2018 ANNUAL MEETING: Schedule at-a-Glance

Saturday, September 8, 2018
4:00pm – 7:00pm Conference Registration Desk Open 2nd Floor, top of escalators
Sunday, September 9, 2018
7:00am – 5:00pm Conference Registration Desk Open 2nd Floor, top of escalators
7:00am – 3:30pm Directors' Retreat (invitation only) Offsite
8:30am – 3:30pm WORKSHOP: Making the Connection Between State Wildlife Action Plans and the Wildlife Recreation Community
{Pre-registration and additional fee required. $25 per person; includes refreshments - lunch will be on your own}
This workshop brings together wildlife viewing and nature tourism with Wildlife Diversity Managers, State Wildlife Action Plan coordinators and anyone interested in making creative connections with broader constituencies to achieve conservation successes. The workshop will help you foster agency relevancy and broaden SWAP implementation with emerging constituency groups.
  • Learn from success stories for partnering across committees and working groups to achieve common goals.
  • Find common language, ideas, and best practices while connecting wildlife recreation communities with resource conservation.
  • Develop new and creative ways to engage wildlife recreationalists, citizen scientists, and the nature tourism industry in resource management to implement conservation actions in SWAP.
 Grand Salon G
10:00am – 12:00pm Committee Meeting: Bird Fish Conflict Working Group Meeting Room 5-6
12:00pm – 5:00pm Business Center & Internet Café Open Registration Desk
1:00pm – 5:00pm WORKSHOP: Assessing Decision Risk in Species Range Maps and Distribution Models for Use in Conservation and Management (view flyer)
Have concerns over the application of species distribution models (SDM) in management? What skill sets should agency analysts have for creating defensible SDMs for WAPs and FWS Species Status Assessments (SSA)? What constitutes a "decision-quality" SDM? If you have these and similar questions regarding the application of SDMs to management, consider participating in this open forum workshop on SDMs. Outcomes of the workshop will guide an education and training platform on SDMs being collaboratively developed by the USGS Cooperative Research Units Program, FWS, and AFWA. Discussion topics include:
  • Evaluation of SDM experiences designed to delineate strengths and weaknesses of SDMs;
  • Structure of two proposed courses that train analysts how to generate SDMs, and decision-makers on the proper applications of SDMs; and
  • How best to apply the education process to selected species, with a focus on FWS SSA and state-identified WAP species.
 Grand Salon B
1:00pm – 5:00pm WORKSHOP: Effective Communication: Creating a Trusting Environment
{Pre-registration required, although there is no fee to attend}
Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everybody notices. Warren Buffett
In this session we will concentrate on the effects or influences leadership has over trust in the work environment. Participants will learn some tools that will help guide them in building trust and have an opportunity to practice using them. Listed below are the objectives for this workshop:
  • Recognize how trust in the workplace affects business results
  • Identify common workplace behaviors that can either break or build trust
  • Demonstrate behaviors that show you trust others as well as give people the confidence to trust in you
  • Use interaction skills to foster open communication and build and maintain trusting relationships
  • Apply trust-building techniques in challenging, low-trust situations
 Grand Salon H
1:00pm – 5:00pm Committee Meeting: Drug Approval Working Group Meeting Room 5-6
2:00pm – 5:00pm Exhibitor Set-up Grand Ballroom Foyer
4:00pm – 6:00pm Women in Wildlife Conservation Network (WWCN) Power Walk and Networking
Start of the AFWA meeting with a walk on the Riverwalk. Join WWCN for a fun opportunity to be outside, network with other conference attendees, and learn more about the WWCN. All are welcome. Be in the lobby of the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel (conference hotel) by 4:00 pm. The WWCN seeks to inspire and empower women in the natural resources and conservation community; to provide a venue to share and learn from all genders; to help women aspire to and succeed in leadership positions; and to welcome all women into the conservation field.		 Meet in Marriott Lobby
6:00pm – 8:00pm Young Guns 10th Annual Happy Hour
Don’t let the name fool you, YOUNG GUNS 10 is for everyone attending the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies’ Annual Meeting. Come hang out with AFWA staff at our 10th Annual Happy Hour. Bring your business card and enter to win a $100 Bass Pro Gift Card, courtesy of AFWA. (view flyer)

It’s a cash bar, you can order food and stay as long as you like! Come join us! 		Offsite - American Social Bar & Kitchen

(approximately a 4-minute walk from the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel at 601 S. Harbour Island Blvd.)
