Final Word About Conference 2009

Jason Nicholson:

As I'm sitting at my desk looking at the sea of brochures from fellow
orchestras, I have to say that we all do a pretty d*mn good job with the
resources we have. Especially Groups 3-8. A lot of us don't have a staff
of 10,5 or even 2. We manage to do what we do with what we have. We all
should be proud.

I've been thinking of all the Toolboxes, Perspectives, beer, Roundtable
discussions, Sessions, beer, and everything else that went on in
Chicago. When I looked at my "to do" for the day, it didn't look like a
lot, but when I got going, talking to vendors, friends (new and old),
concerts and all the sessions, it got a little crazy.

There were some sessions that I was thinking, "Really, you could've
handed out an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper and called it a day because I'm
really not getting anything out of this." But then again, the session
wasn't all about me, there are others in there might have gotten some
little nugget of enlightenment. Instead of complaining about what I'm
not learning, I needed to focus on what I could be learning. Whether it
was from Mr. or Mrs. Power Point presenter, someone from Group 8 or the
big dogs in Group 1, there is ALWAYS something you can take from all of
them.

I grade this conference an A-. The minus simply because I wanted more
toolboxes/sessions and less morning concerts (which were awesome!). But
like I said, the conference isn't all about me.

Good luck to all my fellow orchestras on their 2009-2010 season!

Best,
Jason Nicholson
Marketing Director
Austin Symphony Orchestra