Conference Connects Teachers

Nebraska. Where in the world is that? (Next to Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Missouri and Wyoming.) Why would I want to go there? That was a great question and I have a great answer: the 2009 International T’ai Chi Chih Conference was held there. And what a conference it was. Individuals from various areas came together to organize and host the conference (instead of one geographic group doing all the work), and the collective energy was inspiring. I believe this made for a softer effort, and the whole conference flowed from our collective center. (Nebraska is almost the center of the United States.) This model opens up a new avenue for putting a conference together: A location without any teachers actually living there brought teachers from everywhere to lend a hand.

The conference included a benefit raffle for the scholarship fund, to which nearly every attending teacher contributed. Some raffle winners even gave their winning tickets to others. Participants also took part in a songfest where joyous noise was generated by all. The Lied Lodge staff spread out a barbeque while Peter Gregory (Indiana) and Alba Cordasco (New York) warmed us up with forty songs that could be heard, I’m sure, two valleys over.

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