CEC Conference Work

This week I have been attending the National CEC conference in Indianapolis and have been quite busy. Beside attending some great sessions, I have been meeting with many stakeholder groups, national partners, technical assistance center staff, OSEP leadership, local sped directors and vendors.

Some of the key takeaways from my trip are:

1. I have found some new vendors who were not aware of our national conference and who are interested in joining our NASDSE/CASE Conference

2. Some of our national partners would like to provide webinars specifically to State Directors on a variety of topics such as national trends in dyslexia, autism and rethinking special education. I am following up with them to do some planning to make this happen.

3. Due to much of our member turnover many of the national TA centers would like to orient new state directors and members to the supports and services they can provide to help you in your state work. We have talked about creating a series of recorded webinars that could be available on-demand for you and your staff.

4. Many of our partners such as OSERS, CEC, CASE, etc. have some great ideas that would enhance our organizations future and I have asked them to engage and partipate in our strategic planning process over the course of these next 18 months.

5. Future funding opportunities for our organization are on the horizon and I will work with the NASDE Board to explore these new revenue options.

6. The polar vortex is real!!! It’s -8 here in town 😜