South Dakota Makes an Impression at WaterPro

​Over 75 South Dakotans traveled to Aurora, Colorado, for the National Rural Water WaterPro Conference held at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center. It was an exciting week for South Dakota, starting with the association taking home the Outstanding Achievement in Communications, Publications, and Public Relations for the fourth time in seven years!
 
The SDARWS team was drawn to participate in the Rural Water Feud. After beating The SDARWS team of Jeremiah Corbin, Kurt Pfeifle, Jennifer Bame, Paul Dorwart, and Gavin Graverson beat Minnesota Rural Water and won the Feud at the Membership Appreciation Luncheon – bringing home a $5,000 credit at USA BlueBook. Jeremiah Corbin and Jennifer Bame participated in the “fast money” portion of the ‘Feud’ contest. SDARWS once again beat the odds and added another $2,500 to the USA BlueBook credit, for a total of $7,500!
 
Two SDARWS staff, Paul Dorwart and Kevin Christenson, had photos entered in the Rural Water on Display Photo Contest. Paul received second place in the “WaterWorks” category. Kevin took home first place in “Water in Rural America” and also took home the “Grand Prize” for best overall picture.
 
SDARWS was also asked to present a couple of sessions at this year’s conference. Jennifer Bame hosted a session titled “Public Relations and Customer Engagement.” Kurt Pfeifle and Jeremiah Corbin also hosted a presentation titled “Getting Results From Your Experts.” All in all it was a great conference in a great location.
 
Next year’s WaterPro Conference will take place in Savannah, GA, September 9-11, 2024. Mark your calendar and make plans to attend!