Sonoran Desert Master Gardener Conference

Master Gardeners – Due to the great success of last year’s Sonoran Desert Master Gardener Conference, it will be held again.  Please read the following e-mail to see if you can help.  In any case, please mark your calendars for Sept. 11-12, 2014.  Several Coconino Master Gardeners and I went last year and it was an excellent conference for Master Gardeners.  Hattie

Dear Master Gardeners,

Another Sonoran Desert Master Gardener Conference is being designed just for you, the Masters Gardeners of Arizona.  The topics and format are in response to your input from the surveys that you completed last year.  The conference will be held on Thursday, September 11th and Friday,September 12th, 2014 at the Casino del Sol Conference Center in Tucson.  On Thursday we have a number of tours planned at the University of Arizona Arboretum, and at the Pima Extension Demonstration Gardens.  We are planning to have several focused lecture tracks and discussions to fill your day on Friday.  Friday's day of lectures is planned to begin at 7:00 am for registration and finish by 4:00 pm. There will be many breaks throughout the day and a break for lunch, which will be provided on-site at the Casino del Sol. The format is being designed to allow for in-depth presentations on desired topics and networking time to meet and learn from other Master Gardeners throughout Southern Arizona.  

The topics that the conference will focus on are Entomology, Trees, EcoDesign and Gardening Techniques. With this said, these topics are completely dependent on the speakers we are able to recruit to speak at the conference. In addition to these topics, Master Gardeners will have time at lunch and breaks to mingle and to share their knowledge and experiences.  There will also be vendors and sponsors at the conference.  And we would again like to invite each county to bring an informational board, which depicts the activities of the Master Gardeners in that county.  A table will be provided for your display. 

The conference is still in the planning stages and we are asking for volunteers to help with all of the activities required to make this conference a success.  We are looking for volunteers to help with the following activities:

·       Speakers

·       Recruit speakers – reach out to speakers from the list we have (through the survey) to see if they are available.  To keep admission costs down we are not able to pay large speaker fees to anyone, but we may be able to cover reasonable travel expenses for speakers.

·       Coordinate with confirmed speakers - identify their A/V and material needs, collect their bios and presentation descriptions for the program, collect their handouts and coordinate copies, send them logistical details.

·       Conference planning and execution

• Design conference evaluation form and process.

·       Recruit day-of help - ask anyone interested in gardening or becoming a Master Gardener to volunteer on the day-of to help with registration, and to be speaker monitors.

·       Outreach, and Marketing

• Sponsors
• Create informational handout of sponsorship opportunities and request letter.
• Brainstorm organizations and businesses to ask.
• Ask potential sponsors and/or send request letters.
• Coordinate benefits with confirmed sponsors.
• Recruit vendors
• Create informational handout of vendor opportunities.
• Brainstorm organizations and businesses to ask.
• Ask potential vendors.
• Send confirmed vendors logistical details.
• Goody bags, door prizes and speaker thank you gifts
• Brainstorm organizations and businesses to ask for donations for goody bags, door prizes and/or speaker thank you gifts.
• Ask organizations and businesses for donations.
• Keep track of confirmed donations.
• Conference materials
• Design invitation.
• Design and put together program.
• Edit/proof program before it goes to print.

·       Registration

• Develop registration form and process.
• Track registrations.
• Send confirmation email to registrants.

If you are interested in helping us to get this conference off the ground, please email us (copied on this email) by March 30th to let us know how you would like to help.  We would love your help with any of the pieces above, so even if just one small piece or step of a task sounds appealing, please let us know.  The more help we have, the more likely it will be a successful and worthwhile event for all.  We will have a launch meeting of all volunteers in the Tucson area and will communicate via email with all volunteers outside of the Tucson area.  To respect everyone’s time and minimize meetings, almost all communication will be done by email and phone.

We really encourage the participation of Master Gardeners from all the counties and look forward to both seeing you at the conference and working with you as a volunteer to set up the conference.  It is a great and unique opportunity for all of us to forge bonds, share information and set the precedent for future interaction.

We look forward to working with you to put on an educational and enjoyable conference for all of us!

Regards,

Peter Warren - email:plwarren@cals.arizona.edu

Laura Mellow - email: l_mellow@yahoo.com

Wanda Bentle - email: bentlew@aol.com

Peter L. Warren
Urban Horticulture Agent & State Master Gardener Coordinator
Pima County Cooperative Extension
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
University of Arizona

4210 N Campbell Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85719
phone: 520-626-5161

fax: 520-626-5849
plwarren@cals.arizona.edu

We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files, we'd like to help you learn to help yourself...    - P. Simon

Hattie Braun

University of Arizona

Master Gardener Program Coordinator

Coconino County Cooperative Extension

2304 N. 3rd St.

Flagstaff, AZ  86004

Phone:  928-774-1868  x 170

FAX:  928-774-1860