Great conference

Hi Everyone,
I spent Saturday afternoon and evening visiting 3 time zones (some more than once) on the way home, finally arriving at 10:45 PM.  Despite being very tired, I was feeling energized by all the wonderful workshops available, the new friends I'd made and the networking opportunities that were presented.

During the annual business meeting we learned that the economy had hit the AALNC national office as hard as it has everyone else.  At the early part of the year, the management company disclosed that unless there were major adjustments made to the budget, the year would end $80000.00 in the hole. Well, they went to work and the year end figure was $2900.00 (in round figures) to the good.
We also learned that membership renewals have not been at projected numbers, which has obviously contributed to the decrease in income.  With these things in mind, there was a very hard decision made regarding next years' educational conference.  Before I scare everyone to death, the conference has not been cancelled, but there have been some big changes made: 1) the conference will only be 1 1/2 days long, 2) the focus audience will be people living east of the Mississippi and 3) depending on how this endeavor goes, a second conference may be held in the fall in the part of the country west of the Mississipi.  Dates of these conferences have not been announced as yet, but as soon as they are firmed up we will all be notified.

I'll be posting more information about conference events in the next few days, so keep checking here.

Lin