CONFERENCE SESSION BLOCK 4

• Session 4A
• Session 4B
• Session 4C
• Session 4D
• Session 4E
  
• Session 4F
  
• Session 4G
• Tour

Up Your Score with an RCO Panel 

Description: 

Have you been too scared to apply for Recreation & Conservation Office (RCO) grant funding? Do you feel lost at the prospect of putting a presentation together? Have you wondered how agencies consistently make it ‘above' the cut line? Join this panel of park and recreation peers who have volunteered to be part of RCO’s Evaluation Panels to learn what they look for and how you can help them give your project all the points they can. Panelists have seen hundreds of applications come through and can help describe the grant criteria in terms of what they need to hear and see in a competitive application. Additional Panelists include: Allison Dellwo, RCO Outdoor Grants Manager Ethan Newton, Director, Covington Parks & Recreation Angie Feser, Director, Edmonds Parks & Recreation.

Presented by: 

Bryan Higgins, Parks Capital Project Manager, City of Kent

Biography: Bryan has worked for state, county, and city parks departments over the past 22 years. He spent the first 16 years of his career working in park maintenance. In 2016, he started working for the City of Kent as a Capital Project Manager in the Parks Planning and Development Division. Bryan has a BS in Leisure Services from Central Washington University. Bryan's hobbies include waterskiing, cycling and photography.

Chaz Batesd, Planning Manager,  City of Spokane Valley

Biography: Chaz Bates is an experienced planner working in both private and public sectors for over 20 years. He currently serves as the City of Spokane Valley's Planning Manager, where he oversees both current and long-range planning functions. Chaz is passionate in helping communities adapt and respond to change in effective and meaningful ways. Chaz's recent accomplishments include development and the adoption of the City of Spokane Valley's Housing Action and the city's first Planned Action Ordinance. Chaz lives in Spokane's first co-housing community and enjoys sunsets, cheese popcorn, and the outdoors with his family. He has served for two cycles on the RCO Local Parks panel.

Roxanne Miles, Parks Director, Pierce County Parks & Recreation

Biography: Roxanne has served as the Pierce County Parks Director for 5 years, following a 15-year career at Metro Parks Tacoma. She is currently the WRPA Legislative Chair, seeking to help park agencies statewide grow resources to sustain critical services to our communities. She is a strategic leader with an MBA and background in grant-writing, technical assistance and business management. She has served two cycles on the Local Parks Evaluation Panel.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn how to demonstrate criteria for grant requirements in a way that is easy for the evaluators to score.
2. Learn pitfalls to avoid.
3. Learn how to effectively prepare for a presentation.

Supervising in the Era

Description: 

Let’s talk ‘entitlement mindset’ and equip you with tools to hire, train, and retain staff. This session will explore customer service and offer suggestions for enhancing policies, procedures and patron code of conduct to assist in day-to-day operations.

Presented by: 

Cory Hilderbrand, Community Services Manager, City of Irvine

Biography: Cory Hilderbrand is a Community Services Manager for the City of Irvine and oversees the Aquatics and Human Services (Seniors, Disability Services, Childcare, FOR Families, and TRIPS) Division. Aquatics and Human Services includes staff of over 230 who supervise the day-to-day operations of multiple facilities which include two aquatic centers, three senior centers, a child resource center, and an ability center. Cory has worked in the aquatics industry, private and public, for over 30 years. Cory is the Past-President of the Association of Aquatics Professionals and in 2022 was named by Aquatics International in their Power issue.

Learning Objectives

1. The participant will develop an understanding of how to engage and get the most out of our current new workforce.
2. The participant will develop new ways in dealing with difficult and demanding patrons.
3. The participant will be provided examples of policies and procedures geared to be clear, concise, and support employees.

Expanding Learning Opportunities for Park Visitors through Augmented Reality

Description: 

Join this session with the City of Seattle's Parks and Recreation Department to find out how they are using Augmented Reality (AR) to share fun, educational programming in Seattle parks. Through AR, the city has made educational materials accessible to a broad audience and created meaningful, engaging learning experiences for their visitors. The purpose of this presentation is to share their ongoing innovative initiatives that employ AR-based educational content, and to discuss the effectiveness of using AR technology to engage learners everywhere. Agents of Discovery is an educational mobile gaming platform that uses augmented reality, geofencing and image recognition to get players active. It empowers educators and managers of public spaces to link location to learning and create engaging, fun and safe learning environments on site or at home. The platform is being used by federal agencies, state parks, museums, county parks and municipalities across the country.

