Sections C-4A and C-4B came together last November to conduct the Area Leadership Training Conference for the youth leaders of their sections. This training is an annual wide-scale event that typically trains 120 participants across the area and is held at Camp Lazarus in Delaware, Ohio. The event mainly focused on teaching better leadership skills as well as how to be a better individual.
Nate Steele, a former C-4B Chief and the NEXT Strategy CVC, led the event and provided his insight regarding the planning process and execution. Planning the conference is fairly straightforward, however this year it took a different turn. “We wanted to keep the training enjoyable and current,” Nate said. “Each of the courses were given a major overhaul this year.”
Everything from years past was reviewed and thoroughly inspected to see what could be improved and what needs to be replaced. In order to grab the interest of Arrowmen on all spectrums, there were four different tracks: Lodge Leadership, Ceremonies, Programming and Technical (Lodgemaster, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.). Each of these tracks were led by experienced youth leaders and seasoned adults who worked hard to make the experience valuable and enjoyable.
The track leaders worked to align their training to the track and ensure the content was current and relevant. The training was reviewed by top trainers, and the sessions were rehearsed before the event to ensure success. The conference organizers achieved their goal of 120 participants from across Area 4, and met the objective of delivering content to help the Arrowmen gain better leadership skills all across the board.
A visiting group of Arrowmen came out from Central Region Area 2 to partake in and help out with the event. On top of that, 2016 Central Region Chief Logan Greene was able to attend along with 2015 Central Region Chief Joey Dierdorf and 2014 Central Region Chief Ricky Angeletti. To promote the OA’s high adventure bases, an OA High Adventure foreman from every high adventure base was present at the training event as well.
Nate explained that with everybody working together, it became easier to share experiences and ideas on how to become better leaders. “This event was a wonderful opportunity for youth and advisers to work together to achieve a common goal,” he said.