Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Are you going to offer credit or ASHA CEUs?
2. Why don’t you accept credit card payments?
3. How do you set the cost for the pre-conference and conference registration?
4. Things that are typically out of our control:
5. What happens if a huge snowstorm blows in during the conference?
6. Why didn’t I receive a binder/handbook this year?
7. What is your refund policy?
8. Is there a registration limit for the symposium? If so, why?
9. Why has the symposium venue moved further south than in years past?
10. I would like to see a greater variety of breakout speakers at the symposium. Does the Metro committee pay for breakout speakers?
11. Why has the cost of the symposium gradually increased over the last several years?
12. Why does the symposium run so late on Friday nights? Why must we collect the passport stickers?
13. Why wasn't my registration accepted?
Are you going to offer credit or ASHA CEUs?
Yes, at this point we will be offering graduate credit from Adams State College and CDE recertification credit. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer ASHA CEUs this year as we were not able to secure a corporate sponsor to cover the costs associated with offering ASHA CEUs.
Pre-Conference
*7.5 hours of CDE recertification credit (free)
*.5 semester hours of Adams State Credit ($33 - sign up for credit will be available at the pre-conference)
Conference:
*15 hours of CDE recertification credit (free)
*1.0 semester hours of Adams State Credit ($60 - sign up for credit will be available at the conference on Friday)
The cost of graduate credit for both the Pre-Conference and the Conference is $90 total.
Why don’t you accept credit card payments?
In order to keep the cost of the conference down we are not accepting credit card payments. Credit card companies would charge us per transaction and we are trying very hard to keep the cost of the conference to a reasonable price.
How do you set the cost for the pre-conference and conference registration?
Since we are a non-profit organization we try very hard to set our costs for the registration to literally break even. Your registration fees pay for the hotel rental, meal costs, audio-visual equipment, and printing. Unfortunately, CDE has undergone significant budget cuts and some of the money we were receiving from them to help offset the registration costs have also been cut. We are thankful that CDE is still able to help with bringing in nationally known keynote speakers for our conference.
Things that are typically out of our control:
Temperature of the rooms – we suggest dressing in layers. It doesn’t seem to matter which hotel we go to some rooms get very hot and some room are very cold. We assign moderators to each session to help report any problems with the heat/air-conditioning so that we can alert the hotel as quickly as possible. Hotel response times vary greatly (as we have learned over the years).
Bathrooms – we have requested for the hotel staff to bus the bathroom during the sessions to help minimize problems. If you notice one of the bathrooms are gross please report it to the information desk immediately so that we can alert the hotel staff.
Quality of the food – we try to go to the hotel to sample their food prior to booking the hotel. But sometimes there is a huge quality difference between cooking for 20 and cooking for 600 that we don’t find out about until after the fact.
What happens if a huge snowstorm blows in during the conference?
Obviously we are in Colorado so there is always a potential for this one. If you are driving home a distance of over 50 miles we will excuse you from the last session only. However, in order to receive CDE credit you will need to write up a paper or review an article related to our field. You will not receive a certificate until this has been completed.
We are waiting to get clarification from Adams State College on this issue.
Why didn’t I receive a binder/handbook this year?
Because we are cutting back on the amount of paper needed for a conference this large to conserve and save resources. We are providing your information in a more environmental-friendly and “greener” CD-rom format. This will be available on the website when speaker information is finalized and you will receive a CD with all of the information on it at the on-site check-in at the start of the Symposium. We also changed to this type format due to the feedback we had received about the size of the binders being too large.
What is your refund policy?
- There will be no penalty for cancellations received on or before the date 10 days prior to the first day of the symposium (on or before January 19, 2010).
- No refunds will be issued for cancellations received less than 10 days before the first day of the annual symposium.
- Registration is not transferrable to a third party. All registrations that meet the cancelation policy guidelines and were paid by a third party will be issued a refund. Registrations paid by a third party are non-transferable.
- Late requests for refunds due to a family emergency only will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- All cancellations must be sent in writing via e-mail to asimmons@cherrycreekschools.org, fax (720-886-3888 attn: Amy Simmons-Grimm), or regular mail (Metro Speech-Language Network, PO Box 3946, Greenwood Village, CO 80155) and expect confirmation within three days.
Is there a registration limit for the symposium? If so, why?
Yes -- Symposium registration is limited each year due to the host hotel's seating capacity. Therefore, it’s important to register early! We do keep a waiting list for registrations we receive after the symposium is full. We contact people on the waiting list as we receive notice that folks who are already registered will not be able to attend.
Why has the symposium venue moved further south than in years past?
As the symposium has grown in terms of the number of SLP’s wishing to attend each year, the Metro committee has sought out venues that have enough space to accommodate our group and also offer free parking. Many of the hotels that we researched in or near downtown Denver either did not have the capacity to accommodate our participants or would have required attendees to pay $10-15/day for each car parked. Committee members felt that moving the symposium a bit further south was preferable to putting stricter limits on attendance and/or to requiring participants to pay for parking.
I would like to see a greater variety of breakout speakers at the symposium. Does the Metro committee pay for breakout speakers? The majority of the planning and execution of the symposium is handled by volunteers. All Metro committee members and breakout speakers are volunteers, and all Metro committee members work hard to recruit breakout speakers throughout the year. However, our control of the topics presented is limited naturally by our ability to recruit volunteer speakers with expertise in a variety of areas. Speaker agreements are available each year on our website, usually beginning in September for the symposium to occur the following January. If you are aware of SLP’s or related professionals who would make great speakers for our symposium, feel free to direct them to our website (www.metrospeechlanguagenetwork.org). The more speakers we have wishing to participate, the greater chance we have to offer a variety of topics.
Why has the cost of the symposium gradually increased over the last several years?
The Metro Speech-Language Network strives to keep the symposium available to local SLP’s at a reasonable cost. For this reason, the committee routinely takes a loss on registration fees. A number of the fees that we are responsible for covering (i.e., venue, A/V, food, etc) are increased annually. Symposium registration fees are raised only when it is apparent that our operating budget does not have the flexibility to absorb costs in excess of registration fees.
Why does the symposium run so late on Friday nights? Why must we collect the passport stickers?
Typically, the symposium starts after work/school hours due to the fact that many school districts do not allow their employees to use continuing education hours earned during the work day towards a pay step increase. Due to our getting a later start, we must run the Friday night keynote speaker until 10 PM in order to squeeze in the full number of hours of learning activities granted for the day. Our requirements for how hours are counted is dictated by our relationships with Adams State College and with ASHA in terms of what they require for offering a full 1 hour of graduate credit (or for 1 CEU in the case of ASHA credit) for the two day symposium. ASC & ASHA must both approve our syllabus prior to the symposium. As for the passports, we need a means for guaranteeing to CDE that our participants were present and involved in all activities required for granting the continuing education credit. Therefore, we implemented the passport system for demonstrating accountability. While some attendees have indicated that it seems juvenile, it is the easiest way that the Metro committee members could think of for guaranteeing all participants’ attendance to the breakout and keynote sessions.
Why wasn't my registration accepted?
Registration is limited by the number of seats the hotel can accommodate. If your registration was not accepted, it is because the maximum capacity has been reached. The Metro Speech – Language Network is not responsible for lost or misdirected registrations.