Presented by: 

Chukundi Salisbury,  Manager, Environmental Sustainability, Education and Engagement Unit, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Biography: Salisbury works as a manager for Seattle Parks and Recreation and serves as the founding director of the Youth Green Corps.  He has served as the trails coordinator, urban food systems manager, director of Camp Long, as well as a recreation center coordinator at Garfield Community Center. Chukundi has a B.S. in Computer Science from Elizabeth City State University (NC) and is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.

Becca Reilly, Sr. Recreation Program Specialist, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Biography: Passionate about the intersection between people and the environment, Becca has held a number of different positions within Seattle Parks and Recreation over the last seven years. She currently serves as a senior recreation program specialist, overseeing various programs in parks such as Discovery Park and Carkeek Park. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies at The Evergreen State College in 2011.

Joel Krupa, Chief Administrative Officer, Agents of Discovery

Biography: Joel started his career as an intern in the office of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He went on to hold Senior Analyst roles in both private sector and public sector clean energy organizations. In his academic career, he has published 10 energy-related academic papers and over 50 book reviews on technical and popular topics. Joel completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Engineering after earning a B.A. at the University of British Columbia, a B.Sc. at the London School of Economics, an M.Sc. at the University of Oxford, and a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto.

Learning Objectives

1.  Participants will be able to demonstrate how AR can be used to get youth interested and engaged in content created and shared by public lands.
2. Participants will be able to explain the benefits of using AR technology to get youth physically active and learning at the same time.
3. Participants will be able to describe how AR can be used to create educational mobile games that can be used in a diversity of ways, including for special events.

Finding Sponsors and Building Community Partnerships

Description: 

Parks and recreation staff face many challenges with finding alternate funding sources. Due to the ever increasing cost to provide quality programs, it is critical that departments find other sources of revenue to augment their cost recovery. Learn how to identify potential partners and community resources in this fun and entertaining session. The speaker will share strategies and techniques on finding new sponsors and retaining current partners; guidelines for creating community partnerships; and proven methods on how to secure sponsorship funds for events, activities, and programs.

Presented by: 

Marty Boggs, Park Staff, Redmond Parks & Recreation

Biography: Marty Boggs has over 40 years of experience working in Parks and Recreation including at the cities of Redmond, Bellevue, and Lynnwood, and King County Parks. Marty has extensive knowledge on funding raising, grant writing and partnerships. Marty has administrator and program coordinator work history in Sports & Fitness, Special Events and Rentals, motivational speaking and Disability Awareness Program Manager. He has provided over 500 wheelchair sports assemblies in local schools and has a bachelors in Recreation Management and Leisure Studies.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will learn how to identify potential sponsors in their communities.
2. Participants will learn how and when to request funds from organizations and businesses.
3. Participants will learn methods on developing long-term relationships and how to create a sponsorship action plan.

Have You Discovered Canva Yet?

Description: 

Do you need to create marketing materials for an upcoming activity but don't think you have the artistic skills, abilities, or time? Canva is an Australian graphic design platform used to create marketing materials including social media graphics, print advertisements, presentations, logos and much more. Free and professional versions allow anyone to get inspired with thousands of templates, font options, and color schemes! This session will include a demonstration on how to use Canva's features and end with a hands-on group design project being used by parks and rec programmers across the country.

Presented by: 

Kendall May, Recreation Coordinator, City of Spokane Valley

Biography: Kendall May graduated from Central Washington University in 2017 with a degree in Recreation and Tourism with a specialization in Events. Kendall learned about Canva her senior year in college and has been utilizing the site since she started her full-time career at the City of Post Fall and in her current role as Recreation Coordinator with the City of Spokane Valley. This will be her first time speaking at WRPA, fulfilling a career goal of speaking at an annual statewide conference.

Christa Crago, Recreation Specialist, City of Spokane Valley

Biography: Christa Crago is a recent graduate of Eastern Washington University with a degree in Recreation and Tourism Management and a minor in Sports Management. Christa discovered Canva during her summer internship and quickly gained confidence utilizing the site to create a plethora of marketing materials for programs and events. This will be Christa's first time presenting at WRPA conference.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn to use or better familiarize yourself with a graphic design platform.
2. Compare and discuss the user-friendly features of Canva versus other graphic design platforms.
3. Utilize the techniques learned to create a graphic during the session to get a hands-on experience on how to use the features discussed.

Securing the Interview

Description: 

Meant to be taken in conjunction with the "Interview Like a Pro: Practicum and Skill Development" session, participants will learn tips and tricks for navigating the application process. This will include: the application process, scouting the agency, resume, cover letter, supplemental questions, first contact, and discussing salary. This session will also include a short analysis of effective and poor interview answers.

