Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

|| High Country Press Newswire

May 29, 2008 issue

Nonprofit Agency Professional Conference June 11

Registration Deadline Is June 9

Story by Anna Oakes

Nonprofits are likely to be staffed by people with varying backgrounds, years of experience and areas of expertise, and the second annual Nonprofit Agency Professional Conference, taking place Wednesday, June 11, is a low-cost educational event that will bring these professionals together to network and learn from each other.

The Volunteer Resource Center sponsors the event for local nonprofit staff, administrators and board members. This year’s event has expanded to a full day of programs, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and will be held at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center in Boone.

“Everyone’s going to learn something,” said Janet Pepin, executive director of the Volunteer Resource Center. “It will be a fun day as well as an educational one.”
Based on evaluations from last year’s event, the Volunteer Resource Center has extended the event to a daylong event and added an additional speaker and a networking roundtable session. Door prizes are also new this year.
A continental breakfast will begin the day, followed by a talk on the economy of nonprofits. Three workshops will be offered and repeated on a rotational schedule so everyone can attend all three.

Pepin will facilitate the first workshop, Meeting Facilitation vs. Leadership. She will discuss different techniques for keeping a meeting on track without taking on the role of a leader, and participants will practice them. The second workshop, titled Agency Success Indicators and Data Collection, is directed by Dr. Kellie Ashcraft, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Appalachian State University. The workshop will help agencies learn how to identify and quantify the outcomes of their services in the community.

The third workshop is Nonprofit Management Best Practices. Conference attendees will complete a self-audit form and rate themselves on a number of practices, including board of directors configuration, executive director roles and financial accountability. Participants will then have the opportunity to ask questions to a panel of seasoned nonprofit directors and experts.

An hour-long networking roundtable session will be facilitated and will allow all participants to meet each other and learn about all of the agencies present.
Lunch will be served while Ron Redmon of The Redmon Group speaks on the Challenges and Benefits of Leadership. Workshop sessions will continue through the afternoon, and the event will culminate with a closing speaker and door prizes giveaway.

The registration fee is $10 per person. The Town of Boone and Watauga County have helped to fund the event. The registration deadline is Monday, June 9.
The Volunteer Resource Center originated in 1991 as a subagency of the High Country United Way. Now an independent nonprofit agency, the center focuses on volunteer coordination, organization support and community efforts aimed at increasing awareness and advocacy of volunteerism in the High Country.

To register for the conference, call 828-268-1486 or email pepinj@bellsouth.net. For more info about the Volunteer Resource Center, click to www.myhcvrc.com.