SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL
Theme: Land & Water Conservation in a Changing World
This conference will attempt to address the various challenges and unknowns that so many organizations are confronting these days, including evolving missions, expanded service areas, new and innovative collaborations, updated fundraising strategies, changing climate, land use trends, diversification and shifting demographics, ever-changing public policy, and just maintaining relevance in a changing world. Plus we’ll cover traditional topics such as land conservation, stewardship, water protection, stream and wetlands restoration, stormwater management, land use planning, forestry, organizational development, communications/outreach, fundraising, and finance.
Deadline
Please submit by midnight on October 23rd.
Proposal Form
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The proposal form requests the following information:
- Workshop Title
- Session Description: Please note the 1000 character limit.
- Presenter Information: This includes email, title, affiliation, phone and bio.
- (Optional) Case for Presentation: This can be text or an uploaded file to further substantiate the need or benefits of the proposed session.
- Preferred Length of Workshop/Seminar: See Session Length below for further guidance.
- Education Level: Choose the level of instruction that best fits the content of your workshop.
- Continuing Education Credits: Would this course potentially be eligible for professional credits?
- (Optional) Course Outline: You can submit a conference course outline or agenda if desired.
- Presented session elsewhere: Tell us if you have presented this topic in the past.
Session Length
Please consider the time limitations in designing your proposal. The Saturday sessions range from 75 minute to two hour sessions. There are roughly 27 Saturday workshop slots available. Keep in mind that workshops offer a limited time period to delve sufficiently into content areas. We encourage one to three speakers per workshop. If you are interested in submitting a proposal that would include more than three speakers, please contact Nicole Faraguna at 717-909-1298 to discuss.
The conference will offer a selection of seminars that are three hours in length or longer; available slots are extremely limited. If you are interested in leading a seminar, please email Nicole Faraguna or phone 717-909-1298 before completing your proposal.
What Are You Expecting From Your Audience?
Consider including a “prerequisite” or a “disclaimer” in your final course description to convey the level of experience you are expecting people to bring to your workshop. Below are a few examples:
- “Workshop participants need to have been significantly involved in drafting/negotiating several conservation easements.”
- “This workshop is designed for people who have never been involved in a capital campaign.”
- “Workshop participants should have a legal background or be familiar with IRC 170(h).”
- “This workshop will be most beneficial to land trusts with $250,000+ operating budgets.”
What Will Attendees Learn at Your Workshop?
As you draft your final outline and design your presentation, write down at least one thing you want people to learn from your session. Everything in your workshop should lead toward that goal. Here are a few examples of workshop objectives:
- “To better identify conservation easement language that could be misinterpreted.”
- “To identify the most important steps to take before contacting a potential major donor.”
- “To learn how everyone in the room communicates with second-generation landowners.”
Workshop vs. Roundtable
Most of the time, workshops will consist of a lecture followed by (or interspersed with) questions and answers. Some workshops will consist of panel discussions. A roundtable is a significantly different forum. If you are a presenter for a roundtable, a more accurate title for you is “facilitator,” since you will introduce the topic, pose possible questions for the group to consider and then facilitate the discussion.
