Benchmarks' Partnering For Excellence (PFE) 4th Annual Conference was held on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 and Thursday, September 12, 2019 at the Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Over 175 participants from across North Carolina gathered to learn more about the long-term impacts of adversities. The audience was inspired by national and state leaders who shared ways to improve trauma-and-resiliency informed responses. The conference offered a variety of opportunities to learn and interact with experts including state leaders in a panel discussion, breakout sessions and an evening event to promote networking among the ACEs connection communities of North Carolina. The wonderful evening was concluded with an exciting announcement that North Carolina was the newest state to have a statewide ACES connection page!
Recently, the PFE conference planning team reviewed the conference evaluations. The survey results were positive with 96% responding they would recommend the conference to a colleague and 100% said they would attend another PFE event in the future. The keynote speaker, Yusef Dahl, rated as a crowd favorite when he humbly shared how he was able to overcome adversities on his journey from “Prison to Princeton”.
The planning committee gleaned valuable insight from reviewing participant evaluations. This feedback will be used to evaluate what can be enhanced and improved for the 2020 conference. Attendees rated the time of year favorable to hold the conference but recommended finding a larger venue centrally located in North Carolina. The new location should accommodate conference growth and the ability to offer more break-out sessions. The survey revealed participants would like to have the opportunity to attend more breakout sessions. Specifically, participants noted a few additional topics they would like to see in 2020: secondary traumatic stress in the workplace, resilience and self-care, trauma-informed models and additional opportunities to network with colleagues about community collaborations.
As you can see, the results from the survey are overwhelmingly positive and provide meaningful information that will be beneficial in producing another amazing event! The planning committee will reconvene in March to begin planning the 2020 PFE Conference. Thanks to everyone who had a part in the 2019 conference, whether that was as a planner, attender or presenter! We know next year can be bigger and better, and you will not want to miss it!
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