I am honoured to take on the role of President of the Canadian Society for Marketing Professional Services (CSMPS) for the 2025-2026 term.

The past few years on the board as Events Director has brought me closer to our members, fellow directors, and the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. I am excited to push our mandate of building and supporting the marketing community further along with my fellow Board and Committee members. Sticking to CSMPS’s mission and passion, we are committed to encouraging our members through opportunities for professional development and networking.

One way in which we look to reinforce the CSMPS mission is by increasing the cadence of our Peer Group sessions and ensuring this program provides opportunity for meaningful connections. We will open this program up to non-members at a small cost and will provide prompt questions to ensure a steady open dialogue is achieved. Another opportunity to support our mandate is to look at what worked in past years and push forward to better, more relevant programming for future events. We are passionate about connecting our members with tools and resources that can equip them to make decisions for their firms that will set them up for success in business development, proposal management, and marketing.

This past term of 2024-2025, under the leadership of Alicia Cornford, was another year of great progress and achievement for our community. One thing that has endured as a constant throughout CSMPS’ decades of existence is that change, and growth are essential to leading us forward. Not only did we implement a new website, email system, and back-end management platform, but our Board members took on more responsibility, which has contributed to better ownership of their portfolios, and overall, more enthusiasm to improve CSMPS. I am so proud of our volunteer Board and Committee members and the progress they have made in their roles and to each portfolio. It is truly a team that builds together for the betterment of the association, and I am lucky to have the opportunity to lead my peers. I can’t wait to see what our team accomplishes this term.

Over the past two years, we have prioritized charitable initiatives and have successfully supported multiple events with the Writer’s Exchange and the Simon Fraser University Student Marketing Association. Specifically, in lieu of a holiday networking event for our members we supported two holiday events, celebrating the achievements of the students progress in literacy with the Writer’s Exchange. In addition to providing catering, our Board Members and Committee members volunteered their time to ensure the events were extra special. For the SFU SMA, our Board members gave generously of their time and expertise, partaking in panel discussions, keynotes, and speed networking to help encourage students seeking careers in marketing.

As a board, we are always open and ready to help our community and receive feedback. This association is meant to serve our community, so please take the time to share ideas and always feel free to discuss your thoughts with us. This year, I look forward to meeting more members, learning about your needs, and helping accomplish the CSMPS mission over the course of the next term. See you at the next event!

Sincerely,

Naveen Sohi
President, CSMPS