Every year in February, the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association (OPRA) hosts an annual Conference and Trade Show at Kalahari in Sandusky, OH. Hundreds of parks and rec professionals from around the state gather at this conference to connect, learn, and grow. The week is filled with education sessions, roundtable discussions, keynote speakers, and networking with colleagues. Each conference brings new ideas and information, so no two conference is the same.
This year, our group ventured off to different sessions and learned about ways to better ourselves and our organization. From sports to marketing to programming to communication, we spent hours taking notes and talking with our colleagues about what we can do to improve OCER.
We were also inspired by two Keynote Speakers, who talked about bringing out the best of our personalities to work together as a team. We all bring different skills and strengths to our jobs, and the best teams leverage those differences to use to their advantage.
Some takeaways that stood out to us are:
People care about data the same way they care about anything else, so transparency and honesty are key
Your words matter and have an impact on everyone around you
Patterns matter more than perfection. Find a pattern that's not working at fix it. Or, find a pattern that's working and keep it.
Creativity is the same picture from a different perspective
Instead of asking "what's the worst that can happen?" ask yourself "what's the best that can happen?"
Miscommunication happens when you assume the other person knows what you know and you don't explain yourself clearly
Social media is a direct way your community can experience their city every day
We are proud to be members of OPRA and reap the benefits this group provides for professional development. It was a lot of fun getting out of the office for a few days to focus on growing and improving our OCER staff and the future of OCER!