The 2023 MFSC Fall Conference planning is underway.
Thank you for agreeing to serve as a speaker or panelist for the Michigan Family Support Council (MFSC) Fall Training Conference. Refer to speaker guidelines below and complete the speaker packet form.
Conference Vendor Point of Contact:
If you have any questions about these materials, due dates or for additional information, please contact:
MFSC Program Chair: Jeanette Miracle-Leshan, leshanj@oakgov.com
Speaker Terms & Guidelines
Required Materials and Due Dates:
- Submit online speaker packet by 7/15, (Includes: Speaker Biography, Workshop Description, and Audiovisual Needs)
- Presentation File – due 8/31*
- Conference Registration – due 9/13*
- Participant Handout (soft copy – due 9/13*) and (100 hard copy – bring to conference)
- Important links: MFSC Fall Conference and Conference Registration, Hotel Registration, and Become a Sponsor
*Items should be submitted to MFSC Program Chair by the due date indicated. Information not received by due dates may not be included in the brochure
If you will be having multiple speakers for your session, please complete only one speaker packet per session and include all information for all speakers in that one packet. If you would like to have your session considered for Contract Performance Measure Training need, you must submit an outline and description to the MFSC Program Chair by 6/30.
Conference Essentials
What is the Michigan Family Support Council (MFSC)?
Established in 1982, the Council is composed of Michigan child support workers from the Office of Child Support (OCS), the Prosecuting Attorney offices (PA), and the Friends of the Court (FOC). Each year we host a statewide child support training conference with practical information for front line workers, administrators, decisionmakers, attorneys, and private sector partners.
The Michigan Family Support Council will support, protect, and promote the rights of minor children by providing information and services to those officials responsible for the investigation and recommendation of custody, parenting time, and the establishment and collection of child support.
What is the date of this year’s conference?
Refer to the Fall Conference Information page for the agenda and registration links.
Conference Location:
Boyne Mountain Resort
1 Boyne Mountain Rd.
Boyne Falls, MI 49713
Do I need to register for the conference?
If you plan to attend any additional conference sessions, please register as an attendee. Go to the Fall Conference registration page.
Do I need to make my own hotel reservations?
If you plan to stay overnight, please make your own room reservations. You may want to make your reservation early as rooms usually sell out at the resort. Boyne Mountain packages quoted are per person per day, and they include lodging and three meals. The package begins with lunch on the day of arrival and ends with breakfast on the day of departure. Online reservations forms are available on the Hotel and Travel page.
Handouts
Attendees come to MFSC conferences with high expectations. Aside from excellent presentations, they expect complete, practical course materials to share with their coworkers back home.
Are handouts required?
Yes. The conference planners request that each workshop have handouts that are complete, accurate, and well organized. One or two page outlines that only list discussion topics DO NOT meet this requirement. We count on you to do a thorough job.
What should conference materials include?
Information should be thorough, well organized, accurate, and useful. Narrative outlines or papers may be from 5 – 10 pages in length. Please do not submit an outline more than ten pages without first discussing it with your Track Chair. Think of the material as a reference tool. Since attendees are busy once they return to the office grind, materials should concisely present the topic. Where appropriate, flow charts, sample forms, a list of references and case citations are helpful. Do not include any confidential information from case files in your handouts. This includes names, SSN, birth dates, tax information, as well as any other information that appears personal in nature.
Must the conference materials be originals, prepared specifically for this conference?
No. If you have previously written on your session’s topic and the information is current, you may hand out the previously prepared paper. Where essential to your presentation, you may also use material written by someone else; however, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO OBTAIN WRITTEN PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS. You must provide the Program Chair with the copyright release information as applicable four weeks prior to the conference start date.
How many handouts should I bring?
Unless otherwise advised by your track chair, please bring 100 handouts per session. If there are extra handouts at the end of your workshop, please take them to the Resource Table so other conference attendees can take them home for review. We also request you provide a soft copy of any handouts so they may be posted to our web site for use by those that are unable to attend the conference.
Guidelines For Your Presentation
Although you may be an experienced public speaker, please take a few minutes to review the following material. It will help you to understand the needs of the audience. Attendees at MFSC conferences are experienced professionals in their fields, and include lawyers, supervisors, caseworkers, and vendors. A speaker ready room will be available to make preparations and pick up miscellaneous supplies.
If you are going to be asking for your workshop to be considered for Contract Performance Standards MiCSES training you must submit an outline with learning objectives along with speaker names to the MFSC Program Chair by 6/30. Details of these requirements can be found on MiSupport, IV-D Memorandum 2019-001.
Understand adult education principles.
- Adults learn only what they feel they need to learn. Attendees want specific solutions to the problem they face. If you can anticipate and help solve their problems, you will keep their attention.
- Adults learn by doing. Adults have a limited tolerance for straight lectures. If you can involve attendees through an interactive discussion or case scenario, they will retain the information longer.
- Adult learning centers on realistic problems. Attendees want to see how each point made in your presentation or case study relates to a real problem or issue in the world in which they work.
- Adults learn best in an informal environment. Participants need to feel comfortable in the session, including a sense that it is all right to ask questions. The moderator should inform attendees during the session’s opening whether speakers will entertain questions during their presentations, or whether there will be time at the end for questions.
- Adults respond to a variety of teaching methods. Review your remarks to see if they would be enhanced by an effective overhead, a case exercise or brief videotape.
Tell the audience how your course materials relate to your presentations. If you are following an outline in your course material, please periodically let attendees know where you are in the outline and refer to specific pages. If you are not following the outline in your handouts, please tell your audience during the introduction. Stick to the schedule. Practice timing your presentation. Attendees always criticize speakers who have exceeded their allotted time so that there is insufficient time for the other speakers or inadequate time for audience questions.
Please be sure not to read your presentation from the PowerPoint!
Speaker Contract & Release
The Presenter agrees to give a workshop presentation and provide the required materials for the 2022 Michigan Family Support Council Annual Fall Training Conference.
Presenter authorizes MFSC to record, copy and transcribe my presentation to the conference, including oral, written and visual materials, and to compile my presentation with other presentations as part of the conference educational materials.
Presenter further authorizes MFSC to distribute or sell my presentation, through written or electronic media, to individual conference participants and post conference, to interested non-participants, and for no other purposes.
Submitting an online speaker packet form applies only to the presenter’s presentation and materials delivered at this MFSC conference and in no way limits the presenter’s own use of their own materials. Any copyright of the presenter’s presentation and materials shall continue to be the presenter’s property or that of their company. The presenter’s presentation will not infringe any copyright or include any material that is libelous, scandalous, or an invasion of privacy.
Please be advised that MFSC reserves the right to use eacher presenter’s name, photography, and presentation title in marketing material promoting the conference.