opening general session
Dan Meers
Courageous Leadership鈥擫iving a Life of Influence
Monday, April 27 鈥 8:30鈥10:00 a.m.
On November 23, 2013, Dan Meers came within inches of losing his life while practicing a bungee jump and zip line stunt at Arrowhead Stadium (now known as GEHA Stadium), home of the Kansas City Chiefs. What Dan anticipated as the thrill of a lifetime ended up being the spill of a lifetime. The stunt went terribly wrong, and Dan plummeted 75 feet before crashing into the stadium seats. Miraculously, Dan survived. He spent nine days in the hospital and gained some really big scars. Dan smiles when he says, 鈥淪cars are just tattoos that come with a cool story.鈥
During this powerful keynote, Dan shares his incredible story and the important lessons he learned during his long road to recovery鈥攍essons about courageous leadership, resilience, and living a life of influence, especially when the work is largely behind the scenes and goes unnoticed. With humor, humility, and practical takeaways, Dan connects his journey to what it means to show up in high-stress, high-impact moments, lead when the margin for error is small, and rely on teamwork and a shared mission.
Brief Summary:
- Prioritize and learn to live life for those things that matter most.
- Live a life of influence in your home, workplace, and world.
- Simple investment principles for positively impacting those around you.
- Character, purpose, passion, and the importance of maintaining a positive work environment.
closing general session
Storm Stories: What the Last Two Winters Taught Us About Readiness
Tuesday, April 28 鈥 4:00鈥5:15 p.m.
The past two winters tested snow and ice operations across the country鈥攖hrough prolonged power outages, communication failures, access challenges, staffing strain, and intense public expectations.
In this facilitated closing session, Snow Conference attendees will hear short, real stories from peers who lived through these conditions and then step back to identify what those experiences reveal about readiness moving forward.
This is not a keynote and not a panel. It鈥檚 a guided conversation designed to help you connect conference learning to real-world winter operations鈥攁nd leave with one concrete action you do before next winter.
You鈥檒l leave this session with:
- A clearer understanding of common winter disruption patterns
- Insight from operators, supervisors, and leaders across the profession
- One preparedness action you can take back to your organization
Because the conference doesn鈥檛 really end when we go home鈥攊t ends when we act on what we learned.
speaker
Mike Duffy
Assistant Director鈥揙perations
Cedar Rapids, IA
speaker
Randy Macchi
Director of Public Works
Houston, TX
speaker
Jason Pauling
Street Supervisor
Village of Carol Stream, IL
moderator
Daniel Schacher
Northern Region Maintenance & Operations Manager
Alaska DOT&PF
Thank You to Our Sponsors
