Exact timeframe of the schedule will be posted by October 5th. The Conference will open at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday morning. Sessions will begin at 9 a.m. running for 45 minutes, with 15 minute breaks in between.
Julia Barton, Sustainable Agriculture Educator
Julia works with OEFFA (Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association), where she focuses on transitioning farmers to organic farming models.
Education Presentation
Farm and Food Partners: Learning From Other
Julia Barton
Jeremy Troyer, Manager Agribusiness Line, Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist
Jeremy maintains a License in Property & Casualty Insurance doing business in Ohio & Indiana. Since 2017 he has been the Manager of Agribusiness Lines at Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company.
Business Presentation
Do I Need Insurance: Learn How To Assess Your Program / Project Risk
Summary: Jeremy will address the various types of insurance for your business, providing an understanding of your program or project risks to protect your business and your customers.
Jeremy Troyer
Amanda Bohlen, M. Ed
Amanda Bohlen, Extension Educator, M.Ed., Ohio State University Extension, Washington County and Area Leader for Belmont, Guernsey, Noble and Monroe Counties. Her specialization is wellness, early childhood, and food safety. Amanda is married, has three children and lives on a dairy farm. The family sold all their milk cows April 2019 and are working on navigating a new normal.
Business and Safety Presentation
When You Can’t Control the Weather: Managing Your Stress on the Farm
Summary:
Farming is filled with challenges-like the weather-which are beyond the farmer’s control. It is important for your own health, the health of your family, and the health of your business, to have tools for managing the stress of farming’s ups and downs. Amanda Bohlen will draw on her family’s experience with difficult change on their farm, as well as her expertise in mental health, to facilitate an interactive workshop that will equip you with effective strategies for taking care of yourself in hard times.
Amanda Bohlen
Cindy Christman, B.S., M.S.; retired, Akron Police Department, Lieutenant
Ms. Christman holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Emergency Management and a Master’s Degree in Justice Administration/Criminal Justice. She began her work career as a small business owner. In 1992 she joined the Akron Police Department where she was the Patrol Division Acting Captain for two years, SWAT Negotiator and Training Coordinator for 18 years, coordinated a contingency of 38 Akron Officers to assist Cleveland Police at the Republican National Convention 2016, and served as the City of Akron Safety Coordinator and Executive Board Member for the International Gay Games IX, 2014. During Hurricane Rita in 2005 Cindy was the assistant commander with a contingency of Akron Officers providing relief to Calcasieu Parish Deputies in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She served as the LGBTQ+ Liaison for the Akron Police Department, and was the Community Policing Sergeant during the resolution to off campus riots.
She has received the Officer of the Year from the Optimist Club in 2003, was recognized as the SWAT Negotiator of the Year for 2003, and received the Red Ribbon Award from the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers in 2001. Cindy is currently serving as a Commissioner with the Akron Civil Rights Commission.
Safety Presentation
Personal Safety in the Out-yard: vandals, thieves, curiosity seekers
Summary: The presentation will include safety tips when encountering persons while approaching and servicing hives.
Cindy Christman
Michele Colopy, M.A., M.S.
Michele Colopy holds a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management/Arts Administration. She has more than twenty years of nonprofit experience at the national, state, and local level. She has worked with membership associations, pollinator advocacy, performing arts, housing and homelessness, foreclosure prevention, community development, and health and wellness. She was Treasurer of The Ohio State Beekeepers Association (OSBA) from 2016-2019 modernizing the accounting, co-managing a USDA grant, administering the Affiliate program, and managing two grant programs of OSBA. She was the Program Director for the Pollinator Stewardship Council from 2013-2019.
Business and Leadership Presentations
Your Value as an Educator and Leader: You Should be Paid! HANDOUT
Summary: The renewed appreciation for agriculture in urban areas, also brings diverse skills, talents, and training to beekeeping and agricultural groups. Skills, talent, training, and experience have value, including monetary value. Speakers and educators must believe in their value and the value they provide as presenters. Learn how to market yourself as a speaker with value.
