In addition to discussing association business issues at EATS meetings, it was decided that EATS would organize a major dinner meeting each year in the fall. A high-profile speaker(s) would be featured to draw technical society members together.

The first dinner meeting in November 1998 drew over 200 guests and featured Sam Spanglet, General Manager - Manufacturing, Western Canada of Shell Canada, speak on 'Shell's Future in the Athabasca Oil Sands.'

In 1999 EATS hosted its second dinner meeting. Booths from the various technical societies were on display throughout the evening. The speaker was Mitch Bouchard, an e-business solution specialist with IBM Canada. He discussed advancements in Information Technology and how they are changing the way we work. The conference was a complete success with many groups convening their November meetings at this event.

For 2000, the topic for the EATS Annual Meeting was: 'Development of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell' with a presentation from Peter Gibb, Director of Product Development, Ballard Power Systems. This event was sold out!

2001 saw approximately 135 people turn out to hear Adrian Abramovici, Director of Product Assurance with MD Robotics speak on 'The Mobile Servicing System: Canada's Space Robotics contribution to the International Space Station'. MD Robotics is the world's leading space robotics company and is the maker of the Canadarm.

2002 was a huge success with approximately 450 people attending to hear a panel of experts speak on 'Energy Resources Development in Alberta' which included panelists: Neil Camarta, Senior Vice-President Oil Sands, Shell Canada Ltd., Kevin Nabholz, Senior Vice-President Major Projects, Suncor Energy and Joseph Doucet, Ph.D., School of Business, University of Alberta.