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New features, popular standards set for 80th anniversary KSBA annual conference; more than 600 already registered
New features, popular standards set for 80th anniversary KSBA annual conference; more than 600 already registered

KSBA will look back at 80 years of service during the 2016 annual conference Feb. 26–28 in Louisville, but attendees will find a fair amount of forward thinking in this year’s major professional development event for school board members, superintendents and others.

More than 600 already have registered for the conference, many getting their early dibs on specific classes in the three-day event at downtown Louisville’s Galt House East convention center. Registration forms have been mailed to all board members and superintendents, while online registration is available here.

This year’s conference theme – which will be displayed by an anticipated 100-plus student art banners throughout the convention area – is “From Chalkboards to Whiteboards: 8 Decades of Serving School Boards.”

Two significant new elements of KSBA’s largest event of the year will be a multifaceted mobile app and a special post-brunch, Sunday morning series of workshops.

The mobile app – Annual Conference Guide – was in development for much of 2015, and will enable participants to have instant access to schedules, maps, session handouts, exhibitor locations, speaker contact information, a photo gallery and many more features.

Anyone can download the current “KSBA Events App” from any of the online stores such as Apple, Amazon, Blackberry, and Google Play. Once it is installed, you will be able to download the About KSBA Guide, which features information about KSBA and its services, staff contacts and more. Then, on Feb. 10, KSBA will distribute the password to download the Annual Conference Guide, featuring lots of useful information about the conference.

A major bonus at this year’s KSBA event will be free Internet access in all meeting areas utilized for the conference. KSBA has contracted to make the Wi-Fi access available to enable participants to access resources such as clinic handouts and links.

Another first for the 2016 KSBA conference is a special session of clinics following the traditional closing Sunday morning brunch. Three clinics will be available on the state-mandated training topics of ethics, finance and superintendent evaluations.

This will give attendees a record seven opportunities to meet that training requirement:

      · Two Friday morning 3-hour “all-in-one” preconference seminars.

      · Regular 75-minute clinics Friday morning, Saturday morning and two on Saturday afternoon.

      · The post-brunch group Sunday morning.

A final new aspect of this year’s conference will be a box lunch option for Friday between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. In response to many requests from past event attendees, these onsite grab-and-go meal options may be reserved as part of the online registration link above.

Board members and superintendents will have more opportunities to meet their annual state-required training hours than ever before. The conference agenda includes:

      Ø Five preconference workshops Friday morning

      Ø 12 clinics following Friday’s opening General Session

      Ø 12 clinics after the Saturday morning Plenary Session

      Ø One 12-clinic session after Saturday’s luncheon and annual business session immediately followed by a nine-clinic session to conclude the day

      Ø And the special three-clinic option Sunday morning

A packed house of education service vendors from Kentucky and beyond will return for the popular exhibitor area all day Friday through Saturday morning.

Lodging reservations must be made in writing directly to the Galt House using the lodging request form found in the registration brochure by Feb. 9 in order to receive the conference rate. All questions regarding lodging should be made to the hotel.

More details are available on the conference registration link above. If you any questions relating to the conference, please call KSBA and ask for Kerri Schelling [email protected] or Tammie Conatser [email protected] at 800-372-2962. Questions regarding the student art banners may be directed to Mary Davis [email protected].