Community Activities in NOLA: A Preview

The Community Mediation scene will be hoppin' all week long, and you're invited!

Regardless whether you're able to join us in New Orleans at ACR's Annual Conference this week, there are plenty of ways for you to connect. 

Check out what we're planning:

On-Site:

• Attend the many Recommended Community Sessions scheduled throughout the conference.
• Attend NAFCM's membership meeting on Thursday (9/13) from 1:00 - 2:00 pm in the Oakley Room (4th Floor).
• Attend the membership meeting for the ACR Community Section on Friday (9/14) from 12:30 - 1:30 pm in the Oakley Room (4th Floor) [LUNCH PROVIDED].
• Visit NAFCM's booth (#25) in the Exhibit Hall and strike up a conversation with myself and several NAFCM Board members.
• Contribute to the daily community-focused conference recaps right here on this blog!
• Complete NAFCM's crossword puzzle in the on-site program. (Drop-off your completed crossword at NAFCM's booth to enter our FREE membership drawing!)
• Join NAFCM during our 25% off September Special! (Membership/renewal forms will be available in the exhibit hall at NAFCM's booth.)

Online:

• Request a personal update and resources from up to two of the Recommended Community Sessions, and I will personally send you the info following the conference!
• Read and comment on the daily community-focused conference recaps right here on this blog!
• Plug-in to live conference updates via NAFCM's social media channels, including: Facebook, Twitter, & Google+.
• Try your hand at NAFCM's crossword puzzle featured in the on-site program. (Email a picture of your completed crossword to enter our FREE membership drawing!)
• Stay tuned for updates from NAFCM's on-site membership meeting, and watch for our companion online meeting to be announced shortly!
• MAKE IT OFFICIAL: Join or Renew your NAFCM Membership during our 25% off September Special!

I'm looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with many of you this week! I hope you're also excited about the week ahead!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

ACR 2011 Annual Conference - Daily Recap #1

Welcome from sunny San Diego! 

The Association for Conflict Resolution's 10th Annual Conference is officially underway! In case you're unable to join us, I'll be endeavoring to provide a daily recap of all the community mediation happenings fit to print. To get an even broader sense of all that's happening this week, be sure to check out the conference's official online home. (For readers who are bouncing around the Sheraton conference halls, share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below for the enjoyment of our colleagues who are home and hard at work.)

PRECONFERENCE

Earlier today, the ACR Community Section held it's pre-conference training titled: "Surviving and Thriving in these Tough Economic Times." This four-hour session, featuring lively and inspiring presentations by Karmit Bulman, Cheryl Cutrona, Michele Ennis-Benn, and Caroline Harmon, topped out at 14 attendees representing varied geographies and professional interests. In between timely and honest discussions about field diversity, fund development, public outreach, and social entrepreneurialism, the group snuck in an impressively coordinated group juggle of a foam-, koosh-, and racquet-balls...oh, and also Michele's purse, a children's doll, a *ahem* feminine product, an otter/rat squeak toy, and, of course, scissors. (A perfect analogy of our professional need to remain focused even as new, distracting, and sharp projectiles whiz past our ever-busy heads!)  

NAFCM CONNECTIONS & NEWS

Following the pre-conferences, an evening welcome reception brought a steady stream of attendees through the exhibitor's pavilion for an hors d'oeuvres fueled meet-and-greet. NAFCM's table was particularly well visited as Board Members Karmit and Jim Lingl and myself struck up conversations with community mediation colleagues hailing from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington, as well as our farther flung brethren representing Canada, Guam, and Ireland, amongst other locales. NAFCM's new "Community Mediator" name badge ribbons seem to be a huge hit as dozens of conference goers are already proudly sporting the distinctive gray and maroon strip. Our table also featured NAFCM's new special promotion offering 25% OFF all new and renewal memberships now through November 6th, as well as our new "YOU@CommunityMediator.org" professional email accounts, which are available to all current NAFCM members.

STAY TUNED...

All told, the pre-conference day at ACR's Annual Conference was a huge success. As tomorrow's first full day of the regular conference sessions unfolds, be sure to check back in with The Community Mediator and follow NAFCM on Facebook and Twitter to receive timely (wi-fi dependent) community mediation focused updates.

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM

OMA 2011 Annual Conference

With over two decades under their belt hosting exceptional conferences, the Oregon Mediation Association's upcoming Silver Anniversary Fall Conference is sure to be a grand event! Taking place November 4-5 in Portland, OMA has announced an impressive lineup of speakers and events, including Keynote Speaker Ray Shonholtz, former ten-year President of Community Boards in San Francisco.

Appealing to the varied professional focuses represented amongst OMA's membership, the conference offers  a particularly promising time for community mediation folks. Program administrators from throughout the broader Pacific Northwest will have access to informative sessions on community reconciliation, cross-cultural alliances, public policy engagement, restorative justice within the government sector, and entire program-relevant tracks, including mediator skills development and quality assurance. All told, OMA has crafted an accessible soirée offering eleven hours of professional development with plenty of opportunity for re/building personal connections thrown in for good measure.

Of further import to community-oriented attendees will be the presentation of OMA's Shannon Stewart Award of Excellence and its distinguished kin, the Brian Johnston Award of Excellence, which, respectively, honor notable volunteers and staff members at community dispute resolution centers and other public-benefit entities.

Gleefully correcting a too-long absence from PNW ADR events, NAFCM will proudly be in attendance! We look forward to reconnecting with our friends and colleagues working in one of the most active and consistently impressive regions of the country. We invite all in attendance to visit us at our Exhibitor booth where you can score your very own "Community Mediator" conference ribbon and check-out the latest community mediation resources. Be sure, also, to plug-in to NAFCM's Facebook and Twitter accounts, which will feature a stream of real-time, community-focused ideas and resources during the event. Following the conference, we'll post a conference recap to "The Community Mediator," NAFCM's blog.

Hope to see many of you in Portland this Fall!

In community,

Justin R. Corbett

Executive Director, NAFCM