Happy New Year everyone!!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, filled with love and laughter. For me, it was a nice Christmas at home, with my daughter home from college for a whole month. Lots of cooking, baking, spending time with friends, and celebrating the joy of the season!
And January is here, and we’re closing in on the end of the first semester!! Ah, final exams, finishing up projects, and evaluating our work. I hope it goes well for you.
And January means the Winter WACA Board meeting. Assuming the weather (pass conditions) cooperate, the Board will meet in the Tri-Cities, as we finalize our plans for the WACA Conference on March 12-14. We’ll finalize speakers and the conference agenda – check online at wacaonline.org for updates.
Let me know if there is something you’d like for me to bring up at the Board meeting. Or if there is a session topic that you’d particularly like to see.
During Christmas break, I get to do some “relaxing reading”. One of my favorite authors is Robert Fulghum. In his book “From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives”, he chats about conventions. I thought you might enjoy hearing what he writes:
“Consider the typical annual convention of any association.
On the surface of it, we come together to accomplish work, to share ideas, to make plans to lobby society or government on our common behalf. Every gathering, regardless of size, has a formal agenda – a program. Every gathering has business to do, speakers to hear, products to consider, and officers to elect. This work is the stated justification for the gathering. Serious purpose. A way of saying to ourselves that who we are and what we do is important.
Less publicly apparent is another agenda. We go to get away from home and office – to get a break from the ruts and be off the hook of daily routine. We go to see friends and comrades or be with wives and husbands, or to get away from the same. We go to play golf or be a bit of a tourist – to see New Orleans or San Francisco or wherever [TRI- CITIES!!]
We go to get new ideas, new energy, confirmation of who we are and what we do. This is recreation. A serious word – re-creation – a renewal of self. If a convention is truly successful, this is what happened to you.”
I look forward to seeing you in March, my friends. In the meantime, have a great weekend!
Jb
John M. Bittinger, NBCT
WACA Area #8 Representative
Richland High School
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, filled with love and laughter. For me, it was a nice Christmas at home, with my daughter home from college for a whole month. Lots of cooking, baking, spending time with friends, and celebrating the joy of the season!
And January is here, and we’re closing in on the end of the first semester!! Ah, final exams, finishing up projects, and evaluating our work. I hope it goes well for you.
And January means the Winter WACA Board meeting. Assuming the weather (pass conditions) cooperate, the Board will meet in the Tri-Cities, as we finalize our plans for the WACA Conference on March 12-14. We’ll finalize speakers and the conference agenda – check online at wacaonline.org for updates.
- I received a roster of those who have already registered for the conference; conference attendance will be a topic of discussion this weekend. Thanks to those who have already gotten registered. Remember, you can register online. Hotel information is there as well.
- One of our tasks this weekend is the “all-call” for session presenters. I’ve chatted with a number of you already about presenting a session this year. With all of the neat things we do in Area #8, I really hope that we can share our expertise with our colleagues around the state. Thanks to those who have already volunteered; I’ll share your information with Program Coordinator Tammy Caldwell this weekend.
- At the end of the weekend, I’ll probably have a bunch of things to share with you about the conference. But I’m excited about it!! We’ll have some great speakers, some awesome sessions, and – I hope – a few nice surprises.
Let me know if there is something you’d like for me to bring up at the Board meeting. Or if there is a session topic that you’d particularly like to see.
During Christmas break, I get to do some “relaxing reading”. One of my favorite authors is Robert Fulghum. In his book “From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives”, he chats about conventions. I thought you might enjoy hearing what he writes:
“Consider the typical annual convention of any association.
On the surface of it, we come together to accomplish work, to share ideas, to make plans to lobby society or government on our common behalf. Every gathering, regardless of size, has a formal agenda – a program. Every gathering has business to do, speakers to hear, products to consider, and officers to elect. This work is the stated justification for the gathering. Serious purpose. A way of saying to ourselves that who we are and what we do is important.
Less publicly apparent is another agenda. We go to get away from home and office – to get a break from the ruts and be off the hook of daily routine. We go to see friends and comrades or be with wives and husbands, or to get away from the same. We go to play golf or be a bit of a tourist – to see New Orleans or San Francisco or wherever [TRI- CITIES!!]
We go to get new ideas, new energy, confirmation of who we are and what we do. This is recreation. A serious word – re-creation – a renewal of self. If a convention is truly successful, this is what happened to you.”
I look forward to seeing you in March, my friends. In the meantime, have a great weekend!
Jb
John M. Bittinger, NBCT
WACA Area #8 Representative
Richland High School