Recipe for a conference in Tumbler Ridge

Tumbler Ridge has to be one of the finest places on the planet for a conference, and a unique one at that. I am still coming off the high produced by co-hosting the Tumbler Ridge Medical Conference on July 7–9.

My co-host was Jayleen Emery, Rural Continuing Medical Education Community Coordinator for Northern Health. Including families, we somehow managed to attract 120 people to Tumbler Ridge for an action-packed weekend of serious academic pursuits combined with fun recreational activities (mostly with a dinosaur theme). Here is the recipe for how we arranged it:

Establish a good organizing committee.
Send invitations out far and wide, aiming in particular at students and residents as they are the future of health care in BC.
Invite a talented array of speakers from across the north.
Focus on topics such as Indigenous Health, Environmental Health and the special work that is being done by so many talented people in the Northeast.
Seek sponsorship: the District of Tumbler Ridge made a generous donation for the Saturday evening ‘feast’ at the Lions Campground, and Conuma Resources likewise covered the expenses of the much appreciated jet boat rides to Kinuseo Falls for all the speakers.
Approach community physicians for funding: Fort St John, Dawson Creek, Hudson’s Hope, Chetwynd, Northern Health and the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCBC) generously provided funding support.
Invite organizations to operate booths, for participants to enjoy during refreshment breaks: Quality Improvement, Doctors of BC, UBC and UNBC, Northern Health recruitment, RCCBC and the Tumbler Ridge Geopark were all present. Some came from as far as Vancouver and Victoria.
Work with community organizations: the recreational activities involved backstage tours of the museum collections (in addition to an evening event labeled “Dinnersaur”), Geopark interpretation, tours to dinosaur tracksites (hiking as well as an early morning run), and a tour to BC’s first dinosaur dig-site. The Museum, the Geopark and volunteer leaders and guides were essential to the success of these activities.
Work with community leaders and businesses: Frank and Grace Walsh (Lions Club), Lisa Risvold (Conuma), Randy Gulick (Wild River Adventures) and Bryce Kirby and her catering team (242-BREW) went above and beyond in supporting us.
Provide lots of sumptuous food at the dinnersaur and the feast. We were not allowed to roast a pig on a spit due to the fire-ban, but The Meat Doctor (a great name for a medical conference) did us proud.
Arrange for perfect weather. If no wind-breakers are needed on the jet-boat ride, it has to be good and warm.

Mix all these ingredients, make time for networking, blend for three days, and serve as “the conference with a difference”.

The feedback we have received indicates that participants indeed found the event to be unique. The contrast between challenging topics (such as a sensitive, deep dive into Indigenous Health) and enjoying the unique things that only Tumbler Ridge has to offer somehow provided participants with an experience they will not soon forget. This was the fifth Tumbler Ridge Medical Conference – the idea began in 2017, and we had to take a two-year break due to Covid. We look forward to hosting the 2024 version of the Tumbler Ridge Medical Conference, whatever that might look like.

A Tumbler Ridge conference is good for economic development and for local businesses and organizations. It is also good for health care in the north. Our final comment: there could really be a conference of some kind in Tumbler Ridge every weekend throughout the summer. We are ideally placed to become a conference destination with a difference, even catering to an international clientele. We hope that the Tumbler Ridge Medical Conference can serve as a template, and can build on the great work done by other conference organizers here in the past.

Oh, and there was an unanticipated event. Paul Coppard, of the First Nations Health Authority, who had addressed delegates on the First Nations Primary Care Centre being developed in Chetwynd, got his eye in during the Friday evening museum tour. He then identified and photographed what may be a very important new fossil specimen on the Saturday afternoon. This is currently under investigation, but will hopefully be an unexpected bonus of the conference!