New Concept In Workshops

"Eclectic Series to Meet the Growing Needs of the Park and Recreation Professional"

by Chris Flint, Workshop Committee and Jim Talley, Chairman

What do big business, affirmative action, politicians, authors, and ad-men have to do with parks and recreation?

A lot.

In a field expanding as fast as parks and recreation, the professional is constantly being faced with challenges of management, public relations, urban planning, and legislation. He needs expertise to meet these challenges whether beyond or in addition to training he already has.

To help its members achieve the highest degree of professionalism, the IPRS Workshop Committee offers a new concept in continuing education—the Professional Lecture and Technical Assistance Series. And to facilitate attendance, the new Series will be free of charge to IPRS members who have paid dues as an Executive, Administrator or Supervisor.

The Series consists of one session, Technical Assistance, and a preceding session, the Professional Lecture. An IPRS membership card (for Executive, Administrator, or Supervisor) is all that's needed to attend either/or both sessions. Additional tickets will be available in advance or at the door for leader/technicians, students, and non-members.

Well-known personalities from the fields of ecology, fine arts, politics, journalism, radio, and T.V. will keep park and recreation professionals informed at the afternoon Lectures. This part of the Series is designed to draw the leisure services professional out into the resources available in the larger professional community. The themes of these Lectures will be introduced in the Technical Assistance sessions where technical training in specific areas is the goal. Resource personnel will discuss problems of management, motivation, and articulation encountered by the recreation professional. This part of the Series is designed to draw the skill and knowledge of the larger world in to meet the specific needs of parks and recreation.

Dates for the Sessions are still flexible, but the Committee is planning three Professional Lecture and Technical Assistance Series in the coming year.

Theme for the first Series is "Communications —Personal, Public, and Interagency." Plans call for holding this Series at a large corporation complex in suburban Chicago the first week of February, 1975. Speakers may include T.V. news commentators and Chicago and syndicated newspaper columnists. Authors such as Mike Royko, known for his expose of Chicago politics in Boss, and wry, urbane Studs Terkel are expert communicators, and possible speakers. Topics, such as, the introduction of a systematic promotional program, pros and cons of calling in a professional public relations agency, and improving communications between employees will be covered in technical assistance.

Government wields a force that can have tremendous implications for the existence and function of parks and recreation. What's happening in Washington? What could it mean for Illinois? Vice-Presidential nominee Nelson Rockefeller may be among leaders in government to give IPRS members an answer. U. S. Senators from Illinois Charles Percy, and Adiai Stevenson are being contacted for this second Series, as is Donald Rumsfeld, who has worked closely with the President in the transition to the Ford Administration. The Technical Assistance session will probe more directly into areas such as funding, institutional spending, and lobbying. Another Chicago location is planned.

The Champaign-Urbana campus may be the site for the third Series, "Personhood Awareness." Affirmative action, multicultural awareness training, planning for special populations, and personal motivation are typical of current topics to be explored. Speakers for the Professional Lecture could include Eric Hoffer, known for his biting and penetrating comment on social change, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, women's movement leaders Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, and ecology-minded Ian McHarg.

More definite information will be released as speakers, locations, and dates are finalized. IPRS members should look for a flyer containing this information in early December. The flyer will also give registration information for leader-technicians, students, and other interested people.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 32 November/December, 1974