FIRST TIME AT NATIONAL

AMTA National Convention as experienced by a first-time attendee
Lisa Gorman, Board Member

As a person who gets anxious in large groups of people, I was apprehensive about attending the National Convention (which is why this was my first). When I registered, I was pleasantly surprised that there were a variety of different hands-on courses as well as presentations to choose from. I loved being able to go to presentations as a break from the hands-on classes; plus I'm a dork and revel in an informative presentation. I was fortunate to also attend the Volunteer Leadership Conference (check out Caress's writeup about VLC). At first, it was scary and intimidating to be around all these therapists that practice in different parts of the country with a variety of experience levels and modalities practiced. I was certainly thankful for the familiar faces of the other Massachusetts Chapter attendees. As a first-time attendee I was invited to the First-Timers' Lunch. It was interesting to see how many other people were attending National for the first time as well. I sat at a table with therapists from Colorado, New Mexico, and New York; all very lovely and excited about different aspects of the weekend. The Exhibition Hall was a little too crowded for me, but I did walk around the perimeter. There was a huge variety of vendors; everything from vibrating plates, continuing education groups, self-care tools, to emollients; it was impressive. AMTA National put together a great experience for everyone. There were a lot of different options and things to participate in, or not; a person can very much customize their experience into whatever they want it to be. But I do have to say the most fascinating thing about the whole week was: the pins.

The pins are a whole thing in and of themselves. I had heard tale of the pins at National, but to experience it was something else. Each chapter brings a bunch of representative pins. These are those metal lapel pins that have a separate back piece; they could be used as thumbtacks if one were so inclined. This year, as part of the welcome swag, National provided a canvas tote with a map printed on it as a way to collect these pins. The whole week (VLC and Convention) people are asking everyone if they have any pins, or want pins. There were times I thought a person was tearing up because I had just given the last MA pin in my possession away. They are very serious about collecting one from each and every chapter. Then there is the group that are very serious about handing out their chapter's pins; you cannot simply say no thank you, the look you get when you “don't want” their pin, it's like you kicked them in the shin. Hawaii was super sneaky about handing out their pins, they were handing out little baggies with a sticker and candy along with the pin. Alaska did not have pins, but they did have two sticker options. And if you didn't manage to collect, or hand out, all the pins you wanted, there was ‘Pin-A-Palooza'. And while I did not attend I can only assume it was like being on the floor of the stock exchange.