California All State Music Education Conference

Here we go!!! It's the California music education event of the year. After years of mumbling and grumbling about California having far too many conferences and music education events many of our organizations have come together to form the very first "California All-State Music Education Conference". We've got California Music Educators Association (CMEA), California Band Directors Association (CBDA), California Alliance for Jazz (CAJ), California Orchestra Directors Association (CODA), Western Band Association (WBA) and many others. There are some many organizations I think it would be thrifty if they would allow us to purchase a discount membership. Join 3 groups and get $10 off your registration fee...geez joining all these groups is getting expensive...but at least we are all hear at one mega conference.

I always find interesting that in one of the largest states in the union with beaches and sun and San Francisco where is our mega conference....Fresno. Supposedly they give us a great deal. Which I suppose is good being that I'm the "thrifty band director" but really Fresno? Oh well, we're here to go to a conference anyway. If we sent somewhere else we probably wouldn't even attend anything at the conference anyway.

If you are here at the conference you will be able to find me "in real time" on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/thriftyband

As I have mentioned I am working at the conference on the "Special Projects Team." My partner in crime is one of my good friends, Mr. Jon Grantham. You will be able to find us today since we will be some of the best dressed band directors at the conferences. You can find our "power team" presiding over Shelly Jagow's sessions.

I will also be in the exhibit hall from 11:20-1pm & 2:00-4:30pm promoting my thriftiness, the San Jose State University Summer Music Camps (including our Summer in the City Camp & The Jim Widner Jazz Camp), as well as promoting two of my favorite fundraising products...We Care Coffee & sweatshirts from Rav Embroidery. So come on by and say hi!

And hopefully today is the day that I can get all of my technology to work together (hoping to begin posting today from the iphone).

Happy Friday!