CPRS Educational Awards Of Excellence District 12

Education: Multi Focus iChoose Training 2009

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iChoose: Annual November Workshop

November 19, 2009

California Parks and Recreation Society District 12

Contact: Shannon Sellinger, D12 President

300 North Coast Highway Oceanside, CA 92054

760.435.5039

ssellinger@ci.oceanside.ca.us

Category:

Education Multi - Topic Focus

CPRS Educational Awards Of Excellence District 12

Education: Multi Focus iChoose Training 2009

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Purpose/Main Objective 1. “iChoose” was the theme and concept for the November 19th training offered by CPRS District 12. This training communicated the power of choice in challenging times. This theme purposefully built on 2008’s theme of “Mission: It’s Possible”. Both the 2008 and 2009 trainings focused on meeting challenges, with opportunities. By building on last year’s training the Board was able to create consistency and a cohesive message. Last year’s training had a heavy focus on branding. As we learned, branding evokes a feeling or opinion about something. 2009 echoed this theme and built on it, providing application to last year’s theory. Annually building upon the workshops connects concepts, tightens the message, and increases interest and return participation. “iChoose” presented a keynote speaker, two breakout periods and a “Lunch and Learn”, all of which has a strong focus on the power of marketing and partnerships. The day’s three main goals were: (1) to EXPAND personal and professional growth and overall human development; (2) to EMPOWER attendees to be leaders, motivators and champions, at any level. (3) to INSPIRE creativity and “play” as a means of remaining fresh and on the cutting edge of recreation service delivery in District 12. District 12 was pleased to host Idris Al-Oboudi who provided a touching keynote on “Passion to Practice”, his own philosophy of the age-old phrase, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Mr. Al-Oboudi also joined us to wrap up the “iChoose” workshop, with a “Lunch and Learn” presentation of “the POWER of choice”. Nestled between these two dynamic presentations were 7 different sessions that each covered topics that focused on the powerful use of creativity, specifically in the areas of marketing and partnerships, to strengthen service delivery in challenging times. Additionally, District 12 has purposefully crafted their annual work plan to be closely in line with the California Parks and Recreation Society’s Ends Policies and the Vision Insight Planning guidelines. This training fulfilled the following areas of District 12’s work plan goals: CPRS Ends Policy #1 – Shared Mission, Vision and Values – Marketing and Branding – This training was largely made possible through collaboration with local speakers who had been originally scheduled to speak at the NRPA Marketing and Revenue Sources Management School, annually held in San Diego County. District 12 CPRS members were actively involved with the coordination of speakers for the 2009 NRPA School, and because this program was cancelled, the D12 Board had the unique opportunity to utilize four of the seven NRPA speakers for the D12 November Workshop breakout sessions at no charge to the District. These speakers focused on building partnerships, using technology to your advantage and marketing and branding your agency (and the professions as a whole) in the year 2009 and beyond. The sessions were built to support the previous year’s heavy focus on the important of marketing and branding to “stay in the game”. There was a very creative and progressive feel to the sessions which made it truly unique and very appealing. Last year was the “theory” this year was the “application”. Annually building upon the workshops connects concepts and tightens the message. “iChoose” was marketed to District 12 and many outside private sector agencies. There was Regional support as well as strong student attendance from San Diego State University. CPRS End Policy #2 – Skills and Knowledge to Succeed - Educational Opportunities – District 12 has made professional development/educational opportunities readily available to San Diego County. This year’s message was that, through choice, we can apply “play” and creativity to strengthen development even in the most challenging of times. Additionally, in 2009 the training offered a panel session whereby students and emerging and young professionals could ask questions of some of the Districts most talented and successful Directors and Managers. This particular training has a huge San Diego State University partnership component. SDSU and District 12 are in the second year of a student mentorship program that provides additional guidance and career coaching to students. This training offers networking for the mentors and mentees. District 12’s goal is to be the primary resource for accessible, affordable park and recreation professional training in the San Diego area. Results 2. & 3. In 2009 the Board utilized Survey Monkey to evaluate the training. The goal was to give participants time to let the training “soak” in, and survey them days following to assess the actual retention and overall satisfaction. The data on file to date shows that participants deeply connected with the keynote address of applying passion and creativity to our daily practice. Were profoundly touched by the concept of choice in our day-to-day successes and benefitted from the sessions connecting the power of partnerships and the importance of strong marketing in challenging times. Participants also raved about the panel discussion for emerging professionals. Overall the results indicate that the connection between last year and this year was evident and the learning was strengthened as a result.

