What a Conference Means
to a Leader Who Can’t Attend
Kathy Grossman
Sandy UT USA
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 39 No. 2, April-May 2003, p. 34.
When I became accredited
as a Leader in 1985, I didn’t even dream of attending an LLLI Conference.
My children’s ages and temperaments, our finances, distance, and
my husband’s work schedule in a potash mine made attendance seem
impossible. However, the fact that there was a Conference available
to attend was very important to me.
Every Area, National, Regional,
Division, Affiliate, and LLLI Conference is important to every Leader
and Leader Applicant, even those who can’t attend.
A La Leche League International
Conference:
- Demonstrates the organization’s
vitality. Even though I may not have had the financial means or family
situation that allowed my attendance at a Conference, many in my organization
did.
- Gives Leaders a chance
to be professional. This continuing education opportunity provides
a healthy, intellectual climate for mothers learning about breastfeeding
and parenting issues.
- Provides administrators
with contacts from around the world.
- Demonstrates a style of
putting on a Conference that involves families, including babies and
young children.
- Involves men in their
role as fathers. Many men will come away from a La Leche League Conference
with a new picture of themselves as fathers and partners. The special
father sessions are unique in providing a setting where fathers can
speak together and explore parenting issues.
- Provides new information
through speakers, audiovisual presentations, and printed materials.
Leaven, New Beginnings, and the LLLI Web site feature Conference reports
after the Conference, and many Conference sessions are later available
on audio tapes. Chapter Meetings may also feature Leaders with information
to share from conferences they’ve attended.
- Generates income that
supports you in your work as a Leader.
- Supports the people who
support you. The face-to-face contacts that your support people make
at a Conference will produce ripples of encouragement and support.
- Distributes information
in a direct, personal way. The Founders are visible and available.
LLLI, Affiliate, Division, National, and Area administrators are on
site and approachable. La Leche League becomes a tangible, real entity
at a Conference.
- Paints a picture of your
LLL future. There will come a time when it becomes easier to leave
children at home and attend. Seeing older women—some with white
hair—at my first LLLI Conference in Anaheim, California, USA
in 1989 was eye-opening for me. Even with grown children, these women
stayed active in La Leche League.
There are many reasons Leaders
cannot or choose not to attend an LLL Conference, but the support, enthusiasm,
and income generated keep our organization vital for all Leaders.
Kathy Grossman and her
husband, Tom Dillon, live in Sandy, Utah, USA with their three sons,
Sam, Ed, and Monty. Kathy, who was accredited in 1985, writes, "I
remember how it felt to read about LLLI Conferences in Leaven when I
was a new Leader in what felt like a very remote southern New Mexico,
USA town with my small children and thinking, 'Could I ever go to one
of those?'"
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:32 UTC 2007.