6:00pm – 9:00pm Directors’ Reception & Dinner (invitation only)
Sponsored by Brandt Information Services, LLC and Ducks Unlimited		 Offsite
Monday, September 10, 2018
7:00am - 8:00am Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
7:00am - 8:00am Directors' Breakfast (invitation only)
Sponsored by National Wild Turkey Federation		 Il Terrazzo
7:00am - 5:00pm Conference Registration Desk, Business Center & Internet Café Open 2nd Floor, top of escalators
7:00am - 5:00pm Exhibits Open — Stop by and show your support! Grand Ballroom Foyer
8:00am Guest Gathering Hotel Lobby
8:00am - 9:45am Welcome & Plenary Session: Outdoors Rising: Facing Forward (view schedule) Grand Salon E-F
9:30am - 4:00pm Guest Activity: Museum Day in St. Petersburg
Enjoy a self-guided walking tour of downtown St. Petersburg, and visit up to three world class museums: Dali Museum ($24), Fine Arts Museum of St. Petersburg ($17), Morean Arts Center - Chihuly Collection ($19.95). Visit any, or all (as time allows) and pay the applicable entrance fees at the door.
{Pre-registration is required. Transportation to and from hotel will be provided. Museum fees and lunch are on your own.}		 Offsite
9:30am - 10:30am Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
10:00am - 11:00am Monarch Status and Conservation Planning Meeting Grand Salon H
10:00am - 12:00pm WAFWA Executive Committee Meeting (invitation only) Meeting Room 1
10:00am - 12:00pm National Wildlife Health Initiative (invitation only) Florida Salon III
10:00am - 12:00pm National Pheasant Plan Management Board Meeting Grand Salon B
10:00am - 12:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
11:00am - 12:00pm Mid-America Monarch Conservation Board of Directors Meeting Florida Salon VI
12:00pm - 1:00pm Directors' Lunch (invitation only)
Sponsored by Archery Trade Association		 Il Terrazzo
12:00pm - 1:00pm Attendee Lunch - On Your Own N/A
1:00pm - 3:00pm Smart Energy: USGS Science and Tools to Inform Planning and Development (view flyer) Meeting Room 4
1:00pm - 3:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
1:00pm - 5:00pm National Deer Alliance Board Meeting Florida Salon III
1:00pm - 5:00pm Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative Council
  • 1:00 – 4:00 pm (by invitation only)
  • 4:00 – 5:00 pm (open to public)
 Grand Salon C
1:00pm - 5:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
2:30pm - 3:30pm Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
3:00pm - 5:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
3:30pm - 5:00pm National Cooperators' Coalition: CRU Funding Crisis Florida Salon VI
5:00pm - 6:00pm Legal Strategies Advisory Council (invitation only) Grand Salon D
5:00pm - 6:00pm Committee Meeting: Harvest Information Program Working Group Grand Salon B
6:30pm - 8:30pm Canada Night Welcome Social! (view flyer) Grand Salon E-J
8:30pm – 10:00pm NCLI Reception (invitation only) Offsite - Jacksons Bistro (601 Harbor Island Blvd.; 4 minute walk from hotel)
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
7:00am - 5:00pm Conference Registration Desk, Business Center & Internet Café Open 2nd Floor, top of escalators
7:00am - 8:00am Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
7:00am - 8:00am Directors' Breakfast (invitation only)
Sponsored by Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation		 Il Terrazzo
7:00am - 9:00am Midwest Landscape Initiative Steering Committee Meeting Room 3
7:00am - 5:00pm Exhibits Open — Stop by and show your support! Grand Ballroom Foyer
8:00am Guest Gathering Hotel Lobby
8:00am - 10:00am Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
8:00am - 12:00pm NACLEC Meeting (continued in afternoon) Florida Salon VI
8:00am - 12:00pm Sagebrush Executive Oversight Committee Grand Salon I-J
8:00am - 12:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
8:30am - 12:30pm Guest Activity: Kayak - Suncoast Youth Conservation Center
Enjoy a biologist-guided paddle along the Noonan Branch Creek Paddling Trail, a two-hour loop trail around the newly created Florida Conservation and Technology Center in Apollo Beach. Paddle through mangrove tunnels and over the mudflats with sting rays, snook and red fish. No experience necessary; fun for all levels.
