by Janet Dickelman
As I write this, I’m sitting at the airport waiting for my flight home from Schaumburg. I hope you all had a wonderful convention experience, whether you joined us virtually or in person.
As always, it gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of so many who made the convention a success!
Convention Committee
Each of you handle your duties independently and efficiently. You make my life so much easier! As I was whisked from arrivals to my gate by Margarine and her wonderful airport volunteers, I was reminded of how much our volunteers do to ensure that our conference and convention runs smoothly.
Margarine Beaman, who so ably handles our accessibility at the hotel as well as meeting everyone as they arrive and depart from the airport, you are amazing! People loved the orange contrast tape on the steps!
Speaking of volunteers, Sally Benjamin spends hours recruiting volunteers prior to the convention and then is always on call to greet our volunteers, provide them with orientation and make sure they have the information they need to assist everyone at the hotel!
What a great exhibit hall we had with Michael Smitherman at the helm! Did you enjoy the Sunday evening exhibit hall hours, the recorded exhibitor loop and the exhibitor open house on June 20th?
Once again Rhonda Trott outdid herself in arranging our excellent lineup of tours. From beach day to museums, we had them all!
Vicky Prahin handled the information desk remotely with her sister Karen Spry on-site, and our newest committee addition, Cecily Nipper, spending time at the information desk along with giving out CEU codes, sending Zoom links to presenters, and helping where needed.
Our countless Zoom hosts and streamers kept things going remotely. Rick Morin and his cadre handled our A/V needs. Everyone raved about how good the sound was this year.
The host committee, chaired by Ray Campbell, did a great job with their welcome to Schaumburg party, procuring local exhibitors, getting items for registration bags, giving out door prizes, and whatever else was asked of them.
A huge thank-you to host committee member Andrea Conner, who suggested our awesome banquet speaker, Louie Sharp. If you missed him, be sure to listen when the podcast of the banquet is available!
Our wonderful staff does so much to make the convention a success, from interim executive director Dan Spoone’s leadership, Kelly Gasque as communications manager sending out convention-related emails during the convention, and the Minneapolis staff comprised of Nancy Becker, Nancy Christine Feela and Chris Sawyer, who have been doing all things convention for months!
There are too many others to mention by name who played a part in the convention. Please know that, although you aren’t acknowledged in this article, you were a huge help!
Thanks to all of you for your convention feedback and suggestions. They will definitely be considered.
Looking Ahead
Now our thoughts turn to Jacksonville, Florida and the Hyatt Riverfront Hotel. Conference and convention dates are July 5-12, 2024. Travel to Jacksonville and hotel details will be provided in the October ACB E-Forum.
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 2023 convention, you do not need to re-subscribe to the list.
For any convention-related questions, please contact Janet Dickelman, convention chair, at (651) 428-5059, or via e-mail, [email protected].