Corporate Training By Zack Academy - Habitat X Regional Conference Portland

The Portland Habitat X Regional Conference will be hosted by the Energy Conservation Training Company in Portland, Oregon on December 3-6, 2012.

The Core Conference runs four days, beginning Monday December 3rd, 2012 at 10:00 am and continuing through Thursday December 6th at 2:30 pm. The Opening Session and reception on Monday will take place at McMenamins Edgefield, in Troutdale east of Portland. This classy old facility is a perfect fit for the first day of our conference, with beautiful big meeting rooms, great food, and a secluded campus. And you're invited to linger with us that evening for a hosted reception at Edgefield.

On Tuesday through Thursday, we'll return to the facilities of the Energy Conservation Training Company. Their training center includes spacious meeting rooms and all the diagnostic tools and displays you'd ever need to teach and understand the science of construction. The Energy Conservation Training Company is located in the Parkrose neighborhood, near the Portland International Airport. We'll have several guest presenters over the course of the week, including John Spillman from Earth Advantage Institute, and staff members from The Home Performance Contractors Guild of Oregon.

The early-bird cost of core conference is $895 until November 25th, with registration increasing to $995 after that. Discounts of an additional 15% are available at any time for RESNET and BPI certified professionals (enter coupon code 934815AD542A at checkout).

Everyone says that attending a Habitat X Conference has improved the way they approach their work! And that they'll be sure to attend the next Habitat X event. 

• Access to the password-protected Conference Resources Center.
• Attendance at all Trainers Conference sessions and workshops.
• Snacks, beverages, and lunch all four days.
• Hosted reception on Monday night at Edgefield.
• Hosted dinner at Edgefield on Wednesday night.
• Printed and digital copies of all materials used in the workshops, including autographed copies of Residential Energy.
• Sixteen CE credits for BPI and other professional organizations.

The focus of the 2012 Portland Habitat X Conference is education, with an agenda that's directed towards trainers, program managers, and customer service representatives who serve the housing industry.

The Core Conference includes four days of highly focused training and in-depth collaboration, with lunch and snacks provided each day, a hosted reception Monday night, and a catered dinner provided on Wednesday night. The registration is capped at 35 people; large enough to create a collaborative environment, and small enough that we can be responsive to everyone's skills and interests.

We've built three themes into this agenda:

• Language and Communication
• Learning Management
• Personal Skill Development

Syllabus

Monday December 10

• 1:00 - 3:00: Opening Session: Building the Framework. This the planning and brainstorming forum in which we'll lay the groundwork for the entire conference. We'll work in a roundtable format that’s managed to provide an optimum amount of information about one another, and our expectations for the event, in an efficient and timely manner. And our guest speaker Ann Edminster will give us a peek at her soon-to-be-published article Learning to Create Award-Winning Home Performance Projects.

   

  The Group Workshop, where we fine tune the agenda every morning.

• 3:15 - 4:30: Principles of Learning, a group workshop. In this workshop we'll explore the use of the Blended Learning Matrix, a curriculum design tool used to choose learning venues and optimize delivery methods. This basic process of assembling educational elements is a core skill for all educators, and one that we'll return to throughout the week.  As with every session this week, we'll provide a take-home template in both printed and digital forms so you can adapt this tool for your own work.

5:00 - 7:00: Hosted reception. After working together for the first afternoon, we'll move three miles down the hill to Pacifica for a hosted reception. The venue isMoonraker, a highly rated establishment that looks out over the Pacific Ocean. Casual attire. Dinner afterwards and on your own, with good options nearby in all price ranges.

Tuesday December 11

• 8:30 - 9:30: Daily Review, a group session. We’ll review our work from the day before, and study additional principles of adult learning. You'll also have the opportunity to stand and deliver a three-minute "flash presentation". This exercise is said to give even seasoned presenters a new-found confidence to think and speak on their feet.
• 10:00 - 11:30: Better Communication Skills, with Chris Dorsi and J West. We'll practice both written and spoken communication skills that emphasize succinct and technically accurate language. This session leverages the principles established in the Federal Plain Language Guidelines,with a focus that bridges grammar and composition. These exercises are guaranteed to make you a more critical reader and speaker of all types of writing. You'll never hear language the same again!

11:30 - 12:30: Catered lunch on campus. 

• 12:30 - 2:00: Better Training Tools, with Ben Cichowski and Bruce Greenstein. We'll visit the Solar and Building Science Learning Center, where we'll delve into strategies and means for facilitating learning in the classroom with technological tools. The emphasis will be on adapting simple, commonly available equipment and processes that accelerate learning without requiring large expenditures or advanced training.

• 2:30 - 4:00: Group meeting. This is a panel discussion and Q&A with Tiger Adolf of the Building Performance Institute and Conrad Asper of Efficiency First California, formerly CBPCA. We'll get the lowdown on some of the most important initiatives taking place in the North American home performance industry.
• 4:10 - 4:30: Group session. Wrap up and debrief.

Wednesday December 12

• 8:30 - 9:30: Daily review, a group session.  We’ll review our work from the day before, and learn about additional ways to improve your communication skills. Presentation and Q&A by staff from Laney College.

   

  The Skyline Learning Center, a fabulous training lab that we'll use every day when learning about technical topics.

• 10:00 - 11:30: Better Images, with Ben Cichowski. In this session, Ben will lead an exploration of both still photography and video for technical training, drawing upon his expertise as a host of Weatherization TV. We’ll analyze both media with eye towards light, color, and scene -- and learn how to control these to maximize content. We’ll show you the best practices to use when you need high production values, but we’ll also learn about fast-and-easy shoots that bring the cost and ease of video down so any organization can afford this most powerful medium.

11:30 - 12:30: Catered lunch on campus. 

• 12:30 - 2:00: Excellent Instructional Design, with J West. In this session, you'll learn about the process of designing valid and effective course materials. By using examples from your own work, we'll show you how to accurately implement each step of the instructional design process: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

• 2:30 - 4:00: Making Continuing Ed Relevant, with Bruce Greenstein and Chris Dorsi. In these session we’ll focus on continuing education for professionals and technicians in the housing industry. We'll focus both on the additional skills needed to move recipients of industry certifications toward true job-readiness, and on life-long professional advancement.
• 4:10 - 4:30: Group session. Wrap up and debrief.

 6:00 - 8:00: Hosted dinner. The venue is Barolo, a top-notch Italian restaurant in nearby Pacifica. Casual attire. We have a limited number of extra seats available -- contact us if you'd like to bring a guest.

Thursday December 13

• 8:30 - 9:30: Daily review, a group session.  We’ll review our work from the day before. We’ll learn how the management of both meetings and online classrooms can be optimized with web-based meeting and training tools. We'll then moderate a discussion via remote hookup with Bill Spohn of TruTech Tools on Teaching Science to Non-Scientists.
• 10:00 - 11:30: Polishing Your Skills, with Chris Dorsi. We'll take this time learn more about the skills of public speaking, group moderation, and classroom management. We'll show you how to develop a personal continuing education plan that's easily implemented, tuned to your interests, and sustainable over the course of your career.

11:30 - 12:30: Catered lunch on campus.

• 12:30 - 2:00: Flash Presentations, in small groups. We'll each make a short "flash presentation" to these groups. We'll record your presentation to video, and you'll receive private web access to the recording after the conference. These presentations are often one of the most educational and entertaining parts of the entire conference!
• 2:30 - 4:30: Wrap Up Session.  We'll evaluate the week's work through summary exercises and discussion. We’ll develop follow-on plans to provide additional support and information for everyone. We'll identify opportunities for future collaboration and cross-education.Wrap up and debrief. Adjourn.