ShINING LIGhT ON NeW eNGLAND: The FIrST reGIONAL IYeNGAr YOGA CONFereNCe by Linda DiCarlo The first Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference was held in Providence, Rhode Island, from October 16 through 18, 2009. The faculty is introduced to attendees at the Friday evening reception. From conception to manifestation, the journey was action packed. Gloria Goldberg and Marla Apt, two past presidents of IYNAUS, conjured the With a wealth of expertise in our national idea and first mentioned the concept at the IYNAUS board meeting of March 2008. Our community, we had many choices so long intention was to use the conference to promote Iyengar Yoga to all yoga practitioners, to as teachers’ calendars were not booked introduce the community to local teachers as well as teachers from other regions, and to given the short notice. In the end, we generate income to support IYNAUS. chose a total of 22 teachers, with New England being strongly represented. At the time this work began, we had only 33 certified teachers in all of New England. Included were those who are pillars of The organizers had minimal experience with this sort of project. Our time line was very our regional community, with esteemed short: less than a year and a half until the opening date. teachers from other parts of the country to round out the teaching staff. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? Fortunately, these people fully supported Boston, with its eager community of volunteers, was selected as the conference site this project. Some even shuffled their (there were no other cities vying for this distinction). In addition to Patricia Walden’s calendars to make it possible to Boston community, a contingent of students and teachers from every state in New participate. England joined in to bring the dream to fruition. The first committees to take shape were the Steering Committee (Patricia Walden, Peentz Dubble, Jill Johnson, Greg As word of what was in the works began Anton, Linda DiCarlo) and the Curriculum Committee (Patricia Walden, Janice Vein, to spread, inquiries began to flood in Linda DiCarlo, Gloria Goldberg). These committees met via conference call and email so from across the country. It was clear that that travel demands of a multistate group were minimized. The Steering Committee was registration, accommodations, and at the helm of the project and collectively made decisions that shaped the entire event. general logistics were going to be Peentz and Jill took charge of the venue and were responsible for the logistics of the substantive tasks. Early on in this actual event; Greg communicated with all committee heads and orchestrated production process, we were blessed by an offer from and the budgets of 12 committees; and Patricia and Linda cochaired the Curriculum New Hampshire’s Diana Shannon to head Committee, designed the basic structure of the conference, and selected the teachers to up the Web Site and Registration be invited. With these key individuals in place, we were ready to launch the project. Committees. We were awed by Diana’s priceless skill set and heroic attitude toward sticking to our time line. With her valiant effort, the web site took shape. More committees were needed, so the Steering Committee came up with a list of people for these leadership positions who were invited to join our gathering Our original idea was to hold the conference in Boston during peak fall colors. We force of conference organizers. In late discovered all but a very few hotels were booked with parents’ weekend for Boston September 2008, 12 volunteers took universities or annual boat races on the Charles River. With only one option in the suburbs, charge of these new areas of responsibility our consultant suggested we consider Providence. Although it was Brown University’s (Audio/Visual, Finance, Food, Venue, Parents’ Weekend, we were able to secure adequate space in downtown Providence at the Sponsors, Events, Advertising, Vendors, Rhode Island Convention Center and Westin Hotel, which were conveniently joined by a Volunteers, Website, Registration, and glass-enclosed walkway. Curriculum) and were required to devise an action plan and to propose a budget. As soon as the dates and location were identified, Patricia and Linda collaborated to These committee chairs all needed select the teaching staff. Consideration was given to creating a well-rounded group. volunteers. To recruit them, we relied not
Our original idea was to hold the conference in Boston during peak fall colors.
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Spring / Summer 2010
Yoga Samachar
