Virginia Recreation & Park Society 's Annual Conference provides access to a field of leaders and financial decision makers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.  
2016 VRPS Annual Conference
Education Sessions
Do you need another reason to attend the 2016 VRPS Annual Conference?  Explore the Possibilities with over 50 education sessions at this year's Conference in Roanoke, Virginia. 

Take a look at seven education sessions!
Creating Your Leadership Pipeline
Speaker: Chris Nunes, CPRE, Director of Parks and Recreation, The Woodlands Township, Texas
Date: November 6, 2016
Session Time: 9:30 - 10:45 a.m. 
Location: Crystal Ballroom A
CEU: .1
Creating a Better Mousetrap: Business and Operational Planning
Business planning is an essential step in identifying all aspects of a facility, operations, and is usually a requirement in obtaining approval.  Participants will gain knowledge of the key components of a business plan and will be given examples of what information belongs in their plan to sell their concept.  A particular emphasis will be given to the formulation of plans for small to mid sized facilities.
 
Speaker: Chris Nunes, CPRE, Director of Parks and Recreation, The Woodlands Township, Texas
Date: November 6, 2016
Time: 1:30 - 2:45 p.m. 
Location: Wilson
CEU: .1
Creating and Ensuring a Relevant Parks and Recreation Agency
The challenges of today are multi-faceted and can range from social ills to business models.  Do we attempt to solve them all or identify what problems our agency's effectively address?  What is most important is to understand how to be relevant, thus making sports and recreation agencies a critical success factor to the success of a community.  Along the way identification and development of critical advocates to ensure your success is needed.  This session will address how to evaluate where you are, the identification of critical advocates and implement a plan for relevance. 

Speaker: Chris Nunes, CPRE, Director of Parks and Recreation, The Woodlands Township, Texas
Date: November 7, 2016
Time: 1:00 - 2:15 p.m. 
Location: Crystal Ballroom D
CEU: .1
Parks and Recreation as a Player in the Health System
In an effort to position parks and recreation as an essential service, one need not look further than the benefits provided to the community in health and wellness, especially given the nation's growing obesity epidemic.  This session will provide strategies to create a healthy community and to support funding parks and recreation programs and services as solutions to the rising cost of chronic disease.  As well, keys to success including critical agency partnerships, data collection, and more will be shared.

Speaker: Janet Bartnik, Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Liberty, Missouri
Date: November 7, 2016
Time: 1:00 - 2:15 p.m. 
Location: Crystal Ballroom C
CEU: .1
Understanding and Meeting the Recreation Challenges and Opportunities of an Aging Population
Times are changing.  People are living longer healthier lives, boomers are turning 65 years of age, and America is "greying".  This population shift is creating both challenges and opportunities for adult and 50 plus parks and recreation programs.  Programming to meet the unique needs, communication styles, leisure preferences and expectations of multi-generations is one of the greatest challenges to be faced.  Activity professionals will need to be creative, flexible, and open to thinking "outside the box".  They will also need to be able to successfully collaborate with other agencies, businesses, and organizations.  In this interactive presentation, we will talk about current trends and their impact on programming for adult and 50 plus programs.  We will also talk about generational differences, strategies for meeting the unique needs of each generation, and best practices.  Tips for developing successful collaborations will be shared.

Speaker: Denise Scruggs, ADC, CDP, CADDCT, John P. Lopez, MPH, Michael Shandor, MPH
Date: November 7, 2016
Time: 1:00 - 3:45 p.m. 
Location: Crystal Ballroom B
CEU: .2
Building Consensus - Getting People on the Same Page
Reaching out to the public, especially on a controversial topic, may be the scariest thing you ever do.  By its nature, it invites in confrontation and examination and the unknown.  By reaching out and bringing together the interests of the public with those of staff and policy makers, serves to overcome those fears.  Learn how to set appropriate parameters, who to include, timing and techniques for gathering input, and, of course, the importance of effective communication along the way.

Speaker: Chris Nunes, CPRE, Director of Parks and Recreation, The Woodlands Township, Texas
Date: November 7, 2016
Time: 2:30 - 3:45 p.m. 
Location: Crystal Ballroom D
CEU: .1
Balancing the Business Model with the Social Services Model
In a time where agencies are asked again and again to do more with less, some consider a portion of the cause for declining funding support to lie within our own profession.  For too long we've created our own snowball effect of declining subsidies by establishing a solid business model for what should be considered social services that benefit the communities we serve.  This session will offer a rationale for balancing the business model with the social service model and share examples of cities finding success in achieving public support from those who utilize services....and even those who don't!

Speaker: Janet Bartnik, Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Liberty, Missouri
Date: November 7, 2016
Time: 4:00 - 5:15 p.m. 
Location: Crystal Ballroom C
CEU: .1