The first week in May, my wife and I headed for Duncanville, TX (just south of Dallas) so I could attend the biannual SIL Language Technology Conference. This was the first time, since I started serving with SIL back in August 2021, that I was able to meet members of my team in person as I and the majority all work remotely. So different seeing people in 3D rather than just a flat image on a computer screen. What an amazing week! I wish I could sit with you to share what all I learned at the event, the friendships I built, and the emotions of the experience. Because of some privacy concerns of individuals and internal organizational conversations, I cannot share a lot of details here on my blog. For now, let me share some highlights.
The theme for this event was Working in Unity (Exodus 31:2-6, 1 Corinthians 3:5-10). Being together, after being apart for so long with the pandemic, was very emotional and important to many of us. This was a time to come back together, focus on our relationships with each other personally and professionally, and to have serious conversations about our projects and ministries.
The Keynote/Devotionals were done by Rocky Tyler of Difficult Dialogues Consulting. He focused on relationship building, communication, and conflict competence…all very useful topics.
My favorite quotes from the week:
“Synergy isn’t about the task, it is about the together.”
“Work always flows from relationship.”
“You are not a mature project until you have technical debt.”
“Self licking ice cream cone.”
Here are pictures I can share so you can experience some of the event.
We had a nice two day drive to Texas from our home in Indiana. This was our second long trip since Angie started using a wheelchair fulltime so we are still working out the kinks and had some challenges, but overall a great trip. The International Linguistics Center is a beautiful campus shared with Dallas International University. They have a huge acreage of woodlands with paths behind the campus. We were able to stay on campus as well, so Angie and I could both get around the area easily.They completed a wheelchair accessible room in their guest house before we arrived and we felt so blessed to have that within an easy walk of the conference and my temporary office space. I was able to stay fully engaged with the event while balancing my caregiving responsibilities.The Guest House and Facilities teams at SIL did an amazing job making us feel welcome. Look at this compact but wonderfully designed accessible bathroom. Things like this are what make Angie and I feel so welcomed into the family at SIL International.Rocky Tyler giving his keynote. Here he is talking about the Undergarments under the Armor of God.Owl Labs cameras were a huge hit for those attending the conference remotely. The cameras along with GatherTown helped the online and in person people feel like they were participating in the same event. I even got to show how the Owl cameras can link together.There really are tumbleweeds in Texas.Why yes, I did bring a large bag of games with me on the trip. The conference had a game day to encourage relationship building. I got to play Marvel United, Fluxx, and others played my copies of Ark of the Covenant and Codenames.I found it ironic that we were at a technology conference and there was a working phone booth in the Guest House. I received the gift of a white rose for my assistance with the conference set up and management (I helped with GatherTown). We put the rose in a bottle in our Guest House room to enjoy for the weekend until we headed home. The Saturday after the conference, the Language Technology Leadership Team got together for a quick and casual meeting time to pray and reflect on the conference. I am so honored and blessed to work with these amazing people.Have I mentioned before how much I love pie? On our way home I stopped for gas and found this place sold small hand pies that were amazing! We will definitely look for these again on our next trip to Texas. As amazing as the conference was, it was good to be back home. Not so good that we came down with COVID soon after the conference. That was a risk we accepted when we travelled to the event. We do not regret that choice as the conference was amazing and the time we spent in evenings and weekends building friendships was wonderful.
If you want to hear more about the conference, then let’s get together in person or online to chat!
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