Earthquake!

As everyone probably knows, today there was an earthquake very close to D.C. It was completely unexpected--who knew that there were earthquakes on the East Coast? I certainly didn't. It was definitely a scary afternoon (Sarah, my cofellow, can confirm that I came this close to losing my cool); I hope I never find myself on the 10th floor of a shaking building again. Things were pretty chaotic in the city as we scrambled down flights of stairs to join hordes of other office-workers out on the sidewalks. Everyone was trying to figure out what was happening and what to do next.

More than anything, though, I would say that the uncertainty surrounding today's earthquake is an apt (and convenient) metaphor for what's happening at Character Education Partnership this week. No, my organization hasn't fallen into chaos nor entered into disaster mode, but yes, I am definitely anxious about our next moves. My main project--helping to plan CEP's 18th National Forum on Character Education--needs a lot of work, and my supervisor and I (along with most of our coworkers) are feeling stressed. We need to find about 600 more registrants for the conference while making sure that every element of the conference runs smoothly. I always knew that event planning was hard work, but it wasn't until this week that it really hit me.

We have a lot to do. Our work is cut out for us in the final push to advertise the Forum and tie together the event's numerous loose ends. While I expect these next couple months before the conference will be stressful, I'm excited to work through the issues, figure things out, and minimize aftershocks :)