Minneapolis 2010 Hospitality Night

Minneapolis Hospitality Night was held Monday September 21, 2009 at the Washington Athletic Club. The theme was Cops and Gangsters. Delegate and Companions dressed up in costume, performed in a talent show, participated in prize drawings and socialized over light evening fare and cocktails. From the sounds of roaring laughter a good time was had by all.

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES SEE NEXT POST

Around the Conference Area

Local officers greeted and interacted with attendees throughout the conference. International Scholarship winner Maggy Lebethe of the South African Police Service is pictured here with local officers.
Delegates explored the world maps attempting to locate the homeland of new friends they met.
A Silent auction to benefit Children’s Hospital was offered during the conference.

FOR MORE CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES PHOTOS SEE NEXT POST

Regional Meeting

The IAWP is an international association whose membership spans the world. Because the world is so big it is necessary to create regional areas to enable members from states/countries in the world to support/encourage each other locally. Today at 5:15pm Regional Meetings will be held. Check the Information Board in the Conference Registration Area for the location of your Regional Meeting. (Pictured here are the members of Region 10)

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was held at Town Hall. Various Local Law Enforcement Leaders addressed the audience. Opening Ceremony speakers included King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, Seattle Police Chief John Diaz, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste Attorney General Rob McKenna and IAWP Acting President Jane Townsley. The National Anthem was performed by three Seattle Police officers; Acting Sergeant Krista Bair, Detective Susan Ditusa, and Officer Renee Witt. Our Emcee was Q13 Fox Seattle News Anchor Maria Arcega-Dunn.

Region 18 Coordinator Hellen Alyek was awarded the Dr. Lois Higgins - Grote Heritage Award and Maggy Laura Lebethe of the South African Police Service received the IAWP International Scholarship Award.

FOR MORE CONFERENCE INFORMATION SEE FUTURE POST

Opening Parade

We had beautiful weather for our parade from the Westin Seattle Hotel. In the shadow of the hotel's Twin Tours we marched to the Town Hall. Ollie really enjoyed meeting women from around the world. She wanted her photo taken with the many diversed uniformed officer.

New Women Police Magazine

The new Women Police Magazine should have arrived or soon be arriving in your mailbox. A few will be available for review when you arrive at the conference. We look forward to your feedback.

We Are Working For You

The Seattle 2009 Conference Committee is preparing the conference bags and your Board of Directors are holding meetings to address the business of the IAWP.

Members of B.O.D. Ridealong with Seattle Police

Conference Co-Director Deb Nicholson arranged a harbor patrol ridealong to early arriving members of the BOD. Officers Joe Cepada and Rick Eads ran two sessions during their shift. Pictured are Minnesota Association of Women Police President Mylan Masson, Deb and myself.

We're Here

Alaska air transported me to The Land Of Oz. I was greeted by Olivia De’Orca “Ollie” the whale. She is the conference mascot. She and Seattle Conference Committee Member Janet Wilson presented my mom and me with beautiful pink, purple, orange and yellow flowers in an old style popcorn bag vase. It was amazing as I had on the exact same colored floral blouse and I am a BIG movie buff. Janet and I have been friends since Dallas 1997 (I told a story about that conference earlier in this blog) and I first met Ollie in Las Vegas when she came to the Las Vegas Women Street Survival class earlier this year in spring.
Be on the look out for photo opportunities with Ollie throughout the conference. You can also take Ollie home with you as their will be many Ollies dressed in various colored conference hoodies available for purchase.
The IAWP Board of Directors (BOD) will be arriving throughout the day as we begin our Fall Board Meeting tomorrow at the Westin. The BOD meets twice a year to handle the business of this association. Our Spring Board meeting was held in Lexington, Kentucky in April of this year.
Please make time to attend Regional Meetings on Monday September 21, 2009 at 5:15pm. You will be able to meet your Regional Coordinator who is your representative on the BOD. You will also be able to meet other IAWP members from your region and to network with other law enforcement professionals from within your region.
On Tuesday September 22, 2009 the Annual General Meeting will be held at 4:15pm-6pm. If you have never attended a General Membership Meeting now would be the time to plan to be there.
Stay tuned.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE

The Westin Hotel is full and an overflow hotel is necessary. The overflow hotel is The Mayflower Hotel. They can be reached at 800-426-5100. Be sure to ask for the IAWP Conference rate of $159.00. Reservations must be made by September 17th to take advantage of the reduced rate.

