And we’re off and running, heading into an exciting year ahead. We’re looking forward to the learning and networking opportunities on the schedule, and to hearing about the new adventures in public participation going on around the country!

In this issue, you’ll find:

• Features:  In this issue, you’ll meet the 2018 Board, and you’ll get a look at the Strategic Plan for 2018-2020. The Midwest Chapter releases information about their Midwest Chapter Regional Conference & Annual Meeting
• Events: The Call for Submissions is out for the 2018 IAP2 North American Conference in Victoria, Canada; registration is now open, and on the horizon is the Application period for the Core Values Awards! Our Webinar On-Deck looks at ways of handling things when people get downright nasty in a P2 process; and we have two Webinar Rewinds: Dr Martin Carcasson’s “Denver Encore - Beginning With the Brain in Mind” (December 2017) and a panel discussion on the latest in Digital Engagement (January).
• Interesting Links:  “Futurism” magazine has a piece on the need for “Civic Social Networks” to enable engagement, and if you want your kids to have long life, get them involved in civic issues!
  

Features:

Meet the new IAP2 USA Board!

2018 is shaping up to be another exciting year for IAP2 USA! The Skills Symposium is coming up in Austin, Texas, in February; preparations are well underway for the 2018 North American Conference in Victoria, British Columbia; and chapters are holding events across the country. The Board has a new Strategic Plan to work from for 2018-2020, and we are welcoming three newly-elected members to the IAP2 USA Board. Now, meet the lineup for this year! (Just click on their names to read more about each board member.)

The newcomers to the Board are:

Traci Ethridge

Gwen Happ

John Poynton Re-elected

They'll be joining:

Deanna Desedas Jason"Jay" Vincent Lisa Carlson Kit Cole

Tina Geiselbrecht Wendy Green Lowe Jennifer Trotter Ryan Henderson

Steven Wolf Cathy Smith Alex Cousins There are lots of opportunities for you to get involved in the organization! Contact us at info@iap2usa.com for more information.

We also want to provide sincere thanks to the departing Board members for their significant contributions to IAP2 USA over the past three years - you will be missed:

Myles Alexander

Kyle Bozentko

Event Updates:

IAP2 USA & IAP2 Canada are now looking for proposals for session presentations for the 2018 IAP2 North American Conference, September 5 - 7 in Victoria BC. This is an opportunity to explore the theme, Growing a Culture of P2, with content focusing on topics that Innovate, Inspire, Include, Influence, and Imagine!

Please review the Call for Session Proposals first as it contains information on what the Program Committee is looking for and tips on what to include in your Session Proposal Application.

Registration is now open for the Conference, and if you register on or before June 30, you’ll save with the early-bird rates! For that, you’ll get the Welcome reception, all sessions, Continental breakfast and lunch, and of course, the Core Values Awards Gala on Thursday, Sept. 6. There are also pre-Conference workshops and field trips.

Perhaps more important, don’t delay in booking your room! Hotel rooms in Victoria can fill up quickly, so check out the Conference web page for details on our three host hotels: the Coast Victoria Hotel & Marina, Marriott Victoria Inner Harbour and the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and Suites. Each is offering a special Conference rate, if you book by August 10.

AND SPEAKING OF THE CORE VALUES AWARDS GALA … How would you like to be the applaudee rather than the applauder? It could be you, coming onstage at the Gala in Victoria! Applications for this year’s IAP2 USA Core Values Awards will open soon, so watch your email inboxes for the announcement. In the meantime, whet your appetite by reading up on the Core Values Awards, what they are and who’s won in the past!

2018 Skills Symposium: More spaces still available!

Do you run into difficult situations in your P2 processes and feel like you’re out of your depth? The 2018 IAP2 USA Skills Symposium -- Feb. 26 - March 2 in Austin, TX -- has courses to give you what you need.

When Things Go Sideways is a one-day course to help uncover the drivers of emotion and outrage in a P2 process and give you a chance to practice highly effective, collaborative strategies to create an atmosphere for constructive engagement.

Toolz for Tough Conversations looks at the physiological and habitual reactions to conflict so you can identify conflict alternatives and make sure people stay focused on the critical issues that have to be addressed.

Strategies for Dealing with Opposition and Outrage in P2 is an IAP2 “flagship” course. Over two days, you’ll learn about human behavior and anger and how to adjust best practices to suit outrage-charged situations. You’ll learn how both to plan for outrage and respond to situations in the moment.

As digital engagement becomes an essential part of the P2 fabric, Social Media and P2 looks both at what works, and what’s proven not to work over the past few years’ experience. And with different people with different points of view and different experiences become part of the engagement picture, Designing for Diversity will help you connect with more people and bring them to the table.

Register now and have up till the start of the Symposium to pay! And if you reserve your room at the Lone Star Court by February 2, you’ll get the special Symposium rate -- $149/night! (The rate is still offered after Feb. 2, on a room-available basis.)

December Webinar Rewind: Beginning with the Brain in Mind

A growing challenge for a P2 practitioner is the deepening ideological divide that has developed over the past few decades. As people become more and more entrenched in their view and less and less likely to consider those of others, engaging the broadest cross-section of the public becomes more and more difficult.
Dr Martin Carcasson with the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University says finding a solution begins with understanding the root of the problem – the “brain science” behind polarization – the December webinar was an encore of his presentation at the 2017 IAP2 North American Conference, “Beginning With The Brain In Mind”.

Our human nature makes things problematic, Carcasson says. We crave certainty and consistency, and if we’re making a decision in a controversial or even polarized environment, we tend to protect that decision as much as possible, even in the face of contrary facts.

Webinar(s):