[PAO] National Board

Sat Jul 19 12:30:31 CDT 2014

I am the only one from my unit attending. I work for an airline, so I fly free. I had made arrangements to room with someone to share the cost. 

It is, indeed, too expensive for most. 

The focus should be on the conference, not the entertainment and sight-seeing available outside the conference. 

Just my two cents... 

Jaimie Henson, Maj. 
Kentucky 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Doug Barth" <Barth7394 at comcast.net> 
To: "CAP Public Affairs Officers" <cap-pao at lists.sempervigilans.org> 
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 11:49:38 AM 
Subject: Re: [PAO] National Board 

I totally agree with Lt Col Copenhaver, 

In particular, as I move toward retirement and have more time to commit to 
my volunteer activities, I also am very cost sensitive. 

While I understand and encourage the value of face-to-face conferences, I 
think we should look more extensively into webinar/webex events, both to 
reduce cost to the membership and to increase the availability of these 
types of topics across CAP. Or perhaps video tape the presentations and 
post them to CAP website. I am not aware that we do that. 

Major Doug Barth, CAP 
Group II 
MDWG 

-----Original Message----- 
From: cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org 
[mailto:cap-pao-bounces at lists.sempervigilans.org] On Behalf Of Karen 
Copenhaver 
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 9:44 AM 
To: cap-pao at lists.sempervigilans.org 
Subject: [PAO] National Board 

Dear Fellow PAOs, 

As we continue our volunteer commitment to an outstanding organization, we 
gladly donate our resources to train and participate. Across the years, we 
have attended conferences for our wing, region and our national board, and 
the cost has slowly increased, mainly because of the economic posture of the 
time. However, after reviewing the current cost associated with our national 
board, personally I am voicing a concern of how many members can afford this 
astronomical cost. Registration - $205 per person plus room of more than 
$100+ per night (don't forget tax and tax); (plus the extra days lodging for 
a total of 5 nights if you stay for the entire event) then if you plan on 
attending our PAO Academy it is $45, and if you want to attend the FEMA 
course it is $20, then Incorporating the Medal of Honor Character 
Development Program into Character Development for $20 and Grant Writing for 
$10. We can easily add these costs to be exorbitant for many. I've 
attended many National Board Conferences, but never experienced such fees, 
and would like to know what the "registration" is suppose to cover, if not 
the work labs, and associated hand-outs. 

I would like to see a more reasonable cost for our National Board 
Conferences in the future. We do not necessarily need a place like Las 
Vegas, Washington or Atlanta, or the like, as we do not have the numbers of 
attendees to support that type of location as we once did 
with totals of upward of 2,000+ attendees. We have some locations 
that could support the size of our event, with less expense to our members, 
such as Charlotte, NC, and communities of that size across our country. 
Our overall cost has escalated to a level whereby one must truly set aside 
additional funds up to more than $1,000 to attend, and that does not include 
airline tickets, which are escalating too. I don't know how many of you 
join me in these sentiments, but we need a more economical platform for our 
national board conferences. 

One other comment, wouldn't it be nice to have a non-military speaker like 
Bill Cosby to entertain and inspire us to continue our service? As a 
volunteer organization, who gladly gives and gives so much to our 
communities and nation, I would hope that an individual like this would not 
charge, but to have airfare and other related costs (room and meals) to be 
covered to get him/her to be our speaker. 

Realizing our organizational funds are somewhat limited and reduced greatly 
across the board, we could certainly reduce our cost by holding our national 
conference in a less costly location, and it would increase the numbers who 
can afford to attend. It indeed is a great experience that everyone should 
have the opportunity to attend. The labs, breakout sessions, or 
workshops... what ever they are called, are always phenomenal. The 
opportunity to network with your fellow members and national staff is 
something that you will always remember as you also establish a contact and 
many times lasting friendships. If you can..... 
please attend as it is an experience that you'll want again and again. 

Thank you for your commitment and dedication to one of the best 
organizations of which you could ever be a part. 

Respectfully, 
Karen L. Copenhaver, Lt Col, CAP 
Deputy Director, Public Affairs 
MER 

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