IPMBA Conference Archives
2018 IPMBA Conference
June 4-9, 2018. The 28th Annual IPMBA Conference returned to the “Gateway to the West”. Building on the success of the campus-based 2017 Conference, the event was held on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis and co-hosted by the WUSTL Police and the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Departments. Wash U proved an excellent venue for the conference, offering a plethora of stairs and other built-in features to ride as well as easy access to the nation’s seventh largest urban park. Participants enjoyed “living the college life”: staying in the residence halls, eating in the dining commons, and availing themselves of the outstanding athletic facilities. Nearly 300 participants from coast-to-coast in both the United States and Canada converged upon the Gateway City to train, network, and explore Saint Louis.
Photo Gallery
Thanks to Our Hosts
The IPMBA board, staff, members, and conference attendees extend their gratitude to the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) and Washington University in Saint Louis Police Department (WUSTL PD) for co-hosting the 2018 IPMBA Conference. We appreciate the unwavering support of WUSTL PD Chief Mark Glenn and Colonel John Hayden, SLMPD Commissioner. With a mere 11 months’ notice, they pledged to provide the human and equipment resources necessary to ensure a safe and successful training experience.
The implementation of the conference was truly a team effort, bringing together personnel from SLMPD, WUSTL PD, Lake Saint Louis Police Department, Saint Louis County Police Department, and Missouri Baptist University Department of Public Safety.
WUSTL PD Lieutenant Frank Selvaggio and Sergeant Bob Wayne “rolled up their sleeves” and served as official members of the Command Staff, referred to less formally as the “Red Shirts”. Rounding out the WUSTL conference staff were Corporals Chris Mintman and Mark Alexander, Police Officers Don Moore and Alshon Blunt, and Security Officer Blaine Hudson.
Saint Louis Metro Police personnel William Douglas, Nick Harbaugh, Dan Osorio, Joe Pierce, Jay Schroeder, Lou Wilson, Cristina Widbin and Sam Zouglas proudly represented SLMPD and welcomed the attendees to the city they serve and protect.
Completing the Command Staff were IPMBA Instructors Susie Ochs of the Lake Saint Louis Police Department and Paul Gordon of the Saint Louis County Police Department.
This fine team was ably lead by conference host committee co-chairs Corporal Ed Bartelme of WUSTL PD and Sergeant Matt Karnowski of the SLMPD. Both dedicated IPMBA Instructors and veteran conference attendees, Matt and Ed proved to be a most complementary duo. Like co-instructors at an IPMBA course, they divided up the conference responsibilities according to each one’s skills, abilities, interests, and available resources. Working out of the Danforth University Center’s Goldberg Formal Lounge – the most palatial Command Post in IPMBA’s history – they orchestrated the myriad logistics into a cohesive whole. This feat was all the more impressive given the shortened planning horizon, the result of them having gamely agreed to host the 2018 Conference instead of the 2019 one when the original 2018 host location withdrew.
Thanks are also due the WUSTL Summer Programs and Conferences staff under the management of Sue Nickrent. The full-time and student staff members ably fielded the requests of several hundred public safety cyclists trying to navigate the campus for the first time.
We would like to thank the SLMPD Explorers for staffing the Bike Check, especially Bobby Redden, who seemed to be present almost as much as our conference host committee co-chairs! In recognition of his 56 hours of service, he was presented with an official IPMBA Conference shirt and was declared an honorary member. He also gained 200 signatures on a petition supporting his promotion to Corporal.
Finally, we appreciate the members of the Gateway Off-Road Cyclists (GORC) for volunteering as trail guides for the off-road riding workshops. We are grateful to Eric Frazier for his efforts to fill all the shifts despite having been called out of town.
Last, but never least, we thank all of you who participated as attendees, instructors, exhibitors, and sponsors. We pride ourselves on offering the best, most complete training for public safety cyclists, and appreciate you placing your confidence in us to deliver on that promise.