Nominating Committees: The Key to Successful Leadership Transitions (co-presented with Terry Lieberman-Smith)
HANDOUT
Summary: Associations will succeed and grow when individuals with a passion to serve the mission are recruited to leadership roles. Whether at the committee level or the President of the Board the keys to successful transitions will be presented to inspire sustainable organizations.
Introduction to Grant Writing HANDOUT
Summary: Does your beekeeping association want to expand its services to the community through grant funded projects? Do any club members know how to write and manage grants? What are the obligations of grants, and is the treasurer ready to manage grant funds? These questions and more will be answered is this overview of grants for beekeeping associations.
Michele Colopy
Samantha Winship
Farmer and Beekeeper, Samantha Winship is a Native of North Carolina and the daughter of Indigenous People. Her family farm, Mother’s Finest Family Urban Farms, consists of 2.5 acre of growing space in an Urban Environment and leasing 5 more Acres in the other city limits to expand their farming production. They grow for our value-added products and our CSA Box subscription members. On the farm land they have Bees, Chickens, Worms, Mushrooms, Specialty Items, Various produce, and more.
Business presentation
Cultivate your business through farming
Samantha Winship
Gina-Glorioso-Rendall
Gina is the Volunteer Manager at Playhouse Square (Cleveland, Ohio), a performing arts nonprofit. She oversees 2,200 volunteer “Red Coats” who work in the theatres as Front of House staff. She is passionate about volunteering, both as a manager and as a volunteer. When not at work Gina facilitates a group at the Cleveland LGBT Center, and enjoys playing music and being a mediocre gardener. She is a member and educator through the Forum of Volunteer Administrators.
Leadership presentation
Boost Your Volunteer Program By Structuring It For Growth
Summary:
Learn how to structure your volunteer program to increase knowledge and volunteer retention. Providing volunteers with consistent information and management from the start sets your program up for success! This presentation will touch on the lifecycle of a volunteer from recruitment, to training and engagement, and how to track and measure the success of your program.
Gina Glorioso-Rendall
Nancy Grim, attorney
Nancy Grim is an employee rights attorney in Kent, Ohio, and lives in Brady Lake. She has served on
various non-profit boards, presently the Community Action Council of Portage County, and Community Legal Aid Services. She has a special interest in writing that makes sense to non-lawyers and nonspecialists. In her spare time, Nancy bicycles on country roads, or nurtures plants that don’t ask for much in return.
Business & Leadership Presentation
When to Ask for Professional Help From An Attorney
Summary:
I will give a presentation with examples, but especially look forward to plenty of questions or examples
from the audience. Topics may include: Writing policies, by-laws and contracts; Compliance with contracts, laws and regulations; Employee relations; Avoiding problems with the public.
Nancy Grim
Barb Hipsman-Springer, Emeritus Professor
Barb Hipsman Springer retired from the Journalism School at Kent State after more than 20 years teaching interviewing, reporting and media ethics and many more as a political reporter in Illinois. She’s an almost professional problem solver, loves to connect people, and enjoys registering voters.
Education & Business Presentation
Teaching to Engage Your Audience
Summary:
Breaking down the big topic to bite-sized takeaways. Your day-to-day is complicated – isn’t most of life? Bring one topic you’d like to teach – or expect to teach. We’ll help each other break it apart.
Barb Hipsman-Springer
Becky Johnson
Honey bees are extraordinary eusocial creatures, teaching all those listening. Becky has been an avid beekeeper and solo owner / operator of Kiss My Beehive and Stargazer Farm for several years. She enjoys catching swarms,cutting beehives out of walls or buildings, managing / maintaining several bee yards, creating products from the hive and teaching others about these amazing girls. She has held several positions in her state and local entities in facilitating education and support for all pollinators and advocates. Becky has a deep devotion to teaching others. Education is fundamental in everything we do, every day; and she feels fortunate to have researched and experienced things that she can pass on to others.