Presented by: 

Kelly McGinley Ashe, Recreation Director, Cheney Parks & Recreation

Biography: Kelly received her bachelor's degree in Recreation and master's degree in Recreation Administration from Indiana University. She's worked in the municipal parks and recreation setting for 15 years. Kelly has been a presenter at WRPA for multiple years and is the co-chair of the Parks and Recreation Emerging Professionals (PREP) Committee. Her professional interests include organizing and running community events and getting young people excited about working in the field of municipal recreation. On the weekends you can find her hiking with her husband and dogs, throwing themed parties, and cooking for friends.

NeSha Thomas-Schadt, Park and Recreation Regional Manager, Pierce County Parks

Biography: NeSha Thomas-Schadt oversees the operations of the west region of Pierce County's park system. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked for several municipalities in Washington and California. She holds a bachelor's in athletic administration from Pepperdine University, where she competed as a student-athlete, as well as a master's degree in sport management from the University of San Francisco. She is also a Professional Advisory Committee member of Western Washington University's recreation degree program, the co-chair of WRPA's Parks and Recreation Emerging Professionals (PREP) committee, and a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional.

Jared Bucci, Athletics Supervisor, Pierce County Parks

Biography: Jared is the Athletic Supervisor for Pierce County Parks. He oversees two athletic complexes and has direct scheduling oversight of 19 sports fields and ice rink. Jared is a USA Hockey Level 5 Master Coach and has coached youth and junior players for over 20 years. He has also had the privilege of coaching for USA Hockey at the national level at the National Player Development Camp in Buffalo, New York. Prior to working in the Sports Industry, Jared owned a commercial construction company for 11 years. Jared is also a member of the Parks and Recreation Emerging Professionals (PREP) Committee.

Learning Objectives

1. Gain a better understanding of the application process.
2. Improve your cover letter and resume.
3. Learn how to prepare yourself as an ideal candidate to secure an interview.

Browns Park Renewal: Inland Beach Volleyball Destination

Description: 

Browns Park located in Spokane Valley is the Northwest's largest sand volleyball complex that features sixteen full size competition courts. The complex is managed by Evergreen Region Volleyball Association (ERVA) in partnership with Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation. Built in six phases over 7 years, Browns Park offers multiple activity facilities of sand volleyball, beach themed ADA accessible playground and splash pad, skate dot, full size basketball court, a 1/3rd mile lighted looped asphalt walking path, two restrooms and two shelters. The inclusion of all of these the amenities have rejuvenated the park to be one of the most active parks in City of Spokane Valley.The addition of the sand volleyball courts met a growing need for public and tournament quality sand volleyball courts for local volleyball associations and a regional destination for sand volleyball tournaments. The splash pad is one of four in the City of Spokane Valley's public splash pad's inventory and the Skate Dot is the only developed skate facility, which both geographically serve a majority of the city. Browns Park playground is one of four playgrounds within the region that focused on inclusive and ADA accessible as the primary design parameter.

Presented by: 

Mike Terrell,  Principal, Landscape Architect, Landscape Architecture, PLLC 

Biography: Mike is the principal at Michael Terrell Landscape Architecture, PLLC, a landscape architecture and planning firm in Liberty Lake, WA. Mike has 34 years of experience in landscape architecture. His projects include parks, schools, campus landscapes and trails. His recent work has included park, recreation and trails. Mike is the landscape architect of record for the Browns Park Master Plan and all phases of construction.

Jeff Stiltz, Project Manager, Landscape Architecture, PLLC;

Biography: As project manager, Jeff has over eight years of experience in all phases of park and recreation design. He is also a Certified Playground Safety Inspector and utilizes his knowledge in the design of playgrounds for all ages and abilities. He was responsible for the design of each phase of Browns Park from concept through construction administration.

John Botelli, Parks, Recreation & Facilities Director, Spokane Valley Parks & Recreation

Biography: John Bottelli was appointed Director of Parks, Recreation & Facilities for the City of Spokane Valley in 2021. John has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont and a Master's degree in Natural Resource Management from Central Washington University. Mr. Bottelli has over 23 years of experience as a public employee, including 16 years in Parks and Recreation and an extensive background in managing parks, recreation programs and facilities including involvement in the acquisition and development of park land for recreational purposes. John was a member of the Washington State Local Parks Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2021.

Learning Objectives

1. The participant will be able see how an existing park can be reinvented through collaboration with active and growing user groups.
2. The positive opportunities, programming and relationships within a park will be explored to discuss challenges and impacts of negative park uses.
3. Participants will be prepared to identify opportunities for collaboration between public and user organizations to activate parks and facilities.

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