Conference ends

WHEW! We made it to the finish line. Day 4 was hitch-free, short of the missing jacket never picked up. I was finally able to relax and enjoy it all. The first thing Tadson and I said to each other when we saw each other was "OK. We know all the speakers are here today."

So not only were the speakers all here, but I heard many happy things as well. All of them felt to me like they were discussing our futures, what to expect next. Digital Storytelling got a huge amount of interest, so much that many more came to the afternoon session. Fascinating stuff. Adobe showed off their new toys. Garrick Chow from lynda.com was great and many said great things about Propeller Communications too. A little something for everyone, I hope.

So I'm so totally thrilled, well, that it's over, but even more so that we had such a great crowd. And not the size, necessarily, but the enthusiasm and energy was as good as I remember at a conference. When you plan one of these babies, you can only control so much. You can ask people to speak, but then they have to be the ones to put in the time and energy to give a great talk. You can book a hotel, but if they aren't up to the job, well, you can't fix that all the time either. And you can invite people to the party, but unless they come ready and willing to see the speakers, participate in the activities and willing to mingle and meet and converse (and I know you designer types could lock yourself in a room and say, blog all day), unless they are willing to play, well, you don't have a great conference. So, again, getting sappy here, but it truly is the attendee that makes the conference.

So all I can hope is that you give Randall Cole the same enthusiasm and energy you brought to Savannah. He's a great guy and he's been thinking for a long time already about next year. So tell him what you want to see. Shoot him an email with your thoughts. Again, sappy here, but UCDA really does belong to the members. So help UCDA be what YOU want.

See you in Seattle! And I'll continue to blog as long as I have conference news to blog.

Keep in touch!

Christine