This is probably my 7th Asha convention, and with every year things seem to be getting better and better. This year I attended as a presenter, sponsor of the convention, exhibitor and also as an attendee. In a nutshell, I was able to experience all the faces of the convention this year. Each one bring a different joy to me.
I arrived on Tuesday evening because I was invited by GSHA, to present the short-course on Wednesday. The short course was a big hit and we had a full house on Wednesday:
After three hours of presentation, I was really tired but not enough to stay away from my #SLPeeps. It was fantastic to meet many people, with whom I had only had a photo and a twitter handle in mind – now they are all three dimensional with audio, visual and lots of tactile (yes hugs). I love hugs! For those of your who are not familiar, the #SLPeeps are a group of SLPs using Twitter to connect and exchange information.
Photo of me and Mary (Co-author of Categories Learning Center & SLP Goal Bank Apps)
On Thursday, things got really exciting! The exhibitor hall opened at 11 am and the Smarty Ears booth was set with a team of phenomenal SLPs ready to show apps:
One of the best things about exhibiting at conventions is the non stop contact with people who use the apps I have created over the last few years. It is so rewarding to hear all the time “ we love your apps” or “ my kids really benefit a lot from your apps”. This makes hours of proofreading and audio splitting feel way worth it.
As I walked around the exhibit hall it was also a lot of fun to see the Smarty Ears logo everywhere as one of the sponsors of the convention:
Before Thursday was over, I presented again at 6:30 pm on Articulation & Phonology apps for therapy and assessment. The room again was pretty full, despite the fact that the convention put the presentation at 6:30 pm, selected a room far away from everything and turned off all the lights leading to the room. I had friends presenting next door, and they were also very disappointed with the lack of support for the 6:30 presenters. All in all, people really seemed to have enjoyed their time:
If you attended the articulation & phonology class, here is the link to the handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/114070365/Using-Apps-to-Assess-Treat-Articulation-Phonological-Delays
Thursday night I attended the MC2 reception at the Ommni Hotel and got to get together with some old friends from the Asha MSLP class.
When Friday arrived I was all done with presentations. I spent most of the day at the exhibit hall with some of the best booth neighbors out there: The guys from Speak for Yourself.
As a presenter, I could not be more thankful to everyone who attended – especially because some of you had to pay to come to the short course on wednesday and some stayed until 7:30 pm with me! As a sponsor, I loved the attention Smarty Ears received this convention all over the convention. As an attendee I really didn’t like how spread out everything was, my feet hurt even before the convention was officially opened. As an exhibitor: Please never put the exhibit hall so away from everything again.
Looking forward to seeing you guys again at Asha 2013 – See you in Chicago!