Leadership & Business Presentation
Engaging your community
Summary:
You already have the best organization, products or business- now it’s time to get everyone to agree with you. How do you engage your neighbors near and far? How do you attract new clients? In this class you will learn several different platforms in which to be successful in reaching the most people and getting them excited to experience and talk about it.
Leadership Presentation
Find your golden cogs
Summary:
Everyone that you meet has certain assets and abilities, and with the right encouragement would be willing to share them with your organization. Learn how to find those hidden gems and some proven ways to assist them in your opportunity.
Panelist: Action in Leadership, Business, and Safety for Women in Beekeeping and Agriculture
Becky Johnson
Beth Knorr, Executive Director, Summit Food Coalition
Beth Knorr has spent much of her adult life working in the local food and farming realm, inhabiting various roles such as farmer, farmers’ market manager, and local food business owner. Her varied and extensive experience has led to involvement with local, state, and national organizations where she advocates for policies which support small scale and sustainable farms, healthful food access, and an improved quality of life through food.
Business, Education, and Safety Presentation
Navigating Food Business Regulations
Summary: Food business regulations can be complicated and confusing for beginning business owners. Learn where to find the information you need and the various licenses food businesses may need to sell products to the public.
Beth Knorr
Deb Lemire, Artistic Director of Queen Bee Productions
Deb Lemire is a professional speaker, actor, activist and educator. Her production company, Queen Bee Productions, offers training and talent to organizations and performance venues in Northeast Ohio.
Education & Business Presentation
Using SKYPE to provide speakers to your group- Stage presence over the computer and in person
Summary:
Everybody loves to work from home in their pjs with their coffee. Don’t even need to brush your teeth right? Maybe if its just a conference call, but if you are engaging that webcam YIKES! Video conferencing has become a convenient, cost effective and time saving way to bring people together.
Learn the basic dos and don’ts of putting your face out there via webcam and make a great impression on your colleagues!
Deb Lemire
Kelli Liddle, B.A., M.B.A.
Kelli is the owner of her own accounting practice, KNL Accounting Solutions, LLC, after having been in public accounting for 12 years. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Mount Union and also received her Master’s in Business Administration from Malone
University. She is a Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor for both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.
Business Presentations
Accounting for the new business
Summary: We will be discussing the importance of keeping accounting records for your small business, using an accounting software and the advantages it has for the business owner. If you are looking to hire a bookkeeper/accountant, what are some things to look for and questions to ask.
We will also discuss the importance of knowing how to read your financial statements.
How to Price Your Products
Summary: We will be looking at how you can make your business profitably by pricing products appropriately. We will be discussing the various components that need considered when figuring out how to price your products for sale. Looking beyond the basics of jars, labels, etc.
Kelli Liddle
Terry Lieberman-Smith, M.B.A.
LEAD for Pollinators Coordinator and co-founder, Terry has been actively involved with bees, beekeeping, and local beekeeping associations for over 15 years. She has held a variety of leadership positions in both the local and state level beekeeping associations. At The Ohio State Beekeepers Association, Inc., she was Newsletter Editor for 8 years, Conference Coordinator for 7 years, Vice-President for 4 years, and President for 2 years. Terry understands the importance of clean pollinator habitat and enrolled part of her property in CRP to ensure that not only the bees in her apiary, but all pollinators in the area have a haven for forage. Terry holds an undergraduate degree in business, along with an MBA specializing in Logistics. She incorporates her business background, leadership skills, and interest in sustainable beekeeping practices to help strengthen the beekeeping community and develop partnerships with other like-minded groups.
Leadership Presentations
Beyond Donut Dolly: Leadership Roles and Responsibilities
Summary:
Everyone needs food for sustenance, but get out beyond the “Donut Dolly” shadow so you can help make change in your organization. Skill sets needed for leading associations will be presented so those with the needed skill sets are inspired to lead.
Nominating Committees: The Key to Successful Leadership Transitions
(co-presented with Michele Colopy)
Summary:
Associations will succeed and grow when individuals with a passion to serve the mission are recruited to leadership roles. Whether at the committee level or the President of the Board the keys to successful transitions will be presented to inspire sustainable organizations.
