Early bird registration is now open! Secure your spot at a discounted price of $160.00 - Early bird price has been extended to December 4th.
Event Details:
Date: January 17-18, 2024 (note the date change)
Location: Virtually through CANVAS (our learning management system)
Cost: $160.00 until December 4, 2023
CEUs: At this time we are seeking approval for 17 CRC Continuing Education Units (CEUs), including 2 CEUs dedicated to ethics. Subject to approval.
Join us and participate in the 2024, 2-day conference focused on sharing your creative and innovative practices with your colleagues.
This year's conference revolves around the belief that the most innovative and creative solutions are often born from the minds of frontline vocational rehabilitation professionals like yourself.
We invite you to:
- Share Your Ideas: Join in the discussion about your innovative solutions, creative projects, and fresh ideas with fellow professionals.
- Discover New Perspectives: Be inspired by your peers and start thinking differently about vocational rehabilitation.
- Revitalize Your Commitment: Reconnect with your creative abilities and rekindle your passion for improving the vocational rehabilitation landscape.
AGENDA
Day One – Wednesday, January 17th
10:00 – 11:30 AM CST
Welcome
Kyle Walker, SVRI Executive Director, and Beth Gaertner, SVRI Director of Education
Keynote Presentation:
National Training Center for Transformational Rehabilitation Leadership
Kyle Walker, SVRI Executive Director, and Russ Thelin, Institute for Community Inclusion
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM CST
Live Presentation with Q&A
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM CST
Break
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM CST
Keynote Presentation: Mark Erlichman, Deputy Director of the Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Division at the California Department of Rehabilitation
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM CST
Live Presentation with Q&A
Watch the On-Demand Concurrent Sessions
Day Two - Thursday, January 18th
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM CST
Live Presentation with Q&A
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM CST
Keynote Presentation: Steve Wooderson, Chief Executive Officer, CSAVR
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM CST
Break
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CST
Live Presentation with Q&A
Watch the On-Demand Concurrent Sessions
Agenda is subject to updates and adjustments as needed.
Coming Soon for 2024
Thank you to last year's Sponsors!
Benefits of Sponsoring the Innovation Inspiration Expo
Investment: Invest in your brand equity by supporting the community of rehabilitation professionals.
Talent: Connect with line staff, supervisors, and agency directors who are at the forefront of the rehabilitation and assistive technology field.
Leadership: Demonstrate your organization’s leadership and innovative practices in front of the brightest minds in the field.
The Innovation Inspiration Expo is a grassroots effort to connect all vocational rehabilitation professionals to educate, discuss, and share different and inspiring practices that are working in the field
An Annual Virtual Event Hosted by the
University of Wisconsin-Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute (SVRI)
Dates: January 17-18, 2024
Purpose: Provide a virtual forum for sharing innovative and creative solutions in vocational rehabilitation (VR) that are field-initiated (frontline), improve the consumer VR experience, and result in high-quality employment outcomes
Philosophy: Some of the most innovative and creative solutions come from professionals who work directly with consumers and recognize needs, opportunities, and new possibilities. This expo is designed to give frontline VR professionals a forum to share new ideas, innovative solutions, and creative projects with others in the field. It is also an opportunity to be inspired by peers to think differently, reconnect with creative abilities, and revitalize professional commitment by seeing the field from an exciting new perspective. The expo will be offered virtually on an annual basis to ensure the ability of all frontline staff to attend, participate, and be inspired.
Location: Virtual/Online
Presenters: All staff and organizations – public, non-profit, and for-profit - involved in services to VR clients are encouraged to submit a presentation proposal. This includes support staff, counselors, supervisors, district managers, and senior managers/agency directors. Relevant organizations include State VR Agencies, Community Rehabilitation Programs, VR Service Providers, Independent Living Centers, Veterans Services, Health Care Providers, State Labor Agencies, Special Education Teachers, Adaptive Technology Specialists, American Job Centers, Private Companies, and others involved in helping people with disabilities to maximize their participation in the workforce.
Audience: The target audience for the expo includes staff members of Public VR Agencies, Community Rehabilitation Programs, VR Service Providers (non-profit and for-profit), Independent Living Centers, Veterans Services, Health Care Providers, State Labor Agencies, Special Education Programs, American Job Centers, Higher Education Institutions, Public and Private Funders, Community Partners, Private Businesses and others who want to learn about innovative solutions to help people with disabilities maximize their participation in the workforce.
Proposal Design:
- The proposal should describe an innovative solution, activity, project, or program started within the presenter’s organization by one or more staff members. The innovative practice does not need to be evidence-based or backed by research, but it should have been in use for one year or more and have some proof of efficacy. The hope is to find grassroots problem-solving within organizations, including “crazy thoughts” that became successful new processes, approaches, or programs.
- All presentations will be prerecorded. The selected presentations will be available 24/7 for the conference and for several weeks after the end of the conference.
- There will be scheduled live sessions with selected presentations. For selected presentations, the members of the presentation will be present to answer questions during the Live Discussion.
- All material contained in a presentation or as separate handouts must be available for conference attendees to download and use at their discretion. No presentations which contain proprietary materials will be allowed. No presentations which appear to the review committee to be ads for a presenter’s product will be allowed.
- If a potential presenter considers this an opportunity to show a new product to potential customers, we recommend purchasing a sponsorship to the conference and showcasing their product(s) in the vendor hall.
Questions and/or Assistance Preparing the Proposal:
The goal is to secure a broad range of presenters and topics for this expo. The expo committee is especially interested in examples of innovative strategies, solutions, projects, and programs that were created by or in collaboration with marginalized communities and/or with underserved or unserved populations and that meet the needs of people with the most significant disabilities.
You can expect to hear back from us after September 29, 2023, about next steps.
For questions about this Request for Proposals or assistance preparing the proposal, email svri.training@gmail.com.
Provide a virtual forum for sharing innovative and creative solutions in vocational rehabilitation (VR) that are field initiated (frontline), improve the consumer VR experience, and result in high-quality employment outcomes.
Some of the most innovative and creative solutions come from professionals who work directly with consumers and recognize needs, opportunities, and new possibilities. This expo is designed to give frontline VR professionals a forum to share new ideas, innovative solutions, and creative projects with others in the field. It is also an opportunity to be inspired by peers to think differently, reconnect with creative abilities, and revitalize professional commitment by seeing the field from an exciting new perspective. The expo will be offered virtually on an annual basis to ensure the ability of all frontline staff to attend, participate, and be inspired.