Whether you lead meetings and work sessions or facilitate training workshops, your success depends greatly on your ability to remain objective, engage others, build consensus, guide decisions, manage disruptions, and much, much more! This program takes you “behind the scenes” with a certified facilitator to experience, learn, and apply proven techniques and “tricks of the trade” used by the most seasoned pros. Want to facilitate productive on site and online events that help your group achieve its desired results? This program will show you how!

Organizational leaders do not need a law degree to protect themselves and their organizations from legal liability. Early detection of potential issues and prompt, proactive involvement of HR go a long way to stem risk. Supervisors who have been trained can spot potentially inappropriate behaviors and vague and inconsistently enforced policies in real time, as they develop. Thus, these leaders are the first line of legal defense by their proactive intervention in conjunction with an engaged HR. In this fascinating, fast-paced interactive session, participants will learn the most common legal issues that arise in the American workplace, the basics of the federal and Florida discrimination laws, and how to create and maintain a culture that is not only resistant to legal threats but is engaged, empowering, and values employees.

Everyone has a circle of influence. Learn to identify, navigate and steward yours more intentionally and effectively by communicating in ways that help you build credibility, present ideas clearly, and connect with others. In this interactive session, we’ll explore the foundational elements of effective (and non-effective) persuasion, including an ability to identify the position and reasoning of the other person or people, how to develop and demonstrate your credibility, and even how to influence someone who doesn’t agree with you. Just as important, you’ll learn how to recognize ineffective persuasion and avoid the common mistakes that cause people to tune out or push back. You’ll also learn how to identify the position and reasoning of others, so you can meet them where they are—not where you wish they were—and increase your chances of being heard. By understanding how people decide what to accept, question, or reject, you’ll be able to adjust your approach and influence more effectively.

Long before Detwiler's Farm Market became a household name across Florida's West Coast, founder Henry Detwiler Sr. was serving neighbors from an open-air market — no frills, just people taking care of people. Over two decades, the family weathered lost leases, hard freezes, hurricanes, and a global pandemic, holding fast to grit, faith, and a simple belief that never changed: put people and God first. That roadside tent has since grown into six bustling locations (and counting), a 133,000-square-foot distribution hub, over 800 team members, and tens of thousands of neighbors served every week.

In this session, Henry Detwiler shares what it takes to build a "best in the world" customer experience by doing the opposite of what's expected in a normal grocery store. He'll dig into challenging the status quo, truly listening to what a community wants – even when they don't say it directly – and the everyday priorities that turn a grocery run into something that feels like coming home.

Derek Barrs, Administrator Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Commercial Driver License issuance is a shared responsibility that depends on strong partnerships and consistent adherence to federal standards. FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs will highlight the importance of compliance, discuss current safety priorities, and emphasize collaboration between FMCSA, the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and Florida Tax Collectors to protect the integrity of the CDL program and improve roadway safety.

Mary Jane Arrington, Osceola Supervisor of Elections

Other SOEs on Panel:
The Honorable Lisa Lewis, Volusia County SOE
The Honorable Amy Pennock, Seminole County SOE
The Honorable Karen Castor Dentel, Orange County SOE
Description:
Debunking voter registration myths and facilitating voter registration. The Tax Collector’s Office is the largest third-party registrar, and registers more voters than most Supervisor of Elections offices.

Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) inspections serve as a critical safeguard in protecting the integrity of vehicle titles, preventing fraud, and combating auto theft. Every VIN inspection provides an opportunity to verify a vehicle's identity, detect potential criminal activity, and ensure compliance with state and federal requirements.

This session will explore the purpose and importance of VIN inspections, common scenarios requiring inspections, and the inspector's role in identifying discrepancies before a title is issued. Participants will learn practical techniques for conducting thorough visual inspections, recognizing indicators of VIN tampering, and understanding how vehicle thieves alter or conceal vehicle identities.

Using real-world examples and photographs, attendees will examine legitimate VIN labels alongside altered, counterfeit, and tampered VINs to develop the skills necessary to identify red flags in the field. Whether you are new to VIN inspections or looking to enhance your expertise, this course will provide valuable tools to help protect your agency, your customers, and the vehicle titling process.

Let’s be honest…who enjoys sitting with discomfort? (Nobody – we’re human!) That’s why when it comes to having uncomfortable conversations, most of us dread them, avoid them or begrudgingly have them and completely botch them. We worry about saying the wrong thing, creating conflict, damaging the relationship or being misunderstood…so we overthink, sugarcoat, shut down, overexplain or avoid the conversation altogether.
In this interactive session, we will explore why uncomfortable conversations feel so hard and look at how our unconscious patterns often sabotage them before they even begin. Using a simple, repeatable framework, participants will learn how to prepare for and navigate difficult conversations without relying on avoidance, emotional reactions or “winging it” in the moment.
After this session, participants will be able to:
• Understand why difficult conversations feel emotionally threatening
• Recognize the patterns that derail communication under pressure
• Separate emotional assumptions from observable facts
• Regulate emotional reactions in real time
• Navigate uncomfortable conversations with more clarity, confidence and relational intelligence
• Recognize when to move forward in a conversation - and when to pause or stand down
This session is practical, relatable and immediately applicable for leaders, teams and anyone who wants to communicate more consciously and effectively in both work and life.

Pat Gleason, Special Counsel for Open Government

This presentation will cover the basic requirements of Florida’s open government laws and include an update focusing on recent case law developments.

An open discussion where counties share processes that have improved collections, communication, and customer service. Topics include:
• Sending additional notices before TDA applications are filed.
• Use of eBills and electronic communications for delinquent taxpayers.
• Timing and content of reminder notices.
• Collection strategies that have proven effective.
• Managing returned mail and locating taxpayers.
• Other innovative approaches counties are using.

• That urgent call from your boss? It took an attacker four minutes and five dollars to make. And it sounds exactly like them.
• AI has handed the world's oldest con a brand-new toolkit, and government offices are a favorite target. The attacks getting through today don't look like spam and don't sound like strangers. They look like your vendor. They sound like your tax collector. And the person they're aimed at isn't your firewall. It's whoever answers the phone.
• This session opens with a live demonstration you'll be talking about at dinner, puts your own instincts to the test against real-world scenarios, and sends you home with something most cybersecurity talks never deliver: defenses that work even when you can't tell what's fake.

Like it or not, AI is here, and it’s not going anywhere. Most people are dabbling in using it…mostly to write better emails and find information faster. But have you ever thought about harnessing the power of AI to communicate better?
In this interactive session, Carin Campbell Smith shows how AI can be used as a powerful conscious communication tool - one that helps you get to know yourself better, see your blind spots and respond rather than react. This session takes AI out of the limitations of being a personal writing assistant or upgraded Google search and looks at it as a neutral mirror and rehearsal space for better, more emotionally intelligent and self-aware conversations.
After this session, participants will be able to:
• Understand how AI can support conscious communication
• Write effective, intentional prompts that produce clear, relevant insight
• Use AI to identify emotional triggers and unhelpful narratives
• Practice and refine difficult conversations
• Avoid common pitfalls of AI use
This session is practical, candid and human-first. It’s designed to help leaders and professionals use AI consciously, ethically and effectively to improve how they communicate with themselves and everyone else.

Kristina Scarborough, Osceola County Property Appraiser

Join Osceola County Property Appraiser Katrina Scarborough for an informative presentation on Homestead Exemption Fraud. Learn how potential fraud cases are identified through collaboration with the Tax Collector’s Office and other resources, the steps involved in investigating and verifying eligibility, and the actions that may be taken when fraudulent exemptions are discovered.