Men's Officials 2008 Convention Program

[LaxRef]

David Seidman asked me to post this:

Until 2005, men’s officials’ sessions at the convention were limited to the NCAA clinic. Since that tentative start- two sessions in ‘05- our content has doubled every year. The 2008 Convention will continue the pattern with plenty of new material for us.

Programs will begin at 1:00 on Friday afternoon, and continue until 6:00 Friday evening, allowing officials to catch Mike Eruzione’s keynote address at 7:00.

Saturday’s program will be highlighted by our own keynote session entitled “Training and Injury Prevention for Officials--Off and On the Field”, presented by Jim Buriak and his staff from the Health Department of Roanoke College. This presentation promises to be of high value for all officials. The keynote will begin at Noon, immediately following the NCAA/COC Clinic, which will begin at 8:30am. All officials are welcome to attend beginning at 9:00, following the COC business meeting.

A full slate of sessions will follow the keynote on Saturday afternoon. New this year: 3 sessions of special interest to the newer official will be presented in addition to programs for those with more experience.

In addition to our usual trainers’ programs on Sunday morning, there will be 3 sessions for all officials focusing on rules and mechanics. Men’s officials’ presentations will conclude on Sunday at Noon.

Clinicians’ Training at the last two conventions has helped to build our excellent corps of COC and SOC Clinicians. In lieu of Clinicans’ Training at the 2008 convention, there will be a session exclusively for NCAA and MCLA Assigning Authorities and Observers, sponsored jointly by the NCAA, USILA, and US Lacrosse. If this is for you, you’ve already received an invitation.

If you’ve attended the Convention in recent years, you know the value of our programs designed for men’s officials. If you haven’t been here yet, 2008 is your year. Either way, the Convention is the road to taking your officiating to the next level. Sign up today!

I'll post a full list of speakers and topics as soon as I get it.

[pboyd]

Any update on actual agenda topics for the different sessions especially Fri and Sun?
Any new ideas for lodging since convention site hotels are booked?

[eme]

Any news on specifics for the clinics at the Convention?

[LaxRef]

I will post as soon as I have something. The scheduling is out of my hands.

I do think we should try to do another LacrosseForums dinner. I thought Maggiano's worked well last year; who's up for doing it again this year?

I don't think there's anything "official" for Thursday night, and if nothing pops up, I was thinking that we could have an informal discussion session on rules/training/etc. somewhere, preferably with beverages available.

[Lax Fan26]

LR, please count me in for Maggiano's.

LaxFan25, will you be joining?

[laxzeeb]

Never come in on Thursday night because of the fact that not much goes on at the convention Friday AM. Now I wish I had. With the growth, I wonder if eventually we will see registrations on Thursday afternoon-evening so that it is full tilt Friday AM. Maybe in Baltmore.

[BlueJaysLaxFan]

I won't be in town until Friday morning because of a local meeting Thursday evening. Count me in for dinner if it's Friday or Saturday!

[laxfan25]

I'm in for dinner on Friday, along with LF26 and another gentleman from our town. There may also be an official from Hawaii that a guy out there referred to me, but i haven't spoken with him yet to get his schedule.

[massref]

I will post as soon as I have something. The scheduling is out of my hands.

I do think we should try to do another LacrosseForums dinner. I thought Maggiano's worked well last year; who's up for doing it again this year?

I don't think there's anything "official" for Thursday night, and if nothing pops up, I was thinking that we could have an informal discussion session on rules/training/etc. somewhere, preferably with beverages available.

That sounds good...

Mike

[LaxRef]

I'm in for dinner on Friday, along with LF26 and another gentleman from our town. There may also be an official from Hawaii that a guy out there referred to me, but i haven't spoken with him yet to get his schedule.

I think we need to do Saturday night. Eruzione (Miracle on Ice) is speaking on Friday night, plus the SOC meeting is 8:00-9:30. And I think we were at Maggiano's for close to three hours last year.

[BlueJaysLaxFan]

Sounds like Sat night it is. What time at Maggianno's?

[shrekjr]

Hmmm, this just might be the year LR25 has to stop harrassing me about not coming to the convention. :)

[LaxRef]

Okay, here's the deal:

There does not appear to be anything formal planned for Thursday night, so I had the idea of having an informal meeting to kick around training ideas. Nothing official, and I don't know if we'll accomplish anything, but I intend to bring a clipboard and a pen so there is at least the potential for writing down good ideas. Anyone interested can meet on the ground floor of the Marriott near the Kinko's at, say, 6:30. We'll move to some sort of establishment that has food and drink and hang out for a while. Maybe Chili's?

I'm scheduled out the wazoo on Friday night, but the SOC meeting is from 8:00-9:30 (site TBA, but most likely in the Marriott). However, after that we'll certainly be moving to some sort of establishment that serves cold beverages.

Maggiano's was pretty booked up; I guess I waited too late to make reservations. Sorry! Anyway, I got us a table for 7 at 7:30 on Saturday night. So far, I have me, LF25, LF26, and BJLF, so there are 3 more spots: first-come, first served. We'll meet on the ground floor of the Marriott near the Kinko's at, say, 7:15.

Looking forward to seeing you guys this weekend!

[shrekjr]

We have lot of people from the lacrosse community coming from Texas. If I'm not tied up with them, I'll certainly try to join you guys for evening fellowship.

[laxzeeb]

I don't believe I'll be able to make the dinner but will be looking for a time to quickly meet the group to express my thanks for the help the members here supply. Any more word on a topic list and schedule?

