Special Conference Features
Optional Events, Networking Activities, & Special Features
Several optional workshops, networking activities, and other special features are part of, or are being held in conjunction with — the 8th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference. Additional fees apply and pre-registration is required for some of these events, while others are free to any conference attendees interested in participating.
Optional Workshop
The following dynamic workshop is being held in conjunction with the conference. Pre-registration and a nominal fee are required to participate. Details are below:
Promoting Healthy Eating and Active Living through Improvements in the Built Environment: What Health Professionals Need to Know and What They Can Do
Thursday, January 22nd, from 12:00-5:00 PM
Pre-registration is required: $45
This session will explore the role of health professionals in influencing community design to help create health-promoting live, learn, work, and play environments in local communities. The session will prepare participants with knowledge to contribute to policy and environmental changes, with a focus on policy issues that are currently under consideration. This is a unique opportunity to interact with health professionals, planners, local government officials, and other partners to uncover effective ways to collaborate around creating communities with increased physical activity opportunities and access to healthy food. An afternoon refreshment break is included. Register online for this workshop via the conference registration page.
Networking Reception
Thursday, January 22nd — 6:30-7:45pm
The first full day of sessions and tours will be capped off with a dynamic evening plenary and a hosted networking reception. This social event is designed to get our multi-disciplinary audience talking and networking with each other early in the conference.
Tours of Local Attractions
The LGC has coordinated with Destination Southwest to put together some exciting and adventurous tours of local attractions for participants of the New Partners Conference. Please visit the Destination Southwest web site and then click the “Registration” link in the left column for more details and to register for these special events!
Acoma Pueblo Tour
Wednesday, January 21st from 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM
$69.00 per person
Acoma Pueblo, situated 350 feet above an outstretched valley atop a massive sandstone mesa at 7,000 feet above sea level, is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States. Archeologists put the initial occupation of the Pueblo around 1150 AD. The first Europeans, led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, visited Acoma in 1540.
A Pueblo member will take you on a ¾-mile leisurely guided tour of the village, explaining the culture and history of the tribe. Points of interest include San Estevan del Rey Mission, built in 1629, the largest and most remarkable of all the Spanish Colonial mission churches in New Mexico. All building materials for the church and other structures in the village were carried or hauled great distances by hand up the steep slope of the mesa. The 360-degree views from Acoma are breathtaking and offer many photo opportunities. There is a $10 permit fee per camera. Video recorders are prohibited. This tour includes a box lunch with assorted soft drinks and bottled water. Please make sure to wear comfortable shoes and clothing since most of the tour is conducted out of doors. Travel time of approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Sandia Peak Tram and Dinner at High Finance
Wednesday, January 21st from 5:00 - 9:30 PM
$96.00 per person
Board your deluxe coach and head east to the foothills of the Travel to the foothills of the Sandia Mountains for a ride on the Sandia Peak Tram, the world’s longest free-span cable tramway, and dinner at High Finance. The 2.7-mile ride to the top will take you through four of the seven life zones found in North America. Traversing these zones is equivalent to taking a trip from Mexico City to Alaska! Once atop Sandia Peak, at an elevation of 10,375 feet above sea level, you will marvel at the thousands of square miles of breathtaking scenery and panoramic views in all directions. Enjoy dinner at High Finance Restaurant, which offers views of 11,000 square miles of New Mexico’s landscape from one of the finest restaurants in the Southwest. In the evenings, the sunsets and city lights are spectacular, offering a total dining experience “above them all.” Travel time of approximately 20 minutes.
Dinner in Old Town and Ghost Tour
Friday, January 23rd from 5:30 - 9:00 PM
$91.00 per person
Enjoy dinner this evening at the Casa de Ruiz Church Street Café located in the heart of Old Town Albuquerque. The property was originally a residence built in the early 1700s and has remained in the Ruiz family since the early 1800s. This home is built of terrones, a type of adobe brick that was used when the area around the Rio Grande was a marshy swamp.
After dinner take a ghost tour of the dark alleys and lanes that wind through historic Old Town, where the shades of yesteryear lurk in the shadows. Walking through the town one is surrounded by the memories of public hangings, duels and horrific murders, passing over forgotten cemeteries and unmarked graves, past buildings known to be visited by those who have passed over to the other side. Vengeful lovers, murdered soldiers and mysterious specters await those who are brave enough to explore the secrets that lie within Old Town's darkest corners. Travel time of approximately 10 minutes.
Hot Air Balloon Rides
Sunday, January 25th from 6:15 – 9:30 AM
$185.00 per person
Albuquerque is known as the Hot Air Balloon Capitol of the World. Each October balloonists and balloon enthusiasts converge on the Duke City for the Albuquerque International Balloon fiesta when upwards of a thousand balloons in every size, shape, and color imaginable take to the clear blue skies of high desert New Mexico.
Experience an once-in-a-lifetime thrill of a hot air balloon ride over the Hot Air Balloon Capital of the world. As the sun makes it’s way over the mountains, it's up, up and away in a beautiful balloon. As you float like a cloud, delight in the magnificent scenery and astounding vistas from your vantage point high above Albuquerque. The Rio Grande River winds its way southward to Mexico through the cottonwood-lined valley, the Sandia Mountains rise up to the east, and all around you is the silent vastness of the Land of Enchantment. Airtime is about one hour. Upon landing you will be welcomed back to earth with a champagne toast (a custom dating back more than 100 years), and a flight certificate to commemorate your aeronautical adventure.”
Travel time of approximately 20 minutes.
Conference Bookstore
The on-site conference bookstore is organized by Steve Torma of Asheville, NC. Steve has been setting up conference bookstores for personal and social transformation conferences for over twenty years. This is the fifth year Steve has been with us. His company name is Creation Spirituality Resources.
In the bookstore you will find many great titles to assist you in your work. First and foremost he has all of the books that have been authored by speakers at the conference. He also has bestselling titles from previous conference presenters.
In addition he has one of the finest collection of smart growth titles you will ever see gathered in one place such as the newest titles from The American Planning Association, Island Press, and The Urban Land Institute. Some of the topics covered are: sprawl, health and community design, green building, transportation, ecological design, community building, and other related social issues.
Take a Survey and Get a Bookstore Discount!
The LGC is asking that all registered participants take a short web-based survey prior to coming to the conference. Survey respondents will receive a $5.00 discount coupon when they check-in to pick up their name badge and program that can be redeemed on-site at the bookstore.