Reaching the summit of professional success comes from hard work, dedication and continuing your education. Join us at the region's only full-day conference designed to motivate, inspire and benefit you and your organization.
It's time to reinvent your workday, get inspired and strengthen your leadership skills.
Professional Development Summit
Thursday, November 9, 2017
7:30 to 8:30 AM | Registration, Networking, Sponsor Booth Visit and Light Breakfast
8:20 | Welcome
Martha Bremer and Ryan Johnson
8:30 to 9:15 AM | Morning Keynote
It takes an Army; how do you encourage yours to fight for you?
John McHugh, Kwik Trip
Building and leading a team that works well together, has a sense of ownership and embodies your company mission, is an overwhelming crucial task for any organization. During our morning keynote hear from John McHugh, director of communications, leadership and training of Kwik Trip on how the Mid-West Convenience Store chain actively creates and sustains a constructive environment to encourage productivity and collaboration in the workplace, resulting in long term employees’, positive customer satisfaction results and company growth.
Breakout Session #1
9:30 to 10:15 AM |
Embrace Stress to Achieve More
Mariah McKechnie, Northland Special Events
Work is not always easy. Whether you’re employed or your own boss, you have pressure to deliver. Today, that usually means higher demands, in less time, and with more distractions. You try to keep up, so you do more work. But no matter how much you do, it never seems to be enough. So, the stress kicks in.
During this session hear from multiple business owner Mariah McKechnie of Northland Special Events, Duluth Balloon Company and Fleurtation on tips on how you can break the vicious cycle of panicking and learn to embrace stress to achieve more.
9:30 to 10:15 AM |
Professional Social Media Presence for You and Your Organization
Molly Solberg, MAS Marketing
When it comes to social media, everyone wants in on the action. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and twitter are all highly active social media networks. Not to mention the countless other little sites on the web today. Everyone wants to gain social media recognition for their business but, are you sure that your company is showcasing itself in a professional way? While proper marketing can bring in prospective clients, an offensive post could end up a public company nightmare. During this session gain insight on professional social media presence for you and your business before creating your next post.
Breakout Session #2
10:30 - 11:15 AM |
Capitalize of Your Own Vulnerability
Mark Rubin, County Attorney
What do you think about when you hear the word vulnerability? For many people, the term is linked to negativity, such as weaknesses, personal mistakes, or professional danger. But a new wave of thinking shows that embracing vulnerability is actually crucial to workplace success. During this session learn how you can learn from your shortcomings and transform them into a benefit for you and your career.
10:30 - 11:15 AM |
Public Speaking: The Do’s and Don’ts of Presenting
Pam Solberg Tapper, Coach for Success
Public speaking can be intimidating! Whether you're giving a talk at your local library, updating your colleagues on work progress, or presenting to a large group of strangers, there are some simple steps that should help make public speaking a better experience - for both you and your audience. During this session hear from Pam Solberg-Tapper on how you can become a skilled public presenter.
11:30 AM to 12:00 PM | LUNCH
12:00 to 12:30 PM | Networking and Sponsor Booth Visit
Breakout Session #3
12:45 to 1:30 PM|
Power of Connections: Building and Maintaining Your Professional Network
Dan Moseley, Northwestern Mutual
How many professional colleagues do you have contact information for? Whom would you contact as potential clients, to ask for referrals or simply to reach out when you are in need? Are you comfortable meeting new people and do you seek them out? A professional network is a group of colleagues whom you know and are able to contact for a variety of reasons. Networking is a crucial part of any professional’s career and is a winning situation for everyone involved. In this session learn how you can build and maintain your professional network by following a few key steps.
12:45 to 1:30 PM|
Capture Attention; In Person, On Your Resume and In Your Emails
Mark Swanson, Century Link
Your long-term success depends on winning the attention of others. If your boss doesn’t notice your work, how will you get a promotion? If your team doesn’t listen to you, how can you lead effectively? And if you can’t capture the attention of potential employers how will you advance your career? This session will expose you to tips and tricks to captivating your addressees’ full attention.
Breakout Session #4
1:45 to 2:30 PM |
Understanding Differences for a Stronger Team
Carl Crawford, City of Duluth
You need people with diverse strengths so that more specific roles are filled, and potential weaknesses are offset. It’s important to have people who think differently because they may provide a different perspective. Different personalities keep your team spicy, dynamic, and constantly moving forward. In this session learn from Carl Crawford on how to embrace differences to create the strongest team.
1:45 to 2:30 PM |
Confidence 101: The Power of Body Language
Roz Randorf, Dale Carnegie Training
Confidence is key to success in many areas of our lives. Confident people stand out at work, in social situations, and in group settings. Studies have shown that those who appear more confident achieve higher status than their less confident peers. As a result, they exert more influence, tend to be more admired and listened to, and have access to better resources.
If you're not as confident as you'd like to be, slight modifications to your body language can have an enormous impact. This session led by Roz Randorf of Dale Carnegie Training will leave you with tips and tricks to command the attention of the room at your next meeting, networking engagement or presentation.
Breakout Session #5
2:45 to 3:30 PM |
Passion: Taking on One More Thing
Breanne Tepler, The College of St. Scholastica
Passion is a word so excessively used and almost always blindingly paired with work, that if you ask around you may find that not everyone really gets what passion is. At the root of it all, it points to that strong emotion you have inside of you, for someone, or something. And anyone who has ever succeeded in making a name for themselves would probably state their passion for the work / craft / industry as a reason for their success. Finding your passion is step one and finding time for your passion is step two. In this session hear from Breanne Tepler on how she has made time for the many passions in her life and how you can too!
2:45 to 3:30 PM |
Uncover the Leader within YOU!
Dr. Renee Wachter & Dr. Jacalyn Weissenburger, University of Wisconsin - Superior
To be a leader, you don't have to be an elected official, or a CEO. A leader is someone whom others consistently want to follow for new trends and ideas. A fancy title can make that happen temporarily, but a true leader inspires steadfast loyalty. In this afternoon session Dr. Wachter and Dr. Weissenburger will encourage and empower you to emerge as a leader worth following.
3:45 to 4:30 PM | Afternoon Keynote:
Dan Hartman I Glensheen Mansion
Creating and Surviving Change…The Highs and Lows of Making Waves:
Dan Hartman, Executive Director of Glensheen Mansion has a passion for history while simultaneously understanding the power of change and vision for the future. His afternoon keynote will conclude the conference with attainable tips that will give you the courage to stop dreaming and start doing. Join us for this exciting session and learn from a man who has reinvented the historic Congdon Family’s home by altering the event possibilities, developing a killer social media marketing plan and adding creative tours, resulting in the mansion becoming Minnesota’s #1 House Museum.