SCHEDULE FOR TRAINING SESSIONS
Check out the Session Descriptions that are listed below the schedule buttons.
To catch Mark's Training Sessions you can: Sign up for a webinar, Attend a Conference where he is speaking, or bring him out to train your own staff.
Training Sessions & Workshops
for Staff Trainings & Association Conferences
These workshops provide a “Nuts-And-Bolts,” “Rubber-Meets-The-Road,” type of session full of practical “Get-It-Done-Now” types of solutions for your agency. Browse through the topics listed and pick out the ones that make sense for your agency. Then contact our presenter, Mark Honberger, to discuss having him come conduct workshops on those topics. Your staff will learn a ton and be engaged & energized to go make it happen. These workshops are based on 1.25 Hour (75 min) Sessions, but can also be put together as a Full-Day Institute on "Raising the Bar for Recreation Programming". (Session Outlines are available )
Mark Honberger is also available as a Keynote Speaker
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CHECK OUT THESE TRAINING TOPICS BELOW
GET REC'D: Getting Recreation To Our Communities
This introductory session provides an overview of the Recreation Profession, showing both the “Principles” and the “Practice” of providing recreation to our community. We will look at the WHY of recreation being essential. We will take a short tour of the history of Parks and Recreation in the United States. We will learn the WHAT of assessing our community needs, to then align our services to best meet those needs by determining our Core Services. We will discover what our message is and learn how to best put that message in front of our community by creating Agency Ambassadors. Attendees will be activated to apply the 5 Action Steps needed to help our communities "Get Rec'd!"
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Strategic Approach to Contract Instructor Classes
If done right, your Contract Instructor Program can pay for itself, and even offset the costs of other recreation
programs. Attendees will receive dozens of Ready-To-Use Take-Home Ideas. Plus, they will able to develop their own customized Contract Instructor Handbook. We will also discuss the IRS 20-Point Characteristic Test, used to determine if an instructor is to be considered an employee or a contractor.
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Best Practices, Young Professionals, Supervisors, Facilities, Rec Deep Dive
Conducting a Creative "Healthy Habits" Campaign
Many agencies would love to do more to instill “Healthy Habits” in their community & among their participants. This workshop will show how to develop a full community-wide campaign for Healthy Habits. Attendees will learn what “Healthy Habits” are, and why they are important. Attendees will also discover that the campaign can be implemented with varying levels of agency costs and agency involvement.
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Best Practices, Supervisors, Healthy Community, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Wow Factor: Unleashing Creativity In Recreation
What is it about those recreation programs & facilities that sets them apart from others and draws the community in? The answer we’re looking for is: “Wow Factor!” JUST WOW: We will dig into what makes a Wow Factor and we will learn how to accomplish that Wow without losing our foundational mission. HOW TO WOW: We will investigate how Wow can be Factored into programs and facilities, by creating an Agency that values Innovation and Incubates creative ideas. BE A WOW FACTOR(Y): Discover how to keep churning out Wow-Ness as we explore dozens of creative real-life examples for adding Wow on a Budget. At the end, we will practice Activating Our Creativity.
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Best Practices, Supervisors, Healthy Community, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Excellent Facility Rental Management
Be excellent with your agency’s Facility Rental Program. We will explore excellent methods to organize your Facility Rental Reservation Process; We will analyze excellent ways to establish defensible rental fees based on your building’s square footage and a procedure called “price-points”; Plus, we will examine a dozen different rental policy considerations, some that you may not have thought of before.
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Best Practices, Directors, Supervisors, Facilities, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Partnering With
Community Groups
Partnering with Community Groups is a “Best Practice” that can result in new programs, new facilities, new volunteers, and increased community
safety. We’ll investigate how to negotiate with community groups; We’ll look at how to set up official Facility Use-Agreements to codify the exchange of “equal value” between the two parties; Plus we’ll look at the pros and cons of dozens of real-life examples.
