WELCOME TO ACR UPDATE—the monthly e-newsletter sharing important conflict resolution news and organizational updates with ACR members. Your feedback is welcome!

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OVERVIEW OF ARTICLES
August 2, 2005

1. Register NOW for ACR’s Annual Conference: Early Bird Discount Ends August 8 !

2. ACR 2005 Board Election: Write-in Nominations Deadline and Voting Begins Soon

3. ACR Extends Award Nominations Deadline to August 5, 2005

4. Conflict Resolution Quarterly: Now Accepting CRQ Editorship Applications

5. ACResolution magazine: summer Issue Arriving this Month; Call for Proposals

6. ACR to Host Prospective Member Reception at Annual Conference

7. Section Teleconference Series: Workplace Section

8. Section Update: Workplace Section News

9. Chapter Update: New England and Houston Chapters

10. Quotations

11. Message from Our Sponsors: Solomon Publications—New ADR Books and Online Courses and Mediate.com

Register now for the 2005 ACR Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota from September 28-October 1 ! The Early Bird discount is available through August 8.

Annual Conference highlights include:

• More than 150 workshops, including a Master's track for seasoned practitioners, a provocative series on Righting Unrightable Wrongs, and sessions highlighting important public policy and quality assurance issues facing the field.

• Opening keynote address by author and activist Frances Moore Lappé;

• Networking opportunities throughout the conference; and

• Enjoy beautiful Minneapolis at the very best time of the year!

Visit the ACR website for easy online registration, workshop details, hotel information and more! Please note that you must reserve your room at the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel by September 6 to receive the conference rate.

• ACR's Mentoring Program

• Online Discussion Forums/ Message Board

• Access to the full Membership Directory

• Reduced Rates on Professional Liability Insurance

• ACR Job Bank

• CRQ Online: Access ACR's Academic Journal online anytime

• 20% off Purchases from BNA Books and Jossey-Bass publications

• Discounts on Medical Insurance, Hertz Car Rental and buymagazines.com

• and much more...

Submit Write-in Nominations by August 4, 2005

ACR members who would like to nominate a member for one of the open Board positions in the 2005 election must do so by August 4, 2005. The nomination, along with supporting signatures of 100 current ACR members, must be received by ACR no later than August 4, 2005 to be eligible for the ballot. Nominees must meet the qualifications set forth in Sections 8.2 and 17.3 of the Bylaws

Voting Begins August 12, 2005

Information about how to access the ballot online will be sent to ACR’s voting members by August 12, 2005. Please note that Associates, Youth members and Organizational Affiliates are not eligible to vote in the election and will not receive ballot information. If you would like to check your membership category or change to a voting category, you may do so by logging in to ACR’s Online Member Center or by contacting the Membership Department at membership@ACRnet.org or 202-464-9700 ext. 245.

All voting will be conducted online and must conclude by September 12, 2005. Members who wish to request a paper ballot should contact the ACR office at 202-464-9700 ext. 228 after voting opens on August 12, 2005. To read the letter sent to members announcing the candidates in the upcoming election, click here.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

for editorship of Conflict Resolution Quarterly

The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) and Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, invite nominations and applications for the editorship of Conflict Resolution Quarterly (CRQ), the official journal of ACR. The journal publishes quality scholarship on relationships between theory, research and practice of third parties in the conflict management and dispute resolution field to promote more effective professional applications.

Responsibilities and duties include selecting members of the editorial board in consultation with ACR and Jossey-Bass, ultimate responsibility for soliciting manuscripts, accepting and rejecting manuscripts on the basis of their quality and suitability for CRQ, guiding manuscripts through the review process, overseeing revisions and planning issues. The editor will receive a stipend from ACR to cover costs of postage, telephone, photocopying and other direct expenses. All production and distribution costs are the responsibility of the publisher.

Nominees and applicants should be recognized scholars and/or practitioners in the conflict resolution field. In addition to possessing excellent managerial and organizational skills, nominees and applicants should be able to adhere to strict publishing schedules and work effectively with others at a distance.

Nominations and applications will be accepted until October 30, 2005. Applicants must be available for telephone interviews between January and July 2006. Pending outcomes of initial telephone interviews, applicants will be required to attend the 2006 ACR Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA, October 25-28, 2006 for in-person interviews. An editor will be chosen shortly after the Philadelphia Annual Conference and the editorial transition will begin shortly thereafter.

