CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
You’re invited to a unique gathering of
senior center and aging professionals,
community leaders and planners, and
engaged community seniors that will
focus on the best practices,
strategic partnerships, and critical roles
that senior centers need to play in
helping our communities and their
citizens to age well.
SEEK 2015
Co-Chairs/Conference Program Steering Committee:
Conference Highlights
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Pitman Institute for Aging Well Executive Team - Cindy Chodan,
Paula Herlitz, Dan Mustard and Beth Parkhurst
Bob Pitman, Exec. Director Emeritus of Mill Race Center, Inc.
Maureen O’Leary, NCOA’s National Institute of Senior Centers
Program Manager
Sue Getman, Chair of the NISC Executive Committee
The site for the NISC National Senior Center Conference. “Senior Centers 2015”
Over 50 senior center focused presentations, plenary sessions, and roundtable
discussions
Three thought-provoking keynote presentations from national and international experts addressing
transformational change within your senior center, creating communities for a lifetime, and the future
of community based aging services
Conference setting in a model center established in 2011
A special leadership track offering small group opportunities to further engage conference keynoters
National Institute of Senior Centers’ annual Leo Laks Award reception, NISC national accreditation peer
review training, and recognition of newly accredited centers
Multiple opportunities for networking with long time and first time colleagues
Participants will come away from the conference with an action plan to improve their own center
Presented in Partnership with: National Council on Aging’s, National Institute of Senior Centers and
the University of Indianapolis Center on Aging and Community.
Co-sponsored by: the International Council for Active Aging and the University of Indianapolis Center on Aging and Community.
FEES
Open Call for Presentations
You are invited to share your senior center related expertise, research,
and promising practices by submitting proposals for presentations. All
proposals must be submitted using the online submission form.
Proposals that address the important community leadership and public
educational role that senior centers play are especially sought.
In addition to invited faculty, the Program Steering Committee
competitively reviews proposals for conference presentations.
Deadline for submission is April 17, 2015. Final selections will be made
by May 8, 2015.
Presentation Format
Presenters are required to
register for the conference,
pay the registration fee, and
pay for audio-visual rental
costs associated with their
presentation. A screen,
projector and podium microphone will be provided at no
charge. All other equipment
costs are the responsibility
of the presenter.
Conference registration
includes:
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Sunday dinner and keynote
Monday breakfast and keynote
Tuesday lunch and keynote
Continental breakfast Tuesday
Snacks on Monday and Tuesday
Early Bird registration for NISC
members is just $295.
Become a NISC
Peer Reviewer
Annual training offered for $25
and includes lunch and materials.
Session on Sunday, September 20.
Presentations will be conducted Monday September 21 and Tuesday, September 22 with approximately
five or more presenters scheduled concurrently. Presenters are asked to provide handouts and allow time
for questions and participant interactions. Presentations in any of the following formats will be accepted.
Workshops are 60 minutes with a maximum of four presenters. A limited number of 90 minute seminars
will be available. Please indicate in the proposal if you have content better suited to a 90 minute session.
The conference Program Steering Committee may ask presenters to consider longer or shorter formats, or
to combine their presentation with other presenters with a related topic.
Workshops: “how-to” or ”promising practice” sessions that have broad application and a high degree of
adaptability for the field.
Panel Discussions: up to four panelists discuss a subject from different perspectives
Round-table Discussion Facilitators: where the program submitter would propose the topic area, and
agree to facilitate a round table discussion on that topic.
Point Counter-Point: opposing views on a provocative and timely topic for the field.
Register Early and
SAVE!
Registration brochures will be
posted to:
www.pitmaninstitute.org
in April 2015.
NISC Members
Non-Members
Early
$295
$345
Late
$345
$395
How to Submit a Proposal
All proposals must be submitted electronically by April 17, 2015. The submission form is posted on the
Pitman Institute website at http://www.pitmaninstitute.org. The proposal form will ask the following:
1. Title AND Format. Please provide a workshop session title that will attract people to your session!
The presentations formats are workshops, panel discussions, round-table discussion facilitators and point
counter-point.
