California & Pacific Southwest
Recreation & Park Training Conference

The City of Long Beach will welcome you to the 60th Annual California & Pacific Southwest Recreation & Park Training Conference, February 26-29, 2008. The annual conference is the place to go for top-notch educational sessions, networking opportunities and the nation's second largest park and recreation Expo. You will find everything you need to get your heart racing, your mind and soul re-energized to go back to your agency and start implementing all the new ideas you learn. The people you will meet will become invaluable resources for the challenges you face in your daily work.

Park and recreation professionals around the nation attend this educational experience to learn how local municipal agencies generate ideas for new services, receive solutions for issues relating to existing services and how opportunities are developed to expand resources through collaboration

Conference delegates attend learning sessions that:

  • provide practical and specific guidance
  • provide opinions and work habits from speakers outside the leisure service profession
  • address a variety of perspectives

As the host city, Long Beach has completed many new developments which revitalized the city and enhanced Long Beach’s watersport and aquatics reputation. With six miles of beachfront, the largest municipally owned marina system and five local yacht clubs, you can find almost any type of on-the-water activity. See what life is like under the sea at the Welcome to Long Beach Reception at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific on Wednesday, February 27 from 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Habitat galleries range from the cold Arctic to the warm South Pacific, with many “hands on” exhibits.

Downtown Long Beach sets the standard for walk-ability. Accommodations, attractions, shopping, dining and entertainment are steps away from the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. Rainbow Harbor boasts both Shoreline Village and The Pike at Rainbow Harbor, each with a unique blend of shops, restaurants and entertainment, including harbor tours and dinner cruises. A short walk north is Pine Avenue, the city’s “Restaurant Row,” and the heart of our entertainment district. Visitors can access everything from roller blades to bikes to Segways. A special Segway tour is planned for those wishing to try out this new transportation option (click here). Miles of dedicated paths alongside the scenic beach will create a safe, memorable outing.

You are invited to participate in one or more of the tours that are planned to help you see firsthand how Long Beach is striving to enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors. The Park Operations Tour with it’s “green” theme and the Eco-Kayak Tour will give you a glimpse of the department’s efforts to improve the environment and to preserve and add new open space and recreational land. A Cultural Tour of Long Beach will showcase the nearby East Village Arts District with its galleries, shops and restaurants, the Long Beach Museum of Art, with its bluff top view of the Pacific Ocean and the Museum of Latin American Art, the only museum of its kind on the West Coast.

Be sure to attend the California & Pacific Southwest Recreation & Park Training Conference, February 26-29, 2008.

Building The Brand - parks & recreation as an essential community service
“Building the Brand” will be a year long effort to define that which is relevant, believable and compelling about parks and recreation and communicate that to audiences who influence opinions and decisions about them, including CPRS members.

CPRS members will be participating in a survey to determine the profession’s brand promise and key messages.

“Building the Brand” embodies the values, vision and mission of parks and recreation as set forth in the Creating Community VIP Action Plan.