversations between industry sectors that now take place on a daily basis. Leaders of the industry work together to create healthy communities for pets and people. The first decade of the Urban Animal program moved the industry away from the fatigue and scarcity that threatened stakeholders to a new environment of abundance.During the next decade, PetLynx intends to use this foundation of new relationships, conversations, resources and trust to focus the Alliance for Urban Animals on ACTION.

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German Philosopher

To bring about this change, the dates of Regional gatherings will  be moved to later in May and June. The format will shift focus from education and conversation to ACTION and ADJUDICATION. Innovators, Emerging Leaders, Researchers, Digital Journalists and those competing for Summit Awards will continue to be identified by their peers in each Region. Each of these nominees will appear before a panel of adjudicators chosen from Alumni, Mentors and Advocates in each region. This panel will select those receiving scholarships to attend the annual Summit for Urban Animal Strategies. The ACTION COUNCIL of the Urban Animal Foundation will confer these scholarships in a process aimed at bringing the top nominees in North America to present to the 2015 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in October.

ACTION will keep us relevant and focused on delivering positive pet experiences to the communities and the people we serve!

ADJUDICATION will ensure Urban Animal scholarships are invested in the best ideas and people to drive successful Urban Animal programs.

REPLICATION of the projects moving forward in the Alliance for Urban Animals and supported by the Urban Animal Foundation will now focus on assembling peers with the passion and resources to deliver a successful North American initiative. The Replication  activities of the Urban Animal program will operate independently as the ACTION element of Urban Animal. A review of the most successful Urban Animal program for Cats showed a four year emergence from 2009 to 2013 and specific elements that contributed to this success. This template will be further refined to ensure successful initiatives move forward each year.

STAY TUNED to InfoStream and UrbanAnimal.com for date and Action Council announcements

Get the facts, Have YourSAY™, Move the industry!