2. Guest Speaker Gary Wreford, Networking Gary grew up in Stratford. He went to Central High School. He went to Sheridan College for a Computer Science and Tech Diploma, he got a Business diploma at Ryerson and then he went to the Ivey School of business. Gary showed us a photo of his family. Gary started out as a programmer trainee at Ontario Hydro and retired as Vice-President Central Processing Technology at Scotiabank with a team of 160 professionals in Stratford, Scarborough, and India. He led and participated on many projects and acquisitions and mergers. He has had many different leadership roles with many organizations. -Scotiabank is the most international bank of Canada—more employees outside of Canada than in Canada. Gary lives mostly in Stratford but he lived in Toronto for over 15 years. He still has a condo in Toronto. Gary talked about what the word “network” can mean. He then reflected on his first real experience in networking—where one friendship led to another introduction and then another and out of this, he found a place to live and his first job. Gary really got to know people and learned the value of really getting to know people. By chance, he got a job at National Trust and it gave him the chance to return to Stratford. Through meeting interesting people, Gary came to understand that you can give a lot back to the community just from different experiences that you have. In 1997, Scotiabank bought National Trust. Gary continued to meet interesting people- including Laurie Skreslet, who was the first Cdn to climb Everest. He once told Gary that to climb Everest, you need 2000 people. Laurie donated his time to Outward Bound, a charity he created. Sarabjit (Sabi) Marwah – who he calls the best banker in Canada. He is now a Canadian Senator. Gary shared that he gains so much more when he isn’t talking business with people, but instead talking about their families. Mayor Dan Mathieson got Gary involved with the ‘Intelligent Community Forum’. 230 cities around the world competed to be the most intelligent city in the world. Stratford placed in the top 10 three years in a row. This experience allowed Gary to look at Stratford in a totally different way – as a technology hub. “If you don’t dream big, nothing happens” Gary met Governor General David Johnson who was the president of the Univ of Waterloo. Now that he’s retired, Gary works at the Thurs morning wellness program at The Local and is on the Board, He is an Advisory Board Member at the Univ of Waterloo Stratford Campus, he is involved with Rotary, and is helping Interact get going at the high schools. What has he learned… Facebook, twitter, etc. is not networking, it is a technology “Networking really is building relationships” Personal, Professional, etc. They are the most important personal investments that you will ever make. Gary shared that he didn’t knowingly network, he was just keenly interested in people. He is an introvert, but he finds people fascinating. He found that senior executives are often awkward socially and love to talk. Personal relationships take time to build and maintain but they are well worth the investment. Volunteering is a great way to build those relationships. It also allows you to experiment with new things, i.e. leadership opportunities, etc. His main tip is to Keep Building those Relationships. | 
