Wing Conference

[Copout2]

So I was put in charge of my wing conference this year and have been given a blank slate on what to include for the conference. So, I need some legitimate ideas that I could pull off by next July-August. What are some thoughts?

[lordmonar]

Awards Banquet

2-day-all-day activites

SLS
CLC
TLC
UCC
IS 300
IS 400
Model Rocketry
Teaching Drill 101

1-2 hour break out sessions

Logistics Made Easy
Communications Inventory Made Easy
Vehicle Management Made Easy
Membership Boards Made Easy
Promotion Boards (Cadet) Made Easy
Promotion Boards (Seniors) made Easy
Award Writing 101
Award Boards Made Easy
10 Cadet Activities You Can Do On The Fly
How to make CAC work for your unit
Wing CAC Meeting

20 Minute Briefings
Personnel
Logistics
ES
Cadet Programs
Professional Development
etc, et al.

[Eclipse]

You should not have a blank slate, this is the wing CC's time to shine and present his initiatives and vision, he or she needs to
give you direction.

With that said, a 1-hour presentation from the major department heads on past/current/future ops will kill your weekend nicely.
Make sure not to schedule competing seminars against each other or you'll wind up with 1/2-empty rooms and frustrated presenters.

A survey sent to your "all" list can give yo an idea on the demographics of those who might attend.

Good luck on the cadet side - 14 years in and I have yet to see a conference that was worth their time.

[Eclipse]

2-day-all-day activites

SLS
CLC
TLC
UCC
IS 300
IS 400

Strongly non-concur - a wing conference is not a mini-PD weekend.  If you do that you kill
the seminars and lose the attendance of everyone who has those boxes checked.

The bottom half of your list has good ideas.

[lordmonar]

That's why you do both....and more.

If you want everyone to come....you got to offer something for everyone.

[JeffDG]

That's why you do both....and more.

If you want everyone to come....you got to offer something for everyone.

Tough to do two-day courses at a one-day Wing Conference.

[jeders]

That's why you do both....and more.

If you want everyone to come....you got to offer something for everyone.

Tough to do two-day courses at a one-day Wing Conference.

Who says it has to be one day? Ours is 4 and goes a little something like this.

Thurs:
8-5 PD classes

Fri:
8-5 PD classes
6-9 Wing Commander's reception (food, drinks, socializing)
6-9 Cadet Social

Sat:
Morning, call it 8-10 Breakfast, welcome, awards ceremony
10-12 Breakout sessions
12 lunch
1-4(5) Breakout sessions
7-10 Banquet (food, high profile awards, guest speaker)

Sun:
8 Breakfast
10 Commander's Call/Wing staff meeting

Some people will be there from Thursday through Sunday, others will come Saturday morning and leave Saturday night.

As for Cadets, if your conference is in a location with some "neat" stuff to visit (aviation museums/NASA) or if you can get some interesting guest speakers (astronaut, SR-71 pilot, CAP Nat/CC) then there is some draw for the cadets. Though even then you won't have major interest from the entirety of the cadet corps. Just don't ignore the cadets.

[Eclipse]

I'd say in most wings your odds of having anyone there on Thursday are slim to none, including the conference staff.

Most of these are 2-days with a "rolling in" Friday night reception and little of consequence on Sunday.

Those Sunday Commander's calls and wing staff meetings usually dissolve before they start, too.
1/3 of the CC's aren't even there, 1/3 of the wing staff is trashed, another isn't there, etc.

Would be great if there was a way to require participation, but when you couple 2-days of people reading slides to the audience
about things the audience knows more about then the presenter, an expensive rubber chicken banquet, and
3 hours of non-CAP speakers that the conference orgs thought would be "cool" coupled with an hour of
decorations where 1/2 the recipients are "no here", it's hard to get people to write those checks and
drive 4-6 hours to attend.

[Майор Хаткевич]

But we still come...if we want to advance. Just, hopefully not as cadets.

[Eclipse]

I will give everyone scoring at home a hint.

If you have National or even Regional leadership there (and this goes for the wing staff as well), these conferences
seem like a "great time" to stand up and call people out for minutia you don't agree with, ask charged questions,
or otherwise "hold people accountable publicly".

Just don't.

[a2capt]

CAWG has had schedules similar to that "4 day" TXWG sample conference schedule, though the last couple have been a bit shorter, it ebbs and flows.

[JeffDG]

CAWG has had schedules similar to that "4 day" TXWG sample conference schedule, though the last couple have been a bit shorter, it ebbs and flows.

Last two for TNWG have been one-day events, including the banquet.

[Storm Chaser]

@ Copout2

Why don't you talk to the previous project officer(s) and/or look at the previous schedule/program to see what your wing has done before and what has worked or not? As you've seen by these posts, every wing is different and what works in one state may not necessarily work in another.

[Eclipse]

^ Excellent suggestion.  I just realized that you're (OP) from NJ - that changes the math on travel times,
which potentially changes it on participation.

Put the conference where the majority of the wing has to drive and stay overnight, and you're going to
spend time with crickets.   Put it where the majority of the members live so they can be day-players
and you'll see a lot more of them.

Also, make sure you have a reasonable cost option that doesn't include the banquet or other meals,
and make sure you take a really good look at the banquet food.  No one is going to be happy paying
$35 for a hotel hamburger.

You should also consider waiving conference fees for the presenters.  Odds are they don't need the
PD credit and are there for the participants.  It's the least you can do for them.  You can still charge for the
banquet.

[dwb]

Oldie goldie thread: http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=3475.0