Margaret Coll
Encyclopedia
Margaret Coll is the founder of Conference Coll Inc., which was the second largest independent conference management company in Ottawa before its closure in 1999 .
, Bedfordshire
, England, to William Preller Duhan and Kathleen Victoria Masson.
Coll's parents divorced and her mother, a Canadian citizen, brought her family of five children back to her home in Montreal
, Quebec
in 1936, as rumors of an impending war with Germany were escalating. Marg's mother remarried and the family settled in Richelieu, Quebec
and then St. Lambert, Quebec Canada.
Margaret Duhan married David Clarence Coll in 1955. She worked at Bell Canada
in Montreal, Quebec for several years until she and her husband moved to Ottawa, Ontario.
They moved to Boston in 1957 where David Coll pursued PhD studies in Information Theory at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. Marg Coll worked for New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
in Boston as a receptionist, and also managed the elevator staff for the four elevators.
Marg was president of the MIT Dames 1958 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, the student wives organization of 450 members. She and her husband came back to Ottawa in 1959.
In 1971, Coll, at the age of forty, founded Conference Coll Inc. (CCI), an event planning and conference management company.
She and her husband have three children, Barbara Coll
, Eric Clarence Coll, and Nancy Catherine Coll.
Networks (Internet Standards), Carleton University
High Tech Updates; Spectrum 20/20, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; Health Canada; Industry Canada; Environment Canada; Communications Research Centre; AMR - Advanced Management Research; Canadian Space Agency; Standards Council of Canada; Communications Security Establishment; Agriculture Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Conference Board of Canada; Data Tech Institute; Advanced Technology International; and many others.
Marg Coll retired at the age of 68 and closed Conference Coll Inc.
Biography
Margaret J. Coll was born Margaret J. Duhan in 1933 in BiggleswadeBiggleswade
Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish located on the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, England. It is well served by transport routes, being close to the A1 road between London and the North, as well as having a railway station on the main rail link North from London .-Geography:Located about 40...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England, to William Preller Duhan and Kathleen Victoria Masson.
Coll's parents divorced and her mother, a Canadian citizen, brought her family of five children back to her home in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in 1936, as rumors of an impending war with Germany were escalating. Marg's mother remarried and the family settled in Richelieu, Quebec
Richelieu, Quebec
Richelieu is a city in Rouville Regional County Municipality, in the province of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 5,208...
and then St. Lambert, Quebec Canada.
Margaret Duhan married David Clarence Coll in 1955. She worked at Bell Canada
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
in Montreal, Quebec for several years until she and her husband moved to Ottawa, Ontario.
They moved to Boston in 1957 where David Coll pursued PhD studies in Information Theory at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. Marg Coll worked for New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company was a very early company set up to develop the then-new telephone.New England Telephone and Telegraph lasted only a year as a separate entity, from 1878 to 1879, and had no direct relationship with the later company of the same name, which after the...
in Boston as a receptionist, and also managed the elevator staff for the four elevators.
Marg was president of the MIT Dames 1958 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, the student wives organization of 450 members. She and her husband came back to Ottawa in 1959.
In 1971, Coll, at the age of forty, founded Conference Coll Inc. (CCI), an event planning and conference management company.
She and her husband have three children, Barbara Coll
Barbara Coll
Barbara "WebMama" Coll is a search engine marketing/SEM pioneer who in 2003 established the global, non-profit Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization ....
, Eric Clarence Coll, and Nancy Catherine Coll.
Conference Coll Inc.
Conference Coll Inc. (CCI) 1973–1999 was the second largest independent conference management company in Ottawa for 22 years. The high tech industry was the source of most of CCI’s employment. Clients included conferences for: IEEE HDTV a key topic of conferences at the time, NortelNortel
Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
Networks (Internet Standards), Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
High Tech Updates; Spectrum 20/20, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; Health Canada; Industry Canada; Environment Canada; Communications Research Centre; AMR - Advanced Management Research; Canadian Space Agency; Standards Council of Canada; Communications Security Establishment; Agriculture Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Conference Board of Canada; Data Tech Institute; Advanced Technology International; and many others.
Marg Coll retired at the age of 68 and closed Conference Coll Inc.
Volunteer positions
- Committee member, Vice-Chair (2003–2005), Chair (2005–2009) - City of Ottawa – Seniors Advisory Committee. Upon being accepted to this committee Marg was elevated to Vice Chair for 1 1/2 years and then to Chair for 4 years, completed in 2009.
- Currently president, five years and counting, of Ottawa Life Long Learning for Older Adults (OLL), which has 120 members. She is was a contributor to the Canadian Journal of Volunteer Resources Management.
- President from 2000-2004 of Chimo Park Incorporated
- Member of the Board of Directors, 2007 to 2009, for Serenity Renewal for Families (a non-profit organization.) Managed the Annual Dinner and Auction for Serenity Renewal for Families, 2005–2008
- Newsletter editor for the IEEE Ottawa chapter for two years in the 1980s
- Two terms as President of the Carleton UniversityCarleton UniversityCarleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
Faculty Wives 1971 and 1981.
- Assisted with the founding of Interval House, established to protect battered women and children
- Contributing founder, The Youth Enterprise Center
- Ottawa Chair and Fund Raising Committee member: LEAF OTTAWA (Legal Education and Action Fund), which raises money to take women's issues to the Supreme Court of Canada.
- Board of Directors - 14 years - Protestant Children’s Village of Ottawa-Carleton
- Member of the Advisory Committee, to the Chateau Laurier Hotel (now Fairmont Chateau Laurier) for two years in the 1980s
- Supervisor of Sunday School for St. Michaels and All Saints' Anglican Church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in the 1970s and a member of the Outreach committee of St. Richards Anglican Church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for three years 2005 - 2008
- Volunteered at the Riverside Hospital for three years in the late 1970s
- Board Director, three terms, The Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority (OTCA)
- Board Director, 14 years, Children's Village of Ottawa/Carleton
- Board Director, The Variety Club of Ottawa a club that is dedicated to help disabled children.
- Board Director, Ottawa Association of Exposition Managers,
- Volunteered as a receptionist at a Food Bank for 2 ½ years in the late nineties.
- Member of Chambly County High School, formerly St. Lambert High School’s, Alumni Who’s Who, the first female alumna so honoured.
- Coordinator of Conversation Group, 4 years
Press/News Activities
- Marg Coll is a member of her Chambly County, formerly St. Lambert High school’s Who’s Who, the first female alumna so honoured.