CPRS Educational Awards Of Excellence District 12

Education: Multi Focus iChoose Training 2009

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4. The training’s sessions were designed to support the CPRS VIP Action Plan. Simply summarized: By Fostering Human Development through educational opportunities, we are able to strengthen our talents and sharpen our skills which allow us to creatively expand our service delivery, thus further strengthening our agency’s community image, ability to provide meaningful recreational opportunities, all while being the leaders in health and wellness services. Resources 5. District 12 uses many of the same concepts as listed in the CPRS Tools of the Trade Tool Kit. At the onset of each event offered a committee is formed and the Activity/Event Outline (attachment 1) is implemented to identify the work plan goals, target audience, cost breakdown, sponsorship, marketing plan, and committee task list. This tool allows the committee to stay on track, create a purposeful event and use resources wisely. The committee also followed the Tools of Trade Tool Kit when evaluating the training. An overall training evaluation was created and distributed (attachment 2). With the use of “survey monkey” the planning committee was able to send out an evaluation post training. Both the Activity Outline and evaluation tools are modeled after similar documents in the CPRS Tools of Trade Tool Kit. Attendee Interaction 6. “iChoose” was designed in a multi-session format. Each speaker was selected because of their ability to connect the theme to their subject and to engage the audience to increase learning. Sessions were highly energized by group discussion and learning. New this year was the highly interactive “panel” session. Four well-respected professionals were chosen to participate in a panel discussion focused around “Building your Career”. The audience asked the questions and the panel provided useful information to SDSU students and young professionals. Marketing outside D12 7. “iChoose” Training was marketed to Region 5 and a variety of outside agencies (private and non-profit) and San Diego State’s Recreation and Tourism Student Association (RTSA) and Recreation and Tourism Department. Attendance was high due to the efforts to include community partners. As a result, the training drew close to over 175 attendants. A large part of the D12’s continued success is attributed to the Boards established relationship with the Directors. Additionally, new this year was the use of social networking. By using the newly modernized CPRS website and Facebook, District 12 was able to increase its promotional opportunities and expand its marketing audience. Collaborative efforts outside D12 8. This training was largely made possible through collaboration with local speakers who had been originally scheduled to speak at the NRPA Marketing and Revenue Sources Management School, annually held in San Diego County. This unique collaborative effort to retain the scheduled speakers was a huge collaborative accomplishment. Additionally, building on last year’s success, the SDSU Partnership with the Recreation and Tourism Student Association (RTSA) was a component of this workshop. The Student Mentoring Program, which pairs Recreation Majors with Recreation Professional, kicked off at the training and provided the first networking opportunity for Mentor and Mentee. The workshop’s positive theme, the SDSU program component as well as the connection to the NRPA speakers were critical to its success. Unique qualities of program 9. (1) low cost/high quality - We kept this training low cost and marketed it to the Region as a way to get “conference quality” session materials to a wide audience. (2) Collaborations - This training was the commencement of the 2009 Student Mentoring Program; students and professionals were paired for a “networking” lunch. It is a fun way to introduce the program and support emerging professionals. Additionally the unique opportunity to fold the (cancelled) NRPA School scheduled speakers into our program gave our training a greater professional feel. (3) Going Green - The concept behind the use of “survey monkey” for evaluation data collection was a green way of gathering information. No paper was used/wasted to receive the results (4) Panel Session – 2009 was the pilot year for the panel discussion session. Four professionals were chosen to participate in a panel discussion focused around “Building your Career”. The audience asked the questions and the panel provided useful information to SDSU students and young professionals. This was the highest ranking session and drew the largest audience. The interaction prompted a very productive discussion. At the end time was left for individuals to have their resume reviewed.