The Chaos of Conference - Here it Comes!!

I'm going to my regional conference next weekend, so I'm spending lots of time trying to get myself organized. I'm doing three presentations (one of them is a 3-hour Make and Take CMTE), so I have bits and pieces of all sorts of things to coordinate, box up, and keep track of for the 46 mile trip to the conference venue. Two out of the three presentations include creative exploration applications, so I have paper and markers and index cards and file folders and laminating sheets to include...not to mention handouts and samples and all that. Needless to say, my work and crafting desks are covered with bits and pieces of things that I need to keep with me.

I saw a request for conference volunteers, and I really did try to sign up, but my time is going to be full of presenting and preparing for presentations. I'm trying to get over my guilt about not being the most helpful person and recognizing that I am already doing quite a bit for the conference. It is not as easy as I would like, but I am working through it.

In the meantime, I am starting to get excited about my topics and the things that we are going to talk about during conference. I get to see exactly two presentations - one is on supporting professional development through a journal club and the other is on maintaining therapeutic engagement in diverse groups. I have my conference notebook all ready to go - the schedule is taped into the first pages for this year's notes. I also have my list of materials for my Make and Take CMTE and for my other two presentations. I still have to pack up the laminators and laminating film and the sample projects that I am going to display, but I think that I have most of my stuff gathered. I have a good set of pens to keep my ideas organized, and off I go!

At the national conference last year, I did something new for me. I used my AMTA journal (a silver one stamped with our logo that had been sitting around) and set it up like my bullet journal. There is an index in the back so I can easily find notes and ideas. There is a place where I can take notes, keep track of things, and I added a mood tracker.

I had fun coming up with something to help me identify how I was feeling at different times during the conference. If you have never done something like this (and I rarely do in my other journals), it is a visual representation of your emotions at various times. Most folks do a daily indicator, but I know myself at conference time, so I just used this throughout the four days of conference last year. I drew the tree trunk, labeled the branches for dates, and then made a color key for my five emotions - stressed, anxious, intrigued, relaxed, and content. I then colored in a leaf every time I thought about my mood. As you can see, my emotions were all over the place last year. I like this because it helps me figure out what types of things are not the best for me, and what things are good for me. I only had two stressed leaves - one was because my room was perfume soaked and then I had to wait an additional 4 hours before they could give me a new room, and a trip that I made to Walmart made me very stressed as well. I'm not sure why. I think I will include something like this for every conference from now on. Maybe this conference needs a flower garden tracker...I like the idea of my emotions turning into flowers during conference.

I don't often have a chance to go to regional conferences, but I've had the opportunity just recently. Last year, I went to the Western regional conference because it was about 20 minutes away from where my parents live and I figured I could get a trip to California out of region hopping. I enjoyed the experience of being with people from a different region. I was also amused to see how many other folks "region-hopped!" I saw several folks that I know are from other regions taking advantage of Southern California!! This year's conference destination is in Kansas City - only 46 miles away, so it makes sense to stay in the region this year. I only have to take one day off from work - professional time - so it made financial and logical sense to stay with the Midwestern region this time around. I think I may hop next year. I've never been to a Mid-Atlantic conference before. I have been to a Southwestern conference and a Great Lakes conference.

For now, though, it is time to keep going with my regular work schedule until next weekend when I go into the world of conference time and conference expectations. Today's task is to go through my file folder stash at work and pull out the ones that I want to display at conference. I think I'll have about 25-30 examples of things. I'll need to pare it all down so I'm not taking an entire car load to conference with me.

Oooh. I am starting to get excited about all this. Bring on the chaos!!

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