Remember the Sears Christmas Catalog?

© Imelda Maurer, cdp  July 31, 2015
ilmcdp@yahoo.com

One of the anticipated excitements of my early childhood was the Sears Christmas Catalog that the mail carrier delivered faithfully.  Oh, the excitement of looking through all the pages of toys -- again and again!  Years later when I rediscovered the joys of gardening, I had that same experience when the Burpee Catalog arrived, as it always did, in the dead of winter. Oh, the snow peas! The summer squash! The broccoli for the fall garden!  Now, in my very mature years, that same sense of excitement is anticipated and experienced when the educational sessions of the Pioneer Network Conference are posted on their website!  Oh, the agony of having to select one over the other at times!

For several years I have actively encouraged participation in the annual conference of the Pioneer Network.  I do so because for anyone engaged in any way in the noble work of serving others through aging services, this conference is just absolutely the best!  It is the only national conference that focuses entirely on changing the culture of aging and aging services.  Think about that mission for a minute!

I’m leaving on Saturday, August 1st for this year’s conference in Chicago which opens with a marvelous full-day pre-conference workshop led by staff of Action Pact. LaVrene Norton and Megan Hannan are the guides.  As is standard within the Action Pact team, these presenters are superb in understanding how adults learn and in their utilizing the most effective techniques. The results include not only new knowledge, but experiences that deepen and extend the cognitive issues presented. There is always a sense of community that arises from their work.  Sunday will be a wonderful day!

For those of you who cannot be there in person, the Pioneer Network is offering some of their wonderful conference sessions free to the public via live streaming.  You can go to this website to see the specific sessions that will be streamed. There is also a brief description there of each streamed website and the names of the presenters.

If you are working in an aging services organization, take advantage of this opportunity; plan to have a live, streamed in-service with your team members. Invite Board Members to view a selected session to advance their own understanding of and commitment to transformative culture change for the elders in your organization.

I hope to have a few minutes to share more of the experiences of this conference as the days go on.