The ACDA Michigan 2014 Fall Conference was a great and weird experience for me. Great because it’s always valuable to reconnect with colleagues, share trench stories and get inspired. Weird because I was missing half of my brain.
My wife and I have been attending conferences together since January of 2000. At this point, our many shared experiences mean we can communicate in shorthand about the conferences and cover ground quickly. It also means that we process our conference experience together. I had numerous conversations during the ACDA conference, but it was profoundly odd to need to use complete sentences and finish all the thoughts I started. It turns out my experience of conferences, and of life, is shaped by my discussion about them with her.
All of which is to say: if you don’t have a partner you attend things with regularly, find someone. A colleague, near or far, to sort out what you’ve experienced. I think our conference benefits are greatly enhanced by our co-processing; if you’re experiencing them on your own, you’re missing out!
Luckily, we’re both going to the next one.