2004 Fall IPCSA Conference Rocked!!

The recent 2004 Fall Conference at the Westin River North in Chicago was both rewarding from Sarah and my point of view and for all of those who had a hand in putting it together. Our hats are off to all who helped us plan and organize to make this conference a HUGE success. The workshops were well attended and the networking amongst the various disciplines was evident to all. 

After a day of committee meetings and workshops, attendees took the opportunity to attend the reception on the Chicago River Level Court and Veranda. An early-bird judiciary presentation was added to the line up the second day of the conference, followed by a wonderful and thought provoking plenary by Mark Carey. The rest of that day held many workshops for attendees to choose from and an emotional and inspirational presentation at lunch by Father Robert Oldershaw and the father of a slain youth, Mr. Stephan Young.

Thursday evening of the conference held a beautiful award banquet honoring IPCSA professionals for their dedication and service to their profession, community, and the courts.  Friday was different from other conferences in that it included a set of workshops and an ending plenary by Illinois Congressman Danny Davis.

On behalf of the Program Committee, many thanks go out to all those from Cook County Adult Probation, Cook County Juvenile Probation and Cook County Social Services Departments who hosted this conference. What a wonderful and efficient job they did! In particular, Sarah and I wish to thank Mary Nadolny, Renate Reichs and Linda Hart for their tireless efforts.  The Program Committee would also like to thank all of the representatives from the various disciplines who worked on this conference. We are keenly aware of the hours of prep time it takes to make a conference happen and it flowed smoothly as a result of your hard work and planning. Thank you to Linda Van Dyke for spearheading this enormous and beneficial conference. Thank you to all!!

The Spring 2004 Conference in Rockford at the Clock Tower Resort is fast approaching! Mark your calendars for April 13-15, 2005. Pre-Conference information will be mailed to departments as soon as they are available. Committee meetings will again be held on Wednesday morning of the conference. This conference will mark a return to our traditional conference format with the business meeting on that final day of the conference.

Jody Blair and Sarah Spang

Program Committee Co-Chairs