April 20, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm
The Psychology of Working With Today’s Park and Recreation Participants
Dr. Joel Fish

Working with today’s park and recreation participants is a major source of stress for park and recreation professionals. This session will identify myths and facts in working with today’s park and recreation participants (parents, colleagues, athletes, coaches, etc…). In addition, this session will help participants identify the psychology of park and recreation participants who are difficult to work with, and offer strategies to effectively work with a variety of different personality types.

May 18, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm
Upcoming Trends in Park Development
Blake Theisen

Are you parks old and busted? Before you make them shiny and new, lets understand what your community members want most out of your system. This session will look at national, regional, and local trends in park development and redevelopment projects.

Sponsored by: Lee Recreation

August 17, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm
Managing Violence in Sport: Excellence in Governance
Lynn Jamieson

Sport related violence regularly occurs at the community level regardless of type of sport, age or gender of participant, level of skill, level of ability, or other factors. This presentation will include a discussion of the social issue of sport violence. Several steps for anticipating potential problems will be reviewed, and solutions will be presented to ensuring positive sport experiences for players, coaches, officials, parents or guardians, and others who enjoy community sports.

September 14, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm
Ignite the Burned and Stressed Out: How Leadership Inspires the Disengaged
Jessica Rector

• Identity the top three ways to extinguish burnout in your workplace to build a stronger team and culture
• Examine how to use wellness initiatives to better recruit and train top talent
• Use on-the-spot demonstrated burnout relieving techniques to reduce current and future stress

October 19, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm
The Art of Staff Training
Kate Connell

Create staff trainings” can be one of the most unactionable to-do’s in your legal pad. And worse, you might only dapple in writing agendas and laying out expectations and professional development once or twice a year which leaves you out of practice once it rolls around. Whether your leading temp or full-time staff, it’s essential to learn how to generate ideas, content, and format for staff enrichment all year round. This dynamic session is designed to lead you through in-person exercises and explore strategies to make your trainings more intentional, impactful, and organized while leaving with concrete ideas that are unique to your leadership approach and employee/operational needs. Spoiler alert: staff trainings will no longer be a marathon talk fest you dread annually but instead a multilayered approach that is woven into the every day.

November 16, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm
Protecting and Creating Pollinator Habitat in Lawns
Samuel Bauer

Pollinators have created all the "buzz" lately. In recent years, pollinator decline issues have caused many parks and campuses to rethink their management programs, with a focus on protecting pollinators in lawns. In this session you will gain a better understanding of how you can protect and create pollinator habit in your lawn. This includes a discussion of low maintenance grasses which ultimately reduce inputs, benefiting the environment as a whole. 

December 21, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm
Advancing Your Career: Understanding the Process
Megan Owens, Ph.D.

A person's path in life can be a winding road, which sometimes reflects the twists and turns of a career. Multiple opportunities exist for one's career advancement, but professionals may experience greater benefits when they reflect and plan. The first step is to understand the process then one can assess current and future professional interests. This session will examine how professionals advance their career and engage in a self-assessment to identify current and future goals.

January 19, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:15pm - SESSION FREE TO ALL WPRA MEMBERS
Fire Up So You Don’t Burnout: How to Prevent, Break Through, and Extinguish Burnout (and the Power of Resiliency)
Jessica Rector

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Burnout is like a wildfire—spreading quickly and affecting everything in their path. Jessica's research shows that 79% of the workforce is burned out, yet most don't even know how to identify it. The World Health Organization recognizes burnout as a workplace syndrome, but burnout isn’t just for the workplace anymore. With having to juggle more things and in different ways, burnout and stress are at an all-time high, reducing performance, health, and morale. In this powerful presentation, Jessica gets you fired up by sharing the role resiliency plays to prevent and extinguish burnout, pinpointing your contributing factors to overwhelm, and showing you how to handle stress to improve focus, performance, and team dynamic.

Participants will:
• Examine Jessica's Burnout Success Formula to locate how it affects your work and life
• Apply proven burnout strategies to enhance time management, focus, and team engagement
• Identify and pinpoint your biggest “burnout moments” to prevent future stress and overwhelm to improve your health, mind, and team

Sponsored by: Lee Recreation

March 16, 2021 :: 1:00 – 2:30pm
Service GLOWS
Natalie Livingston

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Join us for a high energy session focusing on customer service. This session will you immerse you in the keys of service and show you how to create your own unique program.