STAC’s second Canadian conference expands in attendance and offerings

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Approximately 300 industry professionals attended yesterday STAC conference.

Approximately 300 industry professionals attended yesterday’s STAC conference

Approximately 300 industry professionals attended the 2nd annual conference of the Structure, Tower & Antenna Council (STAC) yesterday in Toronto, Can., considerably exceeding last year’s event that saw 200 industry participants, including wireless carriers, broadcasters, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, landowners, safety equipment suppliers and safety trainers, according to STAC Program Manager Nicholas Kyonka.

The conference  also featured 29 exhibitors.

STAC serves members from Canada’s communications antenna industry and is managed by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).

According to CWTA Director of Communications Sophie Paluck, the increase in attendance was partially due to a broader representation from various parts of Canada. She said STAC has not yet determined if it will move the event to alternate locations.

Conferences yesterday included sessions on tower reinforcing, rescue and fall protection, engineering fundamentals and guy anchor corrosion, amongst other valuable presentations.

A session on supervisor duties and consequences proved to be of interest to many attendees, especially those from the U.S. who saw a marked difference between the two countries in employment law that could result in criminal charges, as was the case last year when a construction supervisor was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for an incident where four workers died and another was critically injured in a scaffold accident.

The Ontario Federation of Labour’s campaign slogan is “Kill a Worker, Go to Jail.”

A welcome session last night was sponsored by eSystem Training Solutions.

Today’s conferences will include a session on ANSI/ASSE 10.48 and what it means for the Canadian market, as well as an additional 10 other sessions ranging from network densification to performing due diligence in subcontractor approval and management.

CWTA President & CEO Robert Ghiz will provide the keynote luncheon address.