Convention Program

Keynote Speakers

Monday, March 2

Tuesday, March 3

Wednesday, March 4

Iantha Gantt-Wright
President and Founder
The Kenian Group Diversity Coaching and Consulting

Larry Schweiger
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Wildlife Federation
 

Ken Burns & Dayton Duncan
Director & Co-producer
The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Voices of the Future Summit: Emerging Leaders for the Environment
Summit - 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Ambassador Introductions - 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Approximately twenty students will convene for the day to address issues linked to our living environment and to strengthening the diverse network of environmental and public lands advocates. This summit will focus on bringing these voices to the table and hearing their perspectives as leaders who can and will take the reigns for the future of our collective environment. During the week the emerging leaders will provide additional observations for discussion and report their visions of what we can do to better engage and work with the up and coming generation.
Get involved, be an ambassador with an emerging leader during the convention – Partner with an emerging leader to engage in a mutual learning experience. Share your story of public lands and hear theirs. Students will be invited to participate in the convention throughout the week and as their ambassador you’ll work with them to identify sessions that may be most relevant to their interests, answer their questions about the public lands industry, support them in networking, and talk with them about their visions related to the future of public lands.

Interested mentors should contact Amy Matthews by e-mail at amatthews@appl.org  or additional information and a student sponsorship form.

Iantha Gantt-Wright
President and Founder
The Kenian Group Diversity Coaching and Consulting




 

Iantha Gantt-Wright is President and Founder of The Kenian Group Consultants. She has been a successful practice leader for the nonprofit, government and private sector on issues of diversity and organizational development for more then 15 years. Mrs. Gantt-Wright has received much attention and recognition for her work, including the Department of the Interior’s Award for “Stellar Deeds in Advancing Diversity” and Outward Bound Adventures “Person of the Year.”

Sunday, March 1

Managing Volunteer Programs: From Pitfalls to Pinnacles
8:30 am – 4:30 pm (lunch included)

$155 with convention registration / $195 without convention registration

Managing volunteers presents unique challenges—ones that can trap your organization in pitfalls or raise it to new pinnacles. From college students to skilled professionals and the growing pool of retirees there is a tremendous range of potential assistance available. A well-structured volunteer program can expand the reach of your program while reducing staffing costs. Recruiting volunteers and best utilizing their skills and enthusiasm to further your organization’s mission requires careful planning. Come learn about structuring an effective volunteer program and creative solutions that have worked for other programs and organizations. A major focus of the session will be on structured group activities and discussions addressing your interests and needs. Specific topics will include volunteer recruitment, culture, program structure, management solutions, and associated expenses.

Alex Kosseff
Program Director Adventure Safety International LLC

Pam Hess
Director of Education Appalachian Mountain Club

Alex is a partner in Adventure Safety International LLC (ASI), a risk management consulting firm, and author of the Appalachian Mountain Club Guide to Outdoor Leadership. As the former Leadership and Volunteer Relations Director for the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) he managed relations with AMC’s 14,000 volunteers and developed risk management systems covering outdoor programs with over 100,000 annual participants. Through ASI, Alex provides risk management, program planning, and training support to a wide variety of professional and volunteer based programs. Based in Bozeman, Montana, Alex’s first consulting client was the Yellowstone Association and he has worked extensively with them over the past five years.

Government Relations in a Transitioning Administration
8:00 am – 12:00 pm
Registration Fee: $90 with convention registration / $125 without convention registration

This seminar will feature information from DC area advocacy specialists on building relationships with new agency leadership, congressional representatives, and key committee members. Practice ways to be more effective advocates for your organizational mission and for public lands as an individual and as part of a larger group. Topics will include: hints for meeting your public officials, crafting and communicating your message, and assessing political context and opportunity. Also included will be discussion of focused messages regarding the value of nonprofit public lands partners. Leave this seminar with new information to approach decision makers concisely, clearly and effectively while learning how these individual efforts relate to and interact with those of the Association of Partners for Public Lands. Whether you are new or experienced at government relations this session has something for you.

Charlie Stek, Former Chief of Staff to Senator Sarbanes

Rafe Pomerance, Environmental Advocate

Claudia Schechter, APPL Consultant

APPL Board Members




 

Sustainable Leadership and Succession Planning
12:30 pm – 4:30 pm

$90 with convention registration / $125 without convention registration


This unique seminar will introduce the inevitable sea of change in executive leadership while engaging retiring baby boomers in a productive session that generates an understanding of the importance of sustainable leadership and succession planning. Participants will be provided with an overview of succession planning and executive transition management, an understanding of the different types of succession plans and how planning can benefit the board, executives and their organizations, gain insight in knowing how organizations can benefit by reducing the risk of unplanned leadership transitions, a guide for developing a successful plan, a review of sample emergency succession plans and a framework to begin working on developing a succession plan for their own organization.
 

Don Tebbe
Senior Managing Partner
TransitionGuides

Don Tebbe leads executive transition and search projects and serves as the practice leader for TransitionGuides' leadership transition services. Don has been leading executive search and transition projects since 1995. He spent his first decade in the nonprofit sector as an executive for several statewide organizations and as a founder and leader in several national groups. He was a cofounder of the National Council of Nonprofits Associations, served as one of the early leaders in the movement to develop statewide associations of nonprofits and helped form a national unemployment insurance trust. Since starting his consulting practice in 1993, he has focused on advising nonprofits on leadership transitions, as well as helping them develop more effective strategies and business models. He has served a wide variety of organizations from grassroots startups to international organizations, including the world’s largest child welfare organization. Don is the author of For the Good of the Cause: Board Building Lessons from Highly Effective Nonprofits, a report based on case studies that explored the link between governing board behavior and nonprofit effectiveness. He is also the author of Chief Executive Transitions: How to Hire and Support a Nonprofit CEO, published by BoardSource in 2008.

