This week a number of park and recreation professionals came together for the IPRA’s Director Series. The day consisted of two very insightful and discussion-driven presentations geared toward the Director-level professional.
In the morning, Chuck Balling of the Glenview Park District, covered the evolving role of the park district Director with regards to building and maintaining a quality team, being a leader and a public servant.
The afternoon session, was presented by a panel from the Park District of Oak Park - including Gary Balling, Jessica Bullock, Diane Stanke and John MacManus. They focused on planning for the future and building relationships within the community to make for successful referendums.
Both sessions were amazing and the dialog between each of the speakers and attendees was great. It was truly a workshop that every Director-level professional should experience.
But not everyone has enough time in the day to attend workshops like this…not everyone is within close proximity to easily attend…not every agency has it within their budget to go to every continuing educational offering.
At this Director Series, we experimented with a new way of bringing the workshop to you…in the comfort of your own office. We videotaped the whole workshop and streamed the video live so individuals could view it online - just like you were watching live TV! People watching the live video can chat with a moderator to ask questions just like if they were there in person. We tested it with staff and everything worked great. We are now gaining feedback from those who attended in the hopes to further this initiative.
Watching a speaker present online will probably never replace the experience of actually being there, but it could become a very nice way to reach out to a greater number of members. We are very excited about this and hope to bring more live TV-like workshops to you in the near future.
What are your thoughts about attending a workshop online? Let us know by posting a comment.
Any possible means to get the information out. Whereas I think the opportunity to ask questions and being involved with dialog is a critical part of the learning process, the opportunity to be involved through IT and have at least the chance to view the content is a great advance. Move forward.
I’m all for it. I wanted to attend this one as I had a hunch it was going to be good but schedule conflicts got in the way.
This sounds promising and, as an alternative, it beats driving 4-5 hours for a 2-3 hour workshop. Also, offers agencies with little or no travel budget a way to gain important information without the expense of travel & lodging.
Thank you! What a great idea. I am sure many of us have scheduling conflicts or long distance concerns from time to time and this provides a service to benefit everyone who wants to take advantage of it. I know I will. Thanks again!
Sounds great! It allows these valuable discussions to be shared for those who can’t make these sessions.
I really like the idea of attending a workshop on line. Thanks for piloting this. I wanted to attend the session, and could not due to schedule conflicts for travel. I would think many busy professionals would take advantage of this service. Thanks!
What a great idea! I would love to participate. Please make me aware of any upcoming opportunity to attend on-line.