First, I want to say how absolutely blown away I was from this conference. Krashen, Kumaravadivelu, Folse: incredible plenaries!
I set out almost 2 years ago to create a conference that would give participants the best possible experience they paid for; not the usual, same old speakers.
To be honest, I had NO idea the speakers would be THIS engaging. Chuck Sandy was just enthralling; Nick Groom made nerd stuff seem sooooo cool, Gavin Dudeney really showed the importance of technology, as did Ken Beatty. Keith Folse - INCREDIBLE! Who would've thought that grammar teaching could be so fun? Keith, obviously... Muna Morris-Adams was great, Rob Dickey repped KOTESOL like no other could; Tom Farrell, the perennial crowd favourite didn't disappoint with his always affable sense of humour; Setsuko Toyama, who I thought of when I formulated the 'teacher workshop template' when I asked the inviteds to do extra stuff, was just....FABULOUS! Krashen was of course the crowd draw, and at times, I thought we were at a revivalist church - outbursts of "Oh Yeah!" kept me in wait for a "Hallelujah!" Certainly Dr Krashen hammered home the need for extensive reading, multiple languages, and of course at least 3 cups of coffee a day!
My Krashen encounter came in the elevator Friday evening, at Mapo hotel. I keep forgetting how tall I am, and I was expecting a man 6 feet tall. In the elevator, diminutive and unassuming in his all black apparel, I recognised the glasses. He seemed rather jet lagged, but I had to poke into his mind space - a zone we build around ourselves on a elevator to avoid contact with others), "Dr Krashen, I am soooo stoked for your presentation tomorrow!" I said in an Oh so Valley Girl kind of way. He jerked around, awakened from his alter-place, "Really?" He asked, incredulous, as though he wondered what he was even doing there, but the sense of self deprecation seemed to seep through. Certainly, he did not disappoint the next day - quite the crowd player, a great presenter.
I think from a participant point of view, things ran very smoothly. Of course behind the scenes the crises were never ending: the internet "guy" shuffles in 3 hours LATE, 2 hours into the conference, so the morning presentations had no internet. Volunteers slept in, many not showing up until well after 9am, when 730 am was when we needed them most. From a venue perspective, I wondered why I spent so much of my budget on tips and "overtime" here and there, when it seems they couldn't be bothered to do their jobs. Still, Sookdae is a great venue, and VERY reasonably priced. The question is, what is the value worth when we annoy 20 presenters early the first morning. That said, if you can't deal with tech difficulties and have contingencies, you shouldn't be presenting at a conference... Another tick off was that internet wasn't up in the plenary hall until about 2 minutes before the opening ceremonies. This would have been fine, except I needed a laptop for my speech. I could have gone without, but the visual effects of my prezi were quite instrumental to the comedic timing. So as we are hooking up the computer, we realised that there was no Flash Player - integral for a prezi. You'd think that computers we had rented would at least have ppt and flash. It's laptop software 101. Oh well, so we install it, just as the Worker's Band came on. ERROR. More drums. ERROR. Dancing, singing, drumming. ERROR. Marilyn, the woman who recruiting our Opening Ceremonies Band tells them to do another round- like an air traffic controller telling a plane to hold the pattern. FINALLY, it loads. We download my program, and viola! The audience got an AMAZING cultural display, and I almost got an anyeurism ;)
The winner of the Franklin Spell Event - the 'World Championship Spelling Bee for Non-Native English Speakers" was yet AGAIN a young Korean girl. Yeo Jin Jung gave a 5 minute speech on her experiences through the whole process, and by the end had the audience in stitches - a natural comedian. Deadpan humour - my favourite.
Then our illustrious President got up for his address. "What is a para didgem?" He asked. Funny as hell! He continued, "Before this conference, I had no idea was a para didgem was. Do you know - hands up those of you who knew what a para didgem was without needing an dictionary?" First time funny, the second OK, the third: The Emperor's New Clothes. I normally would not have found it funny, but a) he had already been corrected on it at a conference committee meeting in August (if he had bothered to come to more meetings as the OP Liaison, he may have actually had it sink it) and b) he NEVER once consulted me about anything relating to our conference. You don't wanna play nice, then you can go play with ASS and UMPTION. Unfortunately, "Paradidgem" will be the watchword of this conference.
I then went up to explain the importance of a conference theme, and the relevance of "Pushing our Paradigms; Connecting with Culture". I won't waste blogspace here rehashing it, but I would be more than happy to send anyone interested my speech notes. The prezi went off without a hitch, and all in all, Opening Ceremonies out of the way, and that is the first hurdle.
