Sierra 2000 O-Fest

---

USOF Convention

Workshops

---

We are offering a varied menu of convention workshops. The purpose of these is to share ideas, to keep the orienteering community informed of new developments, and to communicate information that can be taken back to your clubs. Each workshop will be lively and informative and will be led by experts. Most workshops will be held more than once, so you won't miss your favorite subjects.

A USOF Strategic Growth Plan

Thursday, 3:30-4:30 pm
Friday, 1:30-2:30 pm

This workshop is a facilitated discussion of ways to spread our sport. It is designed to give the USOF membership a proposed strategy for growth. The workshop will touch on such areas as history of federation growth, previous marketing strategies, benefits of growth, elements of a good marketing strategy, growth goals for our federation, and ways to achieve those goals.

Bob Turbyfill is a teacher by education and training, and has orienteered for 27 years. He is currently teaching a spring orienteering class for Garrett Community College. He has been a competitive orienteer since 1973 and has been on several U.S. teams. He has coached three U.S. orienteering teams. He has been the president of two orienteering clubs and is the current coaching certifier for the federation.

Liz Kotowski is USOF's vice president for marketing and public relations. An active orienteer for 25 years, she currently works as an outreach and education specialist for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Orienteering Course Planning

Wednesday, 1:30-2:30 pm
Thursday, 10:00-11:00 am

The talk will touch on all aspects of course design, from the germinal idea to the final reports, with the major focus on the needs of the competition and the competitors. Techniques and traps for the designer will be covered in some detail.

Scott Donald is a COF and IOF controller, and a USOF course consultant. His goal is to assist the meet officials in the production of a positively remembered event.

National Orienteering Day 2000 & Beyond

Thursday, 10:00-11:00 am, 11:15am-12:15pm

Many of us are excited about having a National Orienteering Day to help effectively spread the word about orienteering. Though we made great strides with our 2000 event, this was really intended as a running start for NOD 2001 and beyond. Given that, we are already diligently working on NOD 2001 and want to update you, as well get your input and insights from your NOD 2000 experiences.

Discussion points include: overall effectiveness, carryover, sponsorship, publicity, recognition, organization, format and NOD place as part of the USOF promotional effort. Of course, just like with NOD itself, there will be an element of FUN at this seminar.

Rick Hood lobbied for the NOD concept, served as the coordinator for 2000, and has agreed to continue to do so through 2003.

Successful School Programs

Wednesday, 2:45-3:45 pm
Thursday, 10:00-11:00 am

Chris will bring his tested methods for successful school programs to this workshop, which will include getting in the school door, interface with the PTA, administration and the teacher, mapmaking tricks, A/V, and tons of handouts.

Chris Cassone runs Treasure Hunt Adventures, a business that uses orienteering as a basis for corporate team building, school programs, and even birthday parties. At two previous conventions, he has conducted seminars on both the corporations and parties. Since he began teaching orienteering in schools in 1985, he has visited more than 75 different schools, over 25,000 children, and taught over 50 teacher-training workshops (including several for the National Air and Space Museum).

Competition Issues

Thursday, 11:15am-12:15pm
Friday, 1:30-2:30 pm

Eric Bone is the USOF vice president for competition and a member of the U.S. team. He maps, sets courses, and organizes training for Cascade Orienteering Club in Seattle.

How Clubs Can Work with JROTC

Thursday, 1:00-2:00 pm, 2:15-3:15 pm

With the aging of the U.S. orienteering population, USOF has been looking at ways to attract more young orienteers. GAOC has developed a program that has proven highly successful; it involves linking JROTC units' program needs with the resources of the local orienteering club. GAOC's program has resulted not only in participation by over 50 JROTC units, but active, continuing club memberships, JROTC-hosted events, and establishment of a college orienteering club.

Robin Shannonhouse is USOF executive director, a USOF certified coach, and a member of the Georgia Orienteering Club. GAOC has been actively working with JROTC units for several years, and Robin has been substantially involved in GAOC's JROTC projects. Robin also heads the USOF project to donate USOF coaching manuals to active high school and JROTC orienteering coaches.

Organizing a Trail-O Event

Thursday, 11:15am-12:15pm, 1:00-2:00 pm, 2:15-3:15 pm

Each of the three sessions will be different:

11:15 am - "Introduction to Trail-O," a video introduction
1:00 pm - "Course setting for Trail-O" with Karen Dennis
2:15 pm - "Mapping for Trail-O" with David Irving

Karen Dennis has been orienteering for over 20 years and first discovered trail orienteering in 1993. She competed in the first Trail-O World Cup in Scotland last year in the Open category. She has put on several trail-O events for her local club, and is currently a member of the USOF trail-O committee.

David Irving has been orienteering since 1977 and specializes in map memory. David has been active in trail orienteering for several years; he represented the U.S. at the first Trail-O World Cup in Scotland last year and took 3rd place.

Electronic Punching

Thursday, 1:00-2:00 pm, 2:15-3:15 pm
Friday, 1:30-2:30 pm

The workshop is a short introduction to electronic punching and Sportident. It will feature information about how Sportident works and how Sportident can make orienteering more interesting for the competitor and easier for the organizer. Peter will also explore future developments in the technology.

Peter Hedberg is from Sweden and has been orienteering for 20 years. His interest in timing devices has evolved from watches with split times to electronic punching. His Sportident Electronic Punching System is being used at the Sierra 2000 O-Fest.