What Constitutes a Wing/Region/National Conference?

[a2capt]

Is there a set curriculum for a Wing or higher level "conference", that makes it be that, or is it just because the "Wing" (or higher) says "we need a conference, you are the project officer.", and it's called "Wing", "Region", conference?

Similarly, what makes an event a "wing" event? If a unit is conducting a training weekend, and invites other CAP members, is it now a "wing" event?

What's your take? Is it written in regulation someplace, or is it all on a whim?

[SarDragon]

I couldn't find anything in a cursory look at the regs, but I'm guessing that it has to do with sponsorship, funding, and staffing.

[Eclipse]

Similarly, what makes an event a "wing" event?

First and foremost, anything which is specifically reserved to the wing's (or higher) authority to execute.  Encampments, Conferences, RCLS, BISC,SLS, CLC, and (even technically a SAREx's) all need the specific approval and authorization of someone at the wing level or higher.  A lower echelon may sponsor or host the activity, but ultimately the Wing CC (or higher) must certify participation.

TLC, by regulation, is a Group-level activity since it can be run on a Group CC's authority without Wing approval.

There is no regulatory definition of a "conference".  It is whatever the respective CC is willing to designate as a "conference" for the sake of the PD credit.  For example my Region has an annual ES conference which is highly attended but was not traditionally considered a "conference" for the PD credit because it was focused on a single topic (ES). After it was pointed out to the (then) Region CC that CAP regularly has conferences at the
national level which are single threaded for CP & AE, and those count for PD, from that point forward the ES conference has counted towards
a Region Conference PD credit as applicable.

If a unit is conducting a training weekend, and invites other CAP members, is it now a "wing" event?

No.  By design all activities are open to everyone who is an active member, especially so if they are corporate or AF-funded. But inviting
outside units does not make it a "wing-level activity".  This comes up all the time with cadet resumes - they'll be on staff for
some larger activity, maybe a unit-level BCT, or a Group hosted FTX, and characterize is as a Region Activity just because a cadet from a neighboring state attended.  Likewise with larger activities.  Just because members from a larger scope participate, does make them an RCLS or NCSA.

[PA Guy]

I couldn't find anything in a cursory look at the regs, but I'm guessing that it has to do with sponsorship, funding, and staffing.

It might also be an attempt to control and maintain curriculum and standardization.

[jimmydeanno]

I'd simply say that it's a matter of sponsorship for things that don't have specific authoritative requirement.  If squadron x holds a really good ground team school every year and the wing would like the program expanded, or the unit would like to expand it to a wing level program, they should seek to get the sponsorship from the wing.  That would get it integrated into the wing's SAR training program, on the wing calendar, etc.

[lordmonar]

Is there a set curriculum for a Wing or higher level "conference", that makes it be that, or is it just because the "Wing" (or higher) says "we need a conference, you are the project officer.", and it's called "Wing", "Region", conference?

Similarly, what makes an event a "wing" event? If a unit is conducting a training weekend, and invites other CAP members, is it now a "wing" event?

What's your take? Is it written in regulation someplace, or is it all on a whim?

Nope...nor is there any standard for attendance.  Pay your fee and sign in....congraduations you have attended a conference.

It is one of my pet peeves about CAP PD program.

[MSG Mac]

I think CAP has come a long way from the days of PME by exposure

[Private Investigator]

Is there a set curriculum for a Wing or higher level "conference", that makes it be that, or is it just because the "Wing" (or higher) says "we need a conference, you are the project officer.", and it's called "Wing", "Region", conference?

Similarly, what makes an event a "wing" event? If a unit is conducting a training weekend, and invites other CAP members, is it now a "wing" event?

What's your take? Is it written in regulation someplace, or is it all on a whim?

Basically a Wing Conference is an annual banquet and awards ceremony for the entire Wing. But what if, Petticoat Junction Senior Squadron have their annual holiday party on December 15th; if they invite everyone in the Wing to it they can call it a 'wing conference'? Especially since the Unit Commander and his XO need another conference to make Major.

