General Questions
What will it cost?
Who will be there?
How do I register?
How do I get there?
Why are you organizing this? What's in it for
you?
Workshop questions
Do I have to present something? I'm no expert.
Will there be any workshops
on...?
Are all workshops limited to one hour?
If workshops aren't set until the first night, won't it
be chaos?
I want to present a workshop. What do I do?
What facilities are available for workshops?
The base rate for registration is $300 (plus GST). That
includes your meals and accommodation on-site. We also offer
many kinds of discounts. For more details, hop over to our
registration page.
Who will be there?
Our email invite list is scrounged from all over and
presently has over 500 names. The objective is a forum
for experiential professionals already working in the field to meet with
their peers, share their experience, expand their knowledge, and make new
connections in the industry. We also welcome people who are just
beginning their experiential education career. We expect attendees
from the corporate, youth,
schools, camp, and therapeutic sectors. From an organization perspective, you can get some idea
of the diversity from our practitioner links page. Based
on past symposiums, there will be lots of highly skilled individuals in attendance,
ready to share their experience.
We trust that our V-Space symposium will follow the
Law of Appropriate Attendance: “The right people will always be there.
No matter who shows up – they will be the right people.”
We hope that includes you. If you are wondering
if it will be relevant for you, jump to the
workshops section.
If you are driving, I recommend you get your
directions from the Bark Lake web site.
If you intend to fly here, it is probably best to fly
to Pearson International Airport (Toronto). The drive from there is
2 to 3 hours, depending on the time of day. If you let us know, we
will attempt to pool people into some kind of economical transportation
that works for everyone.
Why are you organizing this?
What's in it for you?
A fair question. First, you should know that the
Canadian Experiential Education Practitioners Symposium (CEEPS) is not
being offered by any association or membership group. This
is a grass-roots concept. As you might guess from the price,
it is definitely not a profit-making venture.
Instead, for me, I get the kind of
conference I want in my own backyard, and I get to meet everyone else who
is doing this stuff in Canada beyond my current work sources, not to mention the warm
fuzzy feeling you get knowing that you have made a personal contribution
to the professional development of your industry and colleagues in Canada.
Any funds collected over and above costs are either contributed to a
relevant charity (Breast Cancer Research in past years) or go towards next year's conference. Fair enough?
Do have I have to present something? I'm
no expert.
No you don't have to present
anything. But you are welcome to create a workshop or discussion
session on the spot. That is what Virtual Space is - where the
attendees are truly responsible for the learning.
You don't have to be an expert
to present. People should not be expecting to come to the CEEPS
simply to listen to the 'experts'. There is a vast treasure of
knowledge in the experience that you have, and that everyone else has.
This gathering simply allows one to tap into that wealth. If you
think you're no expert, you still may be pleasantly surprised at how
interested other people are in what you have to say!
Will there be any workshops on <fill in the
blank>?
The answer to that question is
largely up to you. If <fill in the blank> is a topic that you are
interested in, and it is related to experiential education, then there is
a good chance that someone else there is interested in it too, or at least
has some experience to share. You can read all about the current
topics in our Workshop Section.
The truly wonderful part about a
Virtual Space
conference is that if the right knowledge is somewhere in attendance, you
can tap into it simply by standing up and requesting a workshop on the
subject you are interested in. It is then up to
one of those individuals to volunteer to present something.
Sometimes you simply make a connection with another person, and you can
meet and exchange ideas outside a full V-Space session.
In other words, the content is entirely driven by
the attendees. This is an extremely powerful way to have your needs
met. If you fear that many of the others will be from the wrong
branch of our industry, invite people from the right branch!
If you can get us their
email addresses, or can direct colleagues to the web site, then you will
get the workshops you need!
To see what workshops were presented in previous CEEPS conferences,
click on the year:
2003, 2004, or
2005
Are all workshops limited to one hour?
Not at all. The Virtual
Space time slots are 45-60 minutes. If your workshop or discussion
will need two hours, book two. It is not unusual for a one hour
session to come back to the V-Space board and book a Part Two after the
fact.
If workshops aren't set until the first morning,
won't it be chaos?
Chaos, no. Dynamic,
lively, and in the moment? Definitely. Even after seeing the
process and participating in it for several years, it never fails to amaze
me how naturally it all seems to flow in the end. As Tom Leahy used
to constantly preach at the NCCPS: "TRUST the process - it
WORKS!"
I want to present a workshop. What do I
do?
Virtual Space gives you many
options for offering a workshop.
