NATIONALS DOCUMENTATION

Date:               April 4, 2017
 
TO:                 SkillsUSA National Contestants, Advisors, CTE Directors and Parents
 
FROM:            Richard Wittwer - SkillsUSA Utah State Director
 
SUBJECT:     SKILLSUSA NATIONAL LEADERSHIP & SKILLS CONFERENCE
                        LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, JUNE 19 - JUNE 24, 2017
 
INDIVIDUALS INVITED TO ATTEND THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE

• SkillsUSA Utah State Leadership and Skills Championships 1st Place Gold Medalists
• National Conference Delegates
• State Officers
• Advisors, Parents, Spouses, Family Members & Observers
• School, District and State Administrators

 
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE: 
*CHANGED FROM PREVIOUS YEARS! PLEASE READ!*
*CAN ONLY BE COMPLETED BY ADVISORS AND CTE ADMINISTRATORS* ON THE NATIONAL SKILLSUSA WEBSITE BY FRIDAY, APRIL 21ST, 2017.
 

1. VERIFY & REGISTER:

We are using the same Registration System we used for our State Competition (ULSC) on the National Website, so the Registration Process for the National Competition will be similar, EXCEPT: THERE IS ONE EXTRA STEP ADDED FOR EVERY, SINGLE, REGISTRANT! You must add applicable fees!

• TO REGISTER CONTESTANTS & ADVISORS: Go to national website and complete the registration for each of the gold medalists from the state competition. Verify that all information, including student and advisor email addresses and phone numbers are correct.  Make sure the student and advisor names, birthdates, and gender match the information on their government issued identification.
  1. NO NICKNAMES ALLOWED! THIS INFORMATION IS USED TO BOOK FLIGHTS! This will be checked during Airport Security Screening!
  2. CONTESTANT FEES: (Explained in detail further down in this document)

• TRAVEL:
  • SkillsUSA Utah Round-Trip Flight Airfare $650.00 OR
  • Other Travel/Self Travel $0.00
• HOTEL (5 Nights, Arriving Monday, Departing Saturday):
  • CONTESTANTS & ADVISORS MUST STAY AT THE ASSIGNED UTAH HOTEL!
  • Select Single, Double, Triple, or Quadruple Occupancy
• NATIONAL & STATE FEES (AUTOMATICALLY ADDED/CAN NOT ‘OPT OUT’)
  • National Fee: $150
  • State Fee: $120
• EXCEPTIONS/ADDITIONS
  • High School Student Gold Medalist $300 Deduction, if applicable.
  • Optional Baseball Game: $10.00
  • TO REGISTER OBSERVERS: If you have family members, guests, or administrators traveling with our group and attending the national conference with your school participants, they must fill out a National Leadership and Skills Conference Form 1 (NLSC Form 1) and submit it to the school advisor, who will complete the national conference registration process for these individuals on the National Website

1. OBSERVER FEES:

• TRAVEL:
  • SkillsUSA Utah Flight Airfare $650.00 OR
  • Other Travel/Self Travel $0.00
• HOTEL (5 Nights, Arriving Monday, Departing Saturday):
  • Select Single, Double, Triple, or Quadruple Occupancy OR
  • Observer Other Lodging $0.00
• NATIONAL & STATE FEES (AUTOMATICALLY ADDED/CAN NOT ‘OPT OUT’)
  • National Fee: $150
  • State Fee: $120
• EXCEPTIONS/ADDITIONS
  • Optional Baseball Game: $10.00
• EXPLANATION OF FEES:

During the Registration Process:

• There is an area/box under the Contests and the email / cellphone / parents name section called 'Add Optional State Fee Items:'

