"Embracing Change TOGETHER"

The 7th Annual Community-Wide Conference is coming up March 19 & 20 at St. Matthew’s Parish Center and conference organizers are excited about this year’s offering. This year’s conference has been divided into TWO sections—a “Community Engagement Rally” on Thursday from 5:30 – 7:30 PM and a “Community Planning Forum” on Friday from 8 AM – 4 PM. Both components will feature Keynote Speaker and Facilitator Karen McNenny from Missoula, MT. Karen is a nationally recognized professional speaker specializing in community development, customer service training, and employee engagement. She will inspire, educate and entertain conference participants with her presentations.

Early in the planning process conference organizers felt that this year’s theme should highlight the changes taking place in our community. In the past few years Richland County residents have experienced a number of changes associated with increased oil activity in the region. Some of these changes have been good and some have been not so good, but change is change and it will occur. The Conference theme focuses on the community members’ greatest challenge “Embracing Change Together.”

“Change” is the center word in this year’s theme and a central focus of this year’s conference. Conference participants will take a look at many of the changes that have occurred in Richland County over the past few years. A special “Photo Voice” project will be presented that highlights how residents answer the question, “What does change look like in Richland County?” Thursday evening will feature the “Photo Voice” project along with “Information Stations” highlighting the work of several “Action Groups” that are working to address the challenges associated with some of the changes our community is experiencing. In addition, Keynote Speaker Karen McNenny’s message will be “Community Is The CURE---to Everything.”

Although “change” is the central word in the theme, the main emphasis is found in its “book-ends”—“Embracing” and “Together.” The conference is not just about “change” but about EMBRACING change. The call is for community members to actively embrace what is inevitable—change. We do this in an effort to “manage” the change rather than be “managed” by it! To embrace change is to wrap our arms around it and direct the process as much as we can toward a favorable outcome. That’s the charter of the Steering Committee responsible for this conference and the goal of the community-building process.

Friday’s sessions will focus on the third element “Together.” After a welcome/message from County Commissioners, Keynote Speaker Karen McNenny will share a talk entitled “Move Your Community from Passive to Passionate.” Afterwards, “breakout sessions” will be held to address FOUR of the major items of concern expressed by community members who responded to a survey sent with last year’s tax statements. Topics are: Education, Safety, Health & Recreation. This will be a time for conference participants to come up with specific ways to address the challenges that change brings. The conference will conclude with a call to get engaged in the community-building process. TOGETHER we can EMBRACE CHANGE and move forward as a stronger, safer, better community.

Community members are encouraged to pre-register for the conference. Complete information is available at http://www.richland.org (click on the “puzzle pieces”) or at the County Health Department. Participants can pre-register either online or in person at the Health Dept. or they can call the Health Dept. at (406) 433-2207 to register by phone or to find out more about the conference.