THE ADOPTIVE PARENTS COMMITTEE CONFERENCE

REGISTRATION:

Registration, as well as check-in for those who have pre-registered, will begin at 8:00 a.m. on the 1st floor of Hillwood Commons. Please follow the signs for the registration area.

For those members who have not pre-registered, there will be a charge of $25.00 per person on the day of the Conference. Non-members will be charged our $55.00 membership fee plus $25.00 per person registration fee, which entitles them to a one-year family membership to APC.

Registration will be divided into four tables representing the chapters (Hudson Region, Long Island, New Jersey and New York City). Please go to the chapter where you are a member. Out-of-state residents are welcome to join any of the four chapters, but should consider that Chapter meetings and workshops will be available to them when selecting a Chapter location.

ORIENTATION:

Short orientation programs will be provided at the Conference at 8:15 a.m. 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. (in the Cinema located near the APC Bookstore), to familiarize new members with the services APC provides. If there is a need for additional Orientation programs, please consult the information board located near Fundraising in the main lobby of both buildings.

OPENING SESSION:

During this time we invite all Conference attendees to meet in the Tilles Center to start off our Conference day. During this session Dee Paddock, MA., NCC, Families with a Difference, will deliver the Conference’s keynote address. Her speech will focus on preparing for adoption and adoptive parenting.

The Opening Session also affords us the opportunity to publicly honor certain individuals with APC’s “Dave Thomas Friend of Adoption Award”. This award is given to those who have actively promoted a positive image and opinion of adoption to the general public. Through their efforts, the general public has gained greater awareness of the adoptive family.

WORKSHOPS:

Following the Opening Session (9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.), there will be over 110 workshops in five time periods throughout the day. Please note the workshops schedule will be as follows:

SESSION 1 10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

SESSION 2 12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.

SESSION 3 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

SESSION 4 2:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

SESSION 5 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Workshops will be held in the classrooms in the Humanities Building, except for those marked Cinema or Lecture Hall. They are located in Hillwood Commons near the APC Bookstore.

FOOD SERVICES:

Cafeteria services are available throughout the day in Hillwood Commons. Due to the large number of attendees expected to desire service at lunch time, very long food lines in the cafeteria are anticipated. Frustration at being delayed from workshops by long lines can be avoided by purchasing a box lunch through pre-registration only. Food is NOT permitted in the classrooms. This is a policy of C.W. Post and since we are guests, we ask the you respect the rules of the campus.

As a reminder, C. W. Post is a smoke free campus. Smoking is NOT allowed in any campus buildings.

PARKING:

C.W. Post has plenty of parking outside the registration area. Please do not park in spaces reserved for handicapped parking without the proper permit. We would like to keep these spots available for our physically challenged members.

RAFFLES AND FUNDRAISING

All proceeds from the raffles support the Chapter’s activities throughout the APC calendar year (September through June). The cost of raffles will be $1.00 each or a book of 12 for $10.00 and may be obtained at the Conference or prior to. The drawing will be held at 5:15 in the Lecture Hall in Hillwood Commons. You do not have to be present to win. The top prize this year is a Dell Laptop Computer. The winners will be posted in the main lobby of Hillwood Commons near the Exhibitor area.

BOOKSTORE:

The APC Adoption Bookstore, which features an extensive variety of adoption books for parents and children, will be situated in the Main Lobby of Hillwood Commons. Book lists are enclosed in your Conference packet and are available by mail order. The Bookstore will be opened from 8:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. for your convenience.

EXHIBIT AREA:

The Exhibit Area, featuring representatives from many adoption and parent related groups, will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A tremendous amount of adoption related information will be available in this area. The Exhibit Area will be located on the main floor of Hillwood Commons between the Lecture Hall and Cafeteria.

PROGRAM CHANGES:

There will be a program change board in the Main lobby of Hillwood Commons opposite the APC Bookstore and one in the Main Lobby of the Humanities Building where any changes in the day’s schedule will be posted.

EVALUATION FORMS:

Evaluation forms will be enclosed in your Conference packet and will be available at various locations throughout the Conference. These forms enables us to better address the needs of our membership, as well as provide us with valuable input for future Conferences. We request that you complete these forms and deposit them in the boxes located in the Registration area.

WORKSHOP TAPES:

Audio tapes of Conference workshops will be available for purchase on the day of the Conference or by mail order following the Conference. There will be an order form in your Conference packet. Additional forms may be obtain through your Chapter and in ADOPTALK.

SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES ON ATTENDING THE CONFERENCE:

Please understand that all workshops are filled on a first come first seating basis. No seats are held in advance, and those being held for a spouse or friend should be relinquished to others who are looking for seats once the workshop is about to begin.

If you are shut out of a workshop that you were hoping to attend - fear not! In most cases we are prepared to hold a duplicate/overflow workshop with an equally well-versed speaker. Our Site committee will guide you to the correct room if this should occur. If an overflow workshop is not available, many workshops will be held multiple times throughout the day and audiotapes of most sessions will also be available.

All workshops will be held in the Humanities Building except those held in the Lecture Hall and Cinema, which are located in Hillwood Commons. Exhibitors and Registration will also be found in Hillwood Commons as well. The Opening session will be held in the Tilles Center. Please follow the signs from the Exhibitor area. If you should have problems finding your way our Site and Hospitality volunteers, as well as any of our Conference volunteers, will be happy to assist you.

And finally, APC loves children -- it is what we are all about. BUT... the Conference is not the place for children. It is a long day, and since most of the workshops are not for children, we URGE that all attendees NOT bring youngsters to the Conference, THEY WILL NOT BE PERMITTED INTO THE WORKSHOPS. There are plenty of social activities where children are more than welcome throughout the APC calendar year.

A FEW CONFERENCE TIPS:

¨ Decide which workshops you’d like to attend. Then, make several “back-up” selections if your first choice is full.

¨ Take notes.

¨ Compare and discuss your notes after the Conference with others.

¨ Pick up information at Exhibit tables.

¨ Split up -- if there are two of you, you can take in twice as many workshops.

¨ Break for lunch -- it is not a marathon and information overload can occur. It is very common for people to attend less than all five possible sessions and still gain a tremendous amount of worthwhile information.

¨ Ask questions -- in workshops, for directions, etc.

¨ Network whenever possible -- networking is a great way to learn even more about adoption from those who have gone through the process, are going through the process, or work as adoption professionals.

¨ Taped recordings of most workshops will be available for purchase in the Exhibit area. An order form is enclosed in your Conference packet, if you are unable to attend a workshop that you are interested in, order the tape that will be mailed to you.