Just what does it take…
What does it take for ACTE to get ready for convention? Well, really it takes a full year of hard work and effort by the staff, but for my story we are looking at two little parts of the whole process - stuffing and packing.
Have you ever wondered where the tote bags you get at registration come from? We stuff them. Over a three day period, the ACTE staff stuffs 5000 tote bags. This year each bag had 14 items, for a grand total of 70,000 (!) items stuffed. The staff breaks up into teams for two separate competitions to see how fast each team can stuff 500 bags. While this is a friendly competition, there have been some incidents of foul play…Pete, I am looking at you… Every ACTE staff member is involved in stuffing. For at least one hour every morning, Jan is up there stuffing bags and telling stories. Pete usually comes up with something to wear that is good for a laugh. If you get a chance at convention, ask him what he wore this year for stuffing. And periodically, dance contests break out when good songs come on the Ipod.
And then there is packing. Right now there are no fewer than seven staff members packing boxes for shipping. Jamie Baxter is hurrying to finish packing the auction items for the Networking Reception and putting the final touches on the CTE Support Fund board. Stop by the table and see all her hard work. Jamie Bennett is packing what looks to be her entire office for convention. Seriously, she is a true pro at getting all the needed materials packed. Kudos also need to go to Cara DiMattina for being the point person on creating and maintaining the inventory list for all of ACTE. The technical term for her job this week is “Herding Cats.”
I hope this gives a little humorous insight to what the ACTE staff is going through in preparation for convention. We hope you come to Charlotte and join us.
Jason
November 17th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Ah, stuffing and packing. The best at what we do here at ACTE. It’s fun to not have to think hard about something, just “pick up a sheet, put it in the bag.”