Too Busy for Lunch

As the Consultation draws to a close Carl Triplehorn, Independent Consultant, blogs of meeting new and old colleagues

I just shoved my conference badge into my computer bag and am rushing out to see the Blue Mosque before my plane tomorrow.  The badge is shoved next to my uneaten sandwich, business cards from new colleagues, the crumpled conference brochure and my scruffy notebook.  I don’t think I have eaten a full lunch during the whole conference as I have been busy catching up with old friends and meeting new people between sessions in the hallways.  The conference badges have been invaluable to seek out people whose work I had read or whose programs I had heard of and tell them how I had benefited from their work.  In the last session, I struck by how freely people felt to give and receive criticism.  Some of the most critical were the youth representatives who constantly reminded us that despite all of the work of INEE and its members that the vast educational needs remain unmet.  My conference badge and uneaten lunch will eventually end up the garbage at hotel.  The business cards will be input on my computer on the plane.  My scruffy note book will be on my desk for follow up people to contact and ideas to write, further expanding the INEE family.  Now that I think about it I hope my notebook doesn’t smell from having squashed my uneaten sandwich.  (What about my computer!)