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I am growing more and more excited every day. The delegate numbers and countries attending continues to rise even with just five days to go. IT'S NOT TOO LATE. If you were thinking "Well maybe I'll attend." Make that "Maybe" a will do and join us in Seattle.

Those of you that are packing in preparation to journey down the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz here's a few Attendee tips:

1) Bring your Business Cards - You'll want to exchange info with fellow conference attendees.

2) Bring Police Items. If you are a collector (police patches, pins, baseball styled police card) bring them for trade you will find many like minded collectors at the conference.

3) Bring your camera there will be tons of photo opportunities especially at the opening ceremony when many people will be in uniform.

4) Bring your curiosity. Prepare to make friends. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet new friends. In your classes, at opening ceremony, at the mixers, in the hotel and conference area lobby. Everyone will be wearing name tags and I am sure you will hear people speaking English with various accents. This will offer you an opportunity to ask them from what location on this Big Blue Marble we call the world do they come. The only limit to you meeting new friends is you.

5) Bring your dancing shoes. Prepare to Dance. Once you meet your new friends join in the IAWP tradition of "Shaking a leg" dancing at one of the evening events. Most of these events will have music playing. The "Electric Slide" (which is a very easy line dance to learn for which you do not need a partner) will most assuredly be performed at these outings. Just Jump In and do it.

6) Bring an umbrella because it's Seattle everyone.

7) Most of all bring your smile. It attracts others to you and makes the experience more fun.

See you soon in Seattle.

(Pictured above IAWP Member Lynn Cronquist and I in front of a patch display at Battista's an Italian Restaurant in Las Vegas).

Delegates Cruise To Alaska

Earlier this evening several IAWP 2009 Seattle Training Conference attendees boarded the Holland America ms Westerdam to begin their seven day cruise from Seattle to Alaska. This is the first ever pre-conference cruise offered along with an IAWP training conference. Our Conference Director Beth Lavin and committee member Kim Tripletts arranged for VIP Boarding for the delegates and for a cocktail mixer for them when they were on the ship.

This is just a preview of what the Seattle Conference Committee has in store for us. I am excited to hear the stories from the delegates of their cruising experiences.

There is still time to join us in one week in Seattle. If you are on the West Coast of the US this is the perfect opportunity to attend a conference close to home that will introduce you to the international experience of an IAWP Conference.

I look forward to seeing you in Seattle.

Seattle is 18 Days Away

HEAD TO THE EMERALD CITY

There is still plenty of time to register for this years conference. Though online registration ends in two days you can still fax in your registration or register on-site. If you are thinking at this last minute there's no way you could pull off a trip to this highly anticipated training conference, let me share my 1997 IAWP Dallas Conference story.

I decided at the last minute to go to The 1997 IAWP Conference in Dallas. The hotel was full, there were no rooms available and I had no idea what/where the overflow hotel was. This was before the full use of the internet that we enjoy in 2009. So I jumped on a plane and by faith made my way to the lobby of the conference hotel. It was my second year as an IAWP member and I really did not know anyone.

Being outgoing and friendly I asked at the registration desk if they knew of anyone who needed a roommate. They began asking around. They told me there was a lady from Trinidad & Tobago who was willing to share her room. She graciously shared her room with me. That year I met and became friends with Kathleen Weeks, my roommate for the conference. I enjoyed the time we spent together. Kathleen was a high ranking senior officer from her Police Service at the time. She took me under her wing and introduced me to many international members of IAWP. I look forward every year to seeing her.

This incident is one of the reason I love the IAWP. This organization consist of compassionate women (and men) of many ranks from diverse backgrounds with the love of law enforcement and the people who make up the profession. There are so many positive stories like this one that can be shared about IAWP connections.

In 2009, I would not recommend the same approach because it would overwhelm our awesome conference committee but I do know there have been some members querying about roommates. Sharing a room with another member can make the conference more affordable
for those of us who pay our own way to the annual training conferences.

Also check with the conference airline, good airfares are still available. A link is available on the conference site.

Join us in Seattle. You will have a great time. You will meet many people from all over the world and you can build life long friendships, relationships and great networks.

Invest in yourself and your career. I look forward to seeing you in Washington State.

Stay Safe,

Tamia Dow
IAWP Chaplain
ChaplainDow@yahoo.com