Welcome to The Banff Centre

A new year brings many new changes, and The Banff Centre is no exception. We are saying hello to our newest President and CEO in Jeff Melanson. trained singer and leading arts manager, Jeff Melanson has served as executive director and co-CEO of Canada’s National Ballet School since 2006. He has emerged as a significant international arts leader, having also served as dean of The Royal Conservatory of Music School between 2000 and 2006. He was appointed special advisor on Arts and Culture to Toronto mayor Rob Ford in 2010.

Although he has been here at the Centre for a few months getting to know the space and faces, today was his first day in the new position and one of his first acts was to send out a greeting to all of us working here.

Dear colleagues, Welcome to the Banff Centre 2012.
As I have now officially stepped into the role as President, I thought I would write this short note of welcome and appreciation.

I would like start by acknowledging the incredible contributions of Mary Hofstetter. Mary has made a lasting impact on the Banff Centre and she has made this transition as smooth and seamless as possible. She has left the Banff Centre in good shape, well poised for our future adventures together.

This fall, I had the opportunity to meet most of you at various functions, on campus or in the town. Over the course of six weeks through October and November, I believe I likely met close to 3,000 Banff Centre friends and stakeholders here in the Bow Valley, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto. As such, I must admit to exceeding my capacity to put the right names to faces. Each of you is important to the Banff Centre and I am looking forward to getting to know you all better. Please continue to be patient with me as I re-introduce myself to the Banff Centre community over these next few months.

As you are all aware, our world is experiencing a challenging period of economic, social and cultural change. Fundamental economic assumptions are being challenged, technology is changing the ways we connect with each other and our world, and cultural/creative industries are in a period of considerable flux.

I believe the Banff Centre, through its focus on enabling access to and excellence in creativity and innovation, is uniquely well positioned to address these challenges and to help foster a national and international dialogue that will see our world champion the best of what we as human beings are capable of. Whether through our exceptional arts programming, our leadership development, our hospitality and conferences, or other programming we will develop together, the Banff Centre will continue to be a leader in inspiring creativity, encouraging our participants and ourselves to dream big.

I am excited to serve as your President for this next period of growth, innovation and experimentation.
Our success will be shared. We are all collaborators in this process and we all have a role to play in ensuring we are building on the Banff Centre's incredible legacy while also stepping boldly forward. As such each and every voice counts.Our future success depends on our capacity to listen to each other, to push boundaries and to create an environment where the impossible might be worth a try.

I look forward to seeing you all around campus.

Warmest regards, Jeff

So there you have it. My favourite quote about the Banff Centre dates back 30 or so years. In an article talking about the release of year-round programming a journalist remarked that The Banff Centre has never been accused of thinking small. I believe that a leader's role is to articulate a better future. It is our responsibility to live into it. I feel like we're off to a good start.