Tonia A. Dousay
Scholar | Educator | Leader
Patience and Humility
So, last fall, I submitted a speaker proposal for the eLearning Guild’s Annual Gathering out in Orlando (actually going on this week). As I watched their speaker list being updated over the period of a week or so, I saw a name and presentation pop up that sounded almost identical to mine. What are the odds? No surprise, I was alternate-listed. It’s just as well. This month turned out to be a bit more hectic with course launching that I would’ve liked. I’m better serving the program here than in Florida.
Fast forward to a few months ago. Brandon Hall’s Innovations in Learning Conference was a favorite of mine last year. I knew it was a long shot on the proposal for this one. The key word here being innovative, but also noting that they would like the sessions to be hands-on and interactive. Well, when it comes to designing, it’s hard to do that unless it’s a workshop. Ah well, another rejection. It’s good experience, right?
I’ve now set my sights on the eLearning Guild Developer’s Conference in November and ASTD’s TechKnowledge Conference in January/February. It’s been a few years since my last Developer’s Conference. However, I am a bit frustrated with the Guild. Their website says that speaker proposals are being accepted, but the speaker page says that proposal information will be posted on April 4, 2008 (yes, today is the 14th). ASTD just opened up their proposal submission system today. I have all of the required details in a text file all ready to go. I just need to get my member log-in fixed (they have two t’s in tamu for my email address; how bizarre) so that I can get in to the system and submit it all.
I have to remind myself that while it’s easy for the ego to get involved, I’m doing this for the Agency; not for me. This is about getting the Agency’s work and efforts out there. It helps to convene with colleagues and find that you’re doing things in a collectively accepted manner. Still, this will be a legacy that I leave behind when I return to grad school and this program is my “child.” Here’s to hoping for a little luck.
From the Chronicles of Murphy…I finally got my ASTD log-in fixed and went back to review the submission instructions this morning. Still unable to find the link to the submission template, I finally emailed their support thinking I'm just overlooking something. Not quite. They didn't mean for proposal submission to be open unil 4/21/08. Hah! Ah well. I'm ahead of the game and prepared for when it does open.