This year's conference will focus on diversity issues. Friday will be our diversity day, and we are planning special events
to highlight the conference theme. As our plans are confirmed, we will post them on the webpage, bpdonline.org. Our in-house
Shameless Blues Band will be onstage Friday night, and hopefully our board members will entertain us with an encore presentation
of their Cabaret performance at the APM. We will again have preconference workshops on Wednesday, October 31,
for program directors and field educators. Some common sessions, tentatively on gatekeeping issues and funding for research,
are planned as well as sessions targeted for specific groups: field educators, new program directors, and seasoned program
directors. There will be no additional charge for the workshops, but there will be an additional charge for the preconference
luncheon for those who wish to attend it. Please plan to donate a quality item to the BPD Silent Auction. This
year, we are suggesting a holiday theme for your donations since the conference is in early November. All dollars raised
help to support the Ron Federico Memorial Lecture. As our program develops, it will be posted on the webpage.
Please continue to refer to it for up to date information including days and times of paper presentations, convener assignments,
special sessions, accreditation workshops, meetings, and special events. KRA continues to provide registration
and membership service to BPD. The address is listed on the BPD membership form and on the conference registration form.
Travel arrangements can be made through Carolyn at Ideal Travel Agency (formerly World Wide Connections) at 1.877.718.0181.
The hotel reservation form is on the webpage. Please don=t reserve rooms you do not need, and please cancel
room reservations as soon as possible if you have to change your plans. Our ability to offer the conference at very low
rates depends on getting free meeting space at the conference hotel, and the offer of free space is dependent on the number
of hotel rooms we book. Every year we face the problem that all of our allotted rooms are booked early. Members then can=t
get into the conference hotel and book rooms elsewhere. Then, in the week before the conference there are multiple room cancellations
at the conference hotel, and we fall below our promised room reservation numbers. This can potentially cost BPD $$$$$$$$$.
Your help with this is greatly appreciated. Expect the preliminary program around mid July. This year we will
have a new look. The preliminary program will be more abbreviated than in former years. We are doing this in an effort to
control the ever increasing costs of printing and postage. For more details about the conference, continue to log on to bpdonline.org.
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