• There is an "Add" button below the grid. You will need to add the applicable fees for each registrant.
• You can click the 'Recalc" button below the grid to tabulate what the total registration fees will be including the National and State Fees (Automatically Added) after including the fees below.
• Under the 'Add Optional State Fee Items’ will be the following options:
  • TRAVEL:
    • SKILLSUSA FLIGHT AIRFARE $650.00 - If the registrant IS Flying with the Pre-Booked SkillsUSA Group Flying out Monday, June 19th, and Returning Saturday, June 20th, this MUST BE ADDED!
    • OTHER TRAVEL/SELF TRAVEL $0.00 - If the registrant IS NOT flying with the Pre-Booked SkillsUSA Group, this MUST BE ADDED for tracking purposes!
  • LODGING:
    • All Contestants and Advisors must stay at the Assigned Utah Hotel!
    • OBSERVER OTHER LODGING $0.00 - If an Observer IS NOT Staying with the Pre-Booked SkillsUSA Group Hotel, this MUST BE ADDED for tracking purposes!
    • #1 SINGLE OCCUPANCY (5 NIGHTS) $900.00 - If the registrant wants his/her OWN ROOM this fee MUST BE ADDED!
    • #2 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY (5 NIGHTS) $450.00 - If the registrant is SHARING his/her room with ONE OTHER PERSON this MUST BE ADDED!
    • #3 TRIPLE OCCUPANCY (5 NIGHTS) $300.00 - If the registrant is SHARING his/her room with TWO OTHER PEOPLE this MUST BE ADDED!
    • #4 QUADRUPLE OCCUPANCY (5 NIGHTS) $225.00 - If the registrant is SHARING his/her room with this MUST BE ADDED!
  • OTHER:
    • HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT GOLD MEDALIST ONLY – $300 CTE Deduction (Credit) Select this option if you are registering a High School Gold Medalist, it will apply the $300 Deduction to your invoice.
    • OPTIONAL BASEBALL GAME $10.00: Wednesday night there is an Optional Activity to attend the Louisville Bats Baseball Game.  Add this fee if the registrant wishes to attend. We will not be attending this game as a Utah Group.

1. HOTEL ROOMING LIST:
   • The school advisor must download the national conference hotel rooming template from the NLSC Page of our State Website by:
     1. CLICKING HERE OR
     2. Copy and Paste the following link into your web browser: http://www.utahskillsusa.org/nlsc-2017---national-leadership--skills-competition.html
     3. THEN: Going to the Left Column under the ‘Registration’ Section > Clicking the ‘Hotel Rooming List Template’ Button > Downloading it.
   • Advisors will need to list every conference participant in the “type” of room that was selected during the registration process. (Single, Double, Triple or Quad)
     • The names on the hotel rooming list must match the names on the conference registration. 
     • Verify that you have the proper “gender” participants assigned to each room. 
     • Identify whether the student is a high school student, a college/postsecondary student, an advisor, a parent or a guest/observer. 
     • If you only have one student attending the national conference and you choose to pay the double, triple, or quad occupancy room rate, enter the phrase “fill this room vacancy” in each empty room slot so we know how to combine students into rooms.
     • If family members/significant others will be staying in the same room as the contestant, please enter their information on the rooming list as well.
   • Submit to the State Director via email at skillsusa.utahstatedirector@gmail.com by Friday, April 21st, 2017.
2. COPY AND SUBMIT GOVERNMENT ISSUED IDs:
   • Collect copies of a government issued Identification document (Driver’s license / passport) for each participant and send them to the state director via email skillsusa.utahstatedirector@gmail.com.
   • If you have a gold medal student attending the National Conference that does not have a Driver’s License or Passport, please send a copy of his/her student identification card for your school/institution.
3. PAY!
   • WE NOW ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS!
     1. Billing Questions/To pay via Credit Card:
        1. Contact Jennifer Streker – (801) 540-4342 – strekerj@gmail.com
        2. *There is a 3% Processing Fee if you choose to pay via Credit Card

• CHECK PAYMENTS: (DO NOT SEND TO THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION!)
  • ALL CHECKS MUST BE MADE PAYABLE TO “SKILLSUSA UTAH.” 
  • Print TWO (2) copies of your National Conference Invoice, one for your records and one to include with your Check Payment to:

SkillsUSA Utah
Richard Wittwer
4318 West 1275 South
Cedar City, Utah 84720

• ALL PAYMENTS MUST BE MADE THROUGH THE SCHOOL OR INSTITUTION. NO PERSONAL CHECKS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

 
Students and participants will not be considered “registered” for the national conference
until the 4 Steps Above have been completed.
 
REGISTRATION TYPES:

• Contestants - Any student competing in a contest. This includes interview contestants for American Spirit, Chapter Display, Promotional Bulletin Board, Occupational Health and Safety, and Outstanding Chapter.
• Advisor - Teachers accompanying students
• Observer - An observer is a parent, students that are ‘alternate’ competitors, guests, models for esthetics and nail care or any other attendee that needs a badge for entrance into all of the events; opening session, competition floor, Awards Ceremony and bus transportation with your state delegation.
• Children 10 and under. Free registration.
  • NOTE: Tickets for amusement parks or any other event that does not include entrance with a badge is not included as part of the child’s free registration. These items can be purchased separately at conference.