Creating a local beginning beekeeping class curriculum
Summary:
Are you still teaching from a 1950’s curriculum? Honey bees, and beekeepers need current information from research, technology, equipment, and mentoring. Ideas to bring your class curriculum into the 21st Century will be presented.
Communication To Members: From Door Signs to Websites and Social Media
Summary:
Do you wonder why your member meetings, field days, educational and community activities fall short of anticipated attendance? This session will present ideas to expand your communication through technology, networking, social media, and more to get the message out.
Terry Lieberman-Smith
Wendy Mather, Manager of the California Master Beekeeping Program
Wendy’s passion for beekeeping was lit in ‘07 when offered a temporary customer service position at NOD Apiary Products. On the job training included 2 hives and wise council from a venerable beekeeper to enroll in a beekeeping course. Wendy’s love of learning led her, her husband and her eldest daughter to the Introductory Beekeeping course at the University of Guelph with the original Tech Transfer Team, and they’ve been beekeeping ever since! They soon expanded from playing with their two ‘beginner’ hives to managing a couple of dozen colonies in 3 different yards, producing lots of delicious wildflower honey and grafting queens (and learning from their many mistakes). In July of 2012, Wendy’s husband Darrell was relocated to El Dorado Hills, in Northern California. Wendy took a contract position with NOD Apiary Products as the Bee Health Advisor and Research Trial and Education Coordinator for the US. Prior to life in the bees, Wendy was a part time professor in the Social Service Worker faculty at Loyalist College, Ontario, Canada, where she loved teaching community development, group process, program design and portfolio development. She is excited to put on her veil and keep her smoker lit, with UC Davis, to serve and collaborate with the vast and diverse community of commercial, sideliner and hobbyist beekeepers, beekeeping associations and beekeeping suppliers throughout California and help support and sustain honey bee health.
Education Presentation
Creating A Master Beekeeping Class Curriculum
Panelist: Action in Leadership, Business, and Safety for Women in Beekeeping and Agriculture
Wendy Mather
Iris Meltzer, M.Psych., M.P.H.
Ms. Meltzer holds a Master’s degree in psychology and a Masters of Public Health. She retired from Akron children’s Hospital in 2011 as the Manager of Adolescent Health Services. For the past 40+ years, Ms. Meltzer has served on a variety of boards (including Planned Parenthood, YWCA and Girl Scouts,) holding the position of member, secretary, treasurer, vice president and president. She is currently serves on the Foundation Board of the Kent Free Library, as Vice Chair of the Portage County Mental Health and Recovery Board, and as President of the League of Women Voters of Ohio.
Leadership Presentation
Hive Mind: Succeeding At Horizontal Leadership
Summary: Becoming and being a board member and/or board leader takes skills and practice. Yet, it is less scary and opaque than it may first appear. Learning to listen, becoming aware of the commonalities you share with other board members and thinking and acting as a community, can bring you, your board, your organization and working toward your mission success.
Iris Meltzer
Alec (Al) Morrison
Al currently owns several small businesses: Creekside Eventing Complex, LLC; SFM & Sons Equine Construction, LLC; APM Consulting Services; and Liquid Level Innovations, LLC. Al teaches in the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. He currently serves as Co-Chair for the SCORE Akron Chapter; Medina Sub-Chair, and is a counselor for SCORE, a national volunteer organization focused on helping small business. Prior to that he was a vice president for A.T. Kearney (a Global Management Consulting firm).
Al has over 35 years of management consulting, 15 years of industrial experience, 10 years as a small business owner and 7 years as a SCORE volunteer. During his consulting career, he conducted projects involving manufacturing operations, strategy, information technology, materials management and
organizational effectiveness.
Business Presentations
Business Plans: Planning for Success
Summary: Participants will learn the fundamentals of business planning, key factors for success, and how to use their plan.
How To Form Your Business: LLC, Inc., S-Corp, Partnership
Summary: Participants will learn the fundamentals of different business legal structures, why they are important, and when to utilize each form.
