2008 Conference Atlanta Review

2008 Atlanta Conference Review by Sandy Jaffe
 

Another successful IEA Conference has come and gone. This conference was extra special for me, being my last conference as a member of the IEA Board of Directors, and co-conference chair.

Overall there was a delicious sense of warmth, openness and community throughout the weekend.   One of the highlights was the pre-conference day event, bridging the Arica and Enneagram schools of thought. The day-long program was lead by Tato Gomez and Daniela Hauptmann, long-standing Arica students who taught some basic Arica exercises and lead us in meditations to help expand our awareness and self-observation.  Like the Enneagram, the Arica system is an intricate system, with centuries –old roots.  I left the session wanting to know more.

Jerry Wagner on piano and Ron Esposito on stand-up bass serenaded us during the Welcome reception with live jazz. Beautiful!

Friday’s keynote by Diane Collins was right in line with the evolution of the Enneagram, blending modern science with ancient spiritual knowledge into practical wisdom.  She is the creator of QuantmThink® - comparing and combining old world views with new world views where there are no absolutes because everything is in flux and is observer related- a new way of thinking.

This year, for the first time, we offered New Voices. I loved this.  It gave folks who are doing interesting stuff with the Enneagram a chance to present their work.  I sat in on Australian Margaret Buring’s session, Sitting for the World. Her format was fun and different.  She handed out pre-selected questions for us to ask her about meditation and what it meant to her, its effects,   how to find an American man -- (threw that in for fun). And then she tossed Australian chocolates at us. Yummy! 

As always, there were too many interesting sessions to check out, and it’s always so hard to decide which ones to attend. Luckily I could purchase audio CD’s of the presentations I missed.

The Friday night entertainment was spectacular. Debbie Ooten, IEA Vice President and my conference ‘partner in crime’, brought the renowned Georgia resident, Coleman Barks, to perform for a rapt audience.  Barks’ specialty is translating and reading Rumi poetry. Quite an eccentric artist, he was eloquent in his interpretation and delivery of Rumi.   He also shared some of his own endearing poetry – mostly about his grandchildren.  Barks was gloriously accompanied by Tato Gomez on guitar and percussion, Martin Salzwedel on cello, and Ron Esposito on bass. IEA Board member Pamela Roussos conceived of and generously sponsored the event. Thanks Pamela!
 
Saturday and Sunday all the usual suspects were on hand to offer new and interesting insights and applications derived from their exploration and use of the Enneagram.   I couldn’t attend as many workshops as I would have liked but the feedback I got was very positive. The IEA Board of Directors works tirelessly year-round to bring you the best Enneagram experience possible.  We invite all attendees to send us feedback about your conference experience.