Registration is now open for the International Ombudsman Association's Ninth Annual Conference at the Sheraton Denver Downtown April 4-9, 2014.    Designed for practicing Organizational Ombuds, the program covers a wide range of ADR topics and includes speakers from other related professions.

Here's an overview of the conference agenda:

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Keynote Address: "Duty to Warn and Duty to Protect: Considerations, Issues, Liabilities and Best Practices" -- Judy Bruner, UC San Diego Campus Ombudsperson; John Nicoletti, Police Psychologist 

Plenary: "Anatomy of a Crisis" -- Don Eloe, John Nicoletti, Steve Smidt

Session with the IOA Board

Volunteer Recognition Luncheon

Concurrent Sessions

• "Promoting a Respectful Working Environment" -- Tom Sebok, Ombudsman, University of Colorado at Boulder
• "What is This Thing Called Fairness?" -- Chris LaHatte, ICANN Ombudsman
• "Ombudsman in Olympic Sport" -- John Ruger, USOC Athlete Ombudsman
• "How Hollywood Negotiates: Lessons from the Movies" -- Linda Brothers, Associate Ombudsman, Center for Cooperative Resolution, National Institutes for Health 
• "What Would You Do?—A Discussion of Practice Dilemmas for Ombudspersons" -- Donna Douglass Williams, Director of the Ombuds Program at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Bob Hosea, Associate Ombudsman, American Red Cross; Dolores Gomez-Moran, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO), & Melissa Connell, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz
• "Co-Opted or Finding Common Ground" -- Janet Mirwaldt, Deputy Ombudsman, Ombudsman Saskatchewan & Jaime Carlson, Assistant Ombudsman, Ombudsman Saskatchewan

Concurrent Sessions

• "R-E-S-P-E-C-T: 7 Letters That Can Change Everything" -- Tom Ward, Ombudsman for Staff, Clemson University
• "Ombuds Metrics: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How" -- Bonnie Bonnivier, Ombuds, Baker Hughes & Melanie Lewis, Principal Ombuds, Baker Hughes
• "Done!: the Ombuds' Guide to Recognizing and Responding to Compassion Fatigue" -- Laurie Patterson, Employee Ombuds, Akron General Health System & Brian Bloch, Co-Director, ISKCONResolve
• "Illigitimi non Carborundum (Don't Let the Bast@#ds Get You Down!)" -- Jan Morse, Ombudsman, University of Minnesota & Glenda Eoyang, Executive Director, Human Systems Dynamics Institute
• "Understanding Conflict Causation and Escalation" -- Bob Hosea, Associate Ombudsman, American Red Cross
• "The Ombudsman as a Coach" -- Steven Levecque, Executive Director, Ethics and Employee Support Division, CBSA

Keynote Address: "An Ombuds Journey From 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' to 'My Hometown'" -- Tom Sebok, Ombudsman, University of Colorado at Boulder

Plenary: "Building a Profession: Reflections and Remembrances" -- Howard Gadlin, Mary Rowe, Marsha Wagner, Linda Wilcox

IOA Annual Business Meeting 

Sector Forums

Concurrent Sessions

• "'Surveys, Frameworks, and Group Processes, Oh My' . . . The Opportunities and Risks of Advanced Ombuds Practice" -- Kevin Jessar, Corporate Ombudsman and Director of the Corporate Ombudsman Office, American Red Cross & Howard Gadlin, Ombudsman, National Insitutes of Health
• "Which Way Is Up?: Navigating an Ombuds Career Path" -- Ennis McCrery, Graduate Student Ombudsperson, Virginia Tech & Dawn Osborne-Adams, University Ombudsman, Binghamton University. Panelists: Sean Banks, Ombudsman, Shell Corporation; Nicholas Diehl, Ombudsperson, Asian Development Bank; Mary Chavez-Rudolph, JMS Association Management Professionals; and Indumati Sen, Ombudsman and Mediator, International Baccalaureate
• "The View From Nowhere: Neutrality in Theory and Practice" -- John Puckett, Founder and Principal, Ethics Partnerships, Ltd.
• "Ombudsing and Organizational Development" -- Gabrielle Kluck, UN Regional Ombudsman Sudan
• "The Ombuds Office: An Organizational 'Probiotic' Enhancing the Community’s Well-being" -- Robert O'Connor, University Ombudsman, St. Mary's University
• "Venturing Out: International Expansion of an Ombuds Office" -- Bonnie Bonnivier, Ombuds, Baker Hughes

