From the Executive Director

By Lisa D. Nye, Indiana Park & Recreation Association

The beginning of a new year always fills me with hope and excitement for the year to come, but I also take extra time to reflect on the successes of the previous year. I think back on the work that has been accomplished through the Association and the Foundation over the past year and I am proud of the accomplishments of both organizations. But I am especially proud and continually impressed by the outstanding work that each park and recreation professional does for their communities. Our members fuel our organization, and we are proud to celebrate your accomplishments in 2022.

One of my favorite events to reflect on is the IPRA Annual Conference and Expo. In November, more than 500 park and recreation professionals gathered in Indianapolis for the 2022 IPRA Annual Conference and Expo. Inside the historic Crowne Plaza Convention Center, attendees engaged in thought provoking education sessions, walked the exhibit hall floor where over 65 exhibitors showcased their latest products and services, and spent time together networking at social events.

We also made great strides in the last half of 2022 by advancing our efforts on a public awareness campaign. The goal of the public awareness campaign is to provide a toolkit to our members and park departments across the state of Indiana that can help attract talent to the field of parks and recreation, engage stakeholders in various park projects, and to inform the public of the importance and impact of parks. The first step of this project is to gather feedback and data. After establishing a steering committee and identifying a consulting firm to assist us with implementation, we kicked off the project by hosting four in-person focus group meetings throughout Indiana in October to solicit feedback from a variety of park and recreation professionals. Next, an interactive session at the 2022 Annual Conference and Expo served to both inform and gather information from attendees at-large. The feedback gathered allowed us to create a survey for all members to provide their input. The information collected from these various avenues will inform us of the type of research and data we will need to collect. The data will then be used to inform the marketing strategies we will use to create the toolkit. Stay tuned as we continue to move forward throughout this process and we ask that all members stay engaged – to have the best possible outcomes, your participation is critical!

Lastly, I’d like to recognize and thank Becky Barrick-Higgins for her leadership as the IPRA President in 2022. Becky has been engaged with IPRA since the 80s and she has served two terms as the IPRA President and chaired the conference committee three separate times. During her 2022 term, Becky has been instrumental in mobilizing the public awareness campaign and building a solid foundation for its future success. Under her leadership, the IPRA board of directors has also started the process of updating bylaws and bringing IPRA policies current. We look forward to Becky’s continued engagement with IPRA as she serves on the board as pastpresident, and chair of the steering committee for the public awareness campaign.

I am grateful for what 2022 brought us and excited to push forward into 2023! Cheers to the new year!