Breakout Sessions 2024

Don’t Let Numbers Scare You: Initiating Collaboration, Connection, and Communication with a Generationally Diverse Workforce

Track: Building Your Workforce

Marie Conley | Principal/Founder, Conley Consulting

Session Description: For the first time in history, the workplace thrives with five generations, each a vibrant force. Yet, many traditional DE&I programs overlook an essential program: ageism. This 45-minute session recognizes and leverages the unique strengths of Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z to drive innovation, collaboration, and profit. Learn strategic approaches to meet each generation where they are, fostering empathy and inclusivity, thereby creating a positive and supportive work environment.

Treat Others How They Want to Be Treated: Understanding the Primary Behavioral and Communication Styles

Track: Personal Growth & Well Being

Heather Hockenberry | Consultant & Coach, Hockenberry Management Consulting

Session Description: Discover the four most commonly understood personality and behavioral styles that significantly affect how people communicate and make decisions. With a greater understanding of these styles, you will better understand the people around you – how they prefer to communicate, how they may present stress, and how they would like to make decisions. By interacting with others in the ways they would prefer, you will more quickly gain their favor and trust, ideally creating a lasting relationship.

The Cartography of Successful Grant Seeking

Track: Revitalizing and Connecting with Community

Kirsten Hubbard | CEO, Founder, Author, Ghost Writer, LLC

Session Description: Google 'grants', and you will receive an overwhelming amount of websites and promises of quick funding. There is no lack of information on grants or lack of grants. But there IS a way to help assess your organization and begin to map a strategy that best utilizes your resources and aligns the organization behind one sensible pathway. Join the experts at Ghost Writer LLC for a real-world conversation about setting the course for successful funding.

Do You Really Need That? Discerning Your Business’s Technology Needs

Track: Building Your Workforce

Melissa Hockenberry | Owner, First Things First Training & Consulting

Session Description: Whether you are a small business or a nonprofit, your technology expenditures can quickly get out of hand. In a world filled with free trials and a never-ending list of “must haves”, how do you discern your organization’s actual software needs to support your workforce and your customers?

As an attendee, you will gain an understanding of the key processes in your organization and their technology needs. You will leave equipped with a list of questions to ask possible technology vendors to evaluate how they fit your needs.

SocialSculpt: A Workshop on Social Media Mastery and Digital Presence

Track: Building Your Workforce

Stacy Fry | Director of Communications, Alera Group

Session Description: Unlock success in the digital age! Join our dynamic workshop, 'SocialSculpt: A Workshop on Social Media Mastery and Digital Presence'. Dive into hands-on sessions exploring crucial tools, master social media for effective networking, and learn the art of creating a standout online presence. Crafted for busy professionals, this 45-minute session blends insights, practical tips, and interactive activities to elevate your digital prowess.

Intentional by Design: Creating Living Spaces that Enhance Well-Being

Track: Personal Growth & Well Being

Rachel Andreoli | Lead Designer, Interior Intuition Homes

Erin MacNamara | Professional Organizer, Carlisle Home Organizers

Session Description: This workshop is designed for individuals looking to align their living spaces with their personal values. We will cover the potential of intentional design by teaching how to coordinate room functions with personal values. Attendees will explore and prioritize both their core personal values and the primary functions of living spaces. By learning and understanding the connections between these concepts, participants gain the tools to approach room design with purpose. The goal is to empower individuals to craft homes that reflect their values and foster a sense of connection within their living spaces.

Expanding Your Business in the International Marketplace

Track: Revitalizing and Connecting with Community

Nic Cervantes | Director, U.S. Commercial Service, Harrisburg

Tina Weyant | Executive Director, World Trade Center Harrisburg

Chris Stock | Global Director, Aquaculture Sales, Zeigler Brothers

Session Description: While the international marketplace represents over 70% of the world’s purchasing power, only 12% of the U.S. GDP is derived from exports. This workshop will introduce attendees to resources and partners to gain access to the global trade community. Whether you are new to exporting or regularly ship products abroad, the local trade community can assist with all levels of the export process. These include learning about new markets, navigating regulations, and meeting new buyers through trade shows. Local companies will share their success stories and the benefits of local collaboration.

