THE CISPUS WORKSHOP

Kath Collier

Retired Management Analyst Regional Ecosystem Office Private Consultant - as of June, 2008 talk2write2@wildblue.net *Meetings are but the canvas that we paint with our efforts to cooperate, collaborate, and communicate.*	Planning and conducting interagency meetings was a primary part of my job as a Management Analyst for the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) Regional Ecosystem Office. I have been actively facilitating interagency and high stakes meetings since the mid-1990's. Since 2000, I have had an opportunity to facilitate demanding Federal executive level and public executive level regional meetings that focus on NWFP implementation and endangered species. I frequently facilitate or coordinate regional, national, and international workshops and conferences, private sector events, and provide meeting consultation services. In June, 2008 I retired from Federal service and became a private consultant. I've been fortunate enough to work a variety of Federal and private sector jobs, some of which include supervisory management analyst, supervisory computer specialist/systems management analyst; Statewide Intranet Program Lead/web master; Statewide FOIA officer/records administrator/records manager; Statewide IRM security officer; statewide lead for technical support and training, technical writer, editor, and editorial assistant/graphic designer. In the public sector, I've worked as a web designer, news-magazine editor, graphic artist, cartoonist/illustrator, photographer, and a preschool teacher. I began publishing in the early 1970s and have written or edited nearly two dozen training manuals and other books, and published several thousand articles locally, regionally, and internationally in news magazines and newsletters.
In my "spare time" - *what spare time?*	I balance a busy family life dabbling in a variety creative activities including writing (books, scripts, newsletters, training guides), competitive flower arranging, illustrating, and landscaping a two-acre garden/nursery (featured in a 2006 international iris tour). I am a show judge and vice president of the Portland Chapter, American Rhododendron Society; a student judge for the National Garden Club, Inc. and just getting started with the American Iris Society.
*Cispus history...*	I joined the Cispus Workshop in 1997 and continue to learn more and more each year both from the participants and the other instructors. I currently lead the Meetings Management main track (and authored "Meetings Survival Guide") and participate in several other sessions. I also teach portions of the Collaborative Natural Resource Manager workshop. In the past, I have taught: Decision Making Skills and Techniques, Effective Briefings, Facilitative Behaviors, Effective Visuals, Learning Styles, and been part of development/implementation teams for several other Cispus sessions. I also take care of the Cispus website.
Recent Awards and Education	In 2007, I was awarded the Department of the Interior Superior Service Award for my "outstanding contributions in the field of facilitation and collaboration for the Bureau of Land Management." In 2007, I graduated magna cum laude from Ellis College, New York Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies (Technical Writing, Business Writing, and Mass Communications), plus a certificate of mastery in Technical Writing. I plan to start a MS program in communications this fall.

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