Alec (Al) Morrison
Denise O’Brien
Leadership Presentations
Advocacy at the State and Local Level
Panelist: Action in Leadership, Business, and Safety for Women in Beekeeping and Agriculture
Keynote Luncheon Speaker
Our featured speaker at the opening day lunch will be Denise O’Brien, founding director of the Women, Food and Agricultural Network. Denise has farmed in southwest Iowa for 37 years with her husband Larry Harris, and operated a CSA farm called Rolling Acres that includes three acres of fruits and vegetables and six acres of apples. She also raises organic chickens and turkeys. In addition to farming, she has been involved with community volunteering and policy work in the agricultural sector. Denise lobbied with the Iowa Farm Unity Coalition, directed the Rural Women’s Leadership Development Project of Prairie Fire Rural Action, Inc. and was president of the National Family Farm Coalition.
Denise has served on numerous advisory boards with the Community Food Security Coalition, the Farm to School Council, and the Iowa Women’s Foundation to name a few. She was a W.F.Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow from 2001-2003. From 2011 to 2012, Denise was a USDA advisor in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
For all her hard work Denise has received awards like the 2005 Practical Farmers of Iowa Sustainable Agriculture Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Iowa Farmer’s Union and the Athena Award from the Atlantic, Iowa Chamber of Commerce. In 2000 Denise was inducted into Iowa’s Women’s Hall of Fame.
Denise O'Brien
Tracy Pielemeier, inventor/entrepreneur
Tracy Pielemeier has worn many hats during her life, including advertising agency secretary, home-school mom to 3 daughters, school bus driver, legal secretary, small business admin for her husband, and more recently beekeeping club member, founder, board member and now entrepreneur and patent owner. She never intended to be any of these things, but they all brought important training and awareness to her current and most intentional role of all: inventor/entrepreneur. The amazing path that brought her to this role inspires her to empower other women with her story of finding your
tribe, and pushing on all the doors.
Tracy and her husband Tom own a small hobby farm in central Indiana. Tom has been self-employed doing lighting for film production for over 30 years. They are the parents of 3 daughters, 26, 21, and 16. Their life is run by a bunch of dogs, some old horses and now a plastic beekeeping tote called the Hive Butler.
Business Presentation
Idea to Marketplace, It CAN be done!
Have you ever had an idea for something you thought would be a useful, saleable product?? But you figured those kinds of things never work out. You’re not smart enough. You don’t have a fortune. You don’t know where to start? Let Tracy Pielemeier encourage you with her story of how frustration and annoyance gave her an idea, and how she was able to bring it all the way to market product, The Hive Butler. Now is a wonderful time for new product ideas and small business through idea creation, perhaps more than ever before. Tracy will lay out the path she found, the skills she acquired, and the failures that had to be overcome, along with connections and resources that might help you make the leap with your idea. Women are uniquely designed to solve, adapt and overcome and thus, create solutions that can generate income, and opportunities to make a difference AND serve your family with income and industry.
Tracy Pielemeier
Russell Rendall, attorney
Russell Rendall is an attorney at the law firm of Brennan Manna & Diamond. Russell’s practice is focused on litigation and providing advice and counsel for clients related to a broad array of employment, labor, and business matters. Russell has extensive experience handling disputes in state
and federal courts and administrative agencies, and regularly advises clients regarding employment and business policies, practices, and legal compliance.
Safety Presentation
Managing Volunteers Shouldn’t Be A Risky Business
Summary:
Learn skills to enrich your risk management within your volunteer program, including ensuring a safe
environment, proper screening and orientation, managing performance and conduct issues, and implementing correct policies and procedures. This interactive presentation will help you understand how to best manage volunteers, mitigate risks, and make your organization run smoothly.
Business & Leadership Presentation
Business Ethics: Service versus Self-Serving
Summary:
Learn more about duties and responsibilities related to your involvement in a non-profit organization, particularly duties of loyalty, care, compliance, and fiduciary responsibilities for board members. This interactive presentation will help you understand and identify legal and ethical issues essential to the effective operation of your non-profit, including sales and labeling practices, marketing and online content, and potential board member abuses and self-dealing.
