Workshops
Extension and Outreach Faculty Roundtable
Presenters: Daniel Andersen, Erin Hodgson, Anirudh Naig, and Gary Taylor
Learn more: The Extension Faculty role at ISU is unique. Join your fellow colleagues from across colleges for session facilitated by your peers. Participants will have the chance to share and learn from each other about promotion and tenure guidelines and document preparation tips for Extension faculty, unique research and partner opportunities, and other expectations and issues that Extension tenure-track faculty may face.
Grow Your Online Impact with Adult Learning
Presenters: Kris Baldwin and Dan Fillius
Learn more: Adult learners thrive on practical, relevant information available when and how they need it. Grow your audience with Instagram Stories, Posts, and Reels to engage and educate. Propagate content into multiple formats such as podcasts or newsletters with Generative AI. Elevate your expertise into powerful virtual learning experiences that keep adult audiences engaged and coming back for more.
Discussing Iowa State University Extension’s Role in Disaster
Presenters: Kerry Aistrope and Courtney Long
Learn more: Extension is seen as a primary partner within communities, which can include supporting with emergency and disaster preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation efforts. Over the last year, a strategic planning effort has been underway to understand our role as Extension Agents in the disaster space.
This presentation will share feedback from this process, describe disaster cycle, and highlight services in Greenfield and NW Iowa that played a very important role in addressing the challenges posed by weather conditions in 2024. This session will describe contributions made by the teams, sharing examples and valuable lessons from this experience. Effective strategies and best practices that can be implemented in 2025 and beyond will also be discussed to enhance county preparedness and responsiveness to severe weather events.
Creating a Thriving Infrastructure for Evaluating and Reporting Program Outcomes
Presenters: Beth Bunkers, Nichol Kleespies, Erin Mullenix, and Keli Tallman
Learn more: After attending this session, participants will be able to state the elements of quality evaluation planning, including identifying straightforward methods for collecting and reporting outcomes and impact. This session will also showcase fellow ISU Extension and Outreach colleagues’ intentionality in evaluating educational programs and consultations, and the methods they use to collect data and report impact.
Marketing(ish): Advertising is not Marketing
Presenters: Connie Beecher, Kathleen Delate, Jed Findlay, and Viviana Urvina
Learn more: This workshop will provide staff and faculty with understanding that advertising their program is not the same as marketing to their audiences. The session will walk them through the process of conducting market research and developing a marketing plan during the program development phase. Participants will come away with knowledge and tools for using data-driven marketing insights in the development of their programs and products.
Working Collaboratively to Reach Young Audiences
Presenters: Tillie Good and Mitch Hoyer
Learn more: What does a refocus of Iowa 4-H mean for county staff, field specialists, other program units, and partners? Join us for an engaging dialogue as we explore our renewed focus on Agriculture, Leadership, and STEM and ensuring Iowa youth are Beyond Ready for life and work. Gain insights and practical strategies for fostering collaboration to achieve this shared vision.
Pursuing Less
Presenter: Ann Torbert
Learn more: This presentation highlights themes in Greg McKeown’s book “Essentialism.” Diving into sections from Explore, Eliminate, and Execute, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the benefits of choice, options for saying no and creating a buffer to strengthen life and work habits.
Community Mapping: To know where you are going, you need to know where you have been
Presenters: Kim Greder and Himar Hernandez
Learn more: In this interactive session we will share tools that are being used in Extension to help communities successfully identify resources and build partnerships to address real issues and work together on aligned goals
From Mandate to Practice: Integrating Digital Accessibility in Our Roles
Presenters: Kristi Elmore, Robin Ertz, and JD Otterbein
Learn more: The future is accessible to all; starting now. This session is based on the Department of Justice mandates for digital accessibility and their practical implications for our work. Gain valuable insights from organizational leads, practitioners, and peers. Learn actionable strategies to help ensure compliance and inclusivity. Join this interactive session to answer the questions you have, enhance your skills, and foster an inclusive culture that better serves all Iowans.