I was not wanting to fly to Columbus. Another person from Tennessee PTA was driving and that sounded more appealing. And was leaving on Saturday morning and that was even more appealing to me--three nights and two and half days. But it was not to be.
I was the incoming president elect for Tennessee PTA and National PTA wanted me to come early for enhanced leadership training. They would pay for the flight and for the two extra nights at the hotel. Five nights in all. So, I flew in on Tuesday, June 18 and flew back home on Sunday, June 23 (barely, more on that at the end of this post).
I flew from Chattanooga to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Columbus. All on regional jets. Columbus has a good bus connector system with a bus from the airport to the major downtown hotels for $1.75. Chattanooga needs a system like that.
After rolling my suitcases for a block and a half from the bus drop (thank God, no rain), I checked into my hotel and was promptly charged my three nights onto my card. Plus a deposit. Nice Hyatt, really nice, not. I’ve heard of charging for the deposit but not the entire bill at check-in.
I was hungry after unpacking my packing cubes. (Love my packing cubes!) So, I walked over this huge convention center in Columbus, Ohio at 3 pm. Both restaurants in the hotel were closed and re-open at 4. All the restaurants in the convention center closed at 2. I was going like what the blank is going on!
I finally found an exit door out of the convention center and walked across the street to Fuzzy Taco. It was Tuesday- twofer Tuesdays. Yep two big tacoes for the price of one! And happy hour! Yep a big giant goblet schooner of beer for 3 bucks. Total bill, 7 bucks! Yep, I was happy!
The next day was Leadership Institute. I’m not going to bore ya with all of the details from the Institute nor from the following days of Convention general meetings, all of the workshops (5), and other meetings I attended. Suffice it to say, I learned a lot, met a lot of state PTA leaders from across the country, collected pins from different states, and voted on a lot of things. I do want to cover one general business meeting vote.
A resolution that I wrote and researched for my county PTA council was adopted by the State. Then the State sent it to National for consideration.The National PTA adopted it too! Here is my good friend Charles Everett speaking on behalf of the resolution! You can see me in the background.
The Reflections dinner was fantastic! It is so amazing the talent of our youth and children. The PTA arts programs plays such a big role connecting PTA to the arts and to families.
Another cool convention was going on at the same time. It was the Pokemon North America Championships. There were Pokemon teams competing for the title. Here are some pictures outside their door entrance.
It was a great convention. I was able to reconnect with other PTA leaders I had met at previous events. I was able to connect with incoming presidents and incoming president elects. This type of networking is so important. And I got to see my good friend, Charla, at the convention!
Thank you to Cheryl Floyd for being a great friend and a great president!
And now to the story about getting back to Chattanooga! What a messed up day of flight!
The plane left on time from Columbus but when we arrived near Atlanta, we were circling, almost 30 minutes. Then over the intercom, we were being diverted to Charlotte. I knew my connecting flight would be out of the question! Thankfully, through the Delta app, I got the last flight out of Atlanta. After three failed tries to take off from Charlotte only to be called back to the airport tarmac, we were finally cleared to leave the runway on the fourth attempt.
When I walked into the Atlanta airport that were people everywhere - even sitting in the hallways. It was madhouse mayhem! Every single flight was delayed or canceled. People were frustrated, mad, angry, bemused, or just tired. By the time I got to the correct terminal for my flight to Chatt, I found out that the gate was changed, again. Then I walked to the new gate, and there wasn't a seat to be found. Then my flight to Chatt was delayed another 30 minutes. Thankfully, I got back to Chatt, 5 and half hours late. But I was thankful just to make it out of Atlanta airport unlike a lot of passengers.
It was great to be back home!
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