Tom, Dick and Harry need a "Wing CommEx" for their master rating in Communications. They turned their radios on Saturday morning, chit chat for a while. Can they call that a "Wing CommEx"? Dick lives in the next county, btw.

Nothing should be on a whim but I see a lot of mistakes that is ignored and that does not make it right.   

[Private Investigator]

Is there a set curriculum for a Wing or higher level "conference", that makes it be that, or is it just because the "Wing" (or higher) says "we need a conference, you are the project officer.", and it's called "Wing", "Region", conference?

Similarly, what makes an event a "wing" event? If a unit is conducting a training weekend, and invites other CAP members, is it now a "wing" event?

What's your take? Is it written in regulation someplace, or is it all on a whim?

Nope...nor is there any standard for attendance.  Pay your fee and sign in....congraduations you have attended a conference.

It is one of my pet peeves about CAP PD program.

CAP knowledge thru osmosis by attending a Wing Conference is one way to get to the lowest common denominator.

I got lots of pet peeves re: the CAP PD Program but I rather complain about uniforms   

[A.Member]

This is my view as to what a Wing conference  (and a National conference for that matter) "should" be (note: this may be very different from some of my actual experiences):

Simply stated, a Wing conference should provide an annual forum for the Wing staff to share the vision and goals of the Wing  for the coming year and reflect back on the successes of the previous year.  It's a chance to get all members on the same page working toward a common objective. 

A conference should have sessions hosted by each specialty (see org chart/20-1) in which they lay out specific a measurable goals for squadrons to achieve in the coming year along with strategies to help them reach those goals in each area.  The idea being that the Wing exists to aid the squadron in reaching it's full potential.  Members at the squadron level should be able to trace the value of the work they do back to the Wing vision, which, in theory, ties to a Region vision, and ulitmately the National vision.

It should provide a venue to share our capabilities and successes with not only the general membership but with the organizations/agencies that we work with as well.   Use this to reinforce relationships and build new ones - invite potential sponsors, etc.

It's a chance to reinforce best practices and gather new ideas.

Social time/team building built in to the conference, for both seniors and cadets.

Recognition is an important part of the conference as well.  It can be done through a formal ceremony or banquet which is typically the high point of the conference. 

A Wing conference is not a venue for doing a "SAREX" or other training activities. 

[coudano]

Stepping slightly outside of CAP's framework,

I have gone to a lot of industry conferences.
A few things always happen at them:
1.  They are always a day long or longer
2.  They always pull in participants from all around
3.  There is virtually always some sort of keynote address
4.  There are virtually always several break-out sessions, of which you can choose the ones you attend
5.  People...       confer.  Which is to say, "talk shop".  This serves to exchange experience, best practice knowledge, and to build social networks amongst people doing similar work.
6.  They are almost always at an external (neutral) venue, like a hotel or conference center.
7.  There are almost always vendors trying to hawk their wares on you, sometimes entire trade floors

Additionally, most wing conferences I have been to have also included formal business such as:
1.  A commander's call.
2.  Cadet Advisory Council.
3.  Other staff committee meetings.
4.  Above group level awards
5.  Maybe changes of command
6.  Formal dining out



**Also without looking up the reg, which I haven't lately, I think the commex standards are actually pretty rigorous.  You can't just get a couple dudes together to jabber on the radio and call it a comm ex...

[Eclipse]

...what if, Petticoat Junction Senior Squadron have their annual holiday party on December 15th; if they invite everyone in the Wing to it they can call it a 'wing conference'? Especially since the Unit Commander and his XO need another conference to make Major.

No, since it is neither hosted, nor authorized by the Wing CC.

Tom, Dick and Harry need a "Wing CommEx" for their master rating in Communications. They turned their radios on Saturday morning, chit chat for a while. Can they call that a "Wing CommEx"? Dick lives in the next county, btw.

Again, no, for the same reason.