 
An NLSC Form 1 must be completed for every person attending the national conference, including family and friends who desire to be full participants at the conference.  Form 1 can be found by:

• CLICKING HERE OR
• Copy and Paste the following Link into your browser: http://skillsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/NLSC-Registration-Form-2014-15.pdf OR
• Going to our State Website (http://www.utahskillsusa.org) > Hovering over ‘Conferences & Events’ > Clicking ‘FORM 1 – BLANK REGISTRATION FORM’ from the dropdown menu.

 
FLIGHT & HOTEL ACCOMMODATION DEVIATIONS:
A ‘Deviation’ is considered a special request for different travel/hotel dates, times, and locations other than those provided by SkillsUSA Utah as part of our pre-booked Group Flight and Group Hotel Block.

• EARLY DEPARTURES: If anyone books five nights and/or flies round trip with the SkillsUSA Utah Group as stated above, but end up wanting to leave early for any reason after our arrival in Louisville, KY, refunds will not be issued, and they must make their own return travel arrangements.
• ADDITIONAL HOTEL NIGHTS:
  • ALL CONTESTANTS & ADVISORS MUST STAY MONDAY-SATURDAY WITH OUR GROUP AT THE HOTEL
  • Any Additional Nights must be booked and paid for with a personal credit card.
• ALL REGISTRANTS TRAVEL/FLIGHT DEVIATIONS: If the registrant IS NOT flying with the Pre-Booked SkillsUSA Group, the ‘Other Travel/Self Travel’ Fee ($0.00) must be added during the registration process for tracking/record keeping purposes. These inviduals will be responsible for arranging and paying for their own Travel/Flight Accommodations.
• OBSERVER HOTEL DEVIATIONS: If an Observer IS NOT Staying with the Pre-Booked SkillsUSA Group Hotel, the ‘Observer Other Lodging’ Fee ($0.00) must be added during the registration process for tracking/record keeping purposes. They will be responsible for arranging and paying for their own Hotel Accommodations.
• NON-REGISTERED FAMILY/SUPPORTERS: Family/Supporters who do NOT want to pay the State and National Fees or participate in any of the group events as an Observer, will not be allowed to register through the National Site, and will need to arrange and pay for their own Flight, transportation and Hotel Accommodations for their entire trip, and they will have to pay for their own tickets to the Awards Ceremony, if they choose to attend..
• They will not be issued a name badge, T-shirt, state pins, nor will they be allowed to attend the Opening general session.  They are not allowed to use delegation passes for special conference activities, use the bus transportation system, and they must pay for the Tuesday breakfast and the Friday night buffet dinner following the awards program if they choose to eat with our group.  Tickets for the closing general session and awards program can be purchased for $10.00 at the national conference headquarters area.

 
DATES AND DEADLINES

• REGISTRATION & HOTEL ROOMING LIST SUBMISSION DEADLINE - Friday, April 21st , 2017
• EDIT/DROP DEADLINE - Friday, April 21st, 2017
• PAYMENT DEADLINE - Friday, April 28th, 2017
  • No changes will be accepted after April 28th.  All cancellations submitted after April 28th are non-refundable. (The money is already spent!)
• TRAVEL INFO SENT OUT FOR VERIFICATION - Monday, May 15th, 2017
• TRAVEL VERIFICATION DUE TO STATE DIRECTOR - Monday, May 22nd, 2017
• NATIONAL COMPETITION (NLSC) - MONDAY, JUNE 19TH - SATURDAY, JUNE 24TH
• TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CHAIR RECOGNITION DINNER - Thursday, August 10th, 2017
  *For Technical Committee Chairs, Cluster Chairs, National Competition Medalists, State Staff, and a +1 significant other each.

 CONTACT INFORMATION
Our only source of contact information for students, advisors, and administrators is the SkillsUSA National Website.  If your Form 1 information is not complete or accurate, specifically phone numbers and email addresses, there is a very high probability that you will miss out on some valuable information that comes through the state director to the individual students and/or advisors.  PLEASE make sure that the Form 1 information for both you and your students is complete, current and accurate.
 
*We will also be utilizing our State Website (http://www.utahskillsusa.org) as a form of communication. Please check it regularly.
 
NATIONAL CONFERENCE HOTEL
*DIFFERENT HOTEL THIS YEAR!*
 
RESERVATIONS/GROUP BLOCK:

• All Utah students and advisors are required to stay at the assigned conference hotel
• All hotel rooms must be reserved using the SkillsUSA Utah Hotel Rooming List. 
  • This includes contestants, advisors, and administrators.  Family, friends and special guests have the option of staying elsewhere, but students must stay at this hotel under the direct supervision of a school or district advisor. 
• Absolutely no other hotel room lists or requests will be accepted. 
• We will not pay for any rooms that are not part of our SkillsUSA Utah group reservation.

