When I became Executive Director, one major goal was to have the AASA National Conference on Education become the major national educational event of the year. One that if you attended, would provide you with an experience you could not find anywhere else. Our goal was to provide a strong mix of outstanding and provocative, insightful General Session speakers, substantial Distinguished Lecturers and hands-on help in our small sessions. We strove to infuse the conference with intellectual content and personal joy. We wanted you to go home refilled and refreshed.
Many national conferences have great specific pieces.
Education is not a collection of parts, it is a whole process that must make sense to people. Disjointed and unconnected events and activities have disjointed and unconnected outcomes. It is only through combining efforts and tying them together that synergy is achieved. The whole really is greater than the sum of the parts. Further, education is not a machine which can be repaired a part at a time.