KRPA Tomorrow’s Leaders - A Professional Development Institute

September 14-16, 2010 - Tall Oaks Conference Center Near Linwood, Kansas 

Who should attend? – KRPA’s professional development institute is open to anyone who wants to enhance their leadership skills, network with other professionals in a relaxed atmosphere and gain management knowledge that relates to the park and recreation industry. While the target audience is young KRPA professionals, any one at any stage of their career will benefit from their experience at Tomorrow’s Leaders.

What is the purpose of Tomorrow’s Leaders? – Our goal is to provide an educational opportunity to help growth and development as a professional. Each year, the institute will focus on two aspects of management training, with a pair of three-hour presentations from highly-skilled trainers to provide instruction.

Where is Tall Oaks Conference Center? – The Tall Oaks Conference Center is located on 350 woodland acres two miles east of Linwood. The beautiful woodland setting is 15 miles from both the western boundary of the Greater Kansas City Region and the northeast corner of Lawrence. Attendees will be housed in the air-conditioned Lifelong Learning Center Lodge with two people per room.

What is Tomorrow’s Leaders?

Day One – Immediately after check-in, you will participate in a unique geocaching training event. Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. This activity has grown tremendously over the past several years and is being incorporated into numerous park systems.  Following this training event and lunch, attendees will trek to the nearby woods for the OAK Adventure Learning Challenge Ropes Course for a team-building exercise that will set the tone for your experience at Tomorrow’s Leaders.

The day will conclude with the keynote presentation by Motorcycle Mary, a dynamic financial humorist and the founder of “Motorcycle Mary’s School of Finance. Mary McCune, better known as “Motorcycle Mary,” is a common sense, experienced, financial organizer who teaches the basic and effective methods of money management. Her program contains financial tools which will help you get out of debt, control your daily spending habits and re-establish steps for your financial future.
 
Day Two – The day will be divided into five parts – three training sessions, team competition in an obstacle course challenge and a final team strategy meeting session for Thursday’s presentation.  Educational training will include presentations from Nanette Roberts on leadership and ethics, Tom Lovell from Lee’s Summit, MO. will review repositioning or the current disconnect between the benefits of parks and recreation services and the perceptions of the people we serve and, finally, a presentation on methods to get the most out of your budget dollars – Beyond the Budget – by Michael Meadors and Jill Geller of Johnson County Park and Recreation District. 

After the educational sessions, the group will be divided into teams that will represent fictitious communities.  The groups will assign leadership roles to individuals and be asked to make a presentation the following morning in front of a mock panel that relates to solving a community parks and recreation issue.  Each team will be given a community issue related to working with a board and meet privately to develop strategies for its presentation. 

Day Three – The attendees will put their training to the test as they present their solution to a mock governing body for consideration.  Each team will make a presentation offering their plans to solve their specific issue. They will be questioned by the mock panel and challenged to justify their decisions. Afterwards, each team’s presentation will be evaluated. 

Tomorrow’s Leaders is planned each year by the KRPA Professional Development Committee.

Scholarships – The KRPA Scholarship Association – Larry Heeb Professional Development Grant is available for professionals to apply for to attend this training.  Contact Bonnie Simon at by phone at 785-235-6533 ext 20 to request an application form.  Scholarship Applications must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the workshop.

 Tomorrow's Leaders Registration Brochure:   Tomorrow's Leaders Institute 2010