My Top 8 Moments from #AMTA10

I am now back from Cleveland.

If you followed the Twitter hashtag #AMTA10, you’ll find we were quite a busy bunch last weekend, sharing news, thoughts, and happenings live as they…well, happened. And with a record attendance of well over 1400, there was a lot happening!

It always seems to take several days to settle down and process everything conference-related. But here is my attempt–a list of my top 7 favorite memories from #AMTA10:

1. The 2nd Annual Tweetup. In San Diego last year we had 5 people attend a tweetup. This year? Almost 20!!! (The picture above is from the Tweetup). The growth, involvement, and relationship-building that has happened on Twitter over the past year is just astounding and it’s been fun being a part of the ride.
2. Ken Medema at the Keynote sessions. He was, to put it bluntly, AWESOME! A talented improviser, singer, pianist, and overall musician, Ken Medema had us laughing, dancing, crying, and singing along during the Keynote sessions. In celebration of 60 years of music therapy in the United States, seven stories were shared, 1 for each decade plus a 7th for the future. Mr. Medema listened to each story, then created a song to tell that story. It was truly amazing.
3. Erfurt Music Resource booth. My friend, Michelle Erfurt, had a booth in the Exhibit Hall where she showcased different products that music therapists were selling, such as Rachel Rambach’s CDs, Wade Richard’s new Adaptive Guitar book, and Kat Fulton’s new Drumify! DVD. It was wonderful to hang out at the booth, chat with other music therapists, and feel the energy of all these new creations and innovations.
4. Podcast recording. You may remember that Michelle, Rachel Rambach, and I co-host the Music Therapy Round Table podcast. Well, we spent almost 2 hours on Saturday recording our next podcast episode! And I think you’ll like it. We interviewed students and professionals about their conference experience and what they learned. This episode is broken down into two parts. You can listen to Part A now and Part B will be up soon.
5. State Task Force Reception. You may also remember that I work as the Regulatory Affairs Associate for the Certification Board for Music Therapists. Part of this position involves working with music therapists from all over the United States–and I got to meet many of them Saturday night! AMTA and CBMT co-hosted a reception for task force members. It was wonderful to finally meet some of those people with whom I’d been emailing and talking with.
6. The CMTE session. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that Rachel, Michelle and I presented a 5-hour CMTE training on the use of internet technology for advocacy and marketing. We had a wonderful group of people who asked fabulous questions and seemed interested and engaged in the process! Weren’t able to make it? We have plans in the works to provide the information to you (I’ll keep you posted), but in the meantime you are welcome (and encouraged!) to have a copy of my handout. Click here to download a handout (pdf) from this presentation
7. The food. One of the best parts about the location of our hotel was that we were within a 10 minute walk of so many fabulous restaurants–The Chocolate Bar, Greenhouse, Zapa, and Crop Bistro. I ate some unbelievable food with some unbelievable colleagues and friends. My tummy was very happy with me last week!
8. The friends. Speaking of friends, I can never get over the warm fuzzy feeling I get reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and–for the first time this year–meeting in person the people who I had emailed, talked with, tweeted with, and connected to on Facebook. It was unbelievable and is a big part of why I make the effort to attend conference every year.

And, of course, I can’t mention last week without talking about the Therapy Business Blueprint ebook I just launched! Dozens of people have already purchased it, including music therapist Lori Parker, who left this comment on last week’s launch post:

Hi Kimberly!
Thank you so much for this resource!  I have been a music therapist for 10 years and work at a residential facility for adults with intellectual disabilities.  I have often thought about getting into contract work/private practice.  Now I am returning to grad school next fall, moving to a new city and hopefully starting a private practice.  This blueprint has all the information I need to get started and keep me organized during the process.   I’m really excited about this new chapter in my life and wanted to thank you for this resource!

As a reminder, the Therapy Business Blueprint will continue to be on sale until December 1st. Visit www.StartMyTherapyPractice.com for more details.

Tagged as: Advocacy, AMTA10, Conference, Handouts