Our Estate/Probate and Elder Mediation Training program, held yesterday at the New Jersey Law Center, was very successful. Excellent turn-out and program quality. The attendees were very diverse, including attorneys, care managers, social workers, financial professionals, medical providers and others. Wonderful audience feedback. Many thanks to all presenters, including geriatric care managers Judith Parnes, Connie Rosenberg and Benni Versaci, geriatric physician Dr. Mark Pass, elder law attorney Gabrielle Strich, Esq., mediation marketing specialist Jennifer Decker, and the New Jersey Mental Health Players, for their hard work on the program. Bravo!

Attendee comments about yesterday’s Estate and Elder Mediation Training program:

“[A] terrific Elder Law mediation seminar yesterday. One of the best programs I’ve attended. Great speakers, lots of excellent information, including good interaction with the audience and not a wasted minute. I heard only positive comments from the participants and hope that there will be an encore for those who missed it – and more trainings in this area. Lots of potential here for both family and civil mediators.”

“The mediation training you organized yesterday was great. It was informative as well as engaging. The role play was riveting and I almost felt I was part of the family!”

“You all did such a wonderful job! Thanks for a great seminar!!!”

“I attended today’s Estate/Probate and Elder Mediation training and was very impressed … [All speakers] presented an excellent and well organized program to show how to use mediation to try to resolve family differences. The geriatric care managers were very knowledgeable and presented the ways in which their services can be used. This was a very useful day.“

“I really learned a lot from the many excellent presenters – the day was long but chock full of good information. Kudos to you and your group for all the hard work. … I hope you will repeat this program next year – if not sooner. If the buzz in the ladies’ room was any indication, the program was extremely well received by the audience.”

“Outstanding. The reports are terrific. You and the team should be quite proud.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed your presentations! I’ve already contacted one of the geriatric care managers to see if they can help someone I know. Great job!”

“Don, I have from several people that your training was excellent. Thanks for putting it together and making it a great experience for the attendees. Next year?”

“Excellent! Lots of great material and the speakers and players were informative and interesting.”

“Very good written materials.”

“I though it was great as a first time program. I would like to see it broken down to more specific areas so we are not rushed.”

“Very informative – both professionally and personally excellent!!!”

“Very comprehensive. A good investment of 8 hours.”

“Great!”

“Terrific.”

“One of the best ever! Thank you!”

“Awesome!”

“Echoing all the other positive comments and adding that program design and execution were outstanding. The balance of substantive elder law and mediation issues, diverse presenters and marketing worked well. One of the best programs I’ve attended in years.”

“Kudos to all involved in the recent elder mediation training. What a wonderful mix of lectures, role plays, demonstrations, and participatory exercises. The program gave us a lot of food for thought. Congratulations!!!”

“I learned new techniques.”

“Program was very ambitious …”

“Donald, thanks for all your work organizing [the mediation training] and getting knowledgeable speakers. It was a great session.”

“Nice conference. The mix of attorneys / geriatric care managers / finance folks / others added greatly to the repartee in the room.”

“Great content and very interesting speakers; good facility; mental health players were great.”

“Outstanding; role plays were excellent!!”

“Excellent program. Very informative. Subjects have opened up many questions and encourage more research.”

“Thank you for a highly informative, engaging and excellent program.”

“An absolute and resounding second to [the other positive] comments.  It was truly an outstandingly educational day.”

“I’m sure Don and his team are very pleased. They really pulled together a great presentation!”

“Can we run it again later in the year?”

“Please run it again! I speak for all those who could not attend due to unavoidable circumstances.”

“An advanced elder mediation training program definitely should be scheduled.”

Many thanks to the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators for sponsoring the program, and to the Elder and Disability Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association for its support.

For attendees and others interested in continuing to develop estate, probate and elder mediation in New Jersey, please consider joining the NJAPM’s newly-formed Estate and Elder Special Interest Group. We meet monthly on the last Monday of each month.