Moving Forward After WESTPAC

First of all, I want to acknowledge the great work done by the WESTPAC board and especially Bruce Stevens. The WESTPAC conferences I attended were excellent, sometimes even better than the Annual Conference. 

Initially, I supported the creation of WESTPAC with some trepidation. After 2 or 3 years, it became clear that it failed to achieve its stated goals:

• Boosting attendance: WESTPAC didn't succeed in increasing attendance. In fact, far fewer people from region 7 attended WESTPAC compared to our regular PNWC, which always had about 80 attendees.

• Bringing a national-quality conference to the Pacific Northwest: WESTPAC didn't deliver on this. It actually resulted in fewer educational opportunities for technicians in our region.

• Facilitating profit sharing with local sponsor chapters: As far as I know, this goal was not achieved.

In fact, of the seven Westpac conferences held, only one took place in Washington or Oregon. That was WESTPAC VI in Seattle in 2016. Westpac one was in San Francisco, two was in Salt Lake City, three was in Arizona, four was in Redwood City, CA, and the five was in Ontario, CA, the final one in Anaheim in 2018. In 2019 the Annual was in Region 6 so there was no WestPac

The last Pacific NW Conference was held in Renton and was a bit of an inaugurational for WESTPAC, as the California State Conference was suspended that year, and members from region 6 were encouraged to support that event. 

1. San Francisco, CA

2. Salt Lake City, UT

3. Phoenix AZ (Lost Money)

4. Redwood City, CA

5. Ontario, CA (The last WESTPAC run by an elected conference coordinator)

6. Seattle (Ran by Steve Taylor)

7. Anaheim (Ran by Steve Taylor)

There seems to be interest in reviving WESTPAC, but I question the advantages of continuing with that model. Instead, I believe restarting a Pacific NW conference would be more beneficial.

When it comes to professional development and networking, small conferences have unique advantages. 

They provide intimate networking opportunities, tailored learning experiences, access to local experts, affordability, and active engagement. Attending small regional conferences can greatly contribute to personal and professional growth.

The Pacific NW Regional Conference has been subject to some misconceptions.

Before WESTPAC was formed, I served as the Pacific NW Regional Conference President. Unlike California’s State Conference, the Board of the PNWC did not have meaningful oversight over the conference. It was mostly a support role to assist the local host chapter in the planning.

It has been said that the PNWC had declining attendance and was losing money every year. 

This was one of the motivations for forming WESTPAC. However, the reality was that chapters were not following the published guidebook that recommended budgeting for 80 attendees.

For several years in a row, host chapters would think big and want to put on an impressive conference that would really bring people in. Thus they would budget for 90 people or 100 people. When only around 80 or 85 people showed up it was considered a failure.

Organizations like ours go through waxing and waning cycles. When things are at a high point for a few years, it’s easy for that to be perceived as the new norm. Then when the cycle declines, it becomes a “crisis”.

There is an interesting and enlightening counter to this conception. One year when I was PNWC President, the host chapter was a small chapter in Eastern Washington. They were very concerned about people driving all the way to the Tri Cities area of the State so they conservatively budgeted for 70 people. That was one of the years we actually made a little money!

To address previous misconceptions, I propose the following changes to the Pacific NW Regional Conference:

• Rely exclusively on region 7 talent for teaching.

• Keep the conference as simple and “bare bones” as possible to facilitate volunteerism and prevent burn-out.

• Keep the number of classes to a minimum.

• Prioritize hands-on opportunities, like setting up a hotel conference space with a few pianos for participants to observe and learn from.

• Limit the conference to a weekend, starting on a Friday at noon and concluding on Sunday at noon. This would allow many people to drive and also not to miss work.
  
  

To address previous challenges, I recommend establishing a regional conference board to oversee finances and remove control from host chapters. Let's start modestly with a budget for 50-60 attendees in the first year.

By keeping the conference simple, streamlined, and well-organized, we can minimize stress for volunteers and ensure its success. Let's avoid setting unrealistic expectations and focus on cherishing the opportunity to spend time with colleagues and kindred spirits.