After every conference that I attend, I try to sit back and reflect on the messages that I heard and filter them down to one or two that make the biggest impact on me. In this case, the drive home from Niagara Falls (over four hours) gave me lots of time to run through the events of the past three days. There are a number of things that I’m going to remember but I think something that Amber MacArthur said resonated the most with me. “Believe in the Power of One”.
The example that she used was the video “United Breaks Guitars”.
I’m reminded of the quote attributed to Martha Mead “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
It’s within the context of the ECOO13 Conference that Amber’s comment makes so much sense.
In the conference, there were 220ish breakout sessions lead by one (or two or three) presenters. That single person (or team) shared their passion; their expertise; their knowledge; their skills; their attitudes… often to an overflowing room. Just doing the mathematics, with ~1300 in attendance, there were a lot of messages received.
How many of these messages will encourage, inspire, or change practice?
Therein lies the power of the presenter. That one (or two or three) person has the potential to change things throughout the province. Let’s see it happen.
I believe in the power.
doug --- off the record 