Please email nomination or cover letter with curriculum vitae to dfamiano@josseybass.com  and publications@ACRnet.org  with “CRQ Editor Application” in the subject line.

Questions may be directed to David Famiano via email at dfamiano@josseybass.com . Applicants may be required to supply other supporting materials upon request.

Watch your mailbox for the Summer 2005 issue of ACResolution on Family ADR !

6. ACR to Host Prospective Member Reception at the Annual Conference.

This year ACR will host a brief reception for prospective members at the Annual Conference (September 28–October 1, 2005) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The gathering will provide an opportunity to introduce the association to people who want to know more about the exciting work ACR is doing for its members. ACR Members, please join fellow members, the Board of Directors and ACR staff and help recruit new members during this reception at the Annual Conference.

Location and time to be announced. For more information, please send an email to Mark Wilson at mwilson@ACRnet.org.

7. Sections Teleconference Series: Crisis Intervention Section and Workplace Section

CRISIS INTERVENTION SECTION HOSTS THE SECOND IN ITS FIVE-PART 2005 TELESEMINAR SERIES: “HOW DO THEY DO THAT?” SEPTEMBER 14, 2005

In June 2005, ACR’s Crisis Intervention Section began its five-part Teleseminar Series for Crisis Interveners in which experts from law enforcement, workplace, education, family and the mental health fields share their top crisis management techniques and anecdotes from their own experience. We are pleased to announce that the second in this series will take place on Wednesday, September 14th at 1 p.m. Eastern time.  Please join us for:

The Role of Mental Health Professionals in Crisis and Hostage Teams: How Mental Health Professionals Effectively Assist in the Training of Law Enforcement Crisis and Hostage Negotiation Teams 

Over the past decade, the role of mental health professionals has become more openly accepted and viewed as helpful in the training of law enforcement crisis intervention and hostage negotiation teams.  Tina Jaeckle, a licensed clinical social worker with more than 15 years of experience in crisis intervention, will present a talk on how you can approach law enforcement to offer and provide training opportunities. She will offer suggestions from her own training experiences with local law enforcement as well as with FBI crisis negotiator and special agent Gregory Vecchi, a former ACR Crisis Intervention Section Co-Chair. She also will host a discussion on effective and appropriate mental health approaches, specific training ideas, and the benefits and limitations of both. 

Tina has graduate degrees in both Social Work and Criminal Justice and is presently a Ph.D. candidate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution.  She holds certification in Florida as a family and dependency mediator and primary trainer, and serves as an adjunct professor in the social and behavioral sciences at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.

You must be a member of the Crisis Intervention Section to attend this telephone seminar. To sign up for the call, contact ACR Section Manager Anne-Marie Burton via email at: aburton@ACRnet.org. To join the Crisis Intervention Section, log in to the Online Member Center at www.ACRnet.org .

Join us for any or all of our Teleseminars.  The only requirement is that you be a member of the Crisis Intervention Section, and the only cost to you is your long-distance charge for a 55-minute telephone call.   You can call in from anywhere in the world.  Check the Crisis Intervention Section web page each month to find out about upcoming events.

JOIN THE WORKPLACE SECTION TELECONFERENCE ON "EXTREME FACILITATION" AUGUST 16, 2005, 12:00 - 1:00 PM EDT

Suzanne Ghais will overview the topic of “Extreme Facilitation,” including the concept of the facilitator as architect of a custom process and the five capacities of groups.  She will also highlight some of the differences between facilitation and mediation and touch on some of the internal qualities of the extreme facilitator. This presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period. Suzanne Ghais, M.S., is a senior facilitator, mediator and trainer at CDR Associates, Boulder, CO, where she works primarily in the organizational and environmental arenas. She is the author of Extreme Facilitation: Guiding Groups through Controversy and Complexity (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2005).  Click here to order the book from Jossey-Bass; please note that ACR members are eligible for a 20% discount on Jossey-Bass publications. Go to the ACR website at http://www.ACRnet.org and log in to the Online Member Center for details.

