National VOAD is excited to announce the theme for the 2024 National VOAD Conference being held in Phoenix, Arizona, May 6-9 is “United in Service“.
Please consider submitting a proposal to present a workshop at the 2024 National VOAD Conference—your expertise and lessons learned will help us host a great conference! A reminder the deadline is January 10, 2024.
Here are some suggested topics for workshops that we will slate as tracks in the final schedule appropriately:
Training and Education
Leading practices, continuity planning, raising the next generation of leaders, resource sharing, tutorials or guidance on old and new subjects
Social Justice & Equity in Disaster Response
Case studies, focus on under-represented populations, and social justice implications
Emerging Practices & Innovation
Use of technology, new approaches to ongoing and emerging issues, creative solutions in limited resource environments and the future of disaster
The 4 C’s
Creative and diverse partnerships, collaborative programming, cross-sector success stories
Behavioral & Emotional Health
Behavioral health approach in disasters, implications and approaches, support systems and personal resiliency
Humanitarian Approach
Human made disasters, approaches and intersection with emergency management
This year, we would like to encourage the following in workshop submissions and presenters:
- Panels including diverse perspectives from non-profit, public, private, higher education and local/state/federal government
- Although slides are required to review the intent of a session, workshops focused on interaction and a conversational approach with the audience will be given preference
- Slide decks should be limited during the in-person sessions to foster a dialogue amongst attendees
All workshop proposals are reviewed and scored by the Conference Workshop Review Committee, which is comprised of representatives from the following stakeholder groups: National VOAD members, partners, board members, and staff. The committee will score and select workshops based on presentations that meet the following five criteria, including:
1. Topic: Relevancy, importance and appropriateness of the topic to the field. Is this a topic that will be of interest to the National VOAD audience?
2. Implementation Goals: Do the stated implementation goals provide the audience with ACTIONABLE knowledge and information?
3. Engagement: Will the presentation engage the National VOAD audience?
4. Quality of Proposal: Does the proposal communicate what the workshop is about?
5. Collaboration: Does this presentation provide an example of collaboration and partnership especially public-private partnerships?
If you have any questions regarding the request for proposals or the selection process, please contact the National VOAD Conference Office by sending an email to [email protected] or calling 225-408-4459.
Deadline: Wednesday, January 10, 2024