Russell Rendall
Susan Roxburgh, Ph.D.
Susan Roxburgh, PhD received her doctorate from the University of Toronto in 1994 and has been a professor at Kent State University since then. In her twenty-six years at KSU she has published papers on a wide range of topics within the field of mental health and the stress process, including work-family stressors, parenthood and mental health, time pressure and mental health, and gender and race/ethnicity differences in well-being. Professor Roxburgh is currently the co-editor of the journal Society and Mental Health. In the last decade, an additional interest has been in the sociology of food, which she developed into a popular course at KSU. She has published and presented several papers in this area, one on attitudes toward veganism and another on the depiction of women and food in TV sitcoms. She is currently working on a book on the sociology of food. Professor Roxburgh is an avid gardener, photographer, and cook.
Education & Safety Presentation
Enhancing Diversity in Beekeeping and Agriculture: Lessons from Sociological Research
Professor Roxburgh will discuss the challenges of increasing diversity in beekeeping and agriculture and describe what we can learn from sociological research about how best to meet this important goal.
Susan Roxburgh
Greg Smith, Ph.D.
Greg Smith is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Kent State University at Stark. Greg received a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Florida, an M.S. in Biological Sciences with a minor in Statistics from Mississippi State University, and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Oklahoma. His research interests focus on Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Biology. More specifically, Greg’s work investigates how and why populations are structured across space and time, including the influence of human-dominated landscapes on native species. Greg is an avid reader of
natural history, a fan of local sports teams, and a self-proclaimed nerd.
Safety Presentation
Personal Safety in the Out-yard:skunks, bears, coyotes, oh my!
Summary: There are a number of wildlife species that one may encounter to and from the beehive. In this talk, we will discuss some of the most common, their general natural history, and typical habitats and behaviors. Ultimately, understanding the wildlife we are likely to encounter will help us be aware and stay safe in the field.
Greg Smith
Shannon Trimboli
Shannon is a beekeeper, wildlife biologist, author, farmer, and public speaker who lives in Barren County Kentucky. In 2016, she started Busy Bee Nursery and Consulting which specializes in plants and habitat consulting services for honey bees, native pollinators, and wildlife conservation. Most of the plants she grows for Busy Bee Nursery and Consulting are native to Kentucky. In 2017, she was named the Beekeeper of the Year for the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association. Her first book, Plants Honey Bees Use in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, was published in 2018.
She has given numerous talks on a wide variety of topics related to planting for pollinators, incorporating native plants into the landscape, and beekeeping. Shannon also writes a weekly blog about pollinators and backyard wildlife, tips for attracting pollinators and wildlife, highlights of different plants for pollinators and wildlife, and life on the farm and nursery.
Business Presentation
Sharing Your Knowledge: Writing
Summary: Writing can be an exciting and fulfilling way to share your beekeeping journey and the knowledge you gain along the way. This session will discuss some of the different formats – such as books, articles, blogs, or social media posts – in which you can publish your writing. We’ll also discuss techniques and challenges associated with each format, as well as, general things to keep in mind regardless of your chosen format. Much of what is shared will be based on Shannon’s experiences writing her blog, writing and self-publishing her book, and in her former career, writing scientific articles and educational materials.
Panelist: Action in Leadership, Business, and Safety for Women in Beekeeping and Agriculture
Shannon Trimboli
Rich Wieske, SEMBA Bee School Director, Michigan
Before becoming a beekeeper I had my own media production company for over 40 years. I have traveled around the world on a ship and stopped in 10 countries and instead of the usual take me to your museum or old building, we visited beekeepers and film makers from around the world. I am the Educational Director of Southeastern Michigan Beekeepers Association, with a staff of over a dozen people, and co-partner of Green Toe Gardens. I am the District Three Representative for the Michigan Beekeepers Association, Past President of the 2015 Heartland Apicultural Society, and MBA Beekeeper of the year recipient 2016.
Business Presentation
Sharing Your Knowledge: Visual Arts
Rich Wieske
