I’ve just returned from a weekend working and connecting at the ACDA Michigan Fall Conference in Flint.
And my drive home was spent thinking about the people. Not the presentations, not the performances, but the people in my profession. Many I only see at conventions – how great to share ideas, hear what they’re doing. It’s interacting with extraordinary people that motivates me to stay involved in organizations like ACDA.
One story stuck with me about the sheer power of people to change us. A young man gave a presentation on Polynesian choral music, and I noticed he was a graduate student at my alma mater, University of Miami. “That’s a long way to travel,” I said.
It turns out the reason he submitted to present at our convention is that he had spent some time last summer working with Simon Carrington in Oregon. He was so inspired by his time with Simon, he proposed a session and flew from Miami to Flint, just for the chance to spend a little more time around him.
It’s the people.