The Regional Symposiums (RS) provide an opportunity for organizations to share ideas and concerns about sailing education and programming within their own region of the country.
All are welcome regardless if you’re from a Community Program, Commercial School, Yacht Club, High School/College program, an instructor or from any other organization (sailing specific or not).
The event is set in a round table format designed for productive exchanges between participants. US Sailing will provide the moderator to facilitate discussion and offer a national perspective on some of the issues that face our industry. Three preliminary topics are chosen from host suggestions to give a starting point, but the event addresses a myriad of topics. We do ask participants to register in advance, on the US Sailing website.
Dates/Times
Spring meetings are held between late-February and mid-April and Fall meetings are held between late September and mid-November. We like to hold the event on either a Friday or Saturday from 10:00 AM- 4:00 PM. Additionally, we can add an extra, optional, event on the day after the meeting to make it more appealing. This could be a Speaker Series event, a Club Judge, Race Management course or Reach Educator course. It’s completely up to you and we can tailor it around your club’s interests. Participants would need to register for this event separately.
Cost
The event is free to US Sailing members. A nominal fee of $10 is charged to non-members.
Attendance
Depending on location/region, we look to have 15-40 participants. We will work with the host site to provide the number of anticipated registrants.
Venue
The host venue agrees to provide meeting space at no additional cost to participants and/or US Sailing. The host venue must have parking available onsite (or suggestions for nearby locations) and also be wheelchair accessible. We also ask that you provide tables (in a square or circular setting) and chairs. We ask the host to do an initial introduction to their facility and provide some background and, while not required, we generally suggest that hosts provide a tour of their facility for attendees. Please advise as to use of walls (for posting charts, agendas, etc ). If your venue has a liquor license or is able to serve liquor from a US Sailing sponsor (not for sale) please let US Sailing know on the requirements form.
Hotels/ Accommodations & Restaurants
We ask that the host club provide suggestions for a few local, reasonably prices hotels and also a location that people can gather post-event. We ask the host club or it’s auxiliary to provide lunch, or to make lunch available for participants at a nominal cost. US Sailing has secured sponsorship to cover most if not all of the cost for lunch.
Promotion/Registration
US Sailing will handle the development of an agenda and event registration. If there is a specific topic that you would like on the agenda, please share your ideas with US Sailing. We do ask that you promote the event internally within your Club/Organization and also within your area. US Sailing will provide guidance on marketing the event, but the host is expected to promote on a regional and local level.
Cancellation Policy
US Sailing reserves the right to cancel a regional symposium if there are less than 10 registrants within 10 days of the event. If a host wishes to cancel and event they must receive permission from the US Sailing office. If a host wishes to run an event with less than 10 attendees, it is up to the discretion of the US Sailing office.
