The focus of the 2013 Summer National Conference is reflected in the three tracks:

• Leadership and Communication
• Business and Market Transformation
• Emerging Tools and Techniques for Home Performance

Tuesday July 30

• Opening session. Keynote speaker Ann Edminster will share her vision for how we as members of the green building movement can accelerate our careers by focusing on personal growth. She’ll describe how each of us can foster positive change in the housing industry, and how our work will be a critical part of reaching our shared goals of sustainability.We’ll refer back to this theme throughout the week. With Q&A.

• Group workshop. This is a planning and brainstorming forum in which we lay the groundwork for the entire conference. We’ll work in a roundtable format to provide an optimum amount of information about one another, and our expectations for the event, in an efficient and timely manner. We’ll also fine-tune the learning objectives for the conference. As with every session this week, we’ll provide a planning template in both printed and digital forms so you can adapt this tool for your own work.

Catered Lunch at Campus Center

• Small group A. Leadership and Communication track, facilitated by Chris Dorsi and J West. We’ll study and practice the skills of written and spoken communication, launching our work for the week by each writing a plain-language document that’ll be used in later sessions. This opening workshop, in one form or another, has become a hallmark of the Habitat X Conferences.
• Small group B. Business and Market Transformation track, facilitated byAnn Edminster and Ben Cichowski. We have the technology and know-how needed to create high-performance buildings, yet we don’t take full advantage of these resources. In this session, we’ll consider how to optimize our people and organizations, developing a plan for business transformation that we’ll expand upon later in the week.
• Panel Discussion: An industry panel with Alex Glenn (Advanced Energy), Steve Byers (Energy Logic), and other respected leaders discusses why social movements are often more powerful than policy. Don MacOdrum (Home Performance Guild of Oregon) will join us remotely for this session. With this much expertise, expect this to be a very relevant and interesting dialogue. With Q&A. Moderated by Chris Dorsi. Recorded for later broadcast.
• Wrap up and debrief.

Hosted reception: the good folks at Turman-Larison Contemporary in downtown Helena will host us for drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Evening casual attire. 5:30 – 7:00. Your families or guests are invited. Dinner on your own afterwards.

Wednesday July 31

• Group session: We’ll review our work from the day before. Gary Klein will connect with us remotely to describe his current initiative: Future Proofing Structures. PLUS — sit back and enjoy the show, as Alex Glenn (Advanced Energy) tells us stories via a highly polished Pecha Kucha presentation.

• Group field trip: We’ll take a field trip to the nearby LEED-certified office building owned by the State of Montana. We’ll execute a demonstration training plan developed by the group as we explore the building and its systems. Lead by building manager Dennis Lee, and Anna Lindstrand and Aaron Holm from Mosaic Architecture.

Catered Lunch at Campus Center

• Small group A: Tools and Techniques track, facilitated by Ben Cichowski and J West. This session focuses on readily available multi-purpose tools for training, collaboration, and social networking. This session’s theme is Problems versus Tools: we only use the fancy toys when needed to solve real problems. Plan on taking home tools and techniques you can press into service right away.
• Small group B: Leadership and Communication track, facilitated by Chris Dorsi and Ann Edminster. In this session we consider how leadership takes place in each of our organizations. We’ll study how leadership takes all forms, and why you can be an effective leader while sitting in any chair in the room.
• Panel Discussion: Tiger Adolf (BPI), Chandler von Schrader (EPA), Steve Loken (Loken Builders), and Ann Edminster (Design Avenues) discuss their vision for transforming the market for sustainable housing. These veterans will offer up insights to the policies and business practices that have, and have not, been successful in creating markets for sustainable housing. Moderated by Ben Cichowski, with Q&A. Recorded for later broadcast.

 

Recommended evening events: No-host dinner at the Brewhouse and Restaurant, near Carroll College and next door to the evening event. 5:30 – 7:00. Casual attire.

Then — Community Pecha Kucha Night at ExplorationWorks science center. Mingle with the locals, and watch presenters work the Pecha Kucha format by presenting on a variety of subjects. No-host bar. 6:00 – 9:00.

Thursday August 1

• Group session: We review field trip reports. PLUS– Rant and Rif on Housing: Ann and Chris address what some days feels like public apathy towards sustainable housing. Then we prepare for the day’s sessions — in the following three small groups, we’ll each create a project that solves a need within our careers.
• Small group A: Business and Market Transformation, facilitated by Ann Edminster. We’ll practice the skills that differentiate great presentations from mediocre ones. We’ll work with simple slides, and learn some tricks for developing your message simultaneously in both the spoken and visual media.

Catered Lunch at Campus Center

• Small group B: Tools and Techniques track, with J West and Ben Cichowski. Make your own video in a one-minute throwdown format. We’ll use iPhones, iPads, and whatever cameras are available. This will be fun and very, very educational. You’ll learn to think visually. This session is more about storytelling than it is about making videos.
• Small group C: Leadership and Communication track: Telling the Story of Home Performance with Chris Dorsi. We’ll learn about marketing and public outreach in this session, by studying and creating written documents. We focus here on adapting content to the audience, media, and purpose, using Chris’ recent article in Home Energy Magazine as a study guide. We’ll also take cues from recent work by Home Energy editor Jim Gunshinan in this hands-on workshop.

• Panel session: Interviews with Bill Spohn (TruTech Tools), Kevin Beck (Building Performance Center, Inc.), Colin Genge (Retrotec), and other technical experts from within the group. Moderated by Ben Cichowski, with Q&A. Recorded for later broadcast.

Hosted dinner: We’ll meet at Spring Meadow Lake for a catered outdoor dinner, with local food and beers. With time for canoe paddling or just relaxing. Outdoor attire. 6:00 – 8:00. Your families or guests are invited.

Friday August 2

• Plenary session: We compile and share our best work, reviewing a selection of projects from Thursday’s sessions. Plus faculty presentations — often the best of the conference — that summarize our three tracks.
• Open space workshops: We save this last morning for what has become the most-requested session: quick moving presentations and hands-on projects on customized topics that are recognized and requested during the week by attendees. We use this time to provide focused and relevant content that is fine-tuned for everyone’s needs and interests. Presented by the Habitat X faculty and guest experts.

Catered Lunch at Campus Center

• Plenary session: We finalize our individualized work plans — the summary document we each produce that identifies the steps we can each take to improve our professional performance. We also identify and expand upon collaborative opportunities within the group, developing the themes for discussion groups that’ll be carried to the Habitat X Housing Forum.
• Closing session: In this historic closing session, we’ll delve into the some of the deepest knowledge in the U.S. housing industry, gathering those in the room who’ve been beating the drums of efficient and sustainable housing for 30 years or more. Expect to hear stories here that have never been told. Moderated by Chris Dorsi. We’ll take Q&A from the Helena audience for this event, and simulcast this event to those who couldn’t make it.   Adjourn.

No-host dinner for attendees, friends, and families at a location to be determined.