USOA Annual Conference in Lexington

The United States Ombudsman Association will hold its 29th Annual Conference in Lexington, Kentucky from September 29 through October 3, 2008. This year's meeting, "From the Starting Gate to the Finish Line: Ombudsmen and the Race for Excellence," features a number of programs of interest for organizational Ombuds, including:

• A Pre-Conference Workshop on High Conflict Personalities;
• Concurrent Session #1A, "And They're Off - Ombudsmen at the Starting Gate" (a workshop on launching a new Ombuds office);
• Concurrent Session #2C, "The Steeplechase – Cross-Cultural Awareness" (a session on negotiating cultural hurdles and identifying biases);
• Plenary Session "Down the Home Stretch - Evaluating Ombudsman Operations and Establishing Performance Measures" (an overview of strategic business planning for small Ombuds offices co-presented by Frank Fowlie);
• Concurrent Session #2D, "Win, Place or Show - The Why and How of Estimating Ombudsman Value Via Surveys" (an interactive session examining current survey practices for generating a programmatic value return estimate presented by John W. Zinsser);
• Concurrent Session #1E, "The Ombudsman Superfecta - Common Ground Panel (a panel discussion among representatives of various Ombudsman organizations regarding the things that unite and divide us, and how we can build on the strengths of our professions).

The fee for registration submitted by August 22 is $425 for USOA members and $500 for non-members. (USOA Conf. Info.)