I had no idea that Marcel's training was in organizational wellness. This information may come in handy in the future. Marcel gave a great presentation at the Programmatic Orientation meeting that was held at the Kearney REC this week. She talked about work-life balance, shared her own strategies, and provided data about human productivity factors. Marcel even provided each of us with a copy of The Productivity Project. I've already read the first chapter. Of no surprise to me, I don't seem to follow recommendations for achieving work-life balance or high productivity. However, my methods work for me.

I think the Programmatic Orientation was well received by the participants. Mark and Mark did a great job putting it together and everyone remained highly engaged despite a hard 3 days of ‘think-pair-share' not to mention a hot day of tours. I missed the tours due to other commitments but those in attendance were quite impressed by Rebecca's share about the partnerships in her range work. Note that Rebecca was a participant in the last Programmatic Orientation held. I also heard comments about a new appreciation and understanding for the nutrition and youth programs. The stop to see a small farming operation was popular and the nutrition program participants saw a new dimension of school food service at the kitchen stop.

Tuesday's session included an insightful panel of CE Specialists and CE Advisors that offered tips for success, using their own experiences as illustration of how they have moved forward in their career. Panelists included Roger Baldwin, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, JoLynn Miller, Deepa Srivastva, and Sam Sandoval-Solis as the facilitator. What I appreciated about the conversation was how panelists valued the role of their colleagues in sort of a co-dependency between CE Advisors and CE Specialists. Michelle talked about the role of ‘little science' and its importance to communities and role in establishing client relationships that lay the groundwork for building trust.

It was nice to put faces to names and get to know the new members of UC ANR a bit better. These are the future stars of UC ANR. I can't wait to see what they do.