[lordmonar]

...what if, Petticoat Junction Senior Squadron have their annual holiday party on December 15th; if they invite everyone in the Wing to it they can call it a 'wing conference'? Especially since the Unit Commander and his XO need another conference to make Major.

No, since it is neither hosted, nor authorized by the Wing CC.

Tom, Dick and Harry need a "Wing CommEx" for their master rating in Communications. They turned their radios on Saturday morning, chit chat for a while. Can they call that a "Wing CommEx"? Dick lives in the next county, btw.

Again, no, for the same reason.

Okay....and here is my rant.

Where is the regulation that says who authorizes or hosts a conference?

AFIK if you put the word "conference" in the title of the event then it is a confernce.

The PD regs say you need to attend (again not defined) at least two wing, region, or national congerences get your level III.
So what defines an "event" as wing/region/national level?

Again....my peve is that we all have a corporate idea what the terms are.....and for the record I agree with you Eclipses, that Squadron X having a conference call or PD meeting and just inviting the wing is not a wing level congerence.....but there is no offical definiton of the word.

Personally I think this is just one of those self eating ice cream cones.

Low turn out at Wing/Region/National conference?  We make them attend to get promoted to Major!
So now the only reason why anyone attends conferences is to get credit for their PD.
Also....now the only reson why wings put on conferences is becaue people need them to get promoted!

My wing has two wing staff meetings....where all the commanders are required to attend.  The have break outs, training, seminars, CAC, and a dinner over a Friday, Saturday, Sunday.......almost exactly what we do at our annual wing "conference".....why are these staff meetings not called conferences and we can just call the annual wing one....what is actually is.....the annual awards banquet?

I see almost no value added for requiring two conferences.....especailly the way the rules are written (attened two as a 14-15 year old cadet and 30 years later they count for your PD rateing).  I also don't understand that if....IF.....confernece attendance is so imporatnt for Level III why is there no requirment to attend regional congerences for Level IV and National conferences for Level V?  That only seems logical.

My final peeve is about the definiiton of attendance.  All Mitchell Cadets must attend an "encampment".  An Encampment is defined as 40 hours of instructions is various areas related to the Cadet Program.   The cadet must attend 80% of the 40 hours to be considered to have met the "attendance" requiment.

A wing/regional/national conference may be anywhere from 1 to 7 days long in practice.  They may have some classes that start before the formal confernce......and there may be an early Sunday morning Commander's Call......but reallly.......most of them are simply one day affairs with a dinner.  There is no requirment to sit in any of the opens sessions...no requirment to attend any of the break out sessions.  Unless a wing level director is also doing vehicle/aircraft/record inspections there is no requirement to do any thing more then just sign in and hang out in the loby or troll trough the vendor's hall or book and apointyment with the day spa.

Pesonally I think we can just do away with them all together. 

encourage your wings and regions to do seminars, and conferences on occasion but don't require them.
Remove the requirment from the PD and press on.

[Eclipse]

The final authorization and definition comes from the Wing CC or Region CC, etc.
They are the ones who will have to provide substantiation or approve the PD that requires those conferences.

[coudano]

I find more value in requiring members to facilitate a breakout session at a wing+ level conference,
for advancement in this career field

So you teach your 1 hour thing, and (ideally) go attend maybe 3 or 4 other ones, and the general assembly...

I like the *idea* of wing conferences but I have been horribly dissatisfied with them in the past,
and many times have gone to a breakout looking for real advice and help, and just gotten the specialty track pamphlet read to me...    like they just asked someone to stand there and do something so they could say that was on the schedule for that hour.  When this happens, you might as well just not even have the breakout session...


One of the best wing conference break out sessions i've ever been in was scott lawson's post katrina lessons learned, and future opportunities for CAP, based on his AAR interview with the EMA at Stennis.  Scott's observations were astute as always, and his vision of the future was (imho) correct.  Naturally, it sailed right over the heads of pretty much everybody who were still stuck in the "Electronic DF FOREVER" paradigm.


