Support the Vendors

The unsung heroes of our conference are the vendors. They arrive early and spend many long hours in the exhibit hall waiting for us to show some sign of interest in their products. Without our vendors, we would not be able to have such a wonderful conference - not to mention the buses, the frozen treats, etc.

Many of our vendors have sponsored meetings with key education leaders. It was my pleasure to attend a meeting with Dr. Don Deshler from Kansas University. Dr. Deshler was sponsored by Teachscape and provided an excellent workshop on professional development and the key to making professional development meaningful. His five key steps are; presentation, modeling, practice/application, feedback and coaching. I could not help but notice that great coaches and great teachers of the arts use those skills in teaching and then I heard Dan Pink make many of the same connections with how we need to restructure our schools to support arts education. For me, being a former music teacher, I felt validated.

The next vendor supported event I attended was Dr. Doug Reeves. Vantage Learning had extended me an invitation to attend. Dr. Reeves is one the presentors I always try and hear. Recently Dr. Reeves was in North Carolina and talked with a group that had made major recommendations for revisions to our state testing and accountability system. The question I asked Dr. Reeves today was about power standards. In NC the group made the recommendation that the massive amount of curricula standards must be addressed and the use of power standards might help. Dr. Reeves does not hold much hope for states to address power standards. He thinks school systems are the only entity that can successfully address power standards due to the political nature of statewide curriculum. I hope NC can overcome the politics and address the curriculum.

Thanks to our vendors for all their support. Please visit the exhibit hall and thank them for their support. And one more thing..... please turn your cell phones on vibrate during presentations!!!!