by Shar Lichty, PJALS Development Director
This September we held our 12th Annual Action Conference virtually for the first time and moved it to the Fall. Moving the conference to zoom presented many new opportunities and challenges. I am so grateful for the fantastic team that made up our planning committee and worked for months to make this event such a success. Thank you to all of the attendees, you are why we put this event together each year.
I have been a part of organizing this conference each year and while I think every year that our lineup can’t get any better, this year I was especially excited about our lineup. The powerhouse Intergenerational Panel on Thursday evening, Ian Haney Lopez, one of the founders of the Race-Class Academy, as our keynote speaker, and an array of timely workshops truly achieved a conference that advanced skills and knowledge on issues critical to Eastern WA and the country. You can find more information on the full conference lineup here.
“Such a great collection of workshops and speakers.”
“A full day immersion in social justice fellowship.”
“Very inspiring topics and information”
While we were disappointed to not be in person together and feel our collective energy in shared space, hosting it online also presented many benefits. Each year the most common comments we receive on the conference evaluations are about the struggle to choose between so many great workshops and not being able to attend them all. This year that was not an issue, registrants received access to recordings of the Intergenerational Panel, Keynote Address, and every workshop following the event. For some, this meant they could view conference content regardless of whether they were able to join in person the day of the event. For others, it meant being able to make easier choices on which workshop to attend live and which to view later. For all, there were no geographical barriers.
“The speakers were great, and I LOVE that I can go back and watch the recordings of sessions as I have the free time. That took off a lot of the pressure to free up the entire Saturday.”
“Excellent topics, the ability to watch the recordings later and not worry about missing out, and (as usual) the PJALS community made the session that I attended in real-time feel welcoming and challenging.”
If you didn’t register for or attend the event, you can still access all of the conference content by registering here to get all of the recordings.