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NADO Annual Training Conference – Important Updates
Mobile Workshops are Popular!
This year’s mobile workshops must be popular because they are filling up fast. In fact, five are completely booked and there are waiting lists for each.
Registration confirmations will be emailed next week; they will include a re-cap of everything that each registrant has signed up for and will indicate if they are on a mobile workshop waiting list. This will allow plenty of time for them to sign up for one of the other mobile workshops that have space available.
The mobile workshops that are completely booked are:
- The Kenai Peninsula: Microcosm of Alaska’s Economy (Friday, Oct 3)
- Talkeetna: Thriving Gateway Community (Friday, Oct 3)
- Merging Scenic Byways with Economic Vitality: Tour the Seward Highway (Saturday, Oct 4)
- Port of Anchorage (Sunday, Oct 5)
- Alaska Native Heritage Center (Tuesday, October 7)
The mobile workshops that have space available are:
- Neighborhood in Motion (Saturday, Oct 4)
- Anchorage Emergency Operations Center (Monday, Oct 6)
- BP Energy Center (Monday, Oct 6)
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and FedEx Cargo (Tuesday, Oct 7)*
*Please note that the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and FedEx Cargo workshop is limited to 25 participants.
To help us assure that as many people as possible attend the mobile workshops of their choice, we are working with our hosts to see if additional buses and people can be accommodated on site. As soon as we know if this will be possible, we will notify conference attendees through NADO News and special faxes.
But you can help us as well:
- If someone from your group has cancelled and is no longer planning to attend the conference, and also not attending a mobile workshop, please contact us ASAP so we can release their name and move others up the waiting list.
- Mobile workshops are intended for registered conference attendees only. Anyone planning to attend a mobile workshop should also have registered for the full conference. We ask that you verify that anyone registered for a mobile workshop from your organization is also registered for the full conference, including spouses.
- Share the following preliminary itineraries for the three mobile workshops that are all-day trips – if anyone is not up to the long days, they may want to change their plans now and sign up for a shorter workshop.
Day-long Mobile Workshops Promise to be Exciting and Educational
Meanwhile, the mobile workshops are shaping, and itineraries are coming together for the three day-long workshops. As these workshops are finalized, we will send out information with the final itineraries and necessary information. We wanted to provide as much information as possible to the participants of the three day-long workshops so they can be prepared for long, full, interesting and educational days.
Kenai Peninsula: Microcosm of Alaska’s Economy, Friday October 3, 2008, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Participants will learn about Alaska’s economy (both the challenges and opportunities ahead) as it has been said the peninsula is a microcosm of the State: each of the State’s primary industries – fishing, timber, oil, gas and tourism – are a major force in the region.
Attendees will meet in the hotel lobby by 7:45 am to board the bus and head out on their adventure. The bus will leave the Anchorage Hilton promptly at 8:00 am (please note this is one hour earlier than originally planned) and head Southwest out of Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm and onto the Seward Highway (a designated National Scenic Byway), along the Kenai River into the town of Kenai. As the group works its way towards Kenai, there will be opportunities to pull alongside the road to inhale the view, take a few pictures…and possibly see some wildlife along the way!
From noon until 1:30 pm, the group will unwind during a buffet lunch at Sockeye’s Restaurant in Kenai Landing, a former cannery that is now home to a variety of businesses and an economic engine for the town. Visit www.kenailanding.com for details. (Lunch is included in the mobile workshop registration fee.)
During lunch, the group will hear from John Torgerson, Interim Director of Kenai Peninsula EDD (and former NADO board member), and Gary Fandrei, Executive Director of the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association (invited). John and Gary will talk about the importance of the tourism and fishing industries to the town of Kenai and their impact on the region’s and state’s economies.
The group will then have guided tours of the Conoco Phillips or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)Tesoro Refinery…as we determine the final number of participants, we will decide if there is time to fit the entire group at both sites or if we will need to split into two groups, each visiting only one of the sites.
Between 2:30 and 3:00 pm, the group will re-board the bus for the return trip to Anchorage with an estimated return time of 6:00 pm.
What to wear? Plan to dress comfortably (jeans and sweaters are good, a light jacket or fleece is recommended). You will need to wear closed-toed shoes on the tours at Conoco Phillips and Tesoro. There will be water and snacks on the bus. And don’t forget your camera!
