Conference Sessions & Keynote

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  2025 Valdez Sessions – Bridging Nature and Play

  
  
  
  
  • Staff Training and Retention: Save Your Staff – Melissa Gerogesen
  
  
  • Roundtable: Community Center Rules, Policy, and Enforcement
    Join fellow parks and recreation professionals for an open roundtable focused on community center rules, policies, and enforcement. Discuss rental management, behavior issues, and share your SOPs or internal policies.
  
  
  • Low-Maintenance, Long-Term Landscaping Care – Nancy Casey & Tyler Best
  
  
  • Keynote: Karen Manthey – Nature Meets Nurture: Building Resilient Leaders through Play
    A high-energy keynote on humor, adaptability, and leadership resilience using real-life stories and the "Yes, And" mindset.
  
  
  • Tyler Best: Journey to CPRP
    A practical session sharing the path to earning your Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) certification.
  
  
  • Karen Manthey: Improv in the Wild – Building Strong Teams Through Play and Presence
    Learn and practice improv-based games that foster team trust, creativity, and connection.
  
  
  • Coastal Connections & Alaska Sea Grant – Leigh Lubin: Whole Being Teaching with Camp-in-a-Box
    Explore a Camp-in-a-Box model designed to empower local leaders in delivering holistic youth summer programs focused on science, resilience, and place-based education.
  
  
  • Tyler Best: Balancing Costs and Community – Understanding Recreational Facility Funding
    A breakdown of how Kenai tracks facility maintenance costs and volunteer inputs to evaluate who pays what and why it matters.
  
  
  • Cole Beck – Managing Trail User Group Conflicts Through Creative Solutions
    How the City of Valdez is reducing tensions on multi-use trails through communication and creative maintenance approaches.
  
  
  • Roundtable: Everyday Technology (Non-AI Based)
    Share tools, software, or workflows that support your daily work in parks and rec.
  
  
  • What Can ARPA Do for You? (ARPA Q&A)
    Learn about the Alaska Recreation and Park Association’s work and share how it can better support professionals across the state.
  
  
  • Gianna Giusti: From Chaos to Calm – Managing Elementary Behavior in Group Settings
    Behavior management tools and proactive routines for professionals working with K-5 children.
  
  
  • Karen Manthey: Speak Like a River – Public Speaking and Presence for Nature-Based Professionals
    Learn to adapt, connect, and inspire audiences with confident communication skills.
  
  
  • Hayley Johnston: Designing and Building Playful Trails
    Explore trail design that integrates recreation, nature play, and accessibility.
  
  
  • Nayurluku Park at Meals Hill: A Conservation and Recreation Model
    A deep dive into how Valdez turned a conservation vision into a public recreation success.
  
  
  • Aquatics Session: Special Programming at Your Pool
    Discuss aquatic special events, planning, budgeting, and creative downtime programming. Includes roundtable sharing and real-world examples.