Concurrent Sessions

• "Conflict as a Dynamical System" -- Camilo Azcarate, Manager, Mediation Services, The World Bank Group
• "United States Legal Update" -- Chuck Howard, Partner, Shipman & Goodwin LLP
• "Mapping Ombudsman Conversations" -- Edward Rogers, Ombudsman, Chief Knowledge Officer, NASA- Goddard Space Flight Center
• "Due Diligence: Personal Safety and Security in the Ombuds Office" -- Ellen Schreiber, Ombuds, University of Idaho
• "Getting Real with Diversity" -- Sigal Shoham, Office for Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution, Department of the Interior
• "So You Want to Become an Ombuds?" -- Andrew Larratt-Smith, University Ombuds, University of California- Riverside

Pecha Kucha Cocktail Hour

Keynote Address: "Inclusive Excellence" -- Frank Tuitt, Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Associate Professor of Higher Education at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver 

Plenary: "Inclusive Excellence: Panel" -- Frank Tuitt, Brenda Allen, Brigette Bustos, Alma Vigo-Morales

Plenary: "What Should be Next for Organizational Ombuds--Some Ideas for Future Legal Developments" -- Chuck Howard 

Networking Luncheon

Concurrent Sessions

• "IOA 101: Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Too Afraid to Ask!" -- Teresa Ralicki, Associate Ombudsman, American Red Cross & Lisa Witzler, Associate Ombudsman, National Institutes of Health
• "SALSA - The Dance of Dialogue" -- Lynne Chaillat, Charmhee Kim and Ralph Johnson, Ombudsmen for McKinsey & Co covering the regions of EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas
• "Hot Off the Presses! Come Hear About the Newly Formed Consortium on Abrasive Conduct in Higher Education" -- Kirsi Aulin, Campus Ombuds and Director, UC Santa Barbara & Tom Sebok, Director, Ombuds Office, University of Colorado Boulder
• "The Power of a Positive NO: Coaching Visitors to Say No Positively" -- Elisa Enriquez, Associate Ombudsman, Los Alamos National Laboratory & Mary Beth Stevens, Ombudsman, Los Alamos National Laboratory
• "A Community-Focused Ombudsman’s Experience in Alberta’s Oil & Gas Sector" -- Rick Anderson, Rick Anderson Consulting 
• "Spirituality, Faith, and Ombudsing" -- Donna Douglass-Williams, MD Anderson, Thomas Zgambo, World Bank Group, Sean Banks, Shell Oil Company, Craig Mousin, DePaul University, Indu Sen, International Baccalaureate, Brian Bloch, ISKCONResolve & Ellen Schreiber, University of Idaho

Concurrent Sessions

• "The Art of Diversity: Ombusing Across Cultural Contexts" -- Dolores Gomez-Moran, Ombudsman, George Mason University & Wayne Blair, University Ombuds, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• "The Ombuds Model in Sports: From Youth through Intercollegiate" -- Joshua Gordon, Founder, Sports Conflict Institute
• "The Evolving OO Role: Is Neutrality Enough? A Multidisciplinary Discussion" -- Zachary P. Ulrich, Researcher, Pepperdine School of Law Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution & Andrew Larratt-Smith, University Ombudsman, University of California at Riverside
• "Infusing Positive Psychology During the Conflict Transformation Process" -- Miranda Kato, Ombudsperson, Bellevue Community College
• "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High" -- Sverrir Ragnarsson, Senior Consultant, Executive Forum
• "Social Healing and Development in Rwanda: Youth as a Vector for Peace, Evaluating Youth Empowerment & Participation in Post-Genocide Rwanda" -- Shayna McCreedy, American University, School of International Service & Emmanuel Niyitanga, Founder at RYFD

The priority registration closes on March 14 and the hotel group discount deadline is March 15.  (IOA Conf. Info.)

Related Ombuds Blog posts: 2012 IOA Conference Roundup; IOA 2013 Conference Recap.