2. Primary Contact Person AND List of Presenters. Please provide the primary contact person’s name,
position, agency, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone, and email address. Please also provide
this information for all presenters. The primary contact person receives all correspondence and invoices
related to the presentations and is responsible for forwarding such information to all other presenters.
3. Learning Objectives. Please list three learning objectives for the presentation. (“At the conclusion of
the session, participants will be able to . . . “)
4. Descriptions. Provide a 40-50 word description of the proposed presentation. This description will be
used in the printed conference program for all approved workshops. Please use complete sentences (no
bullets or lists please).
5. Key Topic. Please state the key topic—see list on back page for those of particular interest. Proposals
that incorporate more than one related topic are welcome.
6. Intended Audience and Skill Level. Please describe the intended audience(s) for your presentation
(e.g. case managers, executives, nutrition programs, etc.) and the skill level of your presentations
(e.g. entry level, intermediate or advanced).
7. Presenter Qualifications. Please briefly describe each presenter’s experience and training that uniquely
qualifies them to participate in the proposed presentation. A full CV or resume is not required.
ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY APRIL 17, 2015.
Please contact the Pitman Institute for Aging Well at [email protected] or
Cindy Chodan at 812-376-9241 if you have questions about the Conference or submission process.
Promising Practices and Possible Presentation Topics
Building Successful Senior Center Partnerships
 With hospitals
 With Adult Day Services
 With educational institutions
 With Area Agencies
 With Long Term Care and Assisted Living Facilities
 With for profit organizations (e.g. fitness, travel,
finance)
 With local government entities
 Other successful, innovative partnerships
Community Visibility, Support and Leadership
 Helping Businesses Become Elder-Friendly
 Involvement in and Support of Communities for a
Lifetime Initiatives
 Developing Positive Relationships with local elected
leaders
 Successful Advocacy for obtaining and sustaining
local public funding
 Senior Center Accreditation: a tool to raise visibility
and strengthen image
 Senior Centers as the local aging expert
Resource Development
 Revenue from membership and fee-based programs
and services
 Cultivating and increasing the number of major
donors
 Bequests, memorials, and planned giving: Why not
the senior center?
 Effectively communicating our value to participants
and the community
 Developing and Growing Effective Annual Campaigns
 Beyond fundraising for long-term viability
 Successful 501 © 3 Senior Center Foundations
 Researching, targeting, and cultivating grant funders
Marketing and Image
 Segmented marketing for a 50 year age span
 Making words count: program descriptions that
provoke action
 “Word of Mouth” marketing: making it work for you
 What’s your BHAG?
 Surveys that Work
 Promoting the “Glass Half Full” perspective on aging
Note: Other topics of interest to the field
may be considered as well.
Administration and Governance
 Transforming Boards and Advisory Councils from
baggage to boosters
 Getting the Right People on the Bus (and in the
right seat)
 Understanding and overcoming resistance to
change
 Self-directed leadership teams
 Elevating volunteers to paraprofessional staff
 Staff Leadership Teams and Succession Planning
 Self-Assessment as an educational and training tool
for Board and staff
 RX for Senior Centers: Starting, Ending, and
Revitalizing
Innovative Programs and Services
 The Aging Mastery Program® - NCOA
 Food, fellowship, and fun: re-invigorating or
moving beyond the “meal site” mentality.
 Reaching Boomers as an I/R resource to help
with aging parents
 Traveling on a Shoestring: something for everyone
 Community-wide partnerships for educational
programming
 Successful outreach, programming, and opportunities for involvement for minority groups, and the
GLBT community
 Cross cultural programming: building acceptance
and understanding
 Tackling Controversies: point counter point
programming
 Effective Public Policy education for public officials
and center participants
 Accommodating ADC participants and special
populations in a senior center environment
 Senior Employment, Boomers, and Millennials
 Home modification for a lifetime
 Retirement 101: the senior center’s role in helping
older adults understand social security, Medicare,
and long-term care/Medicaid.
 Spiritual Wellness and Sage-ing
 Sustainable Intergenerational Programming
 Evidence Based Programs: Success in gaining broad
dissemination and participation throughout the
center
 Poverty and Homelessness
 Addressing and accommodating mental illness in a
senior center environment
 Health Literacy
SEEK 2015
For more information visit: www.pitmaninstitute.org