Rocky Bleier was not very big and not very fast, but he was an incredibly determined athlete when the Pittsburgh Steelers picked him late in the 1968 draft. Before he could prove himself as a rookie, he was drafted again – this time for combat duty in Vietnam.
A few months later, crippled by enemy rifle fire and grenade wounds in both legs, Bleier faced his biggest challenge. He could barely walk…he certainly couldn’t run. To ever play professional football seemed impossible.
But Rocky Bleier did the impossible and became one of the Steelers’ top leading ground-gainers, passing the 1,000-yard rushing mark in one season, contributing to four Super Bowl victories and consistently making the big play during important games with uncanny predictability.
He is in demand as a motivational speaker, motivating audiences in a wide variety of organizations, corporations, and universities. Bleier sees parallels between the challenges he faced in the past and the challenges all business people face in today’s crowded, competitive marketplace.
His speech, “Be the Best You Can Be,” motivates audiences to keep on striving for greater accomplishments. He employs a dynamic style with real-life stories and brings it together with a warm, self-reflective humor to which audiences can relate.
The 65th Annual Conference preliminary schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, September 22
9:00 am – Golf Outing Tee Off at The Wilds Golf Club
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Opening Reception
Thursday, September 23
7:30-8:30 am – Breakfast
8:30-9:30 am – Presentation by Doug Anderson
10 am – Depart City Highlights Tour (spouse tour)
10:30 am -1 pm – Tour and Lunch at Tri-Star Engine Supply
2 – 4:30 pm – Tour Reviva
Friday, September 24
8 -9 am – Breakfast and Tour Recap
9 -10 am – Lock-N-Stitch presentation by Gary Reed
10 am – Depart for Mall of America (spouse tour)
10:15-11 am – Lean Manufacturing by Duane Wanner of Reviva
11 am – 12:15pm – Round Table – “You Don’t Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression"
12:30 pm – Bus departs for Artic Cat/Boxed Lunch
1:45-3:30 pm – Artic Cat Tour
7 pm – Dinner and Keynote Speaker Rocky Bleier
For more information or to register call 417-998-5057 or email Nancie Boland, [email protected]. Please note the deadline for hotel reservations is Wednesday, August 11. The hotel has another conference in the hotel at the same time so please be sure to make your reservations by this date. For more information about PERA visit www.pera.org. 
