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CONA Convention 2007 Chicago, Ill - March 1 – 3
Speakers Daily Agenda Extra Event! Sunday Clinic at Dos Arroyos |
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Hotel
Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites
Mention CONA 2/28/07 – check out 3/4/07 Single/double (After Feb 5th - $99.00) Suites Available Make your reservations NOW! (Bookings after 2/5/07 will be on a space available basis.) |
This hotel has provided us with marvelous meeting space, along with a hospitality area all our own and a private place to "debrief" in their restaurant. The hotel is in a pleasant suburban neighborhood with free parking for those driving. Taxi service from O’Hare (ORD) is currently $27 for up to four passengers. We recommend either American Taxi (877 755-2227) or All Star Taxi (courtesy phone at ORD or 847 531-5900). |
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Convention cost per person is $215. This includes Thursday tour, lunch, show & reception; Admission to all meetings and seminars; Snacks, lunches each day and annual banquet. Registration and membership must be received before February 15, 2007. Late or on-site registration is $240.
About the Convention and Speakers The importance of ample time for networking and the open exchange of ideas have always been the cornerstone of CONA conventions. With this in mind we are doing everything possible to maximize the time and opportunities for these interchanges. The panel discussions and Round Robins are real measures of the pulse of our industry and therefore will command significant emphasis. The next important component of our conventions has been the contribution of speakers. Their messages should be directly relevant, practically applicable and pertinent to our times.
Daily Agenda Wednesday February 28 - Check-in Begins Check-in begins at 1PM. Please stop by the Charleston Room, our hospitality room, which is along the East/West atrium. We’ll have your welcome packets, name tags, agendas, maps, membership packets, and friendly faces waiting for you. Thursday March 1 "Tour Day" Bus leaves hotel at 7:30 AM 
A full day beginning with Steve Bowers supervising the hitching of a wagon and putting to a formal carriage with a pair at Don and Enid Shepherd’s
Dos Arroyos Farm
as well as Richard and Valerie Hargreaves
Victoria Court Carriages
demonstrating a sling horse rescue operation. Along with this, Jaime Jackson will give hoof trimming demonstrations. Goodies will be available in the kitchen. Make sure you’ve brought your hat, mittens and jackets just in case. Northern Illinois can be very changeable in early March. We’ll leave the
At Dos Arroyos Farm
country setting
for downtown Chicago to visit Debbie Hay’s
Antique Coach & Carriage
. Debbie is a large operator who has been in business a long time. She can give you the “hacker” point of view. .
Hungry? Next stop is lunch and a show at Dan Sampson’s Noble Horse, a few blocks from Debbie’s. We will be seeing Quadrille, a 19th century horse festival. This is in an historic building renovated to resemble an old riding hall. Check out www.NobleHorseChicago.com
. We’ll travel down beautiful Lake Shore Drive to the old South Shore Country Club home of the Chicago Police Mounted Patrol—Get your questions ready.
Noble Horse Theater Please also note that Karin Bergener, Steve Bowers and Ann Corso will all be riding the coaches with us to get to know us better. This will be a great opportunity to visit informally with internationally known experts in their fields!
After this long day, come relax with us at the "Getting to Know You" reception at the hotel restaurant in a private room set aside for CONA. Your registration fee includes bus, snacks, lunch, show and evening reception. Friday March 2 - CONA Meetings, we begin at 8 AM
Remarks from our president, Tommy Doyle and introduction of companies will begin our second day. Bring your albums, business cards, etc. to display on the back tables. Refreshments will be served in the morning as well as in the afternoon with lunch being served at noon.
Saturday March 3 - Meeting day, we begin at 8 AM
Opening remarks and announcements will begin our day followed by the Round Robin Synopsis. Each group will have some time to explain any questions which may arise. Refreshments will be served in the morning and afternoon and lunch will be at noon.
Sunday March 4th "Extra Cost Event" Steve Bowers Clinic 9:30-4:30 at Dos Arroyos Farm
Are you Ready for NAIS? Can You Afford It?
Rural Heritage Article
Register your premises. Every person who owns or manages a location where even one horse, cow, chicken, pig, goat, sheep, or any other livestock or poultry are handled will have to register in a government database, or a private database that the government can access, with a premises ID number keyed to global positioning system coordinates. Identify your animals. Animals will be assigned a unique 15-digit number by the government when they are moved from their herd of origin or are commingled with other animals. Each animal will need to be microchipped or radio tagged in most cases, or otherwise physically tagged. Track your animals. The owner must report, within 24 hours, every time an animal is tagged or a tag is lost; every death or slaughter; every missing animal; every sale and purchase; and every time an animal enters or leaves the property for any reason. In the carriage community, it will be a severe detriment. You will have to report all the movements of your animals. And, when you travel across state lines, you will need to comply with the individual states’ interpretation of NAIS. At the 2007 CONA convention, find out how NAIS will affect you, and what you can do about it. One of our speakers will be Ms. Karin Bergener, Esq., a Steering Committee member of the Liberty Ark Coalition, that was formed to fight NAIS.
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Steve Bowers is a horse trainer and clinician from Fort Collins, Colorado, who makes his living teaching people
how to train their riding and driving horses. His special interest as a trainer has always been the training of
driving horses that are "light on the lines, strong on the traces, calmer, smarter, better!" Steve has taught
at major horse events, universities, and serious horse using outfits all over the country for over twenty years.
He has published many training and using articles for The Draft Horse Journal, along with two books and three videos.
He has considerable experience as an expert witness for driving horse accidents, and spends a lot of time and effort
trying to make sure that people don't have to get all of their knowledge by costly personal experience.
Steve has an innovative and "out of the ordinary" teaching style that is both refreshing and thought provoking.
He is the inventor of the bicycle driver training device that many hitch drivers own. You can read more about
his many activities on his web site at
Ms. Karin Bergener Esq. is an attorney and agricultural law activist in Ohio. She has been a
therapist, mediator, and arbitrator. Her legal career spans corporate, tax, and estate planning
law. Currently, she works managing information technology contracts and practices estate planning
and business law. She raises chickens and ducks, and shows her Khaki Campbell ducks.
She has a Morgan/Arab cross, Justin, who does dressage, jumps, and drives. Justin is frustrated by
his attempts to teach Karin to drive. Ms. Bergener is a Steering Committee member of the Liberty Ark Coalition,
You can find out more about Karin and the Coalition at 