Leadership Connections Reflection

From: Anne Mead
Email: annemead@eceti.com
Date: May 21, 2008

Comments

This was my first Leadership Connections Conference and I have never attended another one like it. I have attended other national and state conferences were the rooms were packed, no handouts were given, etc. No the case here. Never did I feel like a number. Being part of a smaller group gave me an opportunity to meet and network with other conference goers and then spend time sharing with them. I made many new contacts with others from the midwest which helped me to boarder my perspectives since I am from CT. I realized there are many regional differences in the way funding is given, where priorities lie for different coporate entitites, expectations from different states and to find out what was happening in other states. In addition, the semianrs I attended didn't give cursory information but rather were long enough to really delve into the topic at length. As I look at different systems in early childhood and how they work as well as thinking about new programs for the agency I work for, this conference gave me more tools for my toolbox and to see what other professional development programs are available and accessible to me.