AORE Conference 2008 is complete!
This year’s AORE conference has come to a close and with it come goodbyes of crewmates from the day at the bay, colleagues reunited during the conference presentations, and new friends met during the super social at the Wavehouse. AORE Conference 2008 brought together professionals and students from the field of outdoor recreation and education from as far away as Italy.
With 70 presentations and topics ranging from risk management to ice climbing on corn silos, conference attendees were anything but bored. The presentations gave attendees an opportunity to share ideas on staff training models, new program areas, program adaptation, and safety standards. At the research symposium, ten recent research papers were presented to AORE members. Topics at the research symposium ranged from studies of the impact of satellite phones to environmental ethics of bouldering.
The day at the bay brought over 200 AORE conference attendees out to the water to do what they do best, recreate. Participants had an opportunity to try their hand at sea kayaking, sailing, or even surfing. The afternoon provided opportunities to learn new skills, network, and enjoy a little bit of the California sunshine.
The Super Social at the Wavehouse was a big hit. Conference attendees were able to enjoy a nice meal on the beach while watching their colleagues, students, supervisors, and professors ride the artificial wave. The student auction was also a big hit at the Wavehouse. Attendees raised thousands of dollars for future student scholarships.
Hear what just a few of the attendees had to say about their experience:
AORE was a great opportunity for me as a young professional to meet and network with others in the field. I left the conference full of ideas for my program, encouraged by the support from my peers and now have a network of folks who I can reach out to share ideas, receive feedback and brainstorm. I'm looking forward to Minneapolis in 2009!
Tasha Purcell
First Time Attendee
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
As always the AORE conference provided me an opportunity to connect with many friends and vendors in the industry; AORE feels more like a family reunion than a conference for me! I especially appreciate having the chance to introduce my students to folks that may someday hire them as staff. This connection to industry professionals is definitely an advantage for my students.
Tom Stuessy
Green Mountain College
As a first year AORE student attendee I was blown away by the amazing opportunities to learn from professionals in the field of outdoor education and recreation. Not only were the sessions engaging and informative, but everyone from vendors to presenters to board members was available for questions or just good conversation. The energy and excitement felt at the conference will definitely have an impact on the way I approach my position , and I am looking forward to implementing many of the new ideas and practices I heard at AORE.
Mandy Pohja
Board of Directors Student Representative
University of Wyoming
Being fortunate to have won a student scholarship, I was afforded the opportunity to see some of the inner workings of the event and meet some incredibly motivated and interesting people. I was able to make strong connections with both my peers and professionals from all over the place, not to mention I found a great internship thanks to the career center which I was able to work at.
It is hard to identify any one point of the entire experience that was my favorite. Between making new friends and reconnecting with old ones, the mentor/mentee lunch, watching Tom Stuessy get thrashed over and over again at the Wavehouse, taking some board members on a hilarious catamaran ride at Day at the Bay, and going out to dinner with a bunch of professionals for some good food and great conversation, I'd say its tough to choose one. What I can say for sure is that the conference made a deep impression on me and I feel that I was able to make my impression on it as well. I feel that joining AORE and attending the conference is among the best of decisions I have made in terms of my future and life experiences.
Casey Graham
Green Mountain College
Looking forward to AORE Conference 2009!
Next year’s conference, in the heart of the University of Minnesota Campus and downtown Minneapolis, hopes to be the biggest conference yet! You can expect great room rates, easy travel from all over the US by plane or car, and an amazing opportunity to network with professionals, students, and vendors from around the world. Add November 5-7th on your calendar now and start planning for AORE Conference 2009.
AORE 2008 would like to thank Everest Level Conference Sponsor Entre Prises. 