Greetings everyone,
The 2010 POST Instructor Symposium “Taking Learning to the Next Level” is now in the books. The San Diego Marriott Mission Valley hosted over 350 trainers from across the state from Tuesday, June 8th through Friday, June 11th, and a great time was had by all. For those of you who were unable to make it this year, here’s a short recap…
Tuesday morning began with a four hour session for ICI instructors that provided updates on the program and instructor training. Following this session, a special lunch was held poolside with remarks from Michele Thompson, Executive Director of the San Diego Regional Training Center (SDRTC), SDRTC Law Enforcement Training Coordinator Mike Gray, and POST Bureau Chief Ed Pecinovsky. The highlight of the lunch was the announcement that Inspector Glenn Sylvester from San Francisco PD, a proud graduate of MIDP Class #10, was the recipient of the ICI Founders Award for training excellence. Glenn has consistently demonstrated excellence and a passion for training and mentoring through the years and no one is more deserving of this award. Congratulations Glenn!!
The Symposium’s General Session began at 1:30 p.m. with welcoming remarks from Chief William Lansdowne of the San Diego Police Department. Next up was POST Bureau Chief Ed Pecinovsky who talked about the importance of instructor training and also introduced POST Executive Director Paul Cappitelli. Mr. Cappitelli demonstrated his support for California’s public safety trainers by visiting workshops and personally greeting many trainers throughout the week. This was an excellent example of leadership and morale boosting in these troubled economic times.
Mr. Alan Fine, an internationally-recognized trainer, speaker and performance-improvement expert, spent the remainder of the afternoon giving his presentation “Understanding and Influencing Performance: Coaching that Works” to the assembled masses. Mr. Fine offered some simple suggestions to the often complex training issues we all face. This presentation was well received and provided a fresh approach to some common problems.
Wednesday morning saw an opening general session presentation from Ms. Sharon Bowman titled “What’s the Brain Got to do With It?” Ms. Bowman has presented at several recent Symposiums and is always entertaining. Afterwards, attendees were off to start their self-determined training schedule. There were a total of 29 workshops at this year’s Symposium and most workshops were full for every session.
Thursday morning’s opening general session presentation was from Bob Pike, a renowned, international trainer. This was Mr. Pike’s second year at the Symposium. He had such a good time in 2009 up in San Mateo that he worked it out with SDRTC staff to not only do a general session presentation but also to put on two separate workshops. He also made an appearance at the Master Instructor dinner on Thursday night. On behalf of all the trainers in attendance, I’d like to thank Bob for his willingness to provide tips, techniques and an excellent book titled “Dealing with Difficult Participants.” Great stuff!
Particularly noteworthy were the workshops scheduled for Friday morning. Many trainers might expect a low turnout on the last morning of the last day prior to the close of the Symposium. Not so fast! Based upon the workshop I taught, and from conversations with facilitators of other workshops, the Friday morning classes were some of the most interactive and well-attended of the week. Truly a testament to the level of commitment all the attendees brought to the Symposium. Some workshops even ran a few minutes past 11:00 a.m. as the participants wanted to finish activities they were working on. For agencies looking to determine the value of the Instructor Symposium, this speaks volumes.
As you can see from the information above, this year’s Symposium was outstanding. Well-deserved kudos must be extended to Michele Thompson and Mike Gray from SDRTC. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention all the hard work by the SDRTC staff – in particular Lisa, Janet, Ann and Joann. Without them, and the SDRTC technical support folks, things would not have gone nearly as smooth as they did. So, thanks to everyone at SDRTC for an excellent week.
While the 2010 Symposium is now over, there is still a lot going on in the training arena. Classes at all levels of IDI, along with the ICI Instructor Update courses, are continuing to produce trainers with improved design, development, documentation and facilitation skills. It is my most sincere hope that each MIDP/MICC graduate continues to give back to those making the journey along the path we have already traveled. Through your efforts we will partner with POST and all the presenters statewide to continue “Taking Learning to the Next Level.”
Respectfully,
Lee A. Steitz
President
California Master Instructor Association |
