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

To view this issue online, go to: http://www.ACRnet.org/publications/acrupdate.htm

OVERVIEW OF ARTICLES
January 2007

1. ACR Kicks Off 2006-07 Member-Get-A-Member Campaign
2. ACR Marketing Teleseminar CDs Available Now
3. Chapters Update: Get Involved in ACR Chapters!
4. Sections Update: Upcoming Teleseminar
5. Save the Date: Upcoming Events
6. Membership Offer
7. Quotations

In just two months, ACR members have recruited nearly 50 of their colleagues, friends and peers to become new members of ACR.

Click here to see the ever-growing list of ACR recruiters!

Want to see your name on this list? Visit the Member-Get-A-Member homepage to learn valuable tips, gather talking points and download application forms to help you recruit new members.

And…Don’t forget to check out the great prizes you can win by participating in Member-Get-A-Member…including a $150 Gift Certificate and free registration to the 2007 Annual Conference in Phoenix!

The greater our numbers, the stronger our voice.

Did you know that in the month of December alone, Chapters held a book discussion and potluck, a leadership teleconference, an annual conference and multiple holiday parties?  Activities took place all across the United States, from New York to Los Angeles, and everywhere in between.  Were you a part of these events?

Health Care Section Teleseminar

On Wednesday, January 17, 2007, the Healthcare Section will present the teleseminar “Highlights of the Medicare Mediation Program” hosted by Jetta Todaro, MA and Pat Shanahan, MBA.

In 2003, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) launched a national mediation program for Medicare beneficiaries to resolve the clinical quality of care concerns they had with medical practitioners and providers.  This program is an example of how mediation is used to increase beneficiary satisfaction with the delivery of their health care.  We will explore the link between achieving beneficiary satisfaction at the individual level and initiating systemic changes within complex environments. We will share actual examples of how the resolution of beneficiary complaints, using interest-based problem solving, has contributed to major and minor improvements in health care.  Pat Shanahan, MBA, and Jetta Todaro, MA, are both private practice mediators working in healthcare settings. Pat was the project lead in designing and developing the national Medicare mediation program and implementing the California program.  Jetta Todaro is also the consultant to the TMF Health Quality Institute in Texas and serves as the mediator for the Texas Medicare program. 

This teleseminar is a free to members of the Health Care Section.  For more information on the Healthcare Section please visit www.mediate.com/ACRhealthcare  or contact Sections [at] ACRnet [dot] org.

Interested in participating in a teleconference? Send an email to Sections [at] ACRnet [dot] org to receive dial-in instructions. Please note: most Section teleconferences are a Section member benefit. To join a Section, log in to ACR’s Online Member Center, click on “My Account History,” then “Add Sections,” and select the Sections you want to add.

Save the Dates!

The Health Care Section will host a teleseminar on February 13, 2007.  The teleseminar is titled “Medical-Legal Partnership-Integrating Preventative Law and Preventative Medicine” and will be hosted by Lauren Smith, MD, MPH and Ellen Lawton, Esq.  This is free to members of the Healthcare Section.

For more information on the Health Care Section please visit www.mediate.com/ACRhealthcare or contact Sections@ACRnet.org.

The Minnesota Chapter will host a conference on March 2, 2007.  For more information, please visit www.ConflictResolutionMN.org.

The Research, International and Education Sections are partnering with the Global Issues Resource Center, Office of Community Continuing Education to present the Inter-American Summit on Conflict Resolution Education on March 14-17, 2007.  Taking place in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, this event will bring together government representatives from among the 50 states and 34 countries of the Americas and their non-governmental organization partners who have legislation or policies in place to deliver conflict resolution education at the K-12 level and in colleges of teacher education.

This first-ever Summit offers a dynamic opportunity to develop a hemispheric infrastructure throughout the Americas to advance the work in the fields of conflict resolution education and peace education. The Summit will bring together policymakers and educators representing regions across the United States and select member countries of the OAS representing North, Central, South America and the Caribbean. These national and international educators will exchange program best practices, evaluation methodology, creation of policy implementation structures and consideration of obstacles to success. This event offers a needed opportunity for college students, college faculty, university scholars, K-12 educators, public health officials, prevention specialists and state, local, and national policy makers in the Americas to convene in one location to learn more about the most current work being undertaken. For more information go to http://www.global-issues.org/about/Inter-American_Summit.php

The Central California Chapter will host its Annual Conference, “Principles in Common: Diversity in Practice.”  The conference will take place on March 17, 2007 at the San Joaquin School of Law in Clovis, California.

Everyone is invited to join the Central California Chapter of ACR at their annual conference. Attending will be mediation and dispute resolution practitioners associated with ACR Sections including Workplace, Spirituality, Court, Education, Family, Environmental, Business and others. There will be 50 minute sessions which provide participants with information or training in a specific area of practice or that speak to broader issues that concern multiple areas of practice. More information will follow shortly.

Please visit http://www.mediate.com/ACRCentralCa or contact Diane Martin at 559-877-7610 or at dianemartin@netptc.net for more information.

The North Carolina Chapter will host a meeting and a training on April 25, 2007.  For more information, please visit www.mediate.com/ACRnorthcarolina.

The Virginia Chapter of ACR will host its 2007 conference in Fredericksburg, Virginia on May 6 - 7, 2007.

The ACR Virginia conference committee is putting exciting plans in place to not only offer valuable networking and learning opportunities but also a celebration of ten years as an organization.

Conference speakers include Marvin Johnson, Judy Ringer and Marcia Thompson. Marvin Johnson is a nationally recognized mediator, arbitrator and trainer with over 27 years of dispute resolution experience. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution. Judy Ringer is a conflict skills trainer, communication coach and founder of Power and Presence Training. Marcia Thompson is an expert in large group facilitation with a background in family and collaborative law, juvenile justice, domestic relations and workplace issues.

This year’s conference lunch speaker will be Horatio Ray Lanier, President of the Association for Conflict Resolution.

More information will follow, but in the meantime, please visit http://www.mediate.com/ACRVirginia.

These events, along with several others, can be found on the ACR MASTER CALENDAR. 

ACR’s Master Calendar is the place to look for exciting conflict resolution events in your area.
- Check out events held by our regional Chapters and our professional interest Sections.
- Keep track of upcoming teleseminars.
- See national events that ACR is sponsoring.
- Find opportunities in your city and in your field.
- Find places to network with other practitioners as well as ways to improve yourself and your practice.

Visit ACR’s Master Calendar at http://www.ACRnet.org/webcalendar  for more information, now!

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