NLSSA Fall Training Conference

The National Legislative Services and Security Association (NLSSA) hosts the only national training event designed exclusively for state legislative staff who work in the areas of security, administrative services and tourism management.  This year's conference offers participants a unique opportunity to learn important work skills, build relationships with colleagues from other states, and advance the effectiveness of America's state legislatures.

The 2010 NLSSA Annual Training Conference will be held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center Hotel.  The Louisiana State Legislature has invited a diverse group of faculty from throughout the state and country to speak on a wide range of security, historic preservation, personnel, and administrative topics.  Please join us along the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge for a wide range of training, tours, workshops, roundtables and networking opportunities.

Just Some of the Sessions Being Offered at the 2010 NLSSA Fall Training Conference

Leadership in Troubling Times - TEAM Building and Contingency Planning
Navy SEALS are the elite of the Special Operation Forces, undertaking the toughest  physical and mental training in preparation for dangerous missions into enemy territory.  Featured Speaker, former Commander Mark McGinnis, successfully completed this training and went on to lead more than 400 SEAL operators through real-world operations and training evolutions with zero mishaps.  Mark shares his experiences on making decisions under pressure, working with multiple stakeholders, facing tight deadlines and creating strategies on the fly, providing unique insight and preparation training for audience.

Continuity of Critical Functions in the Legislative Environment
Designing a real world continuity plan can be a daunting task.  Learn how the Oregon legislature designed a plan for pandemic response that is straight forward yet broad enough to be useful for almost any emergency.  This practical session will show how Oregon set up a pandemic planning team; the core elements needed for a good plan; and what follow-up is needed to maintain the plan long-term.

Ethically Speaking
This workshop will provide a lively, interactive forum for NLSSA staff to discuss ethical dilemmas confronted within their job responsibilities and how to solve them.  Staff also will learn about the trends in state ethics laws andbe able to share experiences in an informal setting.

Conflict Management
Many disputes arise out of a failure by both parties to communicate, understand, or consider the needs or interests of the other.  People fix their attention on the question, 'who is right and who is wrong' and become blind to the possibility that both may have a legitimate point of view.  This session will focus on concrete methods to deal with conflct in a constructive manner.

Principles of Emergency Managment
Principles of Emergency Management will enable member of the association just entering the profession of expanding their roles to have the ability to work with emergency management issues.  This session will provide an overview of the characteristics, functions, and resources of an integrated system and how various emergency management services work together to integrate resources and capabilities.  Emphasis will be placed on how the system is applied to all hazards at all levels of government, across the four phases and all functions of emergency management.  

Leading Through Interest-Based Problem Solving 
Most of us engage in debate rather than dialogue.  Debate is familiar because we live in a debate culture.  The power of debate is that two polarized voices are free to speak.  But the power of dialogue is that these voices can actually be heard.  Dialogue fosters trust that is essential to leading.  Its purpose is not to be nice but to be effective.  When it comes to conflict, it is far more effective to build trust than to deplete it.  This session provides proactive steps to engage in a constructive dialogue that can produce positive results.

Tour Guide Strategies
This session will focus on best practices of managing capitol tours to maximize the learning environment of your audience.  It will focus on scheduling, group size and the proper number of chaperones needed for any situation.  It also will cover how to provide a quality tour experience in a challenging atmosphere such as a capitol renovation or construction project that may leave some areas off limits to the general public.