Hello from Raleigh, North Carolina, where I will be attending the Institute for Challenging Disorganization conference, which commences tomorrow. I’m absolutely thrilled to be here. In fact, I even planned my annual holiday around it.
(I’ve been visiting Canada and Alaska – such beautiful places – but always keep my organiser’s hat on and have been a keen observer of both good and bad organising practices. I hope to write about those in the future.)
So why, when I am already recognised as an Expert Professional Organiser, would I travel half way around the world to learn more about the organising profession? Well, I am a true believer in learning more. As research is conducted and best practices are developed, I want to be there, learning more.
And even though the conference doesn’t start till tomorrow evening, I have already benefitted from my attendance and my association with some of the smartest organising brains in the business. We hadn’t even arrived at the conference hotel before I made a valuable re-connection. One of the ICD Conference organisers shared some tips with me on the ride from the airport, and I got to glimpse her remarkably slim conference guidebook. We’ll make a date for more in depth sharing later. This will help me enormously as I chair the AAPO 2012 Conference Subcommittee and again I can’t wait to learn more.
AAPO’s next conference will be in Melbourne in July 2012 and if you’re connected to the industry, I highly recommend you attend.
Angela, you are a shining example of a lifelong learner! I’ve talked to a few people who don’t attend conferences, or who sit out on sessions because they “have heard it all before.” Sometimes we have heard it before, but we need a reminder or a refresher – and you just never know when you’ll have an “aha” moment!
Hope to meet you at a conference somewhere, someday.