Hope this post conference letter finds you well,

Thank you to all who attended this year's conference.  I have to say I was impressed with our turnout.  It was very encouraging to have the numbers in attendance.  It shows the board that your administrations still value this important tool in the department.

We had a very successful conference this year, I would like to give a huge thank you to Patricia Larrigan for all of her work with the speakers and the entire board for all of their hard work leading up to and during the conference.  Your board is made up of all VOLUNTEER members that put a lot of personal time into providing the quality training throughout the year.

We are in the process of reading through the evaluations to see what went well, what we can improve on and provide feedback to the speakers.  This process will take a little time and should be posted on the website once we have completed reading the evaluations.stay tuned. 

Sadly, we will miss the Midway as our Monday night networking site, but it is time for us to move on from the Hyatt hotels, their cost continues to increase and have priced us out of the market.  We are in the process of looking at the Embassy Suites in South Lake Tahoe for 2012.  Negotiations are progressing nicely and we are also talking with our neighbors from the Western States Hostage Negotiation Association to join forces with our training and help the vendors travel to one location for dual conferences and also to help defer cost.  Remember we will be moving the conference to early to mid September so we are in the beginning of the budget year and not the end, so more funds are available and more of our members may attend.  Check back on the website in September of this year for updates.  Bear with us while this process occurs.

If you would like to see any particular topics, vendors or entertainment please feel free to contact any board member with your suggestions, as always this is your association and we look forward to your input. 

Finally I would like to thank all of our vendors who return each year to be with us.   A big thanks to Enforcement Technology Group for their sponsorship on the Midway, it means a lot to our members.

Please be safe as you continue to make a difference to the communities you protect and serve.

Hope to see everyone in South Lake Tahoe next year.

Matt Thomas

President