Another year, another national conference in the books. Now that I’m starting to settle back in to reality (which mostly means catching up on laundry), it’s time for my yearly recap of the conference experience from my perspective.
As I mentioned in my conference preview post last week, this year was particularly exciting because it was the first in 5 years where I wasn’t either pregnant or bringing along a baby. This translated to more time spent in the conference center, more hours of sleep, and (just a few) more glasses of wine :)
Most of the conference was spent in the exhibit hall, since Music Therapy Connections hosted a booth where we sold our songbooks, courses, and Bear Paw Creek movement props.
Exhibiting is the BEST way to meet everyone at conference, although it can be a bit overwhelming (especially when you’re an introvert like me). But I powered through and made lots of new friends, many of whom were already Listen & Learn readers/customers or podcast listeners.
Another plus to hosting a booth is making friends with fellow exhibitors and getting the lowdown on all of their goodies. Katey and I took full advantage of this, and we have the photos to prove it.
When we weren’t sitting in Tibetan singing bowls or laying on sound vibration beds, we were talking to other music therapists about their biggest fears about our profession — the question we had everyone answer in order to enter our CMTE giveaway — and spreading the word about our music resources.
We also did a fair amount of demonstrating the Bear Paw Creek props which Janet Stephens was so kind to let us sell AND give away in another drawing.
I did attend a few sessions as well as the Music Therapy Business Owners’ meeting, which is always inspiring. I love hearing about the innovating things other MTBOs are doing, and Katey and I were able to talk about our new business-focused podcast.
Other conference highlights included: quality time with 2 of my Music Therapy Round Table besties (Kimberly Sena Moore and Matt Logan), making a new friend and having her join us at dinner (hi Melissa!), a great conversation with the self-care expert herself (Ami Kunimura), and many hours spent in the car with my MTC crew. I couldn’t have asked for better company during our very long roadtrip to Sandusky, Ohio.
And as it turns out, we’ll be roadtripping again next year — to St. Louis! That’s practically down the street for us, so maybe I’ll even have my husband bring the kids for a couple hours. I learned during conference that Parker and Mia are actually more well-known than I am, and quite a few people were disappointed that I didn’t bring them along. Next year, friends!
