Wah, Wah, Wah!
Okay, I'm prefacing this with the concept that I am still very ill and not able to make it through a 4.5 hour church job without getting kicked out of CHURCH by the United Methodist Women, so I may be overreacting a bit to something that I read on Music Therapists Unite, but here's how I feel.
The folks over at Metro Music Therapy did a "survey" recently about attitudes of therapists about conference. It contained three questions which should have been only two questions since the first question led to the others. Only 100 responses were tabulated which does not really indicate the entire survey pool (there were 182 respondents). There was no indication of whether respondents were AMTA members or citizens of the US, so it is unknown whether respondents would actually be likely to attend the AMTA conference. The comments are most revealing (I find that to be true on most surveys - always read the comments). Many of the comments indicate non-attendance due to financial issues, but just as many reveal that there are conflicts or life happenings that occur at the same time.
In all honesty, if I had designed this "survey," I would have left the last two questions open-ended rather than having one be a ranked question with no opportunity to choose another option or write in "other" as in the design of the current last question. I also would have asked about current membership. I would have also asked about attendance at regional conferences and other professional conferences.
For me, the best part is always the controversy that comes up when "results" are posted. "Share this." The Board of Directors will not be surprised by the comments or results offered in this "survey" - they've heard them all before. As things go, our conferences are pretty comparable when it comes to other conferences (then the other arguments come into play - "we don't earn as much as other professionals," "there aren't as many of us as there are SLP's," etc. I wonder if the sheer numbers of SLPs is why their conferences are more expensive or equal to ours... To attend the ASHA conference this year, with early-bird registration, you have to pay $385. Hotel rates range from $114.00 to $209.00 for single occupancy. "I don't get paid as much as an SLP?" Do you have a Masters degree? No. That may be part of why you don't get the same amount. - Personally, I get paid significantly more than the SLPs that I've worked with over the years. That's why they leave. Old arguments, people. I've heard them all!!).
Whew. I obviously need to breathe here. I'm getting all het up about imaginary arguments that are not a reality at all!
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathing...
For me, the cost of conference is lots. The money I spend on attending the National Conference every year makes it difficult to go on two-week vacations to the Bahamas. It makes it rough to buy a brand new guitar whenever I get the urge. It means that I don't live in a house. I rent an apartment instead. These are the life-choices that I make because I think attending National Conference is worth it for me. I understand that others cannot attend. That's fine. I choose to attend, and I enjoy that time like no other time of the year. I would love to go to a city where hotel costs were about $89.00 for double occupancy. I would love to be able to drive to every single conference (like I can this year), but that's not really all that feasible for an association that has members around the world - someone would always have to travel if the conference was always here. Folks would complain about Kansas in November all the time!
The take away for me is this. We all have to make our own choices. If you are unable to budget to accommodate the costs of conference, then you are not able to do so. So, don't go. If you are able to budget those costs, make your decisions. Is attending conference really that important to you? Would you rather use that money on something else? Then do it!!
Rant over for the moment. Fever increasing, I can tell. Yet another sick day right now...
The folks over at Metro Music Therapy did a "survey" recently about attitudes of therapists about conference. It contained three questions which should have been only two questions since the first question led to the others. Only 100 responses were tabulated which does not really indicate the entire survey pool (there were 182 respondents). There was no indication of whether respondents were AMTA members or citizens of the US, so it is unknown whether respondents would actually be likely to attend the AMTA conference. The comments are most revealing (I find that to be true on most surveys - always read the comments). Many of the comments indicate non-attendance due to financial issues, but just as many reveal that there are conflicts or life happenings that occur at the same time.
In all honesty, if I had designed this "survey," I would have left the last two questions open-ended rather than having one be a ranked question with no opportunity to choose another option or write in "other" as in the design of the current last question. I also would have asked about current membership. I would have also asked about attendance at regional conferences and other professional conferences.
For me, the best part is always the controversy that comes up when "results" are posted. "Share this." The Board of Directors will not be surprised by the comments or results offered in this "survey" - they've heard them all before. As things go, our conferences are pretty comparable when it comes to other conferences (then the other arguments come into play - "we don't earn as much as other professionals," "there aren't as many of us as there are SLP's," etc. I wonder if the sheer numbers of SLPs is why their conferences are more expensive or equal to ours... To attend the ASHA conference this year, with early-bird registration, you have to pay $385. Hotel rates range from $114.00 to $209.00 for single occupancy. "I don't get paid as much as an SLP?" Do you have a Masters degree? No. That may be part of why you don't get the same amount. - Personally, I get paid significantly more than the SLPs that I've worked with over the years. That's why they leave. Old arguments, people. I've heard them all!!).
Whew. I obviously need to breathe here. I'm getting all het up about imaginary arguments that are not a reality at all!
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathing...
For me, the cost of conference is lots. The money I spend on attending the National Conference every year makes it difficult to go on two-week vacations to the Bahamas. It makes it rough to buy a brand new guitar whenever I get the urge. It means that I don't live in a house. I rent an apartment instead. These are the life-choices that I make because I think attending National Conference is worth it for me. I understand that others cannot attend. That's fine. I choose to attend, and I enjoy that time like no other time of the year. I would love to go to a city where hotel costs were about $89.00 for double occupancy. I would love to be able to drive to every single conference (like I can this year), but that's not really all that feasible for an association that has members around the world - someone would always have to travel if the conference was always here. Folks would complain about Kansas in November all the time!
The take away for me is this. We all have to make our own choices. If you are unable to budget to accommodate the costs of conference, then you are not able to do so. So, don't go. If you are able to budget those costs, make your decisions. Is attending conference really that important to you? Would you rather use that money on something else? Then do it!!
Rant over for the moment. Fever increasing, I can tell. Yet another sick day right now...
I'm going to conference! I won a scholarship!
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