Keynotes

 


 

 Jason Kotecki

Kotecki sm

Jason Kotecki, known as "The Champion of Childhood," is a speaker, artist and author of four books that impact people all over the globe. His mission is to fight Adultitis and help people use strategies from childhood to create lives with less stress and more fun. He is an expert at helping individuals and organizations "Escape Adulthood," reinvigorating their energy, restoring balance and achieving new levels of productivity by turning stress into laughter and having more fun every day.

His book Escape Adulthood: 8 Secrets From Childhood for the Stressed-Out Grown-Up, outlines simple ways for adults of all ages to reconnect with the qualities that come naturally to children in order to reduce stress and live more fun and fulfilling lives. Jason is passionate about sharing his message that there is more to life than the hectic busyness, cynical melancholy and overwhelming stress that is typical of most modern lives.

Before it was an idea, Kim & Jason started out as a simple love story. Jason first drew his lovable characters for his girlfriend Kim sometime before the turn of the century. The couple shared a kindred childlike spirit, and Jason used the drawings, which represented the couple as children, on many homemade (aka cheap) gifts designed to win her heart. Luckily for him, this downright sappy ploy helped him to not only win her heart, but also her hand in marriage. The characters took on lives of their own and in 2000, the real Kim and Jason decided to build a company to share the artwork and its inspiring message.

Get a sneak peak by visiting his website: http://EscapeAdulthood.com
Jason Kotecki- www.escapeadulthood.com
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 Kurt Podeszwa KURT PODESZWA

Kurt Podeszwa is a camping professional, husband and father. He has a bachelor’s degree in Education, and has spent much of his adult life working in outdoor and adventure education, with over 20 years of professional recreation experience. Kurt is committed to safety, fun, and learning in the outdoor environment.

As the Camp Director for Camp For All in Burton Texas, a camp for children and adults with special needs and challenging illnesses, Kurt has had the opportunity to work with a variety of special populations including; traumatic brain injury, spina bifida, down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, cancer, kidney disease, autism, cerebral palsy and more.

Kurt is an accomplished presenter and author and the founder of Journey Consulting. He is a faculty member of Expert Online Training and has presented at national and regional conferences as well as for companies and schools on topics ranging from staff training and development to adaptive programming and processing. Kurt has held various positions within the American Camp Association and currently serves on the national board.

www.journey-consulting.com

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 Steve Peck

Steven "Trip" Peck began his passion for summer camp at the Northwest YMCA in Cupertino,Peck sm CA when he attended his first sleep-away camp at the age of 12. Upon turning 16, he became a camp counselor and spent the next 11 years working for the YMCA, eventually advancing to the director level. His YMCA involvement also included several years in Indian Guides, Gra-Y and the Wilderness Club.


In 1992, Peck branched out and began participating in Champ Camp, a camp catering to burn-injured children in Fresno, CA. He spent 15 years working at Champ Camp including his last eight as Co-director. He has also worked with camps for burn survivors in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Toronto, Utah, Washington and Washington DC. To round out his summer camp experience, Steve worked spent three years as the camp director for Wonder Valley Family Camp and directed a year at Riverway Ranch Camp.

Peck has spoken on games and teambuilding at conferences hosted by the American Camping Association, American Burn Association, and the International Association of Burn Camps. He has facilitated teambuilding events for corporate clients, including KLA-Tencor, Hitachi Data Systems, and the Resource Area for Teaching. He developed and facilitated employee training programs for Bank of America, Visa, Proctor & Gamble and Weston Bakeries for each of the Olympic Hospitality programs dating back to the Summer Games in Athens in 2004. He also created and managed the training program for Visa at the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Peck is the author of 101 Fun, Creative, and Interactive Games for Kids, 101 Teambuilding Games, 101 Games and Gimmicks for Kid People and Another 101 Games and Gimmicks for Kid People. He also has produced three game DVDs.

He currently resides in San Jose, California.

 


 

 

 Dallas Graham

Dallas Graham

Dallas is the creator of The Jolly Troop - a group of colorful, easy-to-enjoy birds made from commas and exclamation marks. The Jolly Troop exists in a storytelling blog for kids and adults, creating value through photography, graphic design, history, games, people, culture and the magic of good intentions.

 

Dallas says, "My professional life has been a melting pot of creative endeavors which always seem to merge photo-journalism, image-making and personal narrative."  His overriding philosophy is ", & !" (which stands for Pause & Rejoice) and was the reason he created The Red Fred Project, a series of co-authored books that he creates and designs in collaboration with critically-ill children from throughout the United States.


Websites

  redfredproject.com
  thejollytroop.com