I think the highlight for me was Dr Kumaravadivelu's speech on raising cultural consciousness. His subsequent workshop on Sunday was just perfect as a follow up to his plenary. I think for me though, spending Monday morning with Dr Kumar and my parents (who flew in from Canada for the Conference) was an unforgettable experience. We meandered through Insadong and up to the imperial palace for the changing of the guard. To be around such a learned man, so wise and intelligent, I am just so energized about what we do because of him. Just Incredible. An experience I will cherish.
The conference was hugely successful in spite of me; my conference team was just incredible. I had a Program Director, Phil Owen, who really 'flavoured' the conference by implementing a much more detailed and leveled vetting system that ensured a better conference experience. Vivien Slezak ran a great Guest Services, from bag distribution to presenter services (also the ubiquitous Maria Pinto), with all the Presenter airport pickups and last minute screw ups, Viv was my bottom of the ninth bases loaded pitcher; Curtis and his team in Support Services, with Mike and Rodney as Volunteer Services Co-ordinators (actually CO). They bit off a lot as ConComm rookies, but weathered it well. They did everything we asked of them, and never ONCE complained. Louisa van Dijk, my take-charge take-no-shit Reg Director along with Grace Wang handling the cash - dynamic duo if ever there were one...Sean my go-to Game Day guy as Tech Services; Kathy and Jo pulled off everything gastronomical. Maybe that should be the new name: VP Gastronomy. Jo ACTUALLY pulled off the Banquet AND the VIP President's Reception. Considering there was ZERO help from the president, and Jo was in Busan, it was just incredible. I was truly thrilled with Suji's reception Friday night, and if it weren't for Jo actually BEING there, I think her strong arming saved us from getting soaked. That is ONE incredible negotiator. Kathy did the Volunteer food, and THAT is the gas in the tank. Not to mention, her work liaising with the catering company Saturday night - Swiss House, was instrumental in putting on a great dinner.
Bellies full, I have to think of my CNS -Central Nervous System - that was Alisha Kwon. I wanted to call her position "glue" because that is what she did: she was the mortar that stuck the structure together. She was our Special Projects Coordinator, and without her, all the Swiss cheese holes on game day would NEVER have gotten filled. From accomodations, to finding counters (like umpires use) to helping print off certificates...She was my superstar. Ingrid made the stage work, Jaeho and Bob were unsung heroes dealing with OPs, and I have tonnes of other people to thank: Brian and Tammy, our Ambassadors - our face to the lost and worried participants; Allison Bill, like Maria - just everywhere. Of course there is my side kick and padawan, Stafford. There isn't much he could learn from me; he really picked up the slack and I have EVERY confidence he will run a tight ship next year and an even greater conference.
Dr Yeum was my emissary to the venue - Sookdae. Sometimes few words are best, lest they cloud the effect of meaning. Suffice it to say, without her, there would have been NO venue.
I of course have to thank Dave Shaffer; my shrink, my uncle, my father, my brother, my mentor my "Mr Money Bags". He was way more than a Financial Director - being "neighbours" at work, I would go see him at all hours (and I mean ALL hours) and he was always there, ready to hear, help and handle. Without Dave, I would have been rudderless and without a mast.
I missed a tonne of names, but know that each and everyone of you on the Committed (Gina, Mingi, MiKyoung), the vetters, the tech team, stage hands, and most of all the volunteers. I felt like I didn't matter because of the great team I had. That shows how wonderful of a crew you all are.
There was a very troubling note at the end, AFTER my conference was over, and that was the unpalatable affair called the ABM. So much infighting, so much manipulation and injustice, and cheating, and lying, and just too many people who are willing to sit idly by thinking about sunshine and rainbows and how we have to have confidence that things will sort themselves out, while the very evil that pervades uses that attitude as its license to spread its rot. Reminiscent of Zimbabwe, but to my relevance - Rwanda. I think of Edmund Burke who said, "All that is required for evil to succeed, is for good men to do nothing." Do not stop the fight against wrong, and continue the upward march of humanity.
After all was said, lied about and deviated, my conscience was clear and certainly the weight of responsibility of putting on the best conference in recent memory leapt from my shoulders with such force, that it sucked all emotion out of me. It was as though a vacuum pulled at my sinuses; I spontaneously broke out in tears - tears of joy and pride.
My Pecha Kucha on the History of the English Language:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIPyzGmvJdw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Interviews with our Invited Speakers:
http://koreabridge.net/kotesol/conference-conversations-2011-kotesol-international-conference
No comments:
Post a Comment