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2007 Conference Moves to Killington
Laurel Bongiorno, President-Elect The 35th Annual Fall Conference moved to Killington this year. This beautiful new location responded to VAEYC members’ desire for a central location, an affordable price, a functional and flexible space large enough to accommodate 400 people, and a professional atmosphere. According to the attendees' responses on our conference survey, the Killington Grand Hotel and Conference Center exceeded our expectations.
The 2007 conference offered multiple workshop tracks, including Supporting Children and Curriculum Development. This year, a focused Instructor track was sponsored by Northern Lights Career Development Center. We appreciate their collaboration with VAEYC. Our keynote speakers were noted children’s author Frank Asch, and the ever-inspiring and enthusiastic Scott Noyes of Empowering Programs, and worth mentioning, a VAEYC member! This year, we had the opportunity to offer the conference as a “retreat.” The Killington Grand offered us an excellent conference rate for a block of rooms at $99/night. Knowing we’d have many two-day conference attendees, we hosted a Friday evening reception which highlighted the achievements of early childhood professionals in the state and which thanked past board members. Gwen Simmons, of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, joined us for this event and provided thoughtful remarks about working together to support children in Vermont. We had some additional fun this year thanks to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory! They donated 100 spa kits – cucumber creams and lotions – and pajamas! Many attendees who stayed over received lovely new pajamas for the occasion! Our thanks go out to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. Thanks also to Champlain College, a sponsor of the event, and our largest sponsor, the Child Development Division. It takes many volunteers and much coordination to host a conference of this size and level. Thank you to all of you who made the 2007 Conference a success, especially to our Conference Coordinator, James Woodard. |
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