Catalyst | Rogue Water Lab

The Catalyst Experience 2024 coming to San Antonio Oct. 16-18!

Wednesday, October 16 - Friday, October 18

The 2024 Catalyst Experience

An audience-centric approach to water communication and engagement.

When: 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15 to Noon Friday, Oct. 18
Where: San Antonio, TX
Cost: $225; some meals provided
Application Deadline: May 15

Sign up by May 15 to secure your spot. We’ll use responses in your application to help us curate this experience sepcifically for our guests. Step through the gates right this way to apply.

Guests of the 2024 Catalyst Experience will embark on A World of Pure Imagination as we explore the theme of public trust. Throughout this 2.5-day whimsical experience, guests will be guided through fear, trust, their connection to water, building genuine relationships during seemingly adversarial moments, telling untold stories, and engagement with local officials around the criticality of reliable water systems.

When and where

Date and time

October 16 10:00 pm - October 18 5:00 pm CST

Location

Venues To Be Annaounced
Downtown San Antonio, TX 78205

Show map

Details of Past Event – Catalyst+ Northwest –Portland, OR – September 2023

9:00 am - 10:00 am

Opening Keynote

Emma Robbins

Emma Robbins (Diné) is an artist, activist, and community organizer. She is the Managing Director of Planet Women, a nonprofit who partners with women to create a healthy planet for all life. Prior to Planet Women, Emma was Executive Director of the Navajo Water Project, where she collaborated with communities on the Navajo Nation to get clean running water to the one in three Navajo families without it. Emma is also the founder of The Chapter House, an Indigenous women-led community arts space in Los Angeles, designed for Natives, and welcoming all. All her work is centered around community collaboration, education, and Indigenization. Emma completed her BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and studied Modern Latin American Art History in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has exhibited both in the U.S. and internationally. Through her artwork, she strives to educate viewers about issues like broken treaties and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis.

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Make Your Pitch

Tom Kunetz

You’ve come up with that Big Idea that could really improve your department or organization–now how do you get the green light to set it in motion? You do what they do in Hollywood: you make a great pitch! This session will give participants the tools to craft their own pitches for an actual idea of their own choosing. Participants will learn how to build their own pitch through a series of active exercises, then will practice that pitch in front of an audience and receive feedback. Big Ideas told short and sweet, engaging and inspiring!

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Community Building aka Mixer Time!

Let’s Sprint: Social Listening and Campaign Development

Erin Mosley

How can we really connect with our communities and develop great educational and public engagement campaigns? In this one-of-a-kind workshop using crossover innovation concepts from the world of design thinking, hackathons, and crowdsourcing campaigns, we’ll explore ways to: • Listen to and understand your audience • Create great campaign challenges • Collect ideas • Minimize bias • Move forward with recommended actions • Keep everyone engaged in the process! We will be working with a theme of communicating affordability to your customers in this full day hands-on innovation sprint.

Going Viral: Confessions of a Social Media Manipulator

Adam Tank

In a world of million dollar budgets, high-ticket marketing agencies, and lavish production studios, how the H*LL can the water industry expect to compete for its share of voice? In this session, we’ll dissect some of the world’s most viral ads & social platform strategies to learn the critical frameworks for how to create eye-popping, memorable, and shareable content that won’t break the budget. Bring your party pants… we might even create a meme or two.

Creating a Culture of Inclusivity

Melinda White

Closing Keynote

Maura Jarvis

Maura Jarvis is a recent graduate of Drexel University and currently works as a Community Outreach Specialist for the Philadelphia Water Department. As a member of the Public Engagement team, Maura’s role includes informing North Philadelphia communities about the City’s green stormwater infrastructure program, Green City, Clean Waters, drinking water quality in the city, and related sustainability initiatives. A proud Philadelphia native, Maura is passionate about working with her local community and serves as PWD’s superhero mascot, Water Woman.

Guides

Why “guests” and “guides” instead of “attendees” and “speakers”? Catalyst is not a conference like you’re used to, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽, 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 make true impact!

Greg Wukasch

External Affairs Manager

Alicia Smith

Executive Director

Shannon Kring

Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker

Frank Scott Jr.

Mayor

Ami Keiffer

Environmental Program Manager

Travis Loop

Waterloop Founder

Trapeta Mayson

Poet

Jane Hurley

Education and Outreach Specialist

Chelsea Boozer

Executive Director

About this event

We can’t wait to welcome you to The Catalyst Experience 2024.

Our journey is especially curated every step of the way. Each guided experience builds on the next. Please plan to stay and participate for the entirety of the experience. There are no concurrent sessions like at a conference. Everyone journeys together.

Schedule at a Glance

Wed, Oct. 16: 5 pm – 8 pm (enter the experience)

Thurs, Oct. 17: 8 am – 5 pm; 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. (journey to multiple venues as we explore public trust)

Fri, Oct. 18: 8 am – 12 pm (conclude the journey and enter back into the real world)

Hungry?

Lunch will be provided on Thursday. Dinner is on your own each night. There will be mixers on Wednesday and Thursday evening with appetizers.

2024 Theme: A World of Pure Imagination

Inspired by the new Wonka film, we wanted to create a whimsical experience of exploration as we dive into what it truly means to engage communities and policymakers around water, what our own connection to water is, and how this discovery can inspire, empower, equip and motivate us to create a world of thriving communities with resilient and trusted water providers.

Packing List

Please pack comfortable clothing and shoes. We’re fun and informal.

The Journey

Catalyst is a traveling summit where we use the host city as our classroom. Each day, sessions will occur at different locations. Transportation will be provided. Why do we move?

When the butt goes numb, the brain goes dumb.

Research shows that changing the learning environment between topics helps our brains retain information.

White space.

Travel time creates space to reflect on what you just learned and, of course, discuss those thoughts with other guests. It’s also nice to have built in downtime in an over-scheduled world.

Past Sponsors of 2023 Catalyst+ Northwest event.

Co-Host

Collaborator

Collaborator

Change Agent

Change Agent

Change Agent

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