I woke up at my usual time of 5:10am and once again, truly enjoyed having a "leisurely" morning until I had to take photos at the President's Roundtable Breakfast at 7:15.
Here's my bizarre story of the day. I really tried to coordinate my arrival time at the breakfast so that people were seated and the function was reasonably underway. So I left my room at about 7:12 - in order to arrive at 7:15. As usual, I was right on time, took my photos, and then headed over to the Resource Booth. About an hour later, I hear the news that there had been an earthquake at about 7:15. It actually really disappointed me that people on the higher floors of the hotel were better able to feel the earthquake. So I missed it by about THREE MINUTES! I was on ground level and felt...absolutely nothing that I can recall. Have to admit to being disappointed. Especially after hearing tales from people who were on the upper floors of the Marriott (my room is on the 10th floor). Darn it!
Opened the Booth without incident and then moved on to the First General Session. SO hard to believe that the conference was really just STARTING when we feel like we've been here forever. Have to say it was VERY cool to be in the Session with Barbara Morgan as speaker. I have NEVER seen a better attended General Session. People were EVERYWHERE - every seat filled and so many standing up. From what I could observe, Barbara was incredibly gracious and patient about talking with members and having dozens of photos taken. Very cool to see someone of such high stature who places such a strong emphasis on what our teachers are doing. After Barbara was presented with HER gifts, she presented Kendall and Andy with several gifts for ITEA. I am pretty psyched about these being hung up at our office!
Fairly calm day, including a pass through the Exhibit Hall. Maureen reports that she had no major complaints from any exhibitors, which I believe is a first. Took lots of photos.
I met two new members today who made this trip practically worthwhile. It was truly gratifying to be able to tell them about resources that are available to them now that they are members. I even escorted one new member (former engineer - now a middle school teacher) to the IdeaGarden session, so he could get a better feel for the listserv.
Oh - forgot to mention - one of the Program Excellence winners this morning was the program at...Herndon Middle School! I made a point of congratulating the teacher accepting the award. Later he reminded me that we met when he came to our office to purchase some curriculum materials. Oops. Should have remembered that.
Had some mildly contentious issues at the end of the day. I had been worrying about my T&C meeting all day - especially after hearing that several of the participants had been having problems with one another in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Yin decides, somewhat randomly, to collect our cash at about 4:3o. Hmm. Don't we close at 5? As luck would have it, after she departs with our cash for the day, we get slammed with customers. At about this time, I gotta head off to my contentious meeting and I leave Steve in charge, WITH the remaining petty cash. They end up doing another $200 in business, but don't want to tell Yin, since she'll be upset that we've tampered with the petty cash. By this point, I have departed, but apparently the showdown between Steve and Yin comes to a head when she returns and chastises Steve and Linda for having an "inappropriate" amount of cash. He hastens to point out that the booth doesn't close until 5 (and actually today it was apparently more like 5:30) so maybe it's not such a good idea for her to close out our cash at 4:30. According to Linda, it's surprising that I didn't hear Steve from my meeting on the other side of the CC. Yikes! I think tomorrow I may have to have words with Yin, who has been doing things according to her convenience since her arrival.
Okay, so meanwhile, I am in my meeting from hell, which is pretty painful. Trying to get assignments is like pulling teeth. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes, but we finally strong-armed enough people to fill out the publishing year and, more importantly, there is no blow up between the parties I was worried about. Phew. As a result, however, I now owe Charlie McLaughlin two beers.
My hero of the afternoon is Dan Engstrom, who I begged to attend the meeting with some of his graduate student and he DOES IT! Shows up and he and his students take on about five assignments! Dan rocks!
So, now it's about 6:15 and everyone else is at the PATT Reception. I've pretty much missed it so I dump my stuff and decide to wait in the lobby, where I've been told everyone is meeting for dinner. I am pretty bummed I missed it because apparently Barbara Morgan was there and was incredibly gracious once again. Brian tells me that when he spoke with her, she mentioned that she always flips through TTT when she receives it (: ) )!!! He mentioned to her that he wrote a Tootsie Pop activity and she told him that she loved it and read every word. You should have seen his face when he recounted that story! He was in absolute heaven and even got photos of himself with her. I am pretty bummed that I missed all those photos ops!
Finally, my comrades made it to the lobby, where we then had to wait for a table at the hotel restaurant. We had about 11 in our group tonight, including, I think: me, Mo, Lari, Tamara,
Roger and Kay, Steve and Linda, Brian, Yin, and Susan. Had to laugh when Susan arrived at the last minute, assessed the situation, went into the restaurant, and we ended up with a private dining room ON THE DOUBLE! It pays to eat dinner with Susan! We had a GREAT dinner, even though I had to sit next to Steve, who had me laughing to the point of tears (see photo).After dinner, the rest of the group had plans to go to the Mormon Tabernacle to see the choir rehearse. Meanwhile MY plan was to go to bed. However, upon exiting the restaurant, I bump into none other than Charlie McLaughlin, who I DEFINITELY owe two beers to. So he and
I, along with our International Luncheon speaker, Steve Petrina, and a doctoral student from Va Tech, head over the bar. I manage to stay awake long enough to pay off my debt to Charlie (proof is the photo at right).Now it's about two hours PAST when I had planned to be in bed and I have to roll it out early tomorrow for the FTE Breakfast.
Good night!
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