Originally published on LinkedIn November 24, 2021 here
This is normally the time of year where I would be traveling home from the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature annual meetings, but like last year, I attended virtually this time and really enjoyed the diverse speakers and topics covered in both the AAR and SBL organized sessions. It did feel like two conferences were happening concurrently in a different way, though, since many opted to travel to San Antonio and participate in In-Person sessions, several of which were not streamed or recorded for remote participants.
Personally, I hope the hybrid events will continue on for some time, esp. where there are a high number of attendees still facing some travel restrictions or excessive burdens, but session organizers will still need to make the call on whether they will fully support remote attendees along with their in-person audience across the entire event. There is something to be said for the additional energy and attention available to focus on the presenters without the distraction of travel and meal logistics. However, it is usually the latter that sparks more networking opportunities and serendipitous connections you simply cannot plan for. So while next year’s meetings will be in Denver — and I love visiting Denver! — I’m hopeful the Virtual sessions will continue to be as engaging and informative as they were this year.
I have a lot more this year to be thankful for, including all the new connections added to my network this year. It’s been great learning more about people by what they share and engage with throughout the year. It’s always enlightening and sometimes even surprising to see what sparks people’s interests. Looking forward to learning more from my network in 2022 and continuing to share some insights myself along the way.
In the meantime, I’m also grateful to have some time to rest, reflect and recharge the rest of this week while applying my growth mindset to try out some new recipes in addition to some long-time favorites. We’ll see what the family judges think, but I had an early start with fresh cranberry sauce that actually came out pretty decent. You’ve got to celebrate even the small wins!
Happy Thanksgiving to those of you celebrating, and holiday blessings to all.