There were over 90 attendees at this year’s Professional Development School held at the beautiful Eagle Creek resort in Lake Shelbyville, Illinois November 13-16. This year’s “Survivor” theme was carried out throughout all components of the conference starting with the opening speaker Butch Lockley (pictured), a final four contestant from the third season of the television show Survivor, to the educational sessions taught by nationally renown speakers Ruby Newell-Legner, John Blumburg and Jane Turrentine.
For educational sessions, attendees were broken down into three separate groups based on their previous attendance to PDS: Year 1, Year 2, and graduate curriculums. All attendees had the opportunity to earn 1.5 CEUs for attending the educational workshops. In addition, attendees were divided into eight tribes for small networking and teambuilding opportunities. When attendees were not in educational sessions or tribal councils, they were busy socializing at the Euchre and Texas Hold ‘em Tournaments or playing golf on the challenging Eagle Creek golf course.
“PDS attendees arrived Sunday afternoon and started learning and networking right away,” said IPRA Professional Services Director, Mike Selep. “This did not stop until everyone left after breakfast on Wednesday morning. It was fantastic to see all levels of staff interact and learn from one another through the interactive format of this conference. The evaluations received are evidence to me that the PDS three-year curriculum provided professional growth opportunities through education and networking for everyone that attended.”
“I think the best thing about PDS is the unique group and team learning format,” said Lisa Van Bogget, Director of Finance and Administrative Services with the Wheaton Park District. “It is not often that educational sessions provide participants the privilege of learning from some of the most knowledgeable instructors in conjunction with numerous opportunities for fellow professionals from all levels of park district management to spend quality time sharing experiences and networking.”
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PDS is the best tool that IPRA offers for networking opportunities for staffers at every level. The educational sessions are both informative and motivational with speakers that have great insight to share. I just can’t say enough great things about it - it has helped me to make the decision to stay working for my park district!