Building Stronger Communities Takes Creativity

Track: Revitalizing and Connecting with Community

Sarah Merritt | Director of Pennsylvania Creative Communities & the Creative Economy, PA Council on the Arts

Session Description: The creative sector is a vital component of community competitiveness and vibrancy. In this session we’ll discuss how the Council on the Arts supports creative sector and its entrepreneurs and small businesses, and arts-based community and economic development projects.

Live and Lead with Purpose

Track: Building Your Workforce

Dr. Katie Sandoe | Founder and Chief Illumination Officer, Light Echo Co.

Session Description: It starts with you! New research in business is revealing something extraordinary, and most leaders are missing it. Whether it's your employees, customers, or clients, they're looking for something different…from YOU. Do you know what that is? This session will share the latest research, powerful insights, and groundbreaking tactics to transform your leadership, your organization, and (if you want) your life.

How Morning Routines Position You for Success in Life!

Track: Personal Growth & Well Being

Tom Templeton | Founder and Creative Director, Templeton Advantage, LLC

Session Description: Are you committed to becoming a highly productive and influential professional who enjoys mental clarity, emotional composure, inspiration, and a sense of peace in all situations? If so, this workshop on 'How Morning Routines Position You for Success in LIfe!' is for you. We have seen an entire industry created (mindfulness, yoga, etc.) to helping people manage the stress and anxiety in their lives and feel confident and composed when they feel 'hijacked' by the chaos that seems to surround us. A well-designed, consistently practiced morning routine must be a prioritized strategy for your personal and professional health and wellness!

The Role of the Social Entrepreneur in Community Development: A Farmer's Market Story

Track: Revitalizing and Connecting with Community

Chad Kimmel | Associate Professor of Sociology, Shippensburg University

Vincent Cannizzaro | Student, Shippensburg University

Session Description: Social entrepreneurs play an increasingly important role in creating and sustaining complex social enterprises in our communities today. One such social enterprise is a farmers market. Social entrepreneurs often spear-head farmer market initiatives, yet many lack expertise with this complex business model. Our research offers a multi-stage explanatory model of social entrepreneurial decisions and actions which grew out of a qualitative empirical case study of an unsuccessful social enterprise: The Carlisle Central Farmers Market (2007-2009). It is our hope that with our four-stage model, social entrepreneurs could better prepare themselves for the many and varied challenges that lie ahead.

On the Menu with Kim Stout

Kim Stout | Economic Development Specialist, U.S. Small Business Administration

Session Description: Pull up a chair and grab your favorite drink as we join “On the Menu with Kim Stout” as she shares the selections she made in her journey from graduating from Shippensburg University to entrepreneurship to serving as an Economic Development Specialist for the U.S. Small Business Administration.  You’ll hear how she incorporated her menu selections as a former restaurant owner to help entrepreneurs throughout her career. 

Managing Phases of Change through Intentional Communication

Track: Building Your Workforce

Tina Fortenberry | President, Willow River Coaching

Ronalda Sedeno | Managing Partner, Realize the Greatness

Session Description: In this session we are going to explore navigating organizational changes by understanding the three phases of transition. We will examine how the leadership communication plan empowers staff to embrace change and moving through the process. Attendees will gain awareness of each phase, identify markers of each, and techniques to minimize negative outcomes. This session is a great fit for middle-level and senior-level management employees tasked with adopting and implementing change.

Emotional Intelligence: How do we use it in the workplace?

Track: Personal Growth & Well Being

Conner Newkam-Ulrich | Learning and Development Manager, PA House of Representatives, Democratic Caucus

Session Description: Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you. People with high emotional intelligence can acknowledge how they are feeling, what each emotion means, and how those emotions can make an impact on their own behaviors, and in turn, the other people around them. During the session, we will define emotional intelligence, discover the five key elements of emotional intelligence, and apply key emotional intelligence skills to the workplace.

Strategic Networking and Relationship Building

Track: Revitalizing and Connecting with Community

Debra Thompson | President, Strategy Solutions, Inc.

Jacqui Catrabone | Director, Nonprofit & Community Services, Strategy Solutions, Inc.

Session Description: This workshop provides a practical set of stakeholder mapping and strategic collaboration tools as well as a "how to" guide to help take your organization to the next level based on best practices from the Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector.

Strengthening the Connection between Business & Community - a Facilitated Discussion

Moderators:
Scott Brown | President, Shippensburg Chamber of Commerce
Tracy Montoro | Director of Workforce Development, Office of Workforce Development, Shippensburg University
Krissy Cressler | Shippensburg Downtown Coordinator