I hope you enjoy this issue's look back at February's RCMA conference in Orlando. My biggest takeaway from this year's meeting was the exceptional quality and diversity of the general-session speakers. I would recommend Ken Medema to anyone who needs an inspiring, humorous, engaging speaker. His message of personal achievement never happening without the help of others set the tone wonderfully for the week.

When the conference ended, my stay in Orlando was only half over. I joined my wife, our two daughters, and my in-laws at noon February 8 at Disney World, in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge. I arrived from the Rosen Shingle Creek, of course, while my in-laws came in from St. Louis, and my family flew in from Minneapolis.

It was announced at RCMA 2005 in St. Louis that the 2008 conference would be in Orlando. It seems my wife began thinking about this vacation to Disney World that very day. She began planning our trip in earnest toward the end of 2006, reading travel books, Web sites, and message boards; studying photo albums from work colleagues; recounting childhood trips to Disneyland and Disney World; and asking questions of friends who have been there recently with kids. She can tell you all the details regarding the Disney parks, the pros and cons of the many food plans, which restaurants are best for girls ages 7 and 9, resort room sizes, how to avoid crowds, how the tunnel system underneath Disney World was built, and a lot more. She should've been a meeting planner.

We had a great trip, and the lobbying has begun already for a return vacation.

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