North American Taiko Conference 2011 aftermath!

Another NATC behind us! Welcome to all of you who are new to the site (both of you, ha!)

And now, time to reflect. I'll just throw out some of my observations and highlights from the past four days:

• The newer you are to taiko, the more eager you are to get up (on stage) and play. Nothing bad about that, just an observation. :)
• For those who were new to conference, getting very little sleep meant you were doing it right!
• The ones who make the conference run smoothly are the ones you see the least.
• You can never really thank enough the ones who started it all.
• Everyone who participates say they want more workshops, but by the end of the third one, people are pretty wiped.
• Discussion sessions need to be tweaked. It should be less about the panelists, and have more interaction with the audience. Maybe fewer panelists per session?
• I hope something I said in all my babbling on said panels turns out to help someone.
• Although the lunches were pretty sad, the reception food always rocks!
• I'm not a "classic" or a "luminary" but I really really value being able to talk with those who are. It means a lot to me to be able to joke around with them and feel like they respect me.
• I remember 80% of the faces and 20% of the names. That should equal 100% but it never works like that!
• Have to play with okedo bachi length and have some new chappa technique to work on.
• New workshop idea: Karate and taiko (body mechanics, presence).
• Old workshop idea that I really should look into: Teaching a workshop for taller players.
• I have a big sack of blog post ideas from the last four days.
• FUN!
  

I'm sure there's a few more things that might come up; this list is not comprehensive and I might add to it in the next couple of days.

Thanks to all of you who came out! See you in...72o-ish days! :)