July 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 55

credits required to renew your
CPRP certification. Please
check the schedule for a full
session listing, plus the CEU
amounts being offered: www.
nrpa.org/conference2015.

to the " Las Vegas Aquatics - Play and
Practice " tour of Pavilion and Garside pools, and then try your hand at
log-rolling at the Municipal Pool! Yes!
Log-rolling!
A total of 12 Off-Site Institutes will
be held on Sunday, September 13,
Monday September 14, and Thursday,
September 17. Please check the full
conference schedule for details: www.
nrpa.org/conference2015.
Education Sessions
The Conference Program Committee,
a volunteer committee of your peers,
has put together yet another wonderful lineup of education sessions
spread across 11 disciplines or tracks,
including Healthy Lifestyles, Leadership and Management, and Marketing
and Public Relations. Hone your work
skills, learn programming ideas, and
share best practices from all around the
country at one of 200-plus education
sessions featured from Tuesday, September 15 through Thursday, September 17. And be inspired! Learn how to
face difficult personal and professional
challenges from Donna Kuethe in her
" True G.R.I.T.T. (Growing Resiliency
in Tough Times) " session on Wednesday, September 16. You'll have the opportunity to earn more than half of the

Learning Lab
Visit the Exhibit Hall for some
valuable face time with some of
our Conferences' most interesting participants in this year's incarnation of the Learning Labs.
Meet keynote speaker Gil Penalosa as well as the winners of our
Park of the Future design contest
and see their award-winning park.
Visit with ASTD-certified Trainer
Jerry Balistreri as he discusses key
takeaways from his education session
" Reading the Tells - Learning How
to Read Body Language " and much
more! Learning Lab appearances will
be held during Exhibit Hall hours
Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16. No CEUs offered.
Learning Playground
Back by popular demand is our specially designed classroom on the Exhibit
Hall floor, created to get you up and
out of your seats. Six sessions total will
be held in the Learning Playground
from Tuesday through Wednesday,
including 50 ideas for keeping our
screen-addicted citizens engaged at the
" Spatial GAMES at Warp Speed! " session Wednesday from 12:30 p.m. to
1:45 p.m., hosted by Paul Wright. 0.1
CEUs offered for each session.
Glass Room Sessions
Also located within the hustle and
bustle of the Exhibit Hall floor will be
five sessions hosted by our industry's
thought leaders discussing some of
the issues we can expect to see during
the next 50 years. Beginning at 1 p.m.
Tuesday, September 15, and starting
on the hour from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.,
please come to these participatory ses-

sions, including topics ranging from
" Drones in Parks " with NRPA's own
Vice President of Conservation and
Parks Richard Dolesh, to " Creative
Placemaking " with Nette Compton.
One additional Glass Room Session
will be held Wednesday, September
16, at 1 p.m. when ESPN Emmy
Award-winning journalist and Aspen
Institute Sports and Society Executive
Director Tom Farrey leads a discussion about the " Future of Play, " and
details the Aspen Institute's Project
Play. See the full conference schedule
for details. No CEUs offered.
Speed Sessions
Your votes have been counted and
the results are in. From 9:30 a.m. to
10:30 a.m. Thursday, September 17,
the Conference is honored to host 36plus short, engaging, 20-minute talks
on a wide range of subjects. For example, glean easily digestible insights
about what it takes to be an effective
leader in Dr. Stephen Wolter's " Leading From Inside Out " speed session.
Looking for helpful hints on planning
an event on a small budget? Teresa
Brown Stubbs has you covered in her
" Planning a Special Event on a Budget " speed session. No CEUs offered.
There's one place in the Nevada
desert where you can learn to meet
the needs of your current job, or hone
the skills needed for a new one. Learn
the best practices of our industry at
the 2015 NRPA Annual Conference
from your peers, but also take care to
actively participate in the education
presented at the Conference. It's this
sharing that helps you retain the information needed to transform your
agencies when you return home and
impress your managers. Come to Las
Vegas and help us celebrate NRPA's
50th anniversary and avoid FOMO!

Tom Crosley is NRPA's Education Manager,
Conferences and Schools (tcrosley@nrpa.
org).

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Parks & Recreation

July 2015 - Parks & Recreation

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