“My Take” on #HETMA23 Version 5 with Joe Way
By Joe Way
The HETMA Virtual Conference has a special place in my heart. While I am so proud of the many accomplishments the organization has seen over the past four years, including but not limited to the Prism Scholarship, InfoComm Banquet, Approved Program, establishing a Board of Directors, and opening our community to the whole AV industry, it is the virtual conference that kickstarted everything.
I still remember BC Hatchett and I lugging 25-pound backpacks throughout InfoComm 2019, just handing swag and “save the date” cards to anyone in higher ed who would take one. And now, we just completed our fifth virtual conference, “Now What?”, that spent three days showcasing all our initiatives, successes, and higher ed all-stars.
In trying to sum up “my take” on the week, there’s just one word that comes to mind: “Wow!” Sure, surpassing 400 registered attendees was great, and having such amazing keynotes and breakout sessions is the staple of the event, but it was energy and “hope” I felt throughout the event. My favorite moment was just conversing with Lisle, Adaline, and the last of the closing happy hour peeps, hearing how an organization like ours can impact and change lives through community. That itself makes everything we do worth it.
What gets me is just how amazing effective we have been as an organization. I have said for years how we “slow roll” our initiatives–and indeed some do take longer than desired–but the fact that every initiative has been an industry-changing and vertical-changing home run is just freaking crazy amazing. That is 100% a testament to the org leadership, membership participation, and corporate sponsor support. We’ve been blessed. Really blessed. And that’s what sticks out the most.
We launched this organization with the mission to “advocate for the needs of the higher ed vertical within the greater AV industry.” Well, #HETMA23 showed that we are doing exactly that, and at a level of effectiveness that none of us could have imagined.
So, in closing, I just want to give sincere “THANKS!” to all of you who have helped make this organization what it is today. We have an amazing year ahead…. Just imagine what we’ll be talking about at #HETMA24! I love ya HETMA fam!
