A few years ago, buried in term papers in my 2nd-floor office at the Meadows School of the Arts, I couldn’t have imagined spending Spring traveling cross-country for “convention season.”  And yet, here I am, doing just that.

Without question, the greatest delight is the opportunity to meet with students and parents, both those already taking Discovering Music and those about to start their journey through the Arts.  From the day we created this curriculum, I looked forward to these occasions, and they’re even better than I imagined.  I love it when the kids come up and ask me to sign their books, or query me: “Why did you say ‘this or that’?” or “What did you mean by ‘such-and-such’?”  Fabulous.

But another delight has been quite unexpected: the chance to forge relationships with the other exhibitors of educational curricula.  One week we could be chatting in Cincinnati, the next week in Santa Clara.  We bid each other goodbye, saying “See you in Arlington. In Atlanta. In Phoenix.”

I’ve learned just how many of these companies are family businesses, born when moms and dads tried, in vain, to find certain kinds of teaching materials.  In the absence of desired resources, the parents simply created the materials themselves, shared them, and, voilà, a small business was born.

Wow, these vendors work hard: they haul, they unpack, they assemble, they make everything neat and organized.  Then, for two-and-a-half days, they interact for 10-12 hours straight with hundreds of students and families.  Suddenly, it’s over, and it’s time to tear it all down again. Fortunately,  it comes down a lot quicker than it goes up: I’ve learned that lesson too.

It’s a new world for me, and one I like: movement, action, long hours, and (best of all) hundreds of people to talk with.  A continual buzz of activity.  All topped off by a fantastic feeling when the exhibit hall closes for the day, and it’s time to wobble out and find some food!

And that brings me to a story I want to tell you that happened in April in Cincinnati, late on a Friday night after we exited the Duke Energy Center and stumbled into magic.  But I’ll keep that story for a later post.

See you at . . . the next convention!  For us, that will be this weekend, May 15-16: CHEF of Alabama.  It’s taking place at a beautiful resort outside of Birmingham.  I’ll have four workshops, and I’m looking forward to meeting many of you there.

Image: Glyn Baker (creative commons)