Another International MUSE Conference is in the history books. All the planning and work during the last year came to fruition and the conference ended as a success.
I don’t
usually get to attend the Opening Session, but the stars aligned this year and
I was able to be in the audience. The lovely and eloquent Jean Olsen, MUSE
Board Chair, spoke about achieving goals and asked, “Why not you?” 
During her
talk and throughout the conference I saw tweets and posts about this topic.
“Why not you?” unofficially developed into the conference theme.
As I
continued through the week I heard about many retirements and job changes. It
seems to be a time of transition for MUSE, a season to bring in new blood, an
opportunity to refresh and reenergize the organization.
I think every unit, be
it families, companies, churches, any group - at one time or another experiences
a shift. The shift is inevitable because that’s life. But what we can control
is how we respond.
MUSE is different from so many other organizations. Though it sounds cliché, MUSE really is truly about its members. We have a vey small staff to run the operations, and everything else is dependent upon the involvement of the membership.
All the education, all the networking, all the programs - they happen because of you, the MUSE members.
Take a
look at the conference photos (and tag yourself!): 2014 International MUSE Conference Photos.
You will see all kinds of
people with all kinds of backgrounds. Everyone here probably had a reason to
not attend, or present, or sponsor. But they did, and the conference was
successful because of them.
The future
of MUSE depends on the next wave of volunteers and presenters, hosts and
sponsors, exhibitors and speakers. Do you want to shape the future of MUSE? Do
you want to guide this 31-year-old into its next stage? Why not run during the next Board election? Why not launch or lead your own Community Peer Group? Why not present that webinar?
Why not you?
The next
post will feature the top-rated presentations – stay tuned.
Take care friends,
Alicia
