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Head to Stevens Point for the 2024 Wisconsin Water Week convention

Apr 10 - Apr 12

April 10-12, 2024, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin

This is a well-done annual conference that is put on by a well-established partnership of government, higher education, and lake groups. While some sessions will pertain to Wisconsin’s specific governance, most of the sessions will be highly relevant to Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.

This statewide convention brings together professionals, students, community members, and businesses who love water. The 2024 event will feature plenary speakers, as well as interactive workshops and content-rich concurrent sessions with time for speakers to address participants’ questions.

This event is a collaboration of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Extension Lakes Program within the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, and the statewide organization of lake groups, Wisconsin Lakes. They are a partnership of people caring for our legacy of lakes, rivers, and watersheds through science, education, and citizen involvement.

Official Convention registration will be available in mid-late January 2024. Check their conference website for more details. And if you have the interest, submit a proposal for presentation at the conference (see More information for details).

What is the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention?

This statewide convention brings together professionals, students, community members, and businesses who love water. We have been meeting annually for over 40 years and hope that you can continue to contribute to this legacy. The 2024 event will feature plenary speakers, as well as interactive workshops and content-rich concurrent sessions with time for speakers to address participants’ questions.

Wednesday, April 10 will include interactive half- and full-day workshops. Wednesday evening will feature the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Partnership Welcome Reception where appetizers and beverages will be served in a relaxed environment ideal for networking.

Thursday, April 11 will feature a welcome session and kickoff keynote event, multiple concurrent sessions, educational and business exhibits, a round of lightning talks, and a poster session. On Thursday evening, we’ll be celebrating award winners at the Wisconsin Lake Stewardship and Volunteer Stream Monitoring Awards Ceremony and Banquet.

Friday, April 12 will consist of multiple concurrent sessions, educational and business exhibits, and a keynote speaker and closing luncheon. Friday afternoon will include interactive mini-workshops.

We invite you to attend and build new and enhance past relationships so we can better collaborate and cooperate around our lakes, rivers, watersheds, and across Wisconsin. With over 100 presenters, 18 workshops, keynotes, exhibits, and over 70 concurrent sessions, you won’t want to miss it! Keep an eye on the Lakes and Rivers Convention – Wisconsin Water Week website for additional information as it is released.

Submit a Presentation Proposal

Open call for presentations includes:

Concurrent Sessions (deadline: Oct. 1, 2023) – There will be 5 rooms with sessions occurring simultaneously. Presentations can be as short as 20 minutes in length or up to 60 minutes. We encourage presenters to build in time for Q&A at the end of their presentation.
Workshops (deadline: Oct. 1, 2023) – We plan to schedule half-day workshops (2-3 hours) on Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon, and Friday afternoon. Full-day workshops (6 hours) are also possible on Wednesday. Workshops are more interactive and/or hands-on and are meant to engage participants in in-depth conversations, problem solving, planning, and exploring.
Lightning Talks (deadline: March 1, 2024) – These quick, 5-minute (or less) presentations are meant to introduce a topic/share a success, with the goal of exposing attendees to multiple topics in a short amount of time. There will not be time for Q&A after lightning talks; however, we encourage Lightning Talk presenters to also present a Poster, which is where further conversations can take place.
Posters (deadline: April 1, 2024) – Posters will be on display all day Thursday through Friday at 2:00 p.m. Poster presenters are required to be with their poster during the Poster Session on Thursday from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Submit a Presentation Proposal

This event is a collaboration of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Extension Lakes Program within the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, and the statewide organization of lake groups, Wisconsin Lakes. We are a partnership of people caring for our legacy of lakes, rivers, and watersheds through science, education, and citizen involvement.

Official Convention registration will be available in mid-late January, 2024.

Details

Start:: Apr 10
End:: Apr 12