ALL-STATE CO-CHAIR UPDATE

Branden and Megan Hansen OMEA All State Co-Chairs

As All-State Co-Chairs, we both want to start by thanking everyone who was involved in the 2020 conference and, of course, all who attended as well. We knew that the 2020 conference was going to bring many changes and challenges. However, we also knew that there was a great planning team in place to navigate all those obstacles and were confident things would go smoothly. We are so thankful for the efforts of the conference planning team and for the patience, flexibility, and understanding of all our state’s educators. This conference was a great success because of YOU!

Now that the 2020 event is wrapped up, we are already looking forward to 2021. We are happy to report that next year’s event will have a much smoother and easier planning process as most facilities are remaining the same. This will allow for earlier booking and clearer communication to conference attendees, families, etc. We will not have the same seismic shift in venues and schedules as we did when we lost access to the Hult Center for All-State concerts.

We are also excited to be returning as All-State Co-Chairs next year. Although there will be a new Conference Chair to handle the “teacher-side” of the conference (sessions, banquet, etc.) per our election schedule, we will be returning to the same position and will continue to handle the “student-side” of the event and all matters related to all-state ensembles. This continuity is already allowing us and returning members of the planning team to make plans and adjustments for next year. If you have any suggestions for changes to the student experience for the 2021 conference, please email us at allstatechair@gmail.com. It is our goal to continue to improve the experience for all attending students.

Thank you again to Jeremy Zander for chairing such a great conference, the planning team for doing such marvelous work, and to all of you for attending the event!