2023 DRWI Gathering
2023 DRWI All-Cluster Gathering
When: Tuesday, June 6th – Wednesday, June 7th
Where: Normandy Farm Hotel & Conference Center, Blue Bell, PA
What: Two days of activities, learning, and networking, including: workshops, speakers, field trips, group meals, and more.
Who: Partners in the 8 DRWI clusters and DRWI support organizations.
Registration for this event is now closed.
Join colleagues from across the Delaware River Watershed Initiative who are working together to conserve and restore the waters that supply drinking water to 15 million people in the region.
Each DRWI partner organization is invited to send 2 people / cluster (view the list of DRWI partner organizations). Other guests attend based on invitation.
Why are we gathering?
DRWI is more successful when practitioners throughout the Initiative can learn from and support each other in our individual and collective work. You’ll connect with other about your current and future work and what it takes to fuel evolution.
Event Goals:
The DRWI All-Cluster Gathering participants will:
- Have time to discover new resources and ways of doing things with colleagues from your cluster, the Initiative, and beyond
- Leave with tools and practices that you and your organization can use to navigate times of rapid change while moving your work forward
- Learn about important topics identified by Initiative participants that will help organizations and clusters strategically address their future work
- Experience a variety of settings to encourage connection and peer-to-peer learning including presentations, site visits, workshops, and informal gatherings
Schedule Overview
Important event information
Sched is the platform you will use to register for the event, connect with other attendees, and access program details as they are made available. You can also customize your personal schedule and download resources shared by speakers and presenters. Sched is available as an app on mobile devices, and can be used in a web browser on a laptop or desktop computer.
If you have an existing Sched account from either attending a previous DRWI Winter Gathering or another event that used Sched as the platform, you can sign in with the same account. Once you register for the 2023 DRWI All-Cluster Gathering, you will see it appear as one of your “Events.”
Please read below for how to book a hotel room for the Gathering.
Instructions for DRWI Organizations
- ICL will manage the reservations process for members of DRWI organizations, which will be subsidized. When you register, you will be asked if you need a hotel room and whether you prefer a single or a double. ICL will reserve rooms on a first-come, first-served basis until May 3rd. There are two blocks of rooms for DRWI guests at Normandy Farm and at the Hyatt House Plymouth Meeting. Attendees will be asked to present a credit card at check-in to cover $100 of the room night, as well as any incidental charges you may incur. The DRWI will pay the hotels directly for the remainder of your room and tax.
- Due to rising costs, limited availability, and environmental impacts, we are encouraging people to share rooms (see below). All of the double rooms that are being held for the DRWI are conveniently located on-site at Normandy Farm. Sharing a room also allows you to reduce your cost to $50 per person.
Instructions for other WPF Watershed Protection Program Grantee Organizations
- A block of rooms is reserved for Watershed Wide guests at the Courtyard Plymouth Meeting, at a discounted rate of $142 plus tax, available until May 8th. Attendees are responsible for making reservations and paying for the hotel.
- You may reserve a room by calling Reservations (800.321.2211) and referencing the DRWI All-Cluster Gathering Room Block, or book online via this link: https://www.marriott.com/events/start.mi?id=1680134819808&key=GRP
- This discounted rate for a room (king bed w/ sleeper sofa) can be used for stays beginning June 5th and ending June 7th.
Room and/or ride share arrangements
- If you indicate on your conference registration that you would like to share a hotel room, you will receive a follow-up email asking for the name of your roommate. Both roommates will need to request each other.
- If you want help finding a roommate or a ride, fill out this form to express your interest. Use the list to find others looking to connect.
- If you are driving, please take a look at the Ride Share tab and consider volunteering to give someone a ride. If you need a ride, use the list to indicate your need and to follow up with other drivers.
- Visit this page for more information about field trips.
- You must be registered for the Gathering on Tuesday to sign up for a field trip.
- Each field trip has a set capacity, so sign up as soon as possible for the best chance at securing a spot. A waitlist will be created after the capacity is reached, and you will be notified if a spot opens for you.
It is ICL’s intention to do what we can to provide a safe and healthy environment for our attendees and guest speakers. While testing is optional and voluntary prior to attending this event, we strongly encourage you to test before you travel to join the Gathering. If you are sick, please stay home. You can contact ICL to discuss options for a refund if you become sick prior to or during the Gathering. ICL will monitor COVID infection rates in the area and CDC guidelines as the Gathering approaches, and will adjust precautions with that data in mind if needed.
Normandy Farm Hotel & Conference Center is not a private space and there are likely to be other events at the same time as the Gathering. The venue follows CDC guidelines, and therefore staff are not required to mask unless it is mandated. There are common spaces throughout the venue where you may come in contact with attendees from other events.
There will be rapid tests on site for those with potential exposure or who are experiencing symptoms. ICL encourages attendees to practice the COVID protocols that make them feel most comfortable, while respecting those around them who may take different precautions. There will be opportunities to eat outside, as well as masks and hand sanitizer at the venue.
In addition to these precautions, there will be an option provided during registration check-in to indicate your level of comfort with social distance and contact to other attendees via your name tag.
Participants:
- Please make your own choices based on your comfort as well as consideration of others around you. Please respect others who may choose to take different precautions than you.
- Masks are optional. Recognizing that mask wearing can help reduce transmission, if you choose to wear masks, ICL will provide free N95 and surgical masks at the venue.
- You can choose to eat outside on an open air patio next to the ballroom.
- At check-in, there will be an opportunity to indicate via your name badge your level of comfort with social contact and distance.
- If at any time before or during the Gathering you show symptoms, please contact Sarah Dietz at [email protected] as soon as possible.
ICL will:
- Follow CDC guidelines and monitor infection rates in the area as we approach the gathering dates.
- Monitor infection rates in the county and areas where high concentrations of attendees are traveling from.
- Provide free N95 masks and rapid COVID tests on site.
- Alert attendees in real time if we discover a positive COVID test and potential exposures.
ICL’s objective is to provide an inclusive environment that allows everyone to participate in the Gathering to their fullest extent. If there is something we can do to support your participation and make the event more accessible, please contact [email protected]. We ask that you reach out as soon as possible with any accessibility requests.
If you have questions remaining after reviewing the material on this page and the additional linked webpages, please contact Sarah Dietz at [email protected]