Maybe my statement wasn't a fair comment on reality, but it reflected the informal or not very scientific survey we did prior to this session to try to get a sense of what the knowledge level was among CVCA members. Certainly, as an organization, we speak to a group of folks who are funding at least on the VC side, but not necessarily on the private equity side, because they are doing deals with more mature companies. On the VC side, we're dealing mainly with earlier-stage companies, which would be the ideal clients, I would think, for the office and for this particular program we're talking about today.
We have many vehicles that we use quite effectively to communicate with our members. We have annual conferences and professional development sessions we run in the larger centres and nationally through video conferencing. We have a website and weekly e-mail blasts going out to our members. From the perspective of those groups that fund these early stage companies, we would be a great conduit to help promote the programs.
As I said, I'm not aware of attempts that have been made in the past to use the CVCA. Certainly the executive director, when he briefed me on this session, didn't appear to be that knowledgeable either. In fact, he wasn't even aware of the program. I raised it with him.
I think we could be used as a very positive force, at least in getting the message out to our own members. In turn, if you have companies in your portfolio that you think can benefit from this kind of a program, you're immediately going to pass the information on. In fact, that's what I did in the case of one company in Newfoundland and Labrador.