 
HOTEL: Clarion Hotel Conference Center Louisville North

• Address: 505 Marriott Drive, Clarksville, IN. 47129.
• This hotel is located near a business area and is a 12-minute ride by shuttle bus to the conference venue and about a 11-minute ride from the airport.
  • There are several food venues near the hotel. 
• Conference shuttle buses (school buses) will run between the hotel and the Kentucky Expo Center contest area about every 30 minutes throughout the conference week.
• For More information about the hotel and the general area, go to their website at: https://www.choicehotels.com/indiana/clarksville/clarion-hotels/in043

 
HOTEL ROOM ASSIGNMENTS: 

• After all of the hotel room requests have been submitted utilizing the Hotel Rooming List to the State Director, participants will be assigned to a room according to the room type requested and the payment received.
• Advisors, make sure all of your students and participants understand the hotel room arrangements before they arrive in Louisville.  You will get what you pay for!
• OCCUPANCY TYPES:
  • SINGLE (5 Nights) $900.00: you will get your own room and your own bed, usually a king size bed.
  • DOUBLE (5 Nights) $450.00: you will share a room with one other person of the same gender, usually from the same school, (but not necessarily) and you will get your own double size bed.
  • TRIPLE (5 Nights) $300.00: you will share a room with two people of the same gender, usually from the same school (but not necessarily) and two people will be sharing one bed and one person will get a bed to themselves.  How you determine which room-mate gets to sleep alone is up to you.
  • QUADRUPLE (5 Nights) $225.00: this means that you will be sharing a hotel room with 3 other people of the same gender, usually from the same school (but not necessarily) and you will be sharing a double bed with another individual.  
• SPECIAL NOTES:
  • If you pay for a triple or quad and your roommates have not arrived when you go to bed, do not spread your “stuff” around or occupy all of the beds until everyone has checked-in to your hotel room. This could be as late as 10:00 pm on Monday night.
  • Advisors must reserve either a single or double room.  Advisors are not allowed to share a room with a student, regardless of age, unless the student is the advisor’s child.
• Final hotel check-in instructions will be provided early in June.

 
NATIONAL CONFERENCE AIR TRAVEL
Our travel agent has completed the group air travel reservations for all SkillsUSA Utah participants traveling to the national conference. The actual flight assignments will be completed after all conference registration documents and payments have been received by FRIDAY, APRIL 21ST, 2017.

• Air travel costs are based on a rate negotiated with Southwest Airlines for our group of 275+ participants who will be completing a round trip from Salt Lake to Louisville and back to Salt Lake on the designated flight dates, Monday, June 19th & Saturday, June 24th.
• No alternate flight plans will be completed through SkillsUSA Utah.  If any participant requires alternate flight plans, advisors must select “Other Travel/Self Travel” Fee Option when registering for the national conference on the National Website and will be responsible for making their own flight and travel arrangements.
• Only those participants that travel with our group will be covered by the SkillsUSA Utah group liability and travel insurance.  If any participant elects to make their own airline travel arrangements, please know that some special conditions apply:
  • These participants must arrange for their own ground travel to and from the hotel/airport (taxi, shuttle, rental car) unless they arrive at a time when our group shuttle buses are at the airport.
  • If traveling by alternate airlines or private vehicle, the student contestant must arrive at the Utah conference hotel no later than 10:00 pm Monday evening. 
  • Please be aware that a couple of the contests start at 7:00 am on Tuesday morning!
• All participants are required to check in at the Utah hotel headquarters/hospitality room to obtain the conference materials and a hotel room key.
• Any high school student wishing to use an alternate airline or mode of travel is required to obtain written approval from his or her school principal/administrator and/or district administrator that verifies that the student will have proper adult supervision during all travel activities. 

 
NATIONAL CONFERENCE COSTS BREAKDOWN
All inquiries concerning registration, housing, and travel must be directed to Richard Wittwer at skillsusa.utahstatedirector@gmail.com or 435-590-8386. (Email is preferred) 

• Room Cost is for five nights including room taxes. The total cost for each room for 5 nights is $900.00. We are staying at a different hotel this year.  Apparently, a hotel with a sufficient number of rooms for our group with clean, continuously operational water, functional A/C units and working toilets cost more money.  Go figure.
• Air Travel — Southwest Airlines air fare, Airport Security Fees, travel agent booking fees.  Up to two luggage bags fly for free. (The airfare cost is lower this year.)
• National Conference Registration Fee — This fee pays for name badges, lanyard, conference document printing costs, conference activities, entrance fees for the opening session and awards session, bus transportation, facility/venue rental costs, contest materials and other SkillsUSA national office conference related expenses.
• Conference Activity Fee —These fees cover SkillsUSA Utah expenses for the initial state trading pins, national conference “T” shirts, Tuesday morning continental breakfast, Friday night buffet dinner, transportation to and from the airport, taxes, gratuities, national conference related printing and postage, national conference related shipping costs, required insurance coverage, tool/equipment transportation to and from Louisville and other SkillsUSA Utah national conference related expenses.
• Meals --There will be a continental breakfast provided on Tuesday morning, and a buffet dinner provided on Friday night for all “paid” registrants.  All other meal expenses will be the responsibility of each individual participant.