[MElaxRef]

Count me in for Maggiano's on Saturday

[shrekjr]

Looks like I'll miss dinner Saturday but I'll certainly make time for socializing some other time during the weekend.

[shrekjr]

Best way from the airport to the hotel/convention center?

[eme]

Take subway/train. Leaves downstairs from Southwest Airlines arrival area. Will take you right under Philly Marriott for $5.50. Trains leave every 15 minutes or so.

[tjklax01]

I'm in for Thursday night. PM me if anything changes.

Can't make dinner this year. Spending time with my area collegues. Food was good there last year.

[shrekjr]

Take subway/train. Leaves downstairs from Southwest Airlines arrival area. Will take you right under Philly Marriott for $5.50. Trains leave every 15 minutes or so.
Thank you.

[LaxRef]

Okay, here's the deal:

There does not appear to be anything formal planned for Thursday night, so I had the idea of having an informal meeting to kick around training ideas. Nothing official, and I don't know if we'll accomplish anything, but I intend to bring a clipboard and a pen so there is at least the potential for writing down good ideas. Anyone interested can meet on the ground floor of the Marriott near the Kinko's at, say, 6:30. We'll move to some sort of establishment that has food and drink and hang out for a while. Maybe Chili's?

I'm scheduled out the wazoo on Friday night, but the SOC meeting is from 8:00-9:30 (site TBA, but most likely in the Marriott). However, after that we'll certainly be moving to some sort of establishment that serves cold beverages.

Maggiano's was pretty booked up; I guess I waited too late to make reservations. Sorry! Anyway, I got us a table for 7 at 7:30 on Saturday night. So far, I have me, LF25, LF26, and BJLF, so there are 3 more spots: first-come, first served. We'll meet on the ground floor of the Marriott near the Kinko's at, say, 7:15.

Looking forward to seeing you guys this weekend!

I've been informed that the Kinko's is blocked up by construction, so we'll meet across from the registration desk instead.

[CardinalPuff]

what? no updates? no convention game thread?.....must be a "what happens in Philly, stays in Philly" situation...

[shrekjr]

Here are my thoughts after my first convention....it was great seeing the guys from here, LaxRef, Laxfans 25 and 26, eme, massref, and probably others I didn't put the names with screen names. It was also great seeing guys I've met from around the country at the ZLAX camp, Vail, Texas A&M Laredo's and MCLA championships. I think the organizers did a great job of trying to make it a complete program, especially on Saturday. I'd like to see more substance on Friday afternoon and or Sunday morning. Honestly, other than the fellowship, I felt like I didn't get much out of it 3 of the 4 days I was there. To be fair, I didn't get in until late afternoon Thursday and I really did enjoy dinner with the gang that evening so I should say 2 of the 4 days were beneficial. I didn't go to the session Sunday morning but would have like to seen maybe 2-3 more options for Sunday. Again, I realize this is only a beginning so I'm not complaining at all, just giving my thoughts and maybe suggestions for the future. If nothing else, I'd be happy spending all four days in round table discussions with everyone while enjoying our favorite beverages. Another suggestion would be to really try to stay on schedule with the speakers. Either make sure the room requirements are set up and ready ahead of time, or remind speakers they need to stop after their alloted time. The Saturday morning sessions flew by and the timing was great. In fairness to the afternoon speakers, they had great topics and good audiences so it was hard to cover the topic in an hour or less. Overall, I think a good time was had by all.

[laxzeeb]

I too believe the convention was a big success and would have liked to attend more official's content but I run a youth program also and was covering both bases. I did not feel the vendors area was as good as in the past but that's a secondary issue.

As far as keeping the schedule on time, it is always hard. I think probably the easiest potential remedy is if you know you are going to get and take questions then you cut back on material to allow some cushion. A presenter can also indicate at the start that questions during the session will be taken at the end if time permits or can be asked privately when the session is over. USL schedules the other parts of the convention for the most part with 30 minute breaks to allow people to get from place to place but also because they know programs run over. That would limit the amount of topics covered plus I know the official's program has many meetings, so I doubt that is the answer for keeping things moving. I do want to thank those who organized and presented because it is a service to the sport and I hope to see those who attended in Baltimore next year.

[BlueJaysLaxFan]

It was great getting together with everyone for dinner on Saturday. For some reason, we introduced ourselves by name, but not by screen names (I didn't introduce myself as BJLF!). I guess we can remain anonymous to some for a while longer! Thanks again to LaxRef for organizing this great dinner for us!

I agree with shrekjr that aside from the NFHS session on Friday, more can be offered though what was offered on Friday was quite good. I'm not COC certified, but I sat through the NCAA clinic on Saturday and thought that was great as well. I personally enjoyed the physical fitness clinic for officials that was put on by the sports medicine physicians at the end of the clinic. I think having parallel sessions for new vs. experience officials is a good idea, and having parallel sessions would also work in the morning when the NCAA clinic is happening. Perhaps moving the new officials parts 1 and 2 to the morning during NCAA would work better, and have sessions in the afternoon that are common. The last three of the Saturday afternoon sessions focussed on game management, and I think new and experienced officials can benefit from these everytime.

I know that a lot of work was put into improving the offerings for officials this year, and I applaud the organizers. And in the spirit of continuous improvement, I think that it will be great if LR will be able to get next year's program lined up by October.

[shrekjr]

I agree with BJLF and forgot to mention that I didn't attend the Friday session because Texas does not play by NFHS rules. For those who do, I hear it was a great session. I can barely keep up with NCAA. I commend you guys who have to know both!