Official Day 2 of ASHA 2011

Today was packed full of activities, learning, and networking. I made the concious choice that I would begin my day early and take some down time during the afternoon so that I could attend the Awards Ceremony. I began my sessions at 8AM. Knowing that I had students presenting a poster in the 10-11:30 block. The attendees were all abuzz about what they day might bring, and recapping the highlights of the day before. I enjoyed my 2 hour seminar, and thought my students represented their work and our university weel. I then used the lunch time to network with other professionals and catch up with friends. It was just after lunch that I got to view my first in person flash mob. "Thriller" by Michael Jackson was blaring just outside of the Exhibit Hall where all ove the vendors were located, and of course when you hear loud music unexpectedly you gravitate towards it right? Well turns out there were about 40-50 people carrying out the legendary choreography. I have heard and viewed on news channels and through YouTube different flash mobs, but this is the first one that I have gotten to experience first hand. Way to go, whoever coordinated that...a fun surprise at the ASHA convention. Then I loaded on one of the ASHA shuttles back to my hotel, to change into casual clothing, and explore San Diego a little. I have to get on my soapbox about casual clothing for a minute. I really don't understand how professionals can come to a convention where it is a group of professionals and arrive in jeans and a t-shirt. Trust me, I am not a huge fan of dress shoes (I classify my Birkenstocks in my dress shoe category, but know that this is indeed a stretch). The ASHA website and ASHA's perspective that attire for theis convention is buisness casual. I agree. We are all here in a professional context. Now, do I think it would be fun for ASHA to designate a day as "wear your school/work logo," but they haven't. I did not mind the casual wear during the flash mob, but I can tell you many of thoese who participated in the flash mob then went into the bathroom and changed back into the business casual. Okay, back to my ASHA recap... I decided to stroll through the GasLamp district. It was fun, and exactly as it is described: an area of many food choices, familiar stores as well as local shops. I attempted some Christmas shoppinng. I don't like to get all caught up in all of the tourist stuff, but there are fun things that are simply San Diego. I then expored the Seaport Village area. As stated in a previous post, I am a fan of water. I think there is indeed something to the whole fung shei (i know probably misspelled) concept, but being around all 4 elements, especially as they naturally occur in nature is calming. Seaport Village is a fun place to just sit on a bench and people watch. It is evident that it is a complete mixture of local and toursists. I have to say for the record, that the locals in San Diego are very pleansant and helpful and kind. At about 5 o'clock I decided that it was time to take a little down time. I ventured back to my hotel, flipped on the news for a little while, and then it was time to think about getting something to eat. My only real "negative" comment about this year's convention is the pre-paid lunch boxes in the exhibit hall. I enjoyed the chicken salad in a pita, but the Asian chicken and noodles today, well it just wasn't that great in my opinion. And there are no choices, I get having either meat or vegetarian is simpler and makes people less cranky and uptight about which mean they got, but I was starving because I didn't really think lunch was stellar. I decided to forego on the awards ceremony. It is always a great event to attend, and well done. There were two people from the University of Kansas gettings awards, and that was awesome. Sometimes, being at ASHA is about learning one's limits. I knew that if I put on my "business casual" attire, I would become grouchy, so I made the best choice for me and my limits. So it was off to find something to eat. Then off to the KU gathering to celebrate the accomplishments of current faculty and alumnus that received awards from the association. Always fun to see all of the Jayhawks gather together. Diane Write-Cook knows how to organize and coordinate a gathering! Then, it was time for dinner at 9:30 PM. Dinner along the water was good, even at the late hour. But by the time dinner was over I think everyone I was with was ready to call it a day. Another fun-filled, packed day at the ASHA 2011 Convention...

