Can you believe ACPA 2021 concluded over a month ago already? Collectively, we have taken the time to reflect on the virtual experience, what we learned, and how we apply it moving forward. MRN 2020-2021 Co-chair Kelli Campa and 2021-2022 Co-chair Nicole Belise were kind enough to share some insight and reflection on their ACPA 2021 experience.
Kelli’s Reflection:
2021 marked my 6th ACPA Convention. When leaving Nashville, Tennessee, from the 2020 ACPA Convention, no one could have expected that this would be the last in-person event many attended. 2020-2021 also marked my Co-Chair role within the Multiracial Network (MRN). Starting my Co-Chair role in the midst of a pandemic was daunting, but I will be forever grateful to my Co-Chair for being there with me. MRN produced more webinars and virtual events than it has in previous years. From Mixed Messages, Processing Anti-Blackness, and our Scholar in Residence webinars—we were ready for the virtual Convention.
When I saw the virtual platform, I was shocked by how intuitive and user-friendly it was. Throughout the Convention, I kept singing the platform’s praises as I competed with MRN/ACPA Co-Chair duties, work, life in general, and trying to attend sessions. Ultimately, I am most thankful for the accessibility of the platform. Having the ability to go back a month after Convention ended was fantastic. The closed captioning also made it more accessible. I hope that we can continue to have pre-recorded sessions in the future.
With everything being pre-recorded or via Zoom, it also made the Convention experience different but still gave me the feel of being at ACPA. The Twitter backchannel was still alive, and it was amazing to hear about sessions that I could theoretically still attend. I did not feel rushed from going to the Opening Session, CelebrACPA, and CultureFest. MRN’s virtual socials provided some fun and competitive virtual games. Overall, I enjoyed the virtual Convention but did miss being able to hug my fellow MRN/ACPA friends or getting to have those impromptu meetups for coffee or lunch. I am hopeful that we will get to be together in 2022, but if it has to be virtual again, ACPA did a fantastic job for its first virtual Convention.
Nicole’s Reflection:
I really appreciate Kelli’s perspective! Before I attend a conference, I set some learning objectives which help me to choose the particular sessions I will participate in. This tends to narrow my scope, but it helps to have a focus during conferences when I can often feel overwhelmed. ACPA 2021 was definitely unique. It was extremely challenging for me to balance work and sessions, but as Kelli mentioned, I greatly appreciated the fact that the sessions were pre-recorded. I had FOMO sentiments every time I saw a new tweet or message talking about sessions that I wasn’t able to attend due to work. Thankfully, I have been able to go back and engage at a later time. Granted, I wish we had access to them for a bit longer, but I still appreciate that they were available after the fact. At a traditional conference, if you missed a session, you missed it without an opportunity to view it later.
There were many good sessions but most notable for me was the keynote with Dr. Shaun Harper—which was fire! What a way to start and inspire a conference. While MRN didn’t officially have any sponsored sessions this year, I tried to attend any session that focused on Multiraciality. I also participated in a Culturefest panel that we pre-recorded. It was surreal to listen to myself, but I was excited to hear all the feedback about the session in the chat feature. I know it had to be challenging to find a platform that allowed for engagement and community building in the virtual space, and I think ACPA did a great job putting it all together. I believe there were some challenges to start especially given the virtual nature and the implementation of new technology.
Like Kelli (again), I missed the in-person conference. I missed the socials, the food, the opportunity to explore new places, to network and meet new people, and of course, my MRN family. I know we all tried to bring those elements to the convention, but it was hard to fill the gap completely. As with every ACPA, I learned something new, whether about myself or something I can use in my everyday work. Thanks for another great convention, ACPA!
Thank you to Nicole and Kelli for sharing some insight into their experience. MRN is so grateful to the Convention committee and all who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this experience happen. We look forward to next year, where we can continue to learn in community with one another (hopefully in-person).
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