Making A Difference 2018, presented by Making A Difference Now (MADN), welcomes animal lovers, volunteers and potential volunteers, animal shelter, rescue, and care and control organizations, veterinarians and staff, local and state officials, and anyone who cares about animals to join us on September 21. You will hear from national and local experts in animal welfare, meet other people who care about animals including representatives from KY animal welfare nonprofits, and learn how you can Make A Difference for the animals in your life and in your community. Please join us and other animal people for workshops, presentations, networking and our Meet Your Match Expo designed to connect area nonprofits and potential volunteers.

Our featured Presenter, Marc Peralta, Best Friends Animal Society, will provide our morning General Sessions, describing Best Friends’ KY Activities - Getting to No Kill 2025 in the first session and Collaboration and Coalition-Building in the second. Our luncheon keynote presenter, Kenny Lamberti, Humane Society of the United States, will discuss a Holistic Recipe for Humane Communities, and he will conduct two afternoon workshops: one, a section on Responsible Pet Acquisition in the Selecting Your Next Pet Workshop and one on Helping Animals in Under-served Communities. Veterinary Behaviorist Beth Strickler, MS, DVM, DACVB, CDBC, will conduct a workshop entitled Modification and Enrichment Techniques to Improve Animal Behavior in Shelters and Increase Adoptability. Local animal welfare experts will round out the afternoon workshop offerings: Melissa Barlow-Bowman completes the Selecting Your Next Pet Workshop with Foster/Transport Saves Lives and Could Help You Choose Your Next Family Member, and Mandy Eakins, KPA CTP, FP-MT, Manners Matter Dog Training and Day Care presents Pet Training Techniques for Pet Parents, Foster Families, and Volunteers. Meet Your Match Expo continues throughout the afternoon and provides a networking experience where organizations and volunteers can meet to discuss how they can work together to Make A Difference for the animals.

We have reserved a block of rooms at a reduced rate for Thursday night before the conference as well as Friday night. The discounted rate is $105, and includes breakfast. Reservations may be made by calling the hotel at 859-233-0512 , or emailing Casey at ccravens@bluegrasshotels.com and asking to make a reservation under the MADN block. The cut-off date to reserve rooms at this rate is August 30th.

The Thomas Parrish Scholarship Fund can provide for a limited number of registration fee waivers. If resource limitations prevent you attending the conference, you may want to consider applying for a scholarship here:

Scholarship Application

Keep up with us and see the full agenda on our Facebook page!