by Janet Dickelman
Our first-ever hybrid convention combined in-person, Zoom and ACB Media, and was a huge success. We did something that local A/V people in Omaha told us wasn’t done, but ACB did it!
A huge thank-you to Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager, ably assisted by the entire media team and Ryan Cordell; they were definitely “Here, There, and Everywhere!” Deb Lewis spent countless hours setting up Zoom links for all the presenters, dealing with last-minute changes and additions. Cindy Hollis and Kolby Garrison did a masterful job organizing the Zoom hosts.
The hotel staff at the Hilton and those at the convention center were extremely helpful and friendly. The host committee, chaired by Mark Bulger, did a great job with their Beatles “Come Together” welcome party, procuring local exhibitors, getting items for registration bags and whatever else was asked of them.
As always it gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the convention committee. Margarine, Sally, Michael, Rhonda and Vicky, you handle your duties independently and efficiently; you make my life so much easier. We all benefited from the wonderful airport volunteers Margarine procured, and her tireless work to make everything as accessible as possible. Rhonda’s tours were outstanding. She works very hard to make sure we have fun and accessible places to visit. Michael and the exhibit hall — this year, in addition to handling the in-person exhibit hall, he organized the virtual exhibitors’ loop, our Zoom exhibitor overview and even a number to call to leave messages for our exhibitors. Vicky ran the information desk, answering all your questions and reuniting you with your lost items. Sally recruited and organized our wonderful volunteers.
Thanks also to the individuals who handled telephone registrations and to those of you who answered the phone for the virtual information desk. The Minneapolis and Alexandria staffs as always were extremely helpful performing many convention-related tasks. I worked most closely with Nancy Becker and her staff, who spent months preparing for the convention and working nonstop during convention week.
To those of you who participated in the convention either in person or virtually, thank you for your support and feedback.
Now our thoughts turn to Schaumburg, Ill. and the Renaissance Hotel. The 2023 conference and convention dates are June 30 through July 7. Travel to Schaumburg and hotel details will be provided in my next article.
Staying in Touch
The conference and convention announce list will be filled with information. To subscribe to the list, send a blank e-mail to [email protected]. If you received updates for the 2022 convention, you do not need to subscribe to the list.