Conference FAQ’s

Complimentary Wi-Fi at the Hyatt Regency Chicago will be available in the following areas: guest sleeping rooms (for overnight guests), the hotel’s public spaces, which consists of the first floor lobby (street level), Market Chicago, and American Craft Restaurant, second floor hotel registration area and walkway connecting the East and West Towers, Big Bar, and The Living Room and Gallery Collection lounges.

In order to conserve resources and keep production costs down, delegates are encouraged to bring the copy of the conference program they receive in the mail with them to conference. Only a limited number of additional conference programs are made available at onsite Registration.

Delegates are also encouraged to use the conference mobile app, which puts the full program in the palm of your hands and keeps you informed with the latest, up-to-date information.

The Hyatt Regency Chicago offers valet parking for guests, 24 hours a day. Attendees staying overnight will receive a discounted parking rate of $34.50 per day. Space tends to fill up quickly on the morning of conference opening, so attendees should plan their arrival accordingly. Additional parking options are available at neighboring lots. Rates vary. For more information, please visit the parking page on the conference website.

For lost and found items, delegates should check with staff at Conference Registration or at Conference Headquarters, located in the Grand Ballroom Foyer, East Tower, Gold Level. Delegates can also check with the Front Desk staff at hotel check-in, located on the second floor lobby, East Tower.

Hosting any kind of food or beverage function adds a significant cost to the conference budget. Rather than increase conference fees to cover the cost of highly marked up hotel prices, IAPD/IPRA decided to forego hosted beverage functions and make its primary food function (the Awards Luncheon), an optional ticketed event in order to keep conference registration fees at its current levels.

The break in programming during this time was created to provide dedicated Exhibit Hall hours for attendees. This change is a result of feedback by attendees and exhibitors from previous conferences that it is difficult to get to the hall when sessions are being offered.

Dedicated exhibit hall hours are useful for both attendees and exhibitors. For attendees, dedicated exhibit hall hours means not having to make a choice between attending a session or visiting the exhibit hall. For exhibitors, it ensures increased traffic to an exhibitor’s booth during scheduled exhibit hall time.

The raffle drum changes locations in the exhibit hall to encourage attendee traffic throughout all areas of the hall.

There is a point system in place for exhibitors to choose their booth location. The more points a vendor has, the better location they will choose. Many prefer not be located near a competitor and will choose a location that best suits their needs.

Preferred agency seating is a registration option that allows up to twelve delegates from the same agency/organization to be seated together at a table during the All-Conference Awards Luncheon. To receive preferred agency seating, an agency must register and pay a small $50 registration fee (per table). Due to the limited number of tables available, preferred agency seating only guarantees an entire table for an agency if the agency has enough delegates to fill all twelve seats. Agencies that have fewer than twelve delegates will be combined at a table with delegates from other agencies as necessary.

As a co-hosted event, the awards luncheon program is designed to provide adequate time for meal service, attendee networking and the presentation of ten awards (five each to IAPD and IPRA) that recognize the outstanding achievements of individuals/agencies within each organization’s respective membership base.

57% of the conference attendees attend the awards luncheon. The track of sessions scheduled during the awards luncheon is made available to the remaining 43% of attendees who do not participate in the luncheon. These sessions are typically targeted to the supervisory level position within an agency.

The conference is a joint event co-hosted by IAPD and IPRA. The Thursday – Saturday pattern is the best schedule to accommodate attendance for the IAPD members who are the elected and/or appointed commissioners/board members who work their “real jobs” during the week, as well as the IPRA members who are the professionals who work at parks and recreation, forest preserve and conservation agencies.

Several years ago, Soaring to New Heights became the name of the conference rather than the theme. The name remains the same each year in order to keep a consistent brand identity. The logo was “refreshed” a few years ago. The logo remains intact as well to maintain brand identity.

The popularity of a topic is just one of many factors that must be taken into consideration when completing room assignments. We do everything we can to identify registration trends in order to best match rooms, topics and speakers accordingly.

Those who are interested in presenting and wish to be considered for the conference program can submit a proposal to the Program Committee through the online Submission Site available January – May of the preceding conference year.

Attendees who wish to suggest topics or speakers for the conference should use the Session Suggestion form available on the conference website. The Session Suggestion form is available January – March of the preceding conference year.