Saturday, March 19, 2011

Reactions to the TESOL Conference 2011 in New Orleans


The Reading Horizons booth at TESOL 2011
The TESOL Conference this year was held in New Orleans March 16-19. I spent much of my time at the Reading Horizons booth--not because I was supposed to, but because I chose to. I enjoy reconnecting with people there, as well as meeting new people, learning about what they do, and discussing their English interests and program needs.

I presented twice at the conference--once on Friday at 11:00am about the Reading Horizons v5 software, and once on Saturday at 10:00am on silent reading fluency rates. Both presentations were a success. I was particularly pleased that I had a good turnout to my presentation on Saturday morning, considering that it was the last day of the conference. One gentleman from Morocco who attended my Saturday session saw me in the conference center later that afternoon and told me how much he enjoyed my presentation and that it was the best presentation he’d been to all week. That was a generous compliment. I captured him on film and included the video below.


Posing with Kanista from MetaMetrics
Besides presenting, another highlight of the conference for me was networking—connecting with former colleagues and meeting new ones. I was pleased to meet Kanista from MetaMetrics. We had been in touch awhile back about Lexiling the Reading Horizons library passages, which they did for us. It was great to put a face with the name. When she stopped by the Reading Horizons booth, I showed her the Lexile scores in print that her company measured for us. They are published in the Reading Library books and Reading Library Teacher Edition. She took pictures to take back to North Carolina to show her colleagues at MetaMetrics.


Colleagues from Brigham Young University
Colleagues that I've worked with through the years know that if they stop by the Reading Horizons booth, they are likely to find me there. I often saw familiar faces stop by the booth to say hello. I enjoyed reconnecting with several colleagues from Brigham Young University, as well as a friend from the Harvard Bridge Program. I also met several new people from around the world, including members of the Ministries of Education in the Middle East. I showed them the henna on my hand and explained that I had recently returned from the Middle East, which was always met with an enthusiastic smile.



Kendra from Pearson Longman
I paid visits to other booths in the exhibit hall to say hello to colleagues and friends I have met at various conferences through the years, including colleagues at Pearson Longman and Heinle. They are always interested in how things at Reading Horizons are going, and I'm grateful to be able to tell them that things are still going well! I'm proud of what our company has to offer.






I’m grateful for opportunities that the TESOL conference affords me to reconnect, network, and share ideas. I had several people at the conference tell me that they think I have the best job. I agree with them.


2 comments:

  1. Love the video of the man from Morocco that LOVED your presentation! More success! That is what we need! The booth looked great by the way :)

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  2. Thanks for the comment, Erika! I love the video, too. :)

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