IPRA Today

His focus was on "Getting Results Through Individual & Organizational Accountability" and covered the following four key principles: 1) How people and organizations can overcome victim attitudes and behavior and step "Above The Line" to attain superior performance; 2) How to focus on the fundamental cause of poor leadership, low productivity, unacceptable quality, customer dissatisfaction, inadequate innovation, wasted talent, dysfunctional teams or a general lack of accountability; 3) How to move beyond explaining why you didn’t or can’t do better to what you can do to make your future brighter; and 4) How to improve performance through accountability.

Here’s what your peers said about the event...

• Please provide the quality of this seminar more often. Great Job!
• Very much enjoyed the seminar. Thank you for making it available to us.
• That is what I like the most about this seminar. I can use it immediately in both my personal and professional life.
• I enjoyed the session very much. I look forward to being able to apply what we learned. I would come back to other sessions presented by the speaker. I really like that IPRA is offering special workshops for us to attend.
  

I hope you felt the event was worth your investment and that you have used the information back at your agency.  IPRA’s hope is that the event served as the start to a new beginning and the commitment to develop a culture of "above the line" behavior.  Together we can "see it," "own it," "solve it," and "do it" to make each community stronger.

Leadership Academy
Applications are being accepted for your opportunity to be a part of the first class of IPRA’s Leadership Academy.  The deadline is June 1st.  If you are looking to grow as a leader and to advance your career, I encourage you to prepare and submit your application.  The Academy’s focus on leadership skills and building your professional network are exceptional.  

I would like to thank the following IPRA members who helped develop the curriculum for the Academy:

• Rick Hanetho, Northbrook Park District
• Carrie Haupert-Fullerton, Bloomingdale Park District
• Barbara Heller, Heller and Heller Consulting Inc.
• Mike Kies, Hoffman Estates Park District        
• Laurie Kosey, Oak Brook Park District
• Colleen O'Connell, Romeoville Parks and Recreation Department
• Matt Wehby, Wheeling Park District
  

This team of professionals developed an outstanding set of educational opportunities for you and your staff!  Lastly, I encourage you to find ways to get involved with IPRA. Whether through educational opportunities or networking events, these occasions will help you become a stronger parks and recreation professionals as well as help build a more robust parks and recreation industry.

Thanks again for all that you do.

Best,
Jan Arnold, Executive Director

 

The one you don’t want to miss, the one you’re willing to wait an extra long time in line just to ride. As you wait to board the roller coaster, you hope this ride is worth the wait.  Sometimes you’re disappointed and sometimes it is an exhilarating experience.

Hiring an executive director for IPRA has its similarities to selecting the best roller coaster ride. There’s the research, the waiting period and the excitement of the final decision. Approximately 2 years ago the search began for a new Executive Director.  The firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates donated their services to do the search. Keith Frankland, Steve Persinger, Ray Morrill and Rod Aiken (all past presidents of IPRA) formed the search team that led us through the process. As you narrow the field of applicants, there is a certain amount of nervousness and excitement connected with making the selection. When the final decision is made, there is still a waiting period to determine if the choice was the right one.

As I reflect back on the past 18 months, I feel we made the right choice in hiring Jan Arnold. During her tenure, she has done an excellent job. My good friend Chuck Szoke said to me, "We may have only had Jan as our executive director for 18 months, but we got five years worth of work out of her."  She has been a major factor in the resurgence of IPRA and has led this organization through a very difficult economic climate with very positive results. The organization is financially strong and is meeting the needs of the membership. We have used the strategic plan developed in 2010 to guide us through this recovery period and address the future growth of the organization.

We started this year with one of our most successful state conferences and have just recently completed our first Educational Institute, attended by more than 260 IPRA members. Throughout the year, there are several educational webinar opportunities, and starting in October IPRA will be hosting the Leadership Academy, which will meet once a month for six months. This year has been true to the IPRA tagline of "Learn, Connect, Inspire."

On behalf of myself, the IPRA Board and the membership, I want to take this opportunity to thank Jan Arnold for her leadership and dedication to IPRA and wish her all the best in her future position with the Park District of Oak Park.

We now start the rollercoaster ride all over again. Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates has graciously donated its services for the executive director search.  The deadline for applications is June 1st and information about the position can be found on the IPRA website.  We have hired Terry Porter, former director for the Wilmette Park District as the interim director for IPRA. Terry will work closely with Jan to make the transition seamless and maintain member services until a new executive director can be hired. It looks like we are in for an exhilarating ride.

John Curran, IPRA Chairman