Offical Day 1 of 2011 ASHA

How to begin my entry about complete Day 1 at the ASHA convention...well my roomates for the event did the good healthy thing and got up for a run along the water today on a nice paved path. I chose to skip this event, as I am in taper mode for a marathon on Sunday. One perk about staying at the Embassy Suites in San Diego is the fact that they have cooked to order breakfast. Nothing like starting the day out with getting in all of the food groups at no extra charge. Nothing quite like getting in that first jolt of caffeine before immersing onself in the modge podge of 12000 professionals in the San Diego Convention Center. ASHA elected to have an opening session to kick off the convention. I chose to attend in order to support this concept. I thought the opening session was great It was nice to have the free coffee and hot tea, and to have a greeting to all, a true description of the theme for the convention, and some inspiring presenters to get everyone in the right frame of mind. Following the opening session, I elected to visit the poster session area. I was pleasantly surprise to find the new lounging areas. I had scheduled to meet with some fellow university professors, and really found the faculty/researcher lounge area to be conducive to networking and information sharing. I feel that learning how to navigate and time manage an ASHA convention is a learned art. I have had to take on the motto "if you don't go you won't know what you've missed." The nice part about ASHA is it has "gone green" and handouts for a majority of the sessions are available online to all participants. If I were to try to attend as many sessions I could on topics that I found interesting, which I have indeed attempted in years' past, I get grumpy, exhausted, and wind up not retaining much of the information that was disseminated. Therefore, I try to plan to attend 4 hours of learning sessions a day, at least 1 poster session group, and spend the rest of the time either enjoying the city, networking, or visiting the exhibitors. Ah..the exhibit hall. I may have to save my thoughts, feelings, and experiences about the exhibit hall for tomorrow's entry, or possibly even Saturday's entry. I walked away from the convention today with feelings of accomplishment, growth, and fond moments of laughter with colleagues and friends. I feel that the first full day of the convention went well. I have to really give the planners and coordinators of this years' convention my great applause, as the number of volunteers who are familiar with both the specific location of the convention meetings and the city itself have been so pleasant and helpful. Throughout the entire day I was taken aback by how kind and insighful the people at the San Diego convention center have been. It is awesome to see locals have true pride in their city, and really have a genuine desire to share information and help relieve total strangers frustrations. It is time to rest up in order to make the most out of tomorrow's endeavors.

Getting to the ASHA Convention

Apparantly, I am not good enough! (yes Matt this opening is just for you) I applied to be an "official blogger" for the American Speech Hearing Association (ASHA) national convention taking place in San Diego, California from November 17-19. However, I was not one of the selected few. Given my hobby of creative narrative writing (www.bocabear.blogspot.com), I had some friends encourage that I go ahead and compile an "unofficial" blog about the ASHA convention. I thought this sounded like a brilliant idea. I will tell you upfront that I will not be able to include pictures until after I return home and the ASHA convention is over, but I will indeed try to take some photographs to depict the happenings of this convention. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ASHA convention, let me just summarize it in terms of it is about 11,000 women and 1000 men who are in the field of either speech-language pathology or audiology coming together in one location. Now I'm sure you can imagine the chatter that goes on during this convention with all of these specialists in how people hear and talk. Each year, ASHA takes place in a different city. This year the city happens to be San Diego. No complaints from me, mind you, any opportunity to spend time near water I find pleasant. As I prepared to venture on my journey to ASHA, I find this time of year a good opportunity to reflect upon my career choice as a speech-language pathologist. As I boarded the plane in Tulsa, Oklahoma early on Wednesday morning, I couldn't help but try to let my mind wander to the fact that I get to go on a mini-vacation, where I get to hang out with many others who have so many similiar interests and backgrounds as myself. It does not take long for these fleeting thoughts of vacation to pass, yes the adventure to ASHA has many fun times that are vacation-worthy, but I must really begin to think about what it is I hope to get out of this tremendous opportunity. I chose a book related to the field of speech pathology to read during this journey, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". I should digress for a moment and state that I have a tremendous passion for understanding alternative modes of communication, interaction, and intervention. I have always loved technology. I began my college career striving to become a computer science or electrical engineer. I missed the daily human interaction, and collaboration within the field of engineering, and this is how became to be a speech-language pathologist. Once I landed in Dallas, I had a several hour layover, so I took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat (trying whole heartedly to transition to pacific time). Then I proceeded to my gate area. It was at this point in time I knew that although the convention doesn't formally begin until 8:30 AM on Thursday, it was starting right there in the airport terminal at DFW. I listened quietly as students, not any that I knew personally, excitedly shared information about their future profession with strangers that had no connection to the field. The networking had begun. One thing that I am personally reminded of quite frequently is, you never know who you will encounter or where that will either 1) change your life as a professional, or 2) change your life personally. All I could think is "wow these students are going to learn so much about themselves and what they want out of this profession in the next 3-4 days". During my long flight from DFW to San Diego, I enjoyed watching the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". I was very thankful to have read the book first, but enjoyed putting myself in a professional on vacation state of mind. Upon arrival at the San Diego airport, my personal and professional lives came together. I always enjoy the opportunity to engage and catch up with past friends, colleagues, and mentors. I will never forget those who have mentored me throughout both my school and through my career. I hope to have many more mentors throughout my professional career and really hope that one day I can be one who mentors someone else in a such a meaningful way as those who have mentored me. I always look forward to Wednesday evening at the ASHA convention. It is the time to catch up, to gossip, to introduce, to have fun with friends who also happen to be professionals in speech pathology or audiology. So I will end this blog entry with this...I am looking forward to learning, teaching, and gathering from other professionals. I have planned out my learning opportunities and prioritized them as I see fit. The theme for this year's ASHA convention is "Beacons of Inspiration". I know that I will be reflecting and seeking for those ideas, concepts and people who inspire me throughout the next several days, and will hold on to these 3 days for the next 365 days in my practice as a speech-language pathologist.