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Best Practices, Directors, Supervisors, Leadership, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Be Essential by Tracking Performance Measures & Building Budget Projections
Learn how to harness the Power of Excel by turning basic data into vital information, presenting it in a beautiful report, which will highlight your agency as an “Essential Service” to your Elected Policy Makers and the community. We’ll investigate how to properly track Performance Measures, and we’ll cover unique ideas for accomplishing Budget Projections that are both accurate and reliable.
TRACK: Efficiency, Best Practices, Directors, Revenue, Organizational Assessment, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Revenue Generation For Parks & Recreation
It is vital that Park and Recreation Agencies press forward in their efforts to generate additional Revenue, instead of being passive and just “hoping” that more participants register for the recreation programs. This workshop will dive into 50 to 60 ideas for generating revenue for your agency. Some ideas you may already be doing. While, others will be new ideas that you can put into practice starting tomorrow.
TRACK: Creative Problem Solving, Best Practices, Directors, Revenue, Organizational Assessment, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Aligning
Recreational Services with Organizational Values
Come learn how to determine your agency’s Core Services; and gain a defensible “Pricing Strategy" and a designated “Marketing Strategy” for each specific program and service. We will analyze how to use the “evaluative criteria” for each program, and how to place it on the “5-Level Benefit Scale” so that we can set the proper cost recovery levels for each service.
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Best Practices, Directors, Organizational Assessment, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Branding
Your Agency
Its important to market your programs,
but it is even more important to develop your Agency's Brand. This workshop will discuss the difference between Branding and Marketing. Attendees will learn: How to discover & develop their agency’s Brand; How to go about Marketing that Brand; How to find out what their customers are saying about them; and more importantly, what their Non-Customers are saying about them.
TRACK: Branding, Best Practices, Marketing, Directors, Revenue, Organizational Assessment, Young Professionals, Rec Deep Dive
Balancing
Park Maintenance
With Park Usage
Maintenance wants to keep people off the grass (keep it healthy), and recreation wants to put people on the grass (make use of the park). We must find Balance! Attendees will learn: To establish Common Goals; To reduce vandalism by creating “Community Gathering Places”; and To engage a “Customer Service Attitude” in both staffs, providing a more satisfying community experience.
TRACK: Park Maintenance, Facilities, Best Practices, Next Practices, Supervisors, Leadership, Team Work
Putting the "Super"
Back In Supervising
Whether a seasoned supervisor, or fresh to the world of supervision, we could all use a little spark to launch our Leader-Level to “Super”. This session puts you on the launch pad, ready for ignition. We will explore the following topics: Leader vs Manager; Setting Goals & Objectives; Coaching & Evaluating. By the end, attendees will be energized to go back and energize their own team for extraordinary results.
TRACK: Young Professionals, Best Practices, Next Practice, Leadership, Supervisors
8 Steps to Great Customer Service for Your Agency
Customer Experience is more than just a buzzword. It refers to the real, everyday interactions between agencies and their constituencies. Agencies that deliver a superior customer experience are fulfilling a key aspect of their mission; agencies that deliver a substandard customer experience are not. We will look at how to implement the 8 agency-wide steps that lead to great customer service your agency.
TRACK: Directors, Best Practices, Next
Practice, Leadership, Supervisor,
Organizational Assessment
Recreation Professional
Staff Competencies
If you are serious about developing your recreation staff so they can be a "Professional," then this workshop is for you! Attendees will explore a list of 55 Competencies that will give your staff a better understanding of what skills or competencies they need to work on, and what goals to set for their annual evaluations. This process goes a long ways towards setting the agenda for your next staff retreat training session.
TRACK: Directors,
Best Practices, Next Practice, Leadership, Supervisor, Organizational Assessment
"Customer Service"
Training For Staff
In this interactive session, we will explore the 7 most important characteristics of great customer service (Per Indeed): Empathy, Problem Solving Skills, Communication Skills, Patience, Active Listening Skills, Positive Attitude, Quick Response Time. We will do a deep dive into each of these characteristics, and attendees will get a chance to practice each one. Your staff will leave this session with a greater understanding of how to deliver customer service. They will be energized to go make it happen!
