(05/15/19)

By Jenifer Wisniewski, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Jenifer Wisniewski, ACI President

10. Great location! Savannah, is an awesome city, whether you like art, history, culture, food, night life, haunted stuff or water. You can even tack on a day before or after to visit Tybee Island, which is an awesome beach.

9. Boat ride. Aaron Meier from Nevada once told me the key to a successful conference is a boat ride. Well, Sunday evening on the Savannah River will be a nice way to network with friends.

8. Another boat ride! If you get registered and would like to go on the dolphin tour on Wednesday, you will get two boat rides during this conference. Pretty awesome way to “work,” if you ask me.

7. Crisis communications workshop – we all dread the day that we have to do crisis communications, but preparation for that day is the best way to make sure you are ready for it. The workshop on crisis communications is going to be very valuable and led by the guy who wrote a book on it.

6. Awards night is going to be awesome! Come find out if your entry placed and get your plaque and your place in ACI Awards history!

5. Andrew McKean is our keynote speaker, y’all. He is amazing. He is going to talk about the various ways to curate and amplify a vision within a bureaucracy (i.e. how to be valued, heard and appreciated and how to manage up).

4. Make new friends, network and meet people who share your role at other state agencies. There will be over 100 of us there in one place.

3. Have a voice! Get involved and stay involved in the conservation communications community. We are a pretty small, close-knit community that is an easy club to be a part of, and the best way to do that is to come to the annual ACI conference!

2. Kay Ellerhoff is going to be there this year! The legend is back.

1. To steal everyone else’s great ideas! This is the number one reason I go to ACI every year.

So what are you waiting for, go register!

It’s the best money you will invest in your personal development all year. If you can’t afford it, apply for a scholarship!

See you all there!