tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5619889292433553224.post3258937119151402718..comments2022-11-09T06:50:20.843-08:00Comments on Clint Gardner: The small conference & IWCAClint Gardnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13534333959460032669noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5619889292433553224.post-62744390101226553262007-05-18T00:48:57.000-07:002007-05-18T00:48:57.000-07:00Clint,I couldn't agree more with your comment ...Clint,<br><br>I couldn't agree more with your comment about wanting to keep the small conference feel for our IWCA conferences. My experiences at the C's have been similar to your colleagues, especially if people see the secondary school name on my nametag. It's usually new, young PhDs who are trying to figure out who is important and who isn't. Over the first ten years or so, I used to get upset about it, bugging my dear friends with my frustrations about people not even listening to my ideas or wanting to talk with me because I "wasn't important to them." But, I finally "grew up" enough to start laughing at it and finding it insignificant in the big picture. I AM insignificant in the big picture, so just laugh about that reality. However, like you, I found the writing center community open, willing to listen to all voices that brought a variety of ideas and opinions. <br><br>I remember the first time I met you in Park City, after feeling as if I had gotten to know you online as you offered to head up a "live" writing center in the lobby of the hotel. At our conferences, people read nametags to discover the name to match the face and connect to online conversations that you have already had with people. It is a "welcoming" rather than a "pivot" that your colleague mentioned. I, too, hope that never changes, although when we add NCPTW to the mix it becomes another large, overwhelming conference.<br><br>PamPam Childershttp://www.mccallie.org/wrt_ctrnoreply@blogger.com