A Look In The Rear View Mirror At The CQL Un-Conference

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Posted on June 26, 2024

By Angela Rapp Kennedy, CQL Vice President of Training & Learning Initiatives

Last month, 100 people from Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, and Wisconsin spent a day in Indiana exploring a variety of quality-of-life areas that encompass a good life at CQL’s first ever 2024 CQL Un-Conference: Roadmap To A Good Life. What started out as a bit of an experiment in interactive conferencing quickly became a successful adventure.

Using an interactive format, the focus during the event was on attendee engagement to share best practices in supporting people with disabilities to live a good life; one of their own choosing.

“It was very creative and fun, encouraging us out of our comfort zones.”
Un-Conference Attendee

In this Capstone, we’re reflecting on the event and sharing just a sampling of some of the resources, attendee takeaways, and highlights from the 2024 CQL Un-Conference.

Inside The Event

The day’s activities included micro-presentations, facilitated group discussions, various activities, a panel of people receiving services, along with different networking opportunities. To connect all of those components, we used the ‘roadmap’ theme throughout the day, with a passport design for the event program, nametags that looked like driver’s licenses, visual elements representing travel, plenty of transportation-related puns, and more!

The exclusive sponsor of the CQL Un-Conference was Liberty Healthcare Corporation, which provided generous support for the day so that we could have a successful event. We also appreciate our partners from Opportunities for Positive Growth, Inc. (OPG), whose employees helped facilitate discussions and activities. People who receive services from the organization also agreed to participate in the panel discussion, which was moderated by Andrea Schwartz, OPG’s Chief Executive Officer.

We broke down the event into six sections to explore various aspects of what makes a good life and how to help support that with people. “Voyagers” (AKA Un-Conference attendees) gleaned valuable insights from short micro-presentations where CQL staff members covered topics including community participation, self-determination, relationships, independence, and more. After each micro-presentation, attendees spent time in small groups with “Navigators” (AKA Un-Conference assistants) who facilitated activities, discussion, brainstorming, and idea-swapping amongst fellow attendees.

“I really had a lot of ideas that I am able to take back to my agency, and this is always the goal of attending a conference! I appreciated the way the conference was so interactive and the moving around kept it interesting!”
Un-Conference Attendee

Now, let’s take a closer look at the different parts of the event. Within each section, we’ll also list out an attendee takeaway along with a few resources that might help spark some ideas for your organization. While these don’t even begin to capture everything that was covered during the event – since at the event there were more than 120 resources and dozens of takeaways shared – it may give you a little insight into the attendee experience.

First Stop: Exploring The World

In our first section of the Un-Conference, we looked into strategies for supporting people to discover, explore, and be fully engaged in the communities of their choosing. Attendees delved into what ‘community’ actually means, how to help build community, and what barriers people may face along the way.

“Community is not a destination, but a source of belonging, giving back, being fed into and common interests.”
Un-Conference Attendee

Some Useful Resources:

Second Stop: Deciding The Destination & Planning The Itinerary

Next, we reviewed various ways to support people to think about and plan for their future, for their life. In this section, we addressed topics such as learning about people, the differences between person-centered thinking vs. planning, ensuring the person is in the driver’s seat, and other areas.

“Using a vision board can be a great alternative to the question ‘what are your dreams?’”
Un-Conference Attendee

Some Useful Resources:

Third Stop: Panel Discussion

In our panel discussion, people receiving services through OPG described their journey towards a good life. The panelists talked about what’s important in their lives, the supports they receive, and how they confront barriers in their journey.

“I could use the panel discussion format to train new staff and board members. People supported could have the opportunity to share ways that our organization and our staff impact their independence.”
Un-Conference Attendee

Fourth Stop: Finding Your Passengers

After the panel discussion, attendees delved into the complexities of supporting people to develop and maintain healthy, thriving relationships. Our presenter shared the impact of supporting relationships in people’s lives with practical tips to help organizations.

“Leveraging natural supports can help build and maintain relationships.”
Un-Conference Attendee

Some Useful Resources:

Fifth Stop: Trip Planning Checklist & Supplies

In the last micro-presentation at the event, we detailed a variety of tools to enable people receiving supports to navigate a successful life. This section focused on three different areas including money management, technology, and staffing.

“We should help teach people how to use AT and educate other staff about teaching people to use AT.”
Un-Conference Attendee

Some Useful Resources:

Last Stop: Great Ideas “Carpool”

And, finally, to wrap up the trip we spent time “carpooling” our discoveries and best practices, and making plans for a clear path forward in supporting people to live a good life! We also used a file-sharing website that was made available to attendees, that includes presentation slide decks, and every link and resource mentioned throughout the day, as well as a compilation of the key takeaways attendees shared during the Carpool activity. There are over 120 different links to tools, articles, research, websites, apps, and more.

All in all, during the day as people filled up their passport with stamps along the journey, it became clear that we have many resources, fellow travelers with great ideas, and more that can fuel our continued progress on the path supporting people to follow the Roadmap to a Good Life.

“It was enlightening to watch people’s understandings open and be taught by the people with disabilities.”
Un-Conference Attendee

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