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View Full Version : Calling all health care providers & teachers [Need Input on Seminar Idea]



Kathlynn AtDisney
12-04-2007, 09:22 PM
Not sure if this is the best forum, but here goes.

I absolutely love Disney and I have a passion for health
promotion and teaching. I've wanted to put these together for awhile
and would like to put on a seminar (1 for health care & 1 for k-12
teachers) to provide continuing education. Here's the "magic" part-
I want to do this at Disney World and have part of the "class time"
be in the park. This includes one of the special tours as well as 1-2
hours where participants are on their own in the park but must focus
on gathering information to bring back to the seminar discussion the
next day. This means participants would be required to purchase a
tour (a half day one) and at least one day in the park ticket. The
rest of the time would be at the conference hotel. We could even do
a dessert party the Disney way!

The help I need is to hear from those of you in this category if a)
you would be interested in continuing education done this way, b) if
the required time in the park would be a drawback for some (either
because you just want to play in the park or you just didn't want to
spend the money that way- can't imagine any of you thinking the
latter!), c) if there would be a "best" week/month to offer this (so
you could include family or do it around your work), d) if 2 or 2.5
or 3 days feels best? Thanks for your help- I'm quite excited by the
possibilities! :D

Drince88
12-06-2007, 09:15 AM
I'm not in your target audience, but I think the tour price should be included in your seminar fee, and that you should arrange the reservations. Because of the way Disney does the tickets and packages (if people are interested in packages for the rest of the family part of it), I'm not sure the best way for you to deal with that - but at least having access to a ticket broker who could sell a discounted one-day ticket (for those not interested in any extra park time) would make sense.

Good luck!

rph13
12-07-2007, 04:28 AM
I'm a health care provider and for me to take advantage of any CE's they must be approved for the states I am licensed in, so if you are trying to draw large crowds and a diverse group of health care providers (RNs, RPhs, PAs, MDs etc) you would need to look into that. Or maybe you were thinking more along the lines of a local (meaning state of Florida) group and possibly a smaller group, which might be easier to handle the first couple of years.
I work part time so this is not something I would spend a large chunk of money on (I do not get any reimbursment) but others who work fulltime and and do get reimbursment may consider this. I know in my local area there are a few large scale weekend CE's, one is at the local football stadium and includes a tour etc and the other is at the Casino and includes shows and time to spend on the casino floors. Both as far as I know are very well attended, both also give enough CE's for the year for RPhs, which is very important to the folks I know.
Good luck with what ever you decide.

Cheshire Figment
12-07-2007, 05:19 AM
I used to be a member of the Society of Government Meeting Planners. I have been Co-Chairman, for the last two years, of the National Fantasy Fan Club's September/October Convention at WDW.

Basically you would have to talk to the Sales staff at Disney World. If you are at an on-property but non-Disney Resort (such as the Swolphin or something on Hotel Plaza Blvd) you would arrange your rooms and meals through them but any tours or special events (such as IllumiNations Dessert Party) through Disney. If you will be at a Disney Resort then Disney's Resort Sales and Convention Services would handle everything for you. Also, there are special rate tickets available to people at WDW for conventions.

For additional information go to www.disneymeetings.com which is a good starting point as far as the logistics.

bassett1976
12-08-2007, 08:59 PM
I'm a teacher and even though I would enjoy a conference at WDW I don't think its practical do participate in an in-park assignment. For any professional development the key is to have a high quality program that will relate to your subject area or grade level. Personally, I'm not sure how much you could do inside of the parks that would coincide with professional development for a teacher. To do something simple that requires you to go into the park might not be professional enough. I know of theme parks that do a field trip for science integrations. I know Epcot could be a good world culture venue as well.

As a teacher who actually does professional development, I either need to get time off from work to go to a conference or have to use my own personal time during breaks. My school would not allow me to take time off if they did not believe that the conference was worth it. I would not go to a conference in my own time if I didn't think it was worth it either. Also the cost will also be a factor since my travel expenses to WDW would be a lot higher than something locally.

Lynn57
12-09-2007, 06:58 AM
As much as I would LOVE this, I don't think I would get much support from my district. I usually attend CE classes that the district helps pay for, and I really can't see them helping with this. It would have to be in the summer so that teachers wouldn't have to take personal day. What would the theme be and how would it be related to Disney? If it happened to coincide with a planned vacation to WDW I would definitely jump on the opportunity, otherwise probably couldn't afford it.

GusMan
12-10-2007, 06:26 AM
While I am not in your target audience, I am reading the other comments above and the first thought that came to my mind was "What would your seminar offer that could not be / is not being offered elsewhere?"

In other words, while I dont have any issues with someone going to a seminar/training/classes etc, if there is significant expenses involved, and you know that if you include anything Disney there will be, you better be able to provide the audience with something unique that they can bring back to their place of business and and immediately apply it so that they can show a return on the investment. In short, if a trip is going to cost $2K (example only) between seminar fees, hotel, and travel expenses, some companies are going to want to see at least that much savings or rise in productivity over x period of time. Yes, I know that may be a challenge to tangibly show that in some industries, but I think you get the idea of what I am getting at.

My thought process above is related to what I would have to do in order to try to justify a trip of that sort. Nevermind the idea that my boss would question me twice as hard if it was on Disney property, let alone Orlando. (Yes, he knows that I am a Disney fan.)