Believe me, we are just as disappointed as you are to miss out on MASSP’s biggest event of the year EdCon20. After careful thought and much discussion with industry colleagues and the MASSP Board of Directors we came to the conclusion that an event at the end of June would be problematic for a number of reasons. The safety of the membership is our number one concern and we feel it is in everyone’s best interest to delay….the good news is we are currently planning a different event to bring the membership together on October 19 and 20.
What will the October event be focused on? Let’s debrief what we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of: teaching, learning, collaboration, community partnerships, devices, connectivity, equity, student support and most importantly, silver linings. What good things have come out of this experience? Are your teachers, students and parents now familiar and comfortable in an online environment? Will your instruction moving forward keep components of an online platform? Are you considering blended learning, providing more online options for students and rethinking instructional delivery? Will you be able to avoid disruptions of learning in the future?
Let’s plan to collectively share success and ideas that will keep our schools moving forward in a way that improves equity and access in our state. Some great news- our EdCon keynote Thomas Murray will still be able to join us in October and his background in digital and personalized learning will be perfect for this context. Please save the dates of October 19 & 20 and plan to join us. We will also honor and recognize our 2019-20 Principal & Assistant Principal of the Year and transition MASSP’s leadership to President Andy Kowalczyk. We will provide more information on location and agenda over the next few weeks.
EdCon Cancelation Things to Know:
- Hotel Rooms at Grand Traverse Resort: Reservations made at the discounted group rate will be automatically canceled and refunded. Due to very limited staff at the hotel currently, please DO NOT call to cancel your reservations as they are not equipped to handle a large call volume at this time.
- EdCon Conference Registration: MASSP will automatically be refunding your conference registration if you previously paid it. Your refund will be returned to you in the same format in which we received it--either by credit card refund, or a check mailed to you. It will take a little time to process the refunds, but you should expect to see it within 5-10 business days. We appreciate your patience as we work through this process.
- Questions regarding conference details and/or hotel concerns can be directed to Angel Brewer at angel@michiganprincipals.org.
- Questions regarding conference payments and/or refunds can be directed to Sarah LaLonde at sarah@michiganprincipals.org.
October Event Things to Know:
- Watch for an announcement regarding location to be announced soon.
- Interested in Presenting? Watch for a “Call for Presentations” to come out soon as event information becomes available.
- Questions regarding conference details, presenting and vendor opportunities can be directed to Angel Brewer at angel@michiganprincipals.org.
Thank you for your understanding and support of this decision. We like to think of this as a postponement rather than a cancelation. In addition to the October event you can also put the dates for EdCon21 on your calendar now- we will be back at Grand Traverse next summer June 28-30, 2021.
Written by Wendy Zdeb, MASSP Executive Director