If you have a topic you would like to present,
simply prepare it ahead of time and come ready to roll it out. If
you know what the topic will be far enough in advance, we would encourage
you to let us know about it so that we can post it on the web site as an
added way to attract interest. But you don't have to announce anything until the symposium opening if you
don't want to.
Perhaps you have a new activity
that you would like to share - or try out! Bring it along.
Lots of attendees will be looking for new activity ideas or simply for
some down time to play between the other workshops. Again, if you
choose to
let us know about it, we'll post it here ahead of time.
If there is a discussion that
you desire to have with your industry peers and colleagues, then you can
simply announce the discussion topic at our V-Space kick off and we'll
give you the space to have it. The amount of preparation that you do
is entirely up to you.
You may simply have a burning
need - a question or challenge you are faced with. Chances are,
someone at the symposium has the information that you need or can point
you in the right direction. You can wait until the conference to
make your request, or better yet,
pose it ahead of time - you may even inspire someone to prepare a
workshop in advance that happens to address your need!
What facilities are available for
workshops?
I'll describe the eastern venue (since I know it
best - the western one should be similar). A wide variety of meeting
spaces are available, including small meeting rooms with tables and
chairs, cabins with a lounge-type setup, and large empty spaces. While it
may be a tad brisk for outdoor spaces, we will definitely have access to
fields, hiking trails, and an open pavilion. Limited props and play
ropes may also be available. Ask us ahead of time. Perhaps
most importantly, Bark Lake includes a comprehensive high and low ropes
course, including LOW: Initiative wall, Spider Web, Multi-Vine, Log
Shuffle, Cable Walk, Trust Platforms, etc. HIGH: Pamper Pole,
Vertical Playpen, Dangle Duo, Catwalk, Postman's Walk, Commando Walk,
Rickety Bridge, Criss-Cross, and more. The high elements are rigged
for dynamic or static belay (except with a JRD for the pamper pole). All
equipment is available on-site at no extra charge.
We are currently slated to be in the Longhouse,
which has 13 dorm-style rooms. Each room can sleep up to 4 (bunks),
although we plan to use them for double occupancy. We will also have
the Old Lodge as our convening and social centre.
I have not yet visited the Rocky Mountain site
myself, so I can't say much more about it. I do plan to get a site
visit in before April if possible.
Do I have to stay on-site?
Not being familiar with Kananaskis county, I'm not
sure what else is in the area. Obviously if you live close by, you
may choose to stay at home, and we can adjust the fee accordingly.
However we tend to eat
together regardless, and our definite preference is to keep our community as close
as possible. Why reduce your networking time?
Although Bark Lake caters
mostly to school groups these days, they also do adult programming and
have a separate menu for those of us that do not recognize French Fries as
a standalone food group. Depending on our ultimate group size, we
could be using the large dining hall and cafeteria-style serving area, or
the smaller, intimate dining room with buffet-style service.
There is always lots of salad options and a hot
vegetarian entree to complement any meat dishes. Special dietary
needs can usually be accommodated with advanced warning.
What other food options are in the area?
Nothing. The nearest restaurant is probably a 30 minute drive or
more. We all eat together on-site.
Bark Lake has a number of
accommodation options. Right now, we have set aside the Oak Centre.
This very nice building has a beautiful large lounge with fireplace,
break-out meeting room, and 2 wings of hotel-style sleeping rooms.
Each wing has 12 rooms, most of which have a double-size bed and set of bunk beds, although
one or two may have a single queen-size. Each room has its own
washroom, and all of the linen is provided. Think of the Oak Centre
as a Days Inn with no phone or TV in the room. The Oak Centre can thus
accommodate 48 people in all.
Do I have to stay on-site?
If you live close by, you
already know why we created a full package price, however we can
drop the accommodation portion of the fee if you want to sleep at home.
If you don't live close by, you should know that there is nothing else
closer than about a 30-minute drive. Either way, we tend to eat
together. Our definite preference is to keep our community as close
as possible.
Although Bark Lake caters
mostly to school groups these days, they also do adult programming and
have a separate menu for those of us that do not recognize French Fries as
a standalone food group. Depending on our ultimate group size, we
could be using the large dining hall and cafeteria-style serving area, or
the smaller, intimate dining room with buffet-style service.
There is always lots of salad options and a hot
vegetarian entree to complement any meat dishes. Special dietary
needs can usually be accommodated with advanced warning.
What other food options are in the area?
Not a whole lot. In fact,
the nearest roadside family restaurant is probably a 30 minute drive (I'm
guessing now). Think of the isolation of Bark Lake as a desired
feature is this case - a chance to 'retreat' with one's peers in a focused
living and learning environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
