We have had a strong start to the autumn with good registration in our courses in both Calgary and Edmonton.  In fact, due to demand, we scheduled additional ADR110 courses in both cities.  We are once again looking at the possibility of offering some courses in Red Deer.  We had two new courses for the Oil & Gas Sector in Calgary in the autumn - both of which received very positive feedback.  Another new course, the Mediation Practicum, looks set to start next month.

Weekly practice sessions have started up again in Edmonton in November and we are looking at making arrangements in Calgary for something similar.  We have welcomed close to a dozen new coaches to our roster this year.

A committee has been started to review and revise the HR Certificate in Conflict Management.  It had its inaugural meeting on October 13th and has started to review current material.  The last offering of the current program is being held November and December in Edmonton and it is hoped the new course will have its first offering in April / May 2013.

On October 3rd ADRIA held an education workshop for its instructors, coaches and new coaches in Sylvan Lake.  Read more about this event elsewhere in this newsletter.  We will be setting up evenings in Calgary and in Edmonton for those instructors and coaches who were not able to be in Sylvan Lake.

A week-long course in Elder Mediation is scheduled for the next spring / summer.  There are new specialty and professional development courses currently being written, including one in conflict analysis and another in conflict coaching; stay tuned for news of the new course dates for 2013.

Bob Slocombe has decided to stop instructing and coaching for AAMS / ADRIA.  He was an excellent and well-liked coach and instructor for many years, and whilst we are sad to lose him and will miss him, we wish him well in his new endeavours (which include being a Santa and a Stampeded volunteer).

We are also losing another well-liked and excellent instructor this year, Jim Willson.  Jim somehow thinks he is old enough to retire, so we wish him well in this next phase of his life.  But we will not lose Jim entirely as he is still the one who organizes the ADRIA monthly luncheons in Calgary, and I am sure we will be able to inveigle him into other activities.

We are continuing to review options regarding a location for our courses in Calgary; we hope to have an announcement in the next couple of months.