Please note that the Workplace Section welcomes non-members to attend up to two conference calls before joining the Section. As always, participants are requested to submit questions before the teleconference.

8. ACR Sections Update: Workplace Section

ACR Workplace Section Now Accepting Applications for “Labor and Employment Arbitrator” Advanced Practitioner Category
The ACR Workplace Section is pleased to offer the first Advanced Practitioner category for Labor and Employment Arbitrators. A labor and employment arbitrator is a neutral with substantial experience in labor arbitration, employment arbitration, or either arbitration practices. This AP represents a significant level of experience in issues related to the workplace grievances and litigated employment disputes beyond the ACR Practitioner designation.  Click here  to download the application and standards. If you have substantive questions, please contact Nancy Peace at 978-462-3266 or npeace@igc.org . If you require assistance in downloading the application and standards, contact Anne-Marie Burton, ACR Sections Manager, at aburton@ACRnet.org .

Workplace Section Offers Mediator Advanced Practitioner Designation

In addition to the Labor and Employment Arbitrator Advanced Practitioner designation, ACR’s Workplace Section offers an AP designation for workplace mediators. For more information about this advanced level of membership, click here.

Workplace Section’s Labor Arbitration and Mediation Committee: Save the Date!

On September 28, 2005, the LAMC will present its third annual workshop, for advanced labor arbitrators at the ACR’s Fifth Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Committee Co-Chairs, Jeremy Cohen, Gary Hattal and Jay Siegel promise this year’s offering will not be a remake of the past workshops but will be a one-day, hands on program on the development and management of a successful labor arbitration practice.  If you have any questions, please contact Jeremy V. Cohen at   jvcohen1936@yahoo.com

9. ACR Chapters Update: New England and Houston Chapters

New England ACR Hosts Program on Impasse-Breaking Techniques

ACR’s New England Chapter will hold its Conflict Resolution September Program on Tuesday, September 13, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. EDT, at JAMS, One Beacon Street, 23rd Floor, Boston, MA 02108. The guest speaker, James McGuire, is a neutral with JAMS and an authority on alternative dispute resolution.  Attorney McGuire will be presenting Advanced Techniques for Mediators:  What Is in Your Toolbox?, a program focusing on risk analysis, creative uses of money, and impasse-breaking techniques. Opportunity for open discussion and questions and answers from the audience will be available following the presentation.

 
More details about the program and registration will be available at www.neacr.org.  For further information, please contact Mindy Milberg at milberg@milbergmediation.com or 508-655-6800, or Diane Levin at levin@partneringsolutions.org or 781-631-3990.

ACR’s Houston Chapter: Upcoming Training Helps Redirect Linear Thinking

ACR’s Houston Chapter presents “Clear the Clutter – Resolve the Conflict – The Peter Walsh Paradigm” on Thursday, August 25, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. at Crowne Plaza Hotel (Houston Medical Center, 6701 S. Main St. at Holcomb Blvd., Houston, Texas 77030). Peter Walsh, star of the Discovery Network’s TLC hit television show Clean Sweep, is an organizational guru who uses behavioral psychology to assist individuals, families and companies transform chaos into order. Peter has helped people move forward to attain their goals in life and business by reappraising their internal values and reevaluating policies and positions. This creative program will enhance your mediator skills and techniques, such as:

• Reality Testing

• Breaking Impasses

• Clarifying Issues and Interests

• Shifting Perceptions

• Redirecting Linear Thinking

• Resolving Disputes !

Register today!  Space is Limited! ACR-Houston Members–$45.00; Non-Members– $60.00; At the door–$75.00.  For further information, please contact Tonya Sampson-Canepa at tonya@mediate.com or Kim Lawrence at klawrence@bbbhou.org.

SPECIAL ONLINE OFFER!

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10. QUOTATIONS

11. Message from Our Sponsors: Solomon Publications and Mediate.com

Solomon Publications Offers New ADR Books and Online Courses

Solomon Publications Offers New ADR Books and Online Courses Basic Skills for the New Mediator and Basic Skills for the New Arbitrator, Second Editions by Allan H. Goodman are now available.

Online courses in ADR advocacy for attorneys and other professionals are also offered. For details, visit the Solomon Publications’ website, www.solomonpublications.com.

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