Visioneering City to City Trip to Louisville, KY

In an effort to reach out to young community leaders, Visioneering Wichita is launching the Emerging Leaders Program for individuals between the ages of 25 and 39 years old. The Emerging Leaders Program is a scholarship opportunity for young professionals to be involved in Visioneering Wichita’s annual City to City Visits. The goal this year is to encourage participation of more young professionals in the City to City visit to Louisville, Kentucky October 10 -13.

Visioneering Wichita is aware that many young leaders are establishing themselves economically and may not be able to support the travel cost, therefore a scholarship program is being instituted. Two full or partial scholarships are available this year. Applicants are required to fill out a scholarship application form. Forms are available online and the application deadline is September 1. Awards will be announced September 3.

“Visioneering Wichita has always had a high priority of connecting with our young citizens through many of its initiatives. We believe this program is another way to increase diversity, as well as provide a unique opportunity for winners to network with other community leaders,” says Jon Rolph, volunteer chair of the Visioneering Wichita Steering Committee.

Visioneering Wichita is the comprehensive long-range planning initiative for south-central Kansas. Partners include the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, City of Wichita, and Sedgwick County, as well as hundreds of organizations, businesses and individuals who participate in 15 strategic alliances designed to improve the regional economy and quality of life.

Visioneering Wichita Receives National Stewardship Award

Visioneering Wichita has been selected to receive the 2010 Alliance for Regional Stewardship (ARS) Organizational Champion Award presented by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). The ARS is a national, peer-to-peer network of regional leaders working across boundaries to solve tough community problems.

Judges evaluated each entry based on the four principles of regional stewardship: innovative economy, livable communities, social inclusion, and a collaborative style of governance. Scores were awarded based on five criteria: context, innovation and excellence, performance, cohesiveness, and replicability.

"This award is meaningful because it comes from our Chamber professional association and is judged by our peers," said Bryan Derreberry, President and CEO of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the Visioneering Wichita effort. "The award recognizes our ability to pro-actively target specific results, such as increasing our metro area's per capital income and available job opportunities."

Visioneering Wichita's entry fulfilled all of the criteria because of the strong regional partnerships that have been instrumental in its success over the past six years. Visioneering involves private and public partners and is led by volunteers who work together to implement the vision of more than 16,000 citizens and community leaders.

A steering committee of 50 citizens, demographically representative of the MSA, maps strategy to oversee operations of Visioneering. More than 500 regional volunteers in 15 strategic alliances take action on how to directly affect specific strategies within the plan to benefit the 600,000+ residents of the four-county Wichita MSA.

Visioneering Wichita will be honored during the ACCE Awards show on Thursday, August 5, 2010, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Go Play Kansas Expands!

Summer is officially here, signaling the time to get outside to hike, bike and play. Launched last year as a go-to-guide for everything outdoors in Wichita, the online resource GoPlayKansas.com has significantly expanded to include all parks and recreation spaces in the state. Now no matter where you live in Kansas, it has never been easier to find new places to “go play.”

Visitors can go to www.GoPlayKansas.com to find interactive maps and more information about how to locate bike paths, parks with playgrounds and a list of park amenities. In addition, visitors can read blogs written by local recreation enthusiasts, post comments and sign up to receive more information.

Designed to promote healthy lifestyles among Kansans, GoPlayKansas.com makes finding parks and recreation options throughout the state easy, so families, friends, groups and individuals can get outside and “go play.”

The site also includes a list of activities that can be used to get kids outside and active. The activities were developed by Rhonda Holt, elementary physical education teacher for 33 years and a National Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year. The plans are endorsed by KAHPERD (Kansas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance), a leader in promoting and advocating for healthy, active Kansans.

Designed and programmed by Wichita interactive agency Howerton+White, the site uses social media technologies to translate GIS (geographic information systems) data about parks, recreation and open spaces, which reside in databases in cities and counties across the state.

To follow GoPlayKansas.com on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook, go to www.GoPlayKansas.com.

Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card

Win a $50 Amazon.com gift card and help Young Professionals of Wichita earn a $1,000 grant by participating in this short survey about "mentoring"! Take survey now. The survey will be open through the end of July so please take it as soon as possible.

YPW is partnering with Next Generation Consulting (NGC) and the International Mentoring Network Organization (IMNO) to learn what and who young professionals are looking for in a mentor.

NGC is a market research firm specializing in helping clients develop top young talent. IMNO is a nonprofit organization that makes professional mentoring available to everyone.

All survey respondents will be eligible to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card. Take survey now at http://imno.questionpro.com

Wichita Curling

The Wichita Curling Club brings you the first ever curling event to be held in Wichita! Come to the Wichita Ice Center any time between 1:30 and 4:30 on Saturday, July 10th for their first annual open house. At the event they'll teach you the basics of the sport and then let you out onto the specially prepared ice where you can try your hand at throwing true curling stones! Curling is a fun, social, community centered sport that almost anyone can learn, love, and play for the rest of their lives! Visit their website for full information.