Episode 007: “In the virtual pre-recorded sessions, we're actually getting people that have never registered for our conference before that maybe are three states away. Always wanted to come, couldn't afford to come. So now they just sign up and get the presentations that way,” explains Harry Stark, Executive Direct of the Ohio Stormwater Conference. Harry is also the Director of Public Services and Engineering for the city of Aurora, Ohio and Executive Director of Tinkers Creek. Today, Harry joins host Ty to talk about why he decided to start a stormwater conference in Ohio, how the pandemic has changed the conference, and what to expect from the 16th annual Ohio Stormwater Conference coming up May 10th through the 12th.

Harry and his friends in the Ohio stormwater community wanted to create a local conference that could rival the national conference StormCon, so that those who could not afford to attend the larger conference could still gather and learn. In 2008, he put together the first Ohio Stormwater Conference and it was a great success. It grew bigger each year, achieving 1000 registrations before the pandemic hit and caused them to pivot. Now they include a virtual component to the conference which enables more people to attend who possibly could not have afforded to in the past. The conference is a showcase of community collaboration within all aspects of the stormwater industry and a really great place for networking and discovering new solutions to stormwater management issues.

The Ohio Stormwater Conference offers in person and virtual options for attendees to get the most out of their experience. Anyone working in the industry can be sure to find innovative new solutions and meet professionals in all areas of expertise. Learn more about the Ohio Stormwater Conference and the wonderful ways the local community is coming together to solve stormwater management challenges.

Quotes:

• “In the virtual pre-recorded sessions, we're actually getting people that have never registered for our conference before that maybe are three states away. Always wanted to come, couldn't afford to come. So now they just sign up and get the presentations that way.” (11:39-11:53 | Harry)
• “If you have a storm water or a watershed management issue and you come to the conference and can't get some type of thought on how to deal with it, then you didn't do it right, because we’ve got so many people network with so many great professionals. We have our sponsors and exhibitors who have an expertise. And then you have all of the presentations that are going on on case studies, and you have people who really have gone through maybe things that you are dealing with now. And if you can't come away with something, then you just didn't do the event the right way.” (16:04-16:48 | Harry)
• “We've been going through a huge learning curve in how to deal with some of the changing hydrology, but I think one of the biggest things that I've seen is the collaboration.” (25:31-25:39 | Harry)
• “Instead of just saying it's an unfunded mandate and we're just going to ignore it, communities are actually trying to look at how do we solve it.” (27:13-27:19 | Harry)

The views expressed are that of the individual and do not represent the opinions of any companies past, present or future. Connect with Ty:

Connect with Ty on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tygarmon/

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Check out The Stormwater World Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9hVXVJ5oXplf_V9XOPpR6A

Podcast Website: https://stormwaterworld.com

Connect with Harry Stark:: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-stark-mpa-cpmsm-rs-086a95b/

Ohio Stormwater Conference Registration: https://ohstormwaterconference.com/registration/

Tinker's Creek Watershed Partners: https://www.tinkerscreek.org/

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