IECA’s annual Professional Member Retreat is held each winter. Attendance is limited to IECA Professional members and is particularly focused on the needs of members with five years of experience in the profession. The presentations and guest speakers are appropriate and valuable for those practicing in all specialty areas: college, schools, therapeutic, learning disabilities, international. The focus of the retreat is sharing, group discussion, and special focused presentations. The One Great Idea session involves all participants as they share the best ideas, resources, and tips that help them run their practices in 5-minute presentations. All of these great ideas are compiled into a booklet for participants to take home.
2020 Professional Member Retreat
January 13–15, 2020, Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, Phoenix, Arizona (a video of the resort can be seen here)
Cost: $395
Make your plans now to attend the 2020 Professional Member Retreat, IECA’s first 2020 event and the first retreat to be held in the west. Specifically designed for Professional members, the retreat focuses on business practices and is appropriate for all specialties. The group is purposefully kept small to encourage interaction and deep discussion, so it fills up quickly.
Pre-Retreat Tour
Monday, January 13, 2020
Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University
Arrive in Phoenix on Sunday, January 12, for a Monday morning tour departure.
Monday: Departs IECA Retreat resort in Phoenix 8:00 a.m., Returns to IECA Retreat resort in Phoenix 3:45 p.m. Cost: $45. This tour is available exclusively to IECA Professional Members registered for the Retreat. Register for these tours using the registration link above.
NOTE: This tour is a one-day tour and must be completed in its entirety. Tour participants should plan to fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport anytime on Sunday. The bus will return to the Retreat resort in Phoenix in time to allow participation in programming.
Tentative Retreat Schedule
Monday, January 13
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Optional Tour: Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University
Cost: $45
5:00 p.m.
Check-in/Registration
5:30- 6:30 p.m.
Early Arrivals Discussion
Government Intervention and The Future of IECA/Fireside Chat
with Mark Sklarow (CEO)
6:30 – 7:15 p.m.
Cocktails
7:15 – 8:30 p.m.
Dinner
Tuesday, January 14
7:30 – 8:00 a.m.
Guided Meditation
7:30 – 8:30 a.m.
Breakfast (included) at your leisure
8:45- 10:00 a.m.
‘One Great Idea’ Session: Business Topics
Moderated by Mark Sklarow
10:00 a.m.
Coffee
10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
Learning Lab: Beyond Demographics: Finding Your Audience (and Helping Them Find You)
To market our businesses effectively, we’re all told to define our target audience. For many of us, this definition ends up looking something like: “Anyone with a college-bound kid and enough money to pay for my services.” Great. We’re now squarely positioned as one of a sea of other college consultants in our market. What if your audience definition could actually differentiate you from your competitors? What if it signaled to EXACTLY THE CUSTOMERS YOU WANT that you’re EXACTLY WHO THEY NEED? What if it ensured that every prospect who contacted you was “just right”? In this entertaining and eye-opening session, Susan will help attendees understand the one question they need to understand; how to develop a revolutionary audience definition for their businesses; and how this approach can transform their engagement with customers and prospects.
Speaker: Susan Baier, Audience and Marketing Strategist
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Learning Lab: The Power of Tiny Marketing Actions
We often think of marketing in terms of giant tidal waves of activity that are exhausting and overwhelming. Instead, learn about the power of Tiny Marketing Actions (TMAs) from business coach Pamela Slim who will share a simple, powerful framework for building powerful momentum in your sales. You will walk away from this session with a specific framework, tons of Tiny Marketing Action ideas, and a plan to make business development fun and sustainable.
Speaker: Pamela Slim, author, speaker and Business Coach
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
1:45 – 2:45 p.m.
Discussion Group Electives
Option 1
Topic: Women Entrepreneurs: Charging What We Are Worth?
Discussion Leader: Hanna Stotland, IECA (IL)
Option 2
Topic: Growing Your Offerings/Diversifying Your Services
Discussion Leader: Zach Galin, IECA (WI)
Option 3
Topic: Best Practices When Bringing on Additional Staff
Discussion Leader: Lynette Mathews, IECA (CA)
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Case Study and Discussion Group Electives
Option 1
Discussion Group Elective
Current Issues in College Transfer
Discussion Leader: Lucia Tyler, IECA (NY)
Option 2
Topic: Working with Difficult Clients and Programs
Discussion Leaders: Gail Curran, IECA (AZ); Lisa Vella, IECA (NY)
Option 3
Discussion Group Elective
Topic: Choices in Business, Employment and Partnership Structure
Discussion Leaders: Evelyn Jerome-Alexander, IECA (CA); Melanie Talesnick, IECA (NJ); Katie Garrett, IECA (NC)
4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Afternoon Fun and Leisure Activities
6:00 p.m.
Dinner on your own
Wednesday, January 15
7:30 – 8:00 a.m.
Guided Meditation
7:30 – 8:15 a.m.
Breakfast (included) at your leisure
8:15 – 9:45 a.m.
‘One Great Idea’ Session: College and School Consultants
‘One Great Idea’ Session: Therapeutic Consultants
9:45 a.m.
Coffee
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Learning Lab: How To Create Engaging Content Your Customers Actually Want
Google now processes over 3.5 billion searches per day so most companies think that producing more content will help them earn more of that traffic. Unfortunately, the game has changed, and so must your strategy as quantity over quality often doesn’t work. Not only is it time-consuming but it often frustrates you, the content producer, to the point of giving up when you don’t see results. In this session, Jay Feitlinger, founder and CEO of StringCan Interactive, will share his proven process on how you can stop the craziness and focus on producing content that you actually enjoy sharing and most importantly your favorite customers will love consuming your thought leadership.
During this session, learn from Jay on his 7-Step Content Marketing Framework, so you can:
* Understand your ideal buyer personas,
* How to create a customer-focused content plan; and
* Increase lead generation from the content you produce leveraging SEO, Social Media, Email Marketing and more.
Speaker: Jay Feitlinger, founder and CEO of StringCan Interactive
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Discussion Group Electives
Option 1
Topic: IECA Colleagues: A Source for Referrals- How do we share/cross-refer across specialties?
Discussion Leader: Karen Mabie, IECA (IL)
Option 2
Topic: Acing Your Media Interview
Discussion Leaders: Ibrahim Firat, IECA (TX); Mark Sklarow (CEO)
Option 3
Topic: Millenial Mindfulness in an Age of Distraction: Practical Insights to De-stress the Lives of Teens and College Students
Discussion Leader: Pamela Ellis, IECA (OH)
12:00 p.m.
Lunch & Conclusion
Final Remarks, Barbara Pasalis, (President)
Optional Therapeutic Tours
Following lunch Wednesday, January 15 – Friday, January 17
For more information and to register, contact Gail Curran.
Wednesday, January 15: The Orme School
Thursday, January 16: Spring Ridge Academy, Sedona Sky
Friday, January 17: Verde Valley School, Red Mountain Sedona
Hotel and some meals included.
