The 2013 Congress and Exposition will feature a new series of quick, lively and innovative sessions designed to energize and inspire conference attendees. Make sure you join us in Houston, and don’t miss the 2013 Congress Speed Sessions!
NRPA collected more than 120 proposals from across the country, and then asked our members to vote on which sessions should be presented at Congress. From cool, creative marketing and program ideas to leadership and telling the park and recreation story, the members picked 40 of the most exciting, fun and motivational sessions to be presented in Houston. See you in Houston!
All sessions will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center on October 9.
9:30–9:55 a.m.
Session 2102: Building Loyal Customers...One Minute at a Time
Room: 310ADBE
Presenter: Neelay Bhatt, Vice President of Planning and Facilities, PROS Consulting LLC, Indianapolis, Indiana
Every agency, department or individual agrees on the importance of customer service. Yet, few are able to allocate adequate resources to do it right. Learn how to change your customer-service culture and convert window shoppers to participants, participants to loyal customers and loyal customers to advocates — all by simply investing one minute at a time.
Session 2105: Coaching Your Staff
Room: 330AB
Presenter: David Carter, President and CEO, Carter Consulting Group, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
Every interaction you have with a staff member allows you an opportunity to “coach” them in their performance. Coaching is the art of asking intelligent, open and curiosity-based questions in a way that allows the staff member to examine options for a solution that in turn is generated by the employee. The answer always lies within the individual. “Train for competence, coach for performance.” Quickly learn some powerful techniques.
Session 2108: Get Families Active on a $10 Budget
Room: 320CF
Presenter: Sarah Brooks, Recreation and Events Coordinator, Town of Palisade, Colorado
Discover great ways to get youth and families active with methods that are inexpensive for recreation professionals to offer in their parks and facilities and in turn affordable to the consumer. You can expect to be engaged, giving both the brain and the heart a little workout.
Session 2110: Importance of Parks and Recreation in Major Development Projects
Room: 361ABC
Presenter: Rick Horrow, President, Horrow Sports Ventures, Miami, Florida
El Paso residents recently voted to spend $473 million to redevelop the city. The group of projects receiving the most money? Parks and recreation, with $195 million. While most of the conversations are about the new baseball stadium and arena, the bonds never would have been approved without significant park and recreation investments. The key to major development in the new millennium: making sure parks and recreation are a focal point.
Session 2117: Success Strategies for Building Healthy Communities
Room: 351BE
Presenter: Cindy Heath, Executive Director, GP RED, Plainfield, New Hampshire
Around the country, park and recreation agencies are implementing program, policy and environmental changes to promote health and wellness in their communities. Learn about the most successful strategies, including park prescriptions, funding for greenway and trail development, creative multisector partnerships, bicycling and walking audits, and health impact assessments.
Session 2119: The Art of Innovation: Parks and Recreation Edition
Room: 310CF
Presenter: James Barnes, Director of Operations, Village of Wellington, Florida
Great ideas and viable solutions do not just rain down from above. Innovation is not only an outcome but also a process. The most innovative agencies and companies have can-do, must-do cultures that are high-energy and seemingly infectious. If agencies are to succeed in harnessing the power of innovation, they will have to work hard to create innovation cultures. To that end, this session will review the necessary ingredients to successful innovation.
Session 2121: Want to Make $100K Online on Black Friday? Here’s How!
Room: 340AB
Presenter: Jenise Jensen, Administrative Manager of Recreation, Town of Breckenridge Recreation Department, Colorado
What do aliens, cartoons, comic strips, Spanish radio, the Internet and TV appearances all have in common? Combined together, they make up the ingredients of our recreation department’s strongest marketing promotion. With a little creativity, you can engage your community for six weeks leading up to the holidays and do an “Out of This World Black Friday” promotion. We did it and generated $97,000 last year and $128,000 this year, with 66 percent new members!
10:05–10:30 a.m.
Session 2122: 10 Top Recreation Apps for your iPhone
Room: 320ED
Presenter: Mike McFarlane, Owner, Island Recreation, Honolulu, Hawaii
Untapped resources…we never have enough of them. What if you had a device that could produce a league schedule, locate a hiking trail, create and monitor your workouts, find treasure, identify a plant, be an emergency first-aid reference, locate a grant source and so much more? In 20 minutes, we’ll totally geek out, looking at 10 iPhone apps that every recreation professional could use and then showing you how to find more!
Session 2126: How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Room: 371DEF
Presenter: Shannon Keleher, Recreation Manager, City of Gainesville, Florida
In order to lead effectively, you must be able to give simple, clear and detailed directions. Join me as I share my experience of asking my recreation staff to explain to me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I guarantee that the results will surprise you and that you will leave laughing!
Session 2130: Parks = Wellness: Doctors Prescribing Parks to Promote Good Health
Room: 350DEF
Presenter: Rachel Newhouse, Park Planner, Montgomery County Department of Parks, Silver Spring, Maryland
Being outside and in nature is very good for your health, as more and more research is showing. This session will focus on aspects of human health: physical, mental, social and spiritual, and how being in a park can improve people’s health. Research from a pilot program between Montgomery County, Maryland, parks and doctors will be discussed, and the audience will learn how this partnership is working to combat health problems and increase park usage.
Session 2132: Starting a “Friends” Group to Support Parks and Recreation!
Room: 320CF
Presenter: Eileen Lohner-Turk, Parks and Recreation Division Manager, City of Oceanside, California
The City of Oceanside, California, just started a “Friends” group three years ago — learn how we got it started and what we have accomplished in three short years! You can achieve great things by working together. Learn about friend-raising and fundraising, and how this can be a vehicle to bring in needed resources!
Session 2140: Web 2.0: Learn How to Digitally Connect with the Community!
Room: 360CF
Presenter: Marc Poynter, IT Support Specialist, Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Riverdale, Maryland
This speed session will cover Web 2.0 and how user-generated content and social networking sites can aid in connecting with the community. Learn about everything from wikis to social networking sites to blogs and video sharing. You will learn how Facebook, Twitter and other social network media can provide free or low-cost advertising for your park and trails. You will also hear concerns such as intellectual property rights, ownership and security concerns.