Talkeetna: Thriving Gateway Community, Friday October 3, 2008, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Attendees of this mobile workshop should plan to meet in the Anchorage Hilton lobby no later than 8:45 am as the bus will leave precisely at 9am. The bus will wind through the city and head north towards Talkeetna, a quirky little town of 500 that is often considered the inspiration behind the TV show “Northern Exposure” and which is less than 100 years old!
The workshop will include a chance to see the amazing scenery along the Glenn Highway, a National Scenic Byway, as it makes its way to the little town where the Talkeetna, Chulitna and Susitna rivers converge. Keep your camera ready as you might see majestic Mount McKinley peer out from behind the clouds as you get closer to Talkeetna, and you may see moose, eagles, bears and other wildlife as the bus makes its way north.
As you arrive in Talkeetna, you will have lunch at the beautiful Talkeetna Lodge (included in the mobile workshop fee) and hear from local leaders about the important relationship between the community and area tourism activities. After lunch, you will visit the Denali Arts Council to learn how an old airplane hangar is helping the communities embrace arts and culture as economic livelihoods.
Complete with Roadhouses and shops filled with Made in Alaska items, Talkeetna is also the largest staging area for those hearty folks setting their sights on climbing Mt. McKinley. Before you board the bus for the return trip to Anchorage, you will have time to stroll around the town and visit some of the shops.
What to wear? Plan to dress comfortably (jeans and sweaters are good, a light jacket, slicker or fleece is recommended). Please wear sneakers, walking shoes or boots – open toed shoes are discouraged. There will be water and snacks on the bus. And don’t forget your camera!
Merging Scenic Byways with Economic Vitality: Tour of the Seward Highway, Saturday, October 4, 2008, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Participants must meet in the Anchorage Hilton lobby by 8:30 am as the bus will leave at 8:45 am sharp for this day-long trek along one of Alaska’s crown jewels, the Seward Highway. With its picture-perfect, breathtaking views and landscapes, it is recognized as a national scenic byway.
As we make our way along the highway, we just might see Dall sheep, eagles, moose and other wildlife as we leave Anchorage and drive along the Turnagain Arm towards the Kenai Peninsula. Stopping along the way to take in the vast beauty (and snap pictures galore!), there will be much discussion about the importance of the highway to the region’s economy and the state’s approach to keeping it beautiful and scenic.
We are working with staff from America’s Byways Resource Center and the Alaska Department of Transportation as we complete our plans for this mobile workshop. While our agenda is not quite complete, we are looking at visits to the Potter Marsh nature boardwalk, Beluga Point, Bird Point, Alyeska Ski Resort, the Begich Boggs Visitor Center and Byron Glacier walk – all stops will include brief presentations and tours, and will offer many chances for picture taking and to take in the abundant beauty of the area. The group will also have lunch – most likely in Girdwood – where we will learn more about the impact the highway’s designation as a National Scenic Byway has on the region’s economy.
What to wear? Plan to dress comfortably (jeans and sweaters are good, a light jacket, slicker or fleece is recommended). Closed-toed shoes –sturdy sneakers, walking shoes or boots – are strongly recommended. There will be water and snacks on the bus. And don’t forget your camera!
Please note that all workshops are intended for registered conference attendees only. They are subject to change or cancellation at any time. The Port of Anchorage and the Ted Stevens Airport Cargo Facility/Fed Ex mobile workshops may require security clearances (we will pass that information on as soon as we have it) and both require all attendees to wear sturdy shoes, closed-toed shoes. Attendees of all mobile workshops will be required to read and sign a waiver form prior to leaving the Hilton for the tour.
Good News/Bad News – Hotel Waiting List Getting Smaller but Hilton Still Sold Out
Our room block at the Anchorage Hilton continues to be completely sold out. If you have not yet made a reservation at the Anchorage Hilton, we urge you to reserve a room at one of the overflow hotels and contact NADO Meeting Planner Vicki Glass (vglass@nado.org or 202.624.8574) to have your name placed on the waiting list. As rooms become available at the Hilton, Vicki will move people over there.
If you have rooms at the Hilton that you no longer need, please do not cancel them – contact Vicki to transfer them over to someone on the waiting list.
For information on the overflow hotels, visit www.nado.org/conferences/annual.php.
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