Innovating, Automating and Empowering at the 2020 Leadership Conference

It is no secret that I LOVE MY JOB as the GiGi’s Playhouse Hillsborough Playhouse Manager! Anyone who has worked with me at the Playhouse also knows that one of my favorite work events of the year is the annual Leadership Conference in Chicago. As with everything else in 2020, conference looked a lot different this year; for starters it was virtual.

I still had a great time reconnecting with friends from other locations and meeting new employees and volunteers. Here are my top 5 moments from the GiGi’s Playhouse 2020 National Leadership Conference:

1. We had a record number of attendees this year. By going virtual, the barrier of travel expenses was removed and anyone who wanted to attend could. The end result was 537 attendees from all 60 GiGi’s locations that are open (or soon to be) across the US and Mexico!
2. One of the phrases we heard a lot was “COVID silver lining” and the one that had the biggest impact on me was finding out how many countries are participating in GiGi’s at Home. The top four countries are the US, Mexico, Canada and the UAE!
3. Meeting 56-year-old Dennis from Arkansas, who was diagnosed at the age of 18 as having mosaic Down syndrome. Dennis never let that diagnosis slow him down; he has worked his whole life, has been happily married for four years, and serves on the Board of Managers for the Little Rock Playhouse.
4. All of the sessions could be attended! If two breakout sessions that I wanted to attend were at the same time, I could attend one live and can go back to watch the recording of the other one later. At past conferences I could only hope to get my hands on the handouts and review the power point presentations.
5. Sharing with other locations the struggles of working virtually and exchanging ideas on how to better engage with our families and volunteers while operating in a safe manner.

Looking forward to next year, I hope to meet with staff and volunteers from other Playhouses in Chicago.

A virtual meeting at the GiGi’s Playhouse 2020 National Leadership Conference.