John Thomas Dodson:
It occurs to me that when you look at the cost of attending the annual conference you have to ask some hard questions. CAN we pay for this and SHOULD we? For me, it was well worth the trip.
I was in a meeting yesterday with an educator planning one of our concerts for junior high and high school students for next season, and I found myself including new ideas I had gotten from the conference. As things went on, we got more and more excited – realizing that we were creating something genuinely innovative for young people. Score one for the session on Social Communities. We’ll be borrowing some ideas from that one…
A conference, or for that matter, the League itself, is as valuable as you choose to make it. Reaching out to old friends, and being open to making new ones creates not only new contacts in the field, but incredible new resources who will respond to an e mail or a phone call - helping you wrap your mind around an issue that needs more wisdom that you feel you have at the moment.
More than that though, being in Chicago helped me remember that the tough times aren’t just local and that I’m a part of something larger. It helps us belong to the entire field. It removes isolation and replaces it with community.
See you next year!
John Thomas Dodson
Music Director, Adrian Symphony
Principal Conductor, Toledo Ballet Theatre
Creative Destruction Blog: www.artsjournal.com/creatived
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