2015 AAACE in OKC

What a wonderful opportunity we had to travel to the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) annual conference and present our work on “Walk this Way: Implementing 3rd Party Leadership in Graduate Management Education.” This presentation was adapted from the iLEAD program which is a leadership initiative in the MBA program at the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University. While the presentation prep and travel to the conference was great, the most fun was had by engaging with our adult education faculty who traveled with us. We had the chance to share stories and meals at historic restaurants such as Cattleman’s Café in the Old Stockyards district of Oklahoma City as well as Abuelo’s authentic Mexican food in the Brickyard area. Getting the chance to visit with the Drs. Witte, Cordie as well as our Adult Ed classmates was special. Joel Hughes – my presentation partner – and I also took some time to visit the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial. I had been to OKC in the past, but this was my first time to visit the site of this domestic terrorism incident that killed 179 people 20 years ago. It was a somber yet beautiful place where a memorial had been established in honor of those killed. I learned something about that place that I had not previously known in that it was a United States National Park. I was glad I was able to see the park and accompanying museum as part of my visit. The time spent in Oklahoma City in late fall was a great trip and I look forward to attending the 2016 AAACE in Albuquerque.