Coffee, snacks, lunch included • Cost: $180 members / $195 non-members • .6 CEUs requested
8:00-8:30: Onsite Registration
8:30-8:40: Introduction/Overview
8:40-9:40: Public Meeting Tactics from a Battle-Tested Warrior
Penny Mabie, EnviroIssues
So you’ve been asked to facilitate a public meeting. What can you do to prepare? What are the arrows you need in your quiver? What’s the participants’ intention? What can you do to make this meeting a success? How do you answer the tough questions? Join this session to sharpen your preparation, realign your thinking, get ideas for helping your project team, and remove some of the terror around those rough Q & A sessions. It’s all in the prep – and the practice. Let’s get to it in this fast-paced, interactive session.
9:40-10:25: Program Evaluation Using Audience Response Systems
Amber Smith, LOTT Clean Water Alliance
How do you measure the impact of your program or engagement? Are you curious what participants already know or what they learned? Do you want to see how many participants pledge to change their behavior as a result of your efforts? Audience Response Systems (clicker systems) can be a fun, paperless way to get the evaluation data you’re looking for. These systems increase engagement, monitor participant understanding and learning, and measure the impact of your program over time.
10:25-10:40: 15-minute Break
10:40-11:40: Communicate On Emotionally-Charged Topics
Marcos Lopez, Tetra Tech
How do you build trust in your organization while answering hostile questions? Communicating timely and accurate information in crisis situations makes the difference between a well-informed public and confusion. Learn about: 1) Timing of information, 2) Prioritizing Information, 3) Emotional Level of Communication, and 4) Quantity of Information. You’ll receive templates and tools to assist in several categories of crisis and emotional situations that will prepare you for the unexpected.
11:40-12:00: Short overview of wastewater and golf nexus: PGA Tournament @ Chambers Creek
12:00-12:45: Lunch & walk around grounds
12:45-1:30: Create an Employee Emergency Accountability System
Gloria Van Spanckeren, Pierce County Public Works
When a widespread emergency occurs, one of the first steps is to account for your employees, and for employees to account for their loved ones. Once you know everyone’s status, you need to find out who is available to report to work to restore your core business functions. Learn how the Pierce County Sewer Division’s Employee Emergency Accountability System (EEAS) can be applied to any organization to meet the needs of your coworkers and the community they serve when it counts the most.
1:35-2:35: Graphic Design Crash Course
Dave Pringle, LOTT Clean Water Alliance
Creating engaging and attention-grabbing public notices and outreach materials is key to sharing our messages as communicators. However, many organizations don’t have or can’t afford a graphics design professional to produce effective and engaging materials. As a default, this task often falls to the community outreach person, who may or may not have the skills. In this interactive session, we’ll write and design an effective public notice and a flier in ways that interest, inform, and educate your audiences.
2:35-2:45: 10-minute Break
2:45-3:30: STEM & Next Generation Science Standards: Build Teacher Connections & Program Alignment
Pat Otto, Pacific Education Institute
In this session we’ll define the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) movement and the Science and Engineering Practices for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). You’ll learn how to make valuable connections with teachers and resources through examples of successful environmental education resources in Washington State. You’ll also learn how to incorporate career education into your programs to develop our future environmental scientists.
3:35-4:20: Current Social Media Strategies
Ely O’Connor, Clean Water Services
Eight years is an eternity in social media. Learn about the latest social media channels and content development through successes and failures of Clean Water Services’ social media program. Hear what’s changed since its beginnings, what’s worked, and where the program is headed to stay connected with the diverse community.
4:20-4:30: Wrap up & evaluations
Questions: DeBakerK@CleanWaterServices.org