I make a policy of not attending conferences unless I have some business to conduct there.
If i'm leading a break-out, or participating in a committee, or representing the squadron as a deputy if my commander isn't there, then fine.  If i'm not doing something along those lines, cap conferences don't hack my personal cost:benefit ratio.

[a2capt]

So now that I've stewed on this for a while, it does definitely sound like the Wing, Region or National (not membership or regulatory) decides that "this" activity will count for PD or not.

IOW, if Wing holds a Cadet Programs focused multiday event that includes many breakout seminars and even several tracks to follow, pretty much cadet centric, but it's organized on the Wing level, has a couple social functions on the schedule, 16 hours of "classroom/seminar" time, a general assembly, and an awards/recognition banquet ...

Sounds just like a Wing Conference to me, how about you?

Same kind of thing happened. People got together, photos were taken, events were staffed..

Heck, in fact staffing the same event counts towards PD requirements, even, as a staff position, where that is needed. But not as attendance.  But I do get the distinct impression that other regions/wings have focused conferences that the chain along that route accepts, and acknowledges as PD participation.

I think it's time to make up a chart comparing many activities and the substance offered at them, and see what actually constitutes a "Wing Conference".  I bet the results will show that some of these other events actually offer more content.

[Grumpy]

Is this in relation to a certain Captain we know going for his 2nd conference?

[lordmonar]

The thing is......we should want to attend conferences because they are a) are fun. b) provide training opportunites that are valuable to our members. c) Provide an opportunity to network and meet the rest of the wing/region/nation.

Unfortunately......I have not seen much of that going on.  I got my two conferences in....and there was nothing I saw at them that made me want to ever go back.....and one of my conferences was the National Board.

[Grumpy]

The thing is......we should want to attend conferences because they are a) are fun. b) provide training opportunites that are valuable to our members. c) Provide an opportunity to network and meet the rest of the wing/region/nation.

Unfortunately......I have not seen much of that going on.  I got my two conferences in....and there was nothing I saw at them that made me want to ever go back.....and one of my conferences was the National Board.

Amen!  I try to go to these conferences to learn the new and exciting changes but it's always the same thing, "war stories"

[Eclipse]

Bottom-line answer, the Wing or Region CC decides what is a Conference, and these decisions are usually driven by the echelon's PDO, who
is usually the one in charge of putting them on.

If you're going for the experience, curriculum, or war stories, then it really doesn't matter.  If you're also going for PD credit, you should ask direct questions, get the answer in writing, and make sure yo have substantiation of attendance.

[a2capt]

Bottom-line answer, the Wing or Region CC decides what is a Conference, and these decisions are usually driven by the echelon's PDO, who is usually the one in charge of putting them on.

That's about what I'm trying to determine, -WHO- decides it's a 'conference' that 'counts' for PD credit.

Is there a regulation, pamphlet, manual, scrawl on a cocktail napkin, anything, that shows who determines that a conference is a conference for the purposes of PD, and likewise what that conference should consist of?

Now, if I think about it, I'm sure that the intention of the requirement is to get the members involved socially with each other, to get them to see and be able to explore other parts of the program, and provide for opportunities of knowledge transfer.

A great many events do exactly that, and it sure sounds like some echelons recognize more than others.

Why is that? What constitutes that, and drives that rationale?

That's what I'm after. If it does not exist and it's purely at the will of a wing or region to say "you know, this is a fairly large event, it does all these things, it encourages participation from abroad, lets allow that to be used as PD credit as well".

Which leads me back to the requirement "Attend two conferences" .. what constitutes a conference for purposes of this?

My goal is to compile some logic and present it up the chain to get them to realize that several events they operate are in fact very similar and since there are already focused events that count, using Aerospace Conferences as one example, they can't say "well, that's all cadet programs related" .. when AE is one of our missions, and as it's been noted earlier in the thread, one of the regions has an ES conference that is recognized. That's two of our missions! .. each a focused event, but otherwise seems to have the same kind of flow and session makeup.