By Marcia Hall – INA Board of Directors, Nanny Program Committee Chair
So many amazing professionals – subject matter experts actually – come to speak at INA conferences, often either at their own expense or at deeply discounted speaker fees. I am always in awe of the time and attention these professionals put into their INA Conference presentations. Some of our speakers are the very people that sit next to the rest of us in many other workshops while others are experts outside of our industry. I would personally and publicly like to thank each of them for the amazing conference they helped provide this year.
There are three program committees – Nanny, Newborn Care Specialist, and Agency/Business.
As the chair of the Nanny Program Committee, I wanted to give you a little behind the scenes look into the process the program committees goes through selecting speakers. Speaker selection starts pretty much right after conference when we gather suggestions for topics and speakers given to us via the evaluations and social media. We value the input from attendees and welcome all suggestions, as well as introductions by members to extraordinary, talented professionals you may feel are a good fit for INA. These potential speaker introductions are especially appreciated.
Early in the summer the committees will begin sending out introductory emails to potential speakers, requesting speaker proposals. Simultaneously INA reaches out to all members – prior conference attendee or not – soliciting speaker proposals and introductions. Because this year we are gearing up for Cancun and know we need to have speakers lined up earlier than normal, this will likely begin as early as June. The speaker proposal form is also available on the INA website. The deadline for these proposals to be in is yet to be decided but will likely be near the end of the summer.
Once the deadline is passed, the program committees “meet” – typically via conference call. Every committee member is required to read though all proposals and come to that conference call with a good knowledge of every proposal. During this call, we walk though each potential workshop and select those we think will best fit what our nanny members have requested and what we feel will benefit the most attendees. Sometimes these choices are very difficult, and time and space considerations, as well as budget, often require that we pass on outstanding opportunities (we do keep these in mind for the following year!).
Most of our presenters agree to speak to INA for free or in exchange for an exhibitor booth or advertising. The bigger name speakers often work at a great discount for INA because we are a non-profit organization.
In early fall all program committees get together to make final scheduling decisions and speaker determinations. This is a complicated process that needs to take into account the anticipated popularity of speakers, room space, and opposing workshops. We also go high tech here – we have 3 different colors of index size Post-It notes, one for each track. Each proposed workshop has its own note. Add in a white board, a scheduling grid and we go to work, shuffling workshop around as needed! From here we work out a schedule and match the workshops we feel would best run opposing each other. This too usually proves to be a difficult decision. Once the presenters are confirmed, we begin gathering all the information we need – a/v equipment needs, internet needs, program bios and workshop descriptions, speaker head shots and more. The speaker biographies are then posted online, the INA Weekly Brief (our association blog) begins featuring the different speakers and workshops that are coming, the office begins working on the conference program, and we all anxiously anticipate conference!
If you are interested in being a part of a program committee you need to first make sure your membership is up to date. Then simply reach out to the specific program chair!
Nanny Program Committee: Marcia Hall
Newborn Care Specialist Program Committee: Cortney Gibson
Agency/Business Program Committee: Kathy Webb
Here are the ways you can help:
- Speaker/Workshop Suggestions – introductions to speakers you may know are super appreciated! Often our members encounter fantastic speakers at other industry and business events, and by bringing them to our attention with your enthusiastic endorsement you help the entire association. We will be experimenting with longer form workshops in Cancun – approximately 2.5 – 3 hours each – to provide attendees deeper, richer educational programming.
- Volunteer to participate in the workshop decision process and speaker coordination. To be involved directly in speaker selection, you must have been a member if INA for a minimum of 3 years and been to 3 conferences. You are also expected to bring to the program chair a minimum of 5 suggestions for workshops along with suggested speakers for these topics.
We are so pleased that so many people loved so many of the conference workshops this year and are expect this to continue into 2015 and beyond.
REMINDER: This INA Weekly Brief is a free publication, and we invite you to subscribe to this blog at the left.
A special thank you to INA member Marcia Hall for contributing this article. Marcia serves on the INA Board of Directors, is the INA’s Secretary, Chairs the Nanny Program Committee and the INA Nanny of the Year Committee – she is a busy lady. Marcia is also a former INA Nanny of the Year!
Marcia is the founder of Strong Roots Family Coaching, a life coaching practice that centers on the relationship parents have with their children. She is a popular nanny industry trainer/speaker.
Marcia and her husband are also kept exceptionally busy, and rewarded, parenting two beautiful girls.
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2015 INA Annual Conference: Cancun SAVE THE DATE!
INA Annual Conference Planning – Behind the Scenes