The ADN Conference was (from the perspective of the conference chairperson) a flurry of activity that started out on a high stress note and ended in the blink of an eye.

People tell me that it was incredibly informative, completely relaxing and so much fun. I do remember seeing and feeling some of those things...but can hardly wait until next year when I can still be in on the learning and fun, just not at the center of it.

Seems like all weekend long I ran from room to room with my notepad making "Notes to Self" about things that needed to be done. Now as the dust settles on this first annual conference for Parenting Traumatized Children (yes we will be doing it next year...in Kansas City), here are some of my "Notes to Self".

1. Plan on minor crises and remain calm. No one told me how many little details would change and re-change in the planning of a conference. Speakers would have scheduling conflicts, travel plans would be changed, the conference center would doublebook. Computers would crash, websites would go down, and packages would get lost in the mail.

2. Once you arrive at conference center, plan on more minor crises and remain calm. When we showed up the air conditioning was broken in the main conference room. It was a balmy 86 degrees and climbing. The conference center folks were scrambling to find us another large room. And they did...clear across the complex from the rest of our conference. It would have made it impossible to get from one building to the other within our 15-minute breaks. But miracles happened all around this conference. And one of them was the air condition being fixed at about 10:30 pm the night before the conference!

3. Figure out a way to suspend time to make each day of the conference longer. One of the only complaints was how short the break times were and how little time people had for networking during the day or visiting the exhibitors. That truly was a problem. But with all the wonderful presentations, I'm still not sure how we could structure for more time between presentations and not have the agenda stretch well into the night! Wonder if we could slip into a time warp somehow...

4. Make sure comedy is included at each future conference. One of the best things we did was invite a comedy improv team to join us Friday night. What a great tension release! Everyone in the room laughed at something. And since stressed out parents so desperately need to activate their senses of humor...it was like one big therapy session for parents. Thinking about it still makes me smile!

5. Don't let Nancy Ashe speak again without a healthy supply of Kleenex in the crowd. Nancy courageously spoke to our group about her own attachment issues. Her presentation so eloquently gave us the insight of what it is like to be our traumatized children. It was just what we, as parents, needed to hear. It is a keynote that will be talked about for years to come. But there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Note to self...Kleenex!

6. Revel in the joy of having all my favorite people together at the same place on the planet. I knew my favorite part of the conference would be pulling together what I consider to be "the best of the best". The best parents I know from cyberspace, the best speakers around, and the best local therapists and professionals who have worked with our family. It was awesome to watch the connections being made. In fact it was truly a magical time watching all my favorite people interact with each other. So many traumatized children will benefit from these connections.

7. Make time soon to listen to the conference on CD, since I didn't get to attend many sessions. In fact, the only presentations I heard all the way through were the keynotes. And they were awesome. We are so fortunate that we have nearly all the sessions captured on audio or video so that the information will continue to reach parents for years to come.

I'm tired. But it is a satisfying exhaustion because we accomplished so much. Kelly, ADN's administrative assistant, did a yeoman's job of riding the roller coaster of last-minute changes. All the time with a smile on her face! She drove the excrutiating drive from Wisconsin to Atlanta, because who could take all that stuff on the plane????? And we're grateful she brought her hubby, Larry, who we dubbed "god of A/V" for the number of times he pulled our techo-bacon out of the fire! And Joy, who also made a long road trip from up north, car loaded with recording equipment to capture this conference for posterity. Then she stayed up night after night to make sure attendees went home with CDs. What a gift that is!

Final Note to Self: the parents of special kids are some of the most special people on the planet. I am so blessed to know so many of them!