The Landscape and Architecture of Web site Development
12:30 pm – 4:30 pm

$90 with convention registration / $125 without convention registration

Do you think browsers are only found in your brick and mortar stores?...or surfers only in parks like Channel Islands….or your customers only get locked up in parks like Alcatraz? Then come and explore the World Wide Web with us! Today’s customers expect businesses and organizations to have a Web site. But just because you build one doesn’t necessarily mean they will come. Developing an effective and successful Web site requires the right goals, messages, presentation, implementation and measurement. You don’t need to be a computer programmer to develop a Website and/or ecommerce site. You do, however, need to understand the landscape of the Internet and Website architecture in order to develop a Website which will achieve your goals. Join us for a fun afternoon as we take a look at how we can enhance organizational awareness, increase appreciation for public lands and provide financial support through an effective Web site development process. We’ll review the trends in the Web world, the strategies and steps for Web site development, the elements of an online business plan, the options for implementation, and marketing methods for your website/online store. This workshop is for anyone interested in getting their business online or for those already online who want to take a fresh look at their web presence. By the end of the workshop participants will have a defined strategy for their online presence as well as resources for implementation.

Kimberlee Riley
Chief Operating Officer, Jefferson National Parks Association and APPL Training Corps Member



 

Kimberlee has more than 20 years experience in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations offering themed visitor and retail experiences. She passionately serves the cultural and park communities in her position as Chief Operating Officer as well as consultant, speaker, trainer and volunteer. She is involved with all aspects of nonprofit management but specializes in cultural commerce, marketing and visitor services.

Thursday, March 5

US Army Corps of Engineers Partnership Training
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
(continues on Friday 8:00 am – Noon)

$175 with convention registration / $215 without convention registration (lunch included)

The Corps’ Natural Resources Management Program faces significant budget challenges. Changes are coming in allocations, operational policies, programs, and processes. Now more than ever, innovation, collaboration, and community outreach will play critical roles as we encourage and cultivate partnerships to enhance our program during these challenging times.

We invite you to learn about the latest efforts by your peers to leverage partnership dollars and resources. Innovative partnering efforts include the use of regional foundations, novel approaches to handshake seed funds, optimal use of the new Contributions, Fundraising, and Recognition Reference Guide (CFRG), and other initiatives that you can put to use at your own projects. This training is intended to benefit projects with existing partnerships as well as those starting new ones. Appropriate for Corps employees at all levels and associated partners

Chris Gallagher, US Army Corps of Engineers

Cori Brown, US Army Corps of Engineers

Jeff Boutwell, US Army Corps of Engineers

Claudia Schechter, APPL Consultant





 

Living on the Edge: Man, Nature and the Chesapeake Bay

David Harp, Photographer  & Tom Horton, Writer

$38 with convention registration / $55 without convention registration
This event is not included with attendee registration. A limited number of tickets are available so early registration is encouraged.

The edges where land and water meet charm us all, from watermen to watercolorists and beachcombers to duck hunters. They please the eye and feed the soul, and more than any other feature shape our consciousness of the Chesapeake Bay. – Tom Horton

Make sure to register for this special luncheon with photographer, David Harp, and environmental writer, Tom Horton, as they provide an intriguing glimpse into one of North America’s most fascinating regions, the Chesapeake Bay. Come learn about the delicate ecology of this great aquatic system and the changes and challenges it faces today. You’ll be captivated by Harp’s stunning photography and Horton’s journalistic depictions of the essence and beauty of the people, animals, and landscape of the Chesapeake Bay.

David Harp, former staff photographer for the Baltimore Sun Magazine, has received awards from the Maryland, Delaware, and DC Press Associations and the National Press Photographers Association. His photography is regularly featured in national environmental and lifestyle magazines. Tom Horton reported on the Chesapeake Bay for the Baltimore Sun for fifteen years before becoming a freelancer in 1987. Horton's first book, Bay Country, won the John Burroughs Medal for our nation's best natural history book of the year.

Horton and Harp share a passion for the Chesapeake Bay and have collaborated on a number of projects including three books Water's Way: Life along the Chesapeake, The Great Marsh: An Intimate Journey into a Chesapeake Wetland, and The Nanticoke: Portrait of a Chesapeake River.

Sunday, March 1

Monday, March 2

Wednesday, March 4

Newcomer’s Orientation
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
This special welcome session introduces first time attendees to the unique networking and professional development opportunities available during the convention. Members of the APPL Training Corps will provide useful tips to help make the most of your first convention experience.

2009 APPL Media & Partnership Awards Ceremony
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Recognizes the winners of the 6th annual APPL Media & Partnership Awards.







 

Closing Banquet & Live Auction
6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Join fellow convention attendees and exhibitors for dinner and an entertaining live auction. Proceeds from the live auction benefit APPL’s Education and Scholarship Fund. Consider donating items or trips from your organization.




 

Opening Reception: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm