How much does it cost? What can I do with the information in PRORAGIS™? How will PRORAGIS benefit my department?
These are just a sampling of questions that NRPA receives daily as members become familiar with the newly updated park and recreation database, PRORAGIS.
If you have been curious about PRORAGIS or have asked one of these questions yourself, you are in luck! Help is on the way!
Twenty-eight Magnet Sessions are rolling out across the United States over the next year to increase user knowledge of the new PRORAGIS features. Magnet Sessions will be hosted by park and recreation professionals who are familiar not only with PRORAGIS, but also with the local area departments attending the sessions. During these sessions, hands-on instruction and assistance with completing a PRORAGIS profile will be provided. Along with Academy presentations on the Gold Medal Awards and AAPRA’s free consulting services, a Q&A session will close each meeting, giving attendees an opportunity to ask questions that they might have regarding PRORAGIS.
The main motivation in offering these local Magnet Sessions is to provide an opportunity for multiple departments from a local region to gather and learn about PRORAGIS from their peers. Departments may vary in size, but there will be common questions and relatable experiences shared that are applicable to communities of all sizes. For instance, a session recently held at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) headquarters in Prince George’s County, Maryland, drew departments from across the state. Attendees came from locations as varied as the nearby City of Greenbelt to Kent County, a locale nearly two hours away. At this event, agencies that were interested in learning about or using PRORAGIS were provided with information about the system and one-on-one assistance in getting started by park and recreation professionals from their area.
The improvements in PRORAGIS, which will be discussed at the Magnet Sessions, include greatly enhanced reporting functions and GIS system improvements. PRORAGIS users are now able to quickly access the most commonly requested benchmarking ratios using the new “on-demand” reporting feature, allowing easy comparison of their agency to other agencies with a single click. The GIS system of PRORAGIS has been entirely revamped, allowing use of GIS layers including U.S. Census data to spatially analyze your facilities in relation to your changing jurisdiction population.
The goal for each of the Magnet Sessions is to allow for the opportunity to explore and explain the features of PRORAGIS in a personalized setting. In many cases, PRORAGIS Magnet Sessions will offer you the opportunity to earn CEU credits while learning about a powerful tool that can help you do your job more effectively. So, watch your inbox for future messages from NRPA to learn about Magnet Sessions in your area. And, if you just can’t wait for a Magnet Session to come to you, we encourage you to get started with PRORAGIS on your own! Learn about Park Metrics.
Daina Ajayi is NRPA's Research Specialist.