Richard's Blog

 Posts Tagged ‘Side-by-Side Technology Conference’

Next year we are planning something like 25 different Therap conferences across the country. In addition to the National Conference in Feburary, this includes Regional Conferences and Side-by-Side Conferences with College of Direct Support.

There are a number of issues which go into choosing times and locations for conferences.  I am very conscious of keeping the cost of the hotels and airfare as low as possible. So for example the Florida Conference is in December in Orlando because the hotel said it was the lowest travel week of the year to Orlando and we were able to get a very low sleeping room rate for people. Apparently no school children travel to Disney halfway between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We also try to have only one or two Therap conferences the same week. There is a limit on Therap team members who can run sessions at the conferences. There is one week this year where we have conference in Oregon, Nebraska and New York the same week. We have the conference sessions covered, but we try and avoid three conferences the same time.

One issue in planning which has occurred recently is planning around holidays.  How far from holidays can a conference be run. For example we ran the New Mexico conference the Wednesday and Thursday after Memorial Day. That seems ok – as people were able to use the Tuesday to drive if needed.

I was just informed that the tentative date for the North Dakota conference was the day after Fathers Day and I will try and switch it to Tuesday and Wednesday so people don’t have to leave their families on the holiday.

We have tried to avoid the Thursday before Labor Day – but have felt a Tuesday and Wednesday conference the week before Labor Day would be ok.

Holidays are a time to spend with families for both patriotic and religious reasons. As we are running more conferences we are trying to be aware of holidays and customs around the country.

There are parts of the country where we would want people to have the day to spend with their family when hunting season begins. But for example just in looking at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website there is not just one website. There are seasons for bear, deer, pheasant, grouse and more – and in fact even a archery season for deer.

I know that sometimes when scheduling conference 6-12 months in advance we make a mistake. I mistakenly put our Oregon conference on Veteran’s Day this year. When signing up a conference and asking for the 2nd Wednesday and Thursday of a month -I didn’t focus on the specific number and Veteran’s Day is always November 11. As opposed to Thanksgiving which changes the date but is always the 4th Thursday of November.  I apologize for this scheduling and hope to avoid this mistake in the future.

If people have other thoughts and questions on how and why our conferences are scheduled when they are – I would be happy to discuss.

Each conference we run has different characteristics. This is the second conference we are running in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We are again running in conjunction with College of Direct Support.

One interesting difference between the Tennessee conference and many other conferences is the number of different states that we have attendees from. At the recent conference in Buffalo, NY we only had users from New York State.   For the conference in Tennessee we already have attendees from the developmental disabilities communities in Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia and Iowa as well as Tennessee.

This is a probably a function of both Jason Laws discussions with provider agencies in Georgia and other states as well as Nashville being a Southwest Airlines hub and the good interstate highways reaching into Tennessee.

The mix of users is a good example of why we schedule these conferences and not only have user groups which usually cover a smaller area.

We will be holding the next Side by Side technology conference with the College of Direct Support May 3-5 in St. Louis, Missouri.

This will be a good opportunity to learn about various Therap Services modules as well as information about CDS modules and their application. Linda Petrini and Web Footed Friends will be there to speak about Talintel.

There will be general Therap sessions of interest to agencies throughout the United States. There will also be Missouri  and Illinois specific sessions or user group discussions.

As with recent Side-by-Side Conferences – there will be an optional package included for a local dinner and site of interest.

We will be posting information to help make choices about the different conferences which are offered. We continue to recommend that provider administrators attend the national provider administration conference in Fishkill, NY in February.

I am excited about our upcoming Side by Side Conference in Minnesota in October 19-21, 2011.

In addition to College of Direct Support, Rest Assured and Web Footed Friends, we have a number of sessions led by Amy Hewitt and the team from the University of Minnesota Institute for Community Inclusion.

People often ask which Therap conference makes the most sense to attend. There are really three type of conferences we currently run (I might change that to 4 types if I can call user groups mini-conferences).

1) Therap Regional Conferences like the 2 day conference being held today in Salem, Oregon. These conference are designed for a concentrated local set of Therap users. Most of the sessions are module specific.

For 2010 we are expecting to hold conferences again in Maine and Oregon. Plus new regional conferences in North Dakota, Montana and other states as we have more Therap users.

2) Side by Side Technology Conferences with College of Direct Support. These confernces are held throughout the country and are designed for agencies to get a broad exposure to a number of technology companies working in the developmental disability community. There are sessions on many aspects of use of Therap and College Direct Support, plus general discussions on issues with past participants including Deyta, Rest Assured and Web Footed Friends. The first 2010 conference will be in Kansas City Missouri.

3) Therap National Provider Administrator Conference. Our 2010 conference will be held in Fishkill, NY February 2-4, 2010. There will be 9 simultaneous sessions for 3 days. Everything from beginning how-to sessions to brainstorming discussions and more. It is designed for Advanced Therap Provider Administrators as well as serving as a regional conference for the New York/mid-Atlantic region. It is also a good confernce for new agencies just starting up to attend.

4) Our user groups are almost “mini-conferences” so I thought I would list them here. Tomorrow there is one in New York City. We have had them both in person and over the phone/internet. They are both regionally based by state or topic based.

If you have questions on which type of conference is best for you or your agency – just ask.

The next Side-by-Side Technology Conference will be in Kansas City, Missouri May 4-6, 2010 at the Holiday Inn.

Once again the conference will be with The College of Direct Support and Bill, Annie and Donna will be there.

In addition, we expect to have Rest Assured and Web Footed Friends. As well as Deyta talking about Ancor’s Performance Excellence.

Registration information about conference sessions will be posted on the website.

We just finished Side by Side Technology Conference IV with College of Direct Support, Rest Assured, WebFooted Friends and Deyta.

Special thanks to Amy Hewitt of the University of Minnesota for her presentation.

I am finding it tremendously exciting seeing the number of agencies moving forward with technology to improve their support and operations, reduce costs and help with compliance.

Having these national conferences really highlights the changes in attitudes towards electronic signatures, family access and so many other issues.

I can no longer just write across the country as we had a group from ACRS in Alberta Canada participating as well.

Look for details on the next side by side technology conference to be held in Missouri in May 2010.

We will also discuss many of these issues and have presentations at the Therap National Provider Administration Conference in Fishkill, NY February 2-4, 2010