War Stories: Calling All AC Veterans

Do you have fond memories of a past AILA Annual Conference? Have any not-so-fond memories? Were you subjected to the Phoenix Melting Butter Incident of 1996 and lived to talk about it?

We want to hear from you.

Take a stroll down memory lane and send me your all-time favorite AILA Annual Conference moment (most enlightening panel, most rewarding networking opportunity, best/worst/most embarrassing speaking experience, etc). Help us remind the veterans why they want to come back and let the newbies know what they’ve been missing – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to post your story, using the comment feature of this blog. You'll have the option of remaining nameless. Alternatively, feel free to post your full name if you really want the whole world knowing that YOU were the Day Coordinator who intolerantly stressed that attendees must shut their cell phones off as your own cell phone loudly rang mid-session.

Yes, it happened. You know who you are.

Don't Mess With Tigger

Last month, news channels across the nation aired footage of Tigger “punching” a 14 year-old kid at Disney World. It’s hard to tell from the tape what actually went down behind Tigger’s back. The kid could’ve pulled his tail. Tigger could’ve lost his balance. Unfortunately, it’s a mystery we’ll never solve, like, ‘The Bermuda Triangle’ or ‘Does Bigfoot Really Exist?’ Personally, I think Tigger was falsely accused. Where was I going with this?

Oh, right. There’s got to be more to Orlando than Disney.

Thus came the inspiration for….

TOP TEN THINGS TO DO IN ORLANDO WITHOUT RISKING AN ASSAULT BY A DISNEY CHARACTER

10. Sky Venture Orlando: Enjoy a unique free flying experience at this huge, vertical wind tunnel that generates a 120 mph column of wind in a tubular chamber, simulating the free fall experience. While researching this one, I noticed that their website requests that you come 15 minutes early because “you’ll want to use the restroom and get ready for your experience.” I wish I were kidding.

9. Gatorland: The “Alligator Capital of the World” boasts an 800-seat amphitheater where you can take in an alligator wrestling match. Now is that Man vs. Alligator or Alligator vs. Alligator?

8. Jungle Adventures Nature Park: The natural habitat jungle home of the 200 foot-long roadside wonder, Swampy, The World’s Largest Alligator. What is Orlando’s obsession with gators?

7. Discovery Cove: Guests can enjoy swimming with gators–err, I mean, dolphins–and thousands of exotic fish.

6. Lakeridge Winery: 127-acre estate overlooking the scenic countryside of South Lake County, which offers free tours and wine tastings. I would imagine all those gators don’t seem as scary after a few drinks.

5. Wonder Works: Florida’s only upside-down adventure at this classically designed, three-story building that appears to have landed upside-down on top of a 1930s era brick warehouse. Visitors can also “experience the trembling of earthquakes or be blown away by hurricane force winds while at this attraction.” Sounds like a good ‘ol time.

4. Kennedy Space Center: This place needs no introduction. If anyone out there has the opportunity to visit, can you get the inside scoop about that diaper-wearing astronaut and report back? Thanks.

3. Orlando Hauntings Ghost Tour: Uncover the dark secrets that haunt the streets of downtown Orlando during this 90-minute walking tour. Orlando’s only dark secret that comes to my mind is that it is the “Boy Band Capital of the World.” Okay, I guess that is pretty scary.

2. Harry P. Leu Gardens: Visit the largest formal rose garden in Florida and the second largest camellia collection. A camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, native to eastern and southern Asia from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia. I had to google that one.

1. Orange Blossom Balloons: Florida's number one hot air balloon ride company invites you to enjoy a romantic, champagne balloon flight over scenic Orlando with your loved one….or someone you meet at the conference.

Let’s review. There’s lots of fun stuff to do in Orlando, like fear for your life in a simulated sky diving machine, find yourself in an earthquake while upside-down and blown away by hurricane force winds, or watch someone get their arm torn off by a 200 foot-long gator.

Disney’s looking pretty good right about now.

Bring it on, Tigger.

AILA Annual Conference...Jumping On The Blogwagon

Welcome to the AILA Annual Conference 2007 Blog, AILA’s new method of bringing all things annual conference to a computer near you.

AILA is joining the rapidly growing cast of associations, politicians and celebrities floating around in the blogosphere. Blogging isn’t just for computer geeks anymore. Wikis, Web 2.0 and RSS feeds have become the talk of the town. Okay, admittedly, I had no idea what any of this meant until last night. While I should have been lounging on my couch watching the latest American Idol reject walk dejectedly from the audition room, I was slaving over my laptop trying to make sense of this new (or not so new) world of social media. What I found was really interesting – this stuff is important. And cool. With regard to the sharing of information, blogging is great in that it takes the power out of the hands of the few and into the hands of the many. With the Internet being the largest community we have, blogging has provided a new outlet for any and all kinds of discussion.

AILA InfoNet will remain your go-to spot for the substantive bits, like programming changes, registration and housing details, etc. We designed this blog to bring you updates, fun facts and more than you’ll ever want to know about the inner workings of the annual conference. So let’s give it a shot.

Last night, in my cyber travels, I came up with a set of ground rules for this blog. To you, I pledge the following:

• This blog is hopelessly devoted to the AILA Annual Conference. While a tidbit from another AILA event or initiative may creep in from time-to-time, we’ll try to keep our eye on the ball.


• I, Michelle Gergerian, Director of Education here at HQ, will be your regularly scheduled blogger, but fear not, you’ll hear a variety of voices with different perspectives (association leaders, executive committee members, AILA National staff members). Not just mine.


• One of the biggest challenges in maintaining a blog is the level of commitment required. I’ll post something at least weekly or whenever something earth-shattering pops into my brain. I’ll also try and ensure that each entry passes the “Who Cares?” test.


• We invite you to help us build this blog. Agree, disagree and let us know how we’re doing by using the comment function.

So there you have it. Even if blogs and wikis eventually become uncool and AILA finds itself in the lone company of the computer geeks, it really never hurts to communicate in a manner that provokes thought and responsiveness. I think we could all agree with that.

Until next time.