"Be A Better Employee" Training for Staff
In this interactive session, we will explore the 9 ways to be a better employee : Behave professionally, Learn how to do your job well, Work hard, Be part of the solution, Cultivate relationships, Volunteer for new projects, Be on time, Admit when you make mistakes, & Set big goals for yourself and your career. Attendees will be able to do a self-assessment to determine which areas they should seek to improve.
Team Building Sessions
for your Staff
Your staff will love it. Mark Honberger brings creative Half-day or Full-day training sessions that result in increased employee engagement and improved staff morale. Training Topics will be customized to your Agency's needs. Your staff will come away energized to engage your customers and perform at a higher level.
RAISING THE BAR
IN RECREATION
We all want to be better at what we do, right? That’s what “RAISING THE BAR” is all about. It means taking our performance as Recreation Professionals to the next level; finding ways to improve how we go about our “business.” Ultimately, it means turning those “Big Ideas” into practical “Action Steps” that you can start accomplishing tomorrow, so we can be “RAISING THE BAR” for our agencies.
LET’S GET
SQUiRRELLY
Do you ever sit and watch Squirrels? We sure could learn a lot from the squirrel... lessons that readily apply to our everyday work routines. By being "Squirrelly," we can improve our performance, and even fly. This Keynote Experience is chalk full of humor and inspiring lessons. Come be energized to Go Get "Squirrelly"!
MEASURE WHAT
YOU TREASURE
We cannot just “Feel” like we are we are on the right track. Rather, we need to identify the “Facts” that show we are truly heading in the right direction. We will do this by measuring those elements of success that apply directly to our annual goals: for ourselves, for our staff, and for our organizations. Too often we are measuring and tracking the wrong things. Come learn how to Measure what you Treasure!
BE GRUNTLED: FIND PROFESSIONAL HAPPINESS
Yes, Gruntled is a word. It is the opposite of Disgruntled, and it refers to being pleased, satisfied, and contented. In short, it means to “be happy.” Philosophers since ancient times have been searching for this happiness. As we look at our profession, we need to know how to be happy with our career choices. Ultimately, we want to Find Our Forever Job; that space where these three vital things collide: our “Gift,” our “Credibility,” and our “Real Currency” (that which pays our soul, and it is not money). Let’s explore these three areas together as we learn how to be Gruntled.
CONTROLLING
NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
Effective Self-Leadership requires us to be aware when our emotions are Negatively Impacting how we: (1) Perceive situations, (2) Make decisions, (3) Solve problems, and (4) Collaborate with others. The goal is to develop our ability to effectively manage our emotions. We need to be able to let our Negative Emotions INFORM US, not DEFINE US! As we need to learn how to effectively manage our negative emotions, we will dive into the 4 steps for Developing Emotional Competence both at work and at home.
LEADERS
ARE LOSERS
We do not normally think about the value of losing when we think about leadership. While it does feel contrary to what we are taught about leadership, it is still true. Ultimately, the more the leader LOSES, the more the people they LEAD gain. That’s a good enough reason to lose. This session will look at the “Five Crucial Things” we need to lose in order to lead well. Great Leaders are Losers!
HALF-DAY INSTITUTES
for Recreation Agencies
& Park and Recreation Conferences
These HALF-DAY Institutes provide a “Nuts-And-Bolts,” “Rubber-Meets-The-Road,” type of workshops full of practical “Get-It-Done-Now” types of solutions for your agency.
Mark Honberger is also available as a Keynote Speaker
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GO "NEXT LEVEL": A BUSINESS APPROACH TO PUBLIC RECREATION
We all want to be better at what we do, right? That’s what “NEXT LEVEL” is all about. It means taking our performance as Recreation Professionals, Up A Notch. It means seeking efficiencies and finding ways to improve the way we go about our business. It means turning those “Big Ideas” into really practical steps that you can start accomplishing tomorrow.
The topics covered in this Institute include: How to Brand your agency, How to be creative in Generating Revenue,
How to go about marketing your programs, How to determine your agency’s Core Services, & then How to set up appropriate Cost Recovery Level with a defensible Marketing Strategy for each recreation program.
TRACK: Recreation Programming, Best Practices, Next Practices, Directors, Supervisors