Total 648 words used.
For more than 35 years, The Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children (Ohio AEYC) has been dedicated to empowering and supporting all who care for, educate, and advocate on behalf of young children.
A key to meeting that mission is through the annual conference, which has become known as a refuge in a world that has continually gotten more difficult for these passionate educators.
Although, we were moving forward with planning our in-person conference for April of 2021, we were in constant contact with Health Experts and were told that they expected that the vaccines would allow us to be back in person by April of 2021.
By the start of 2021, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Health Directors, it was clear that it wasn’t safe to return to a large in-person event. In addition to the pandemic, there was now a staffing crises for early childhood educators that caused it’s own tsunami of problems including lack of staff and lack of funds to pay for professional development. But the needs were still there and the children were still there to support.
Our dedicated Management team had to quickly pivot and solve how to virtually meet the needs of educators who were desperate.
Four major challenges stood in the way
- Size of staff: Like most non-profits, the majority of our revenue comes from our annual conference. Due to the pandemic-caused financial emergency, we were left with only 4 staff members.
- Financial Resources: As mentioned above, due to not having our annual conference in 2020 and now 2021, we were severely limited in what options we had.
- Continuing Education Credits (CEU’s): A major roadblock was that CEU’s was not allowed for virtual events. Nobody would pay to attend a virtual event, no matter the price if they couldn’t earn CEU’s. The already extended deadline that educators needed to turn in their State Mandated CEU’s was quickly approaching but not enough resources to meet those needs.
- We had never done a large virtual event before and there were major experience gaps.
Admittedly, in early January, our management and staff were overwhelmed and already exhausted mentally and emotionally. Barely enough reserves to pay what little staff we had left, let alone enough to pay for a production company, virtual platform or the presenters. Overwhelmed or not, the need was there and we needed to help. If this would be the final chapter in our association’s long history, it would end with fighting for the educators we existed to empower. Our Management team decided to give everything we had to creating a virtual event that would meet all the needs previously mentioned.
Over the next 4 months, through dedication, selflessness and a dash of many miracles, our Management team lead the way to create the largest education event in the state! A virtual conference that included over 2,300 attendees, 120 sessions, 6 national keynotes and provided over 20,000 CEU’s. All for the price of only $99 per attendee!
We not only received the same net promoter (NPS) for our virtual event that we normally do for our in-person conference, but we were able to add an entire Self-Care track for the educators. This track alone allowed us to provide the vital care that so many needed. 650 words can’t come close to describing the incredible messages we received of educators who were dealing with severe depression or anxiety.
This Management team led the way for something that we were continually told over and over that it wouldn’t be possible even with a massive budget. Through their dedication, the Management team was able to change the lives of countless educators and as a result, improve the lives of countless children in their care.
I ask for your consideration to honor the 4 people who decided to give everything they had to achieve the impossible.
