State conference season - your input requested!

I've been reading a lot of recent blog and Facebook posts about state art teacher conferences - from Vermont to Tennessee to Georgia to Alabama and more, and while there are similarities, there also appear to be huge differences in how our state conventions are structured.  Some of the pictures shared from your conferences have gotten me REALLY excited, thinking "I wonder if we could do that type of activity in New York State?"  (For example, the umbrella parade in Alabama looked fabulous - though our weather in November would not be appropriate for scheduling any outdoor activity.  As a matter of fact, last year a large contingent from the Buffalo area got snowed in and couldn't make it to the convention!  Hopefully that won't happen again this year.) 

Here in NY state, our conference is coming in just short of three weeks, and it's got me thinking about what we can learn from each other, in order to make our conferences the best they can possibly be, for all of us who look forward to attending them each year.  (By the way - all pics in this post are from past state conventions here in NY.  The tooling foil pics are from a workshop I taught; I'm teaching it again this year!)

 So, I've got some questions for you about your conferences, and I'd love it if you'd leave comments.  I'm thinking that we can learn stuff that will help us improve our own future conventions!  What do you think?  SO, without further ado...

• About how many people attend your state conference?  I'm not sure, but I believe we usually have 400-600 people at ours here in NY.  When I see some of the pics from conferences in other states, I sometimes wonder if having a large attendance can be a detriment to scheduling certain types of activities.

• Where do you hold your conference?  Are you at a hotel/convention center like our conventions in NY state?  Or do you something completely different?  If you don't hold your conference at a hotel/convention center, where do the attendees stay?  Again, I'm wondering if size/numbers is a deciding factor....

•  Do you hold your conference at the same place every year, or rotate it around your state?  How do you decide where it should be?  Here in NY, over the past several  years we have rotated between the Rochester convention center (where we are headed this year), a convention hotel in Albany (the past two years), and a hotel in Westchester (just north of NYC).  It would be too expensive to hold it in NYC.  Our decisions are largely based on being financially practical, and returning to a location that has treated us well. 

• What do you do about meals?  Here in NY, the meals are provided by the hotel/convention center, but attendees have to select and pay to attend them, separate from the convention registration fee.  The lunches and dinners can be a bit pricey, but that is controlled by the venue.  They are held right at the venue so when you attend lunch, you don't waste any conference time.   And the dinners are award events, so it is nice to have as many attendees as possible.  (Friday dinner includes special citations and awards, and at Saturday dinner we honor the state Teacher of the Year.  We also have "Friday After Dark" hands-on extended workshops after the Friday dinner, and a fun Saturday night party event after Saturday dinner. )

• How many days does your conference run?  Do you have a pre-conference?  Our convention is all day Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday morning there is a final keynote speaker, and a hearty brunch with the regional teacher of the year awards, and the vendor raffle.   Most years, there is a pre-conference on Thursday.  We've been having a Friday/Saturday convention for many years now, as it became too difficult for people to attend consecutive weeks.

• What happens at your convention?  We have close to 100 workshops scheduled this year, plus four keynote/super-session presentations.  Some years, depending on the location, there are off-site workshops or events you can attend.  There is a commercial vendor area, college exhibitor area, a student exhibit, a juried member exhibit, and an artisan's market. 

• Are your workshops a mix of hands-on and presentation style?  Which are most popular?  Are your workshops all free, or are some for a fee? 

• Do college students attend your convention?  We usually have a contingent of wonderful art ed students from some terrific colleges.  

•  What about special events, parties, activities?  We've held Saturday night TASK parties, scavenger hunts, DJ and dancing (usually every year), and this year will have a "Partici-Paint" activity that will involve creating pieces to be auctioned with proceeds going to our scholarship fund.  In addition, for the past few years our region has hosted a "Bling Your Badge" table, ongoing throughout the convention.  

•  And finally, do you present workshops at your conference?  Are you compensated in any way? 

OK - I think that's enough questions!  I'd love to hear about what makes your conference special!  I'm looking forward to stealing some of your ideas for the future!!!