method automatize: Member Presenter Spotlight: Ann McCollum ? The Association for ...

Longtime AEE Member, Ann McCollum, tells us about her workshop and her experiential education background. Ann owns a consulting business specializing in risk management and experiential program design.

Workshop Title:

Accidents Happen: Managing Risk in Travel and Wilderness Programs

Workshop Description:

Whether it?s an outdoor trip to the backcountry, a service trip to Belize, or an urban trip to NYC, there are a wide array of experiences that come with their own array of risks. Experiential education standards as well as best practices in managing risk have developed and evolved, and offering and running these experiences cannot be ?business as usual.? The further afield you go, the greater the risk horizon. This fast-paced session will cover fundamental principles and best practices of managing risk in experiential programming including inherent risk, documentation, medical management, transportation, and will address mental health risks.

Describe your role in experiential education:

My role in experiential education is long and broad?early in my career I used experiential methods to teach religion in the classroom.? As a middle and high school teacher I also coached sports and took students hiking and backpacking.? In the summers I worked in summer camps as a counselor and administrator ? a role I continue today ? leading young people of all ages and abilities into the wilderness, mostly in the Colorado Rockies.? All of those roles have evolved into a career in risk management in which I now run my own consulting business, working with camps and schools to review and build risk management plans for their experiential programming.? I serve the American Camp Association on the National Standards Commission, the AEE as an accreditation reviewer, and I lead treks in Nepal for Kamzang Journeys.? I consider my main role in experiential education is as a teacher and educator, and I regularly speak at conferences around the country.

How long have you been involved with AEE?

I have been involved with AEE since 1997.

What have you most enjoyed about being an AEE member?

I have enjoyed the challenging and often passionate discourse addressing what can be considered ?experiential education.?? I have learned a great deal in this ongoing discussion alone.? I have also benefited a great deal from getting to know other experiential professionals and understanding industry standards through the accreditation program.

What can we expect from your workshop at this year?s 40^th Annual International Conference?

My workshop will be a fast-paced overview of important risk management principles and practices for international, domestic, and wilderness travel programs. There will be lots of great information which will very possibly cause you to say, ?I had no idea!?? You won?t want to miss it!

Anything else you would like to tell us about your business or workshop?

Take a look at my website to see more about Ann McCollum Consulting, LLC: www.annmccollum.com.