2017 NLSC CONTESTANT INSTRUCTIONS
2017-2018 Technical Standards:
All contestants and advisors must carefully study and understand the rules and regulations that pertain to your contest as shown in the Skills USA Championships Technical Standards for 2017-2018.  If you don’t have access the 2017-2018 Technical Standards, they are available online through your advisor via his/her paid professional membership on the National Website.

• A walkthrough for how advisors can access the Technical Standards can be found on our STATE WEBSITE by:
  • CLICKING HERE OR
  • Copy and Paste Following Link into your browser: http://www.utahskillsusa.org/uploads/8/1/2/7/81273014/how_to_access_technical_standards_2016-2017.pdf OR
  • Going to our State Website (http://www.utahskillsusa.org) > Hovering over ‘Conferences & Events’ > Clicking ‘How to Access Technical Standards’ from the drop-down menu.
• These Technical Standards include contest rules, clothing requirements, and the proper tools needed for every national competition.  If you do not have the proper clothing and equipment at the national conference, you are guaranteed not to win a national medal!

 
Contest Updates:
All updates to the National Conference contests are posted on the national website: http://www.skillsusa.org. 

• To find the national conference updates:
• Go to the national website, hover over “competitions” and select “SkillsUSA Championships” from the drop-down box.  Click on “Contest Updates” in the menu box to the left OR
• CLICK HERE OR
• Copy and Paste the following link into your browser: http://www.skillsusa.org/competitions/skillsusa-championships/contest-updates/)
• Then scroll down to find the appropriate contest update. 
• All contestants and advisors must check the national website for the latest contest update information at least weekly.  If any additional information is sent to the State Director, it will be distributed to the appropriate contestants and advisors using the contact information provided on national conference registration website.

 
FOLLOW-UP FOR VERIFICATION OF CONFERENCE INFORMATION

• There will be a national conference registration and airline verification document emailed to every school advisor with one or more national contestants by May 15th, 2017. 
• The school advisor must review the information and respond with any changes or corrections no later than May 22nd, 2017.
• If the name on your ticket and the name on your ID does not match, you will not get through airport security, and it is a long walk to Louisville!

 
2017 SKILLSUSA NLSC BASIC SCHEDULE
Here is a very basic schedule for the week we are in Louisville.  A detailed schedule will be provided as soon as it is available from the national office.
 

• Monday, June 19th - Travel day, orientation, hotel check-in.
• Tuesday, June 20th - Continental breakfast, SkillsUSA knowledge test, Pre-contest meetings, some competitions will begin, opening general session.
• Wednesday, June 21st - Preliminary leadership contests, Louisville Bats Baseball Game (optional activity, extra $10 payment required, per person)
• Thursday, June 22nd - Skills contests, leadership contest finals, Churchill Downs Activity (sponsored by SkillsUSA Utah)
• Friday, June 23rd - National conference service project (for those that signed up in advance), awards program
• Saturday, June 24th - Travel home with all of the gold medals and industry prizes

HEAVY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

• There will be a trailer provided to transport heavy tools and equipment that cannot be taken on the plane.  The tool drop off dates and time schedules will be provided soon. 

 
RESUME

• Student resumes seem to create big issues every year.  Contestants, please bring at least one paper copy of your resume to the conference, then don’t forget to take it with you to the pre-contest orientation meeting.
• The national contest technical judge will ask for this resume’ at the beginning of the pre-contest meeting.  Failure to submit the resume’ will result in a deduction from the total contestant score.  I strongly suggest that every student have access to an electronic copy of a resume’, such as a saved copy of the resume’ in your personal email account.   

 
CLOSING REMARKS
We are going to Louisville for one purpose: To provide the students an opportunity to test their skills at the highest level of national competition.  We expect every student to prepare and perform at their maximum ability, and to avoid all distractions.  We expect every advisor and guest to support the students in this effort.  We will graciously accept the results, whatever they are.  We expect nothing more.  We demand nothing less!