Elegant Dessert from the Gala Banquet

For many years, when I taught social studies in a fifth grade classroom, it was common acceptance to believe that there a few basic necessities in life that everyone needs in order to survive, such as food, water, shelter, and clothing.  However, if there was one overarching theme of the recent Voice 2010 event, I would say that the one word that was central to me was “connections.”  I don’t mean who knows who, I truly mean how we thrive by learning and sharing ideas with each other.  There was a deep sense of community that hovered within the conference that allowed many of us to connect as friends.  I was struck by how much better our professional survival is when we realize we are all evolving.  Cooperation is always much better than competition.  No one person holds all the knowledge, be it in the areas of  technology, community, or education.  Those are the three themes around which the conference topics were developed.   Yes, I must admit the guest speakers were plentiful and first-rate.  But, some of my best conversations were one-to-one with VO folks in the exhibit hall or during a break after the official sessions.  In fact, one conversation in the lobby hallway with the talented Jeffrey Kafer led to a published cartoon about name tags!

Penny Abshire and James Alburger spearheaded a phenomenal team to create a dream conference.  But how did they pull it off?  They developed their own goals, then put their plan into action.  They shared their ideas with others, they assembled a likeminded team, they networked with presenters and attendees alike, and most of all, they remained open to the process and dedicated the time needed to make it happen.    We can learn a lot by their example.  No one reaps the dessert without first getting the right ingredients for the rest of the meal.  I’d say they succeeded by creating quite a banquet of ideas for the rest of us!