{Pre-registration and $15pp required; light snacks, bottled water, transportation and equipment will be provided.}		 Offsite
9:00am - 10:00am Regional Coordinators Meeting Meeting Room 3
9:30am - 10:30am Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
10:00am - 12:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
10:00am - 12:00pm NBCI Management Board Meeting Grand Salon B
10:00am - 12:00pm WORKSHOP: National Conservation Outreach Strategy
Open to all. Please note, this workshop will be offered twice, from 10:00am - 12:00pm and again from 1:00pm - 3:00pm. 		Grand Salon E
12:00pm - 1:00pm Directors' Lunch (invitation only)
Sponsored by Kalkomey Enterprises LLC		 Il Terrazzo
12:00pm - 1:00pm Attendee Lunch - On Your Own N/A
1:00pm - 3:00pm WORKSHOP: National Conservation Outreach Strategy
Open to all. Please note, this workshop will be offered twice, from 10:00am - 12:00pm and again from 1:00pm - 3:00pm. 		Grand Salon E
1:00pm - 3:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
1:00pm - 5:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
1:00pm - 5:00pm NACLEC Meeting (continued from morning) Florida Salon VI
2:30pm - 4:00pm Forest Service Partners Meeting Meeting Room 5-6
2:30pm - 3:30pm Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
3:00pm - 5:00pm AFWA State-Federal Interagency Bat Conservation Forum Grand Salon B
3:00pm - 5:00pm Cool Tools for Hot Topics: USGS Science Applications for Fish & Wildlife Management (view flyer)
Join USGS scientists and colleagues in an interactive session to learn about USGS science-based tools and approaches to address a variety of fish and wildlife management hot topics, including how and when to apply them to specific management issues. Click here for additional information.		 Il Terrazzo
3:00pm - 5:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
5:00pm - 7:00pm Committee Meeting: Drug Approval Working Group Meeting Room 3
6:00pm - 7:00pm Reception with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
7:00pm - 9:00pm Annual Awards Banquet Grand Salon E-F
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
7:00am - 8:00am Directors' Breakfast (invitation only)
Sponsored by American Sportfishing Association		 Il Terrazzo
7:00am - 8:00am Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
7:00am - 2:00pm Conference Registration Desk, Business Center & Internet Café Open 2nd Floor, top of escalators
7:00am - 10:30am Exhibits Open — Stop by and show your support! Grand Ballroom Foyer
8:00am Guest Gathering Hotel Lobby
8:00am - 10:00am MAFWA Executive Committee Meeting Meeting Room 6
8:00am - 10:00am Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
8:00am - 12:00pm Committee & Working Group Meetings
Multiple Locations
9:30am - 10:30am Coffee Break with Exhibitors Grand Ballroom Foyer
10:00am - 12:00pm Committee Meeting: Wildlife Resources Policy Committee Florida Salon VI
10:30am - 11:30am NCLI Alumni / Business Meeting Meeting Room 5
12:00pm - 1:00pm Directors' Lunch (invitation only)
Sponsored by Bass Pro Shops		 Il Terrazzo
12:00pm - 1:00pm Attendee Lunch - On Your Own N/A
1:30pm - 2:30pm Coffee Break Grand Salon A-D
1:30pm - 5:00pm AFWA Business Meeting Grand Salon A-D
6:00pm - 7:30pm President's Reception
Sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and Boone and Crockett Club		 Il Terrazzo