This time last week many of us were together either face-to-face or virtually for our 2021 Summer Conference. On behalf of GSBA I want to say thank you to all those who participated in the 2021 Summer Conference. We so appreciated interacting with each of you whether in person or virtually. Despite the capacity limitations placed on us by the hotel, we did our very best to bring a content-rich experience to you via the in-person and online hybrid model. We purposely designed our conference curriculum around the most relevant, current topics and events so that you always have what you need to best serve your students and community.
While presenting in a virtual format was not new to us, presenting in a hybrid format was. I want to thank everyone who participated for their patience and understanding with GSBA, the hotel, and the virtual platform, Whova. For those who were in person, we did the best we could to accommodate everyone; our goal was to keep everyone as safe as possible. Your safety was top of mind from the planning of the conference to implementation. Much like you, we had to make some tough decisions on the registration process, table assignments, room configurations, etc. I know we did not get it all right, but I hope you know we tried and will take all recommendations on how to do better into consideration if we ever have to do another limited-capacity conference again (I sure hope not!). Your input is vital to our success, so I am grateful to everyone who shared their feedback with me while onsite and via email.
We have learned a lot from this past year regarding how we better serve you, our members. Going forward we will incorporate the hybrid model (face-to-face and virtual) to deliver regional workshop and conference experiences to you to allow those who are limited on time or budget. Hopefully this will ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate from your home or office if desired.
For those who were not able to join either in person or virtually, we sincerely hope you will consider future conferences for your training and professional development. I don’t have to tell you how important professional development is for us, board members, as we work hand in hand with superintendents to make the critical decisions for our students. Just this week I had the honor of meeting with a group of superintendents at one of their professional-development opportunities, and I felt good knowing we had just come out of one focused on the work of school board members.
Again, thank you for helping to make the Summer Conference a successful event; and as always, please do not hesitate to contact us if we may be of service.
Sincerely,
Valarie Wilson
Executive Director
GSBA