Biennial Plog Post #2

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2005 - 1:08AM(CST)

Biennial has been a unique experience for me. For the first time in a VERY long time, I actually get to participate in an event. I know, shocking. I'm only responsible for a few things, and the rest of the time, I have the incredible opportunity to take advantage of everything Biennial offers. That is the best way I can describe the past day.
I woke up this morning, had breakfast with Allison L., and went across to the Convention center. I didn't really have anything to do until the workshop I was co-leading at 1:30PM, so I had the morning to myself. After wandering around the halls for a while(the exhibit halls weren't open before noon), I called my old Rabbi (Rabbi Jon Stein) to find out where he was and when he was coming in. Curiously enough, he was just pulling up to the convention center. We met up and grabbed Starbucks. It was so great to catch up with him. I caught him up on everything in life - family members, how each is doing, and what they're up to; music stuff; his super-cool Treo; friends; college life; everything. In my Jewish upbringing, I've found that I identify Rabbi Stein as "my rabbi." After some good chatting, we shopped at the bookstore and the exhibition booth. And yes, we got matching yarmulkes.
Then, I had my workshop. The title of the workshop was "Blogs, Chatrooms, and LiveJournal: What the E-generation is Doing Online," and I taught it with Rabbi Koppel. The workshop was basically on how kids put WAY too much information out on the open internet and how to make sure that kids are safe online. A few notes about the meeting I found amusing:
*We were talking about how technology has changed over the last 30 years(1975 - First home computer; This year's senior class started kindergarten when the first widely-used web brower, Mosaic, was introduced), and there was a woman knitting. I found that amusing.
*New term I didn't know for AIM: POS - Parent over shoulder
*www.blackjew.com. 'Nuf said.
*Rachel G: Change your myspace. I used it as a REALLY bad example of a myspace, and everyone gasped when I showed it to them. You put yourself WAY out there. Take some of the info down. Your myspace is WAY high-risk. Just wanted to give you a heads-up.
After the very successful workshop, I had some time to chill with Andy S. It's so great that even though he's in a position that could go straight to his head, he's still a really good guy. We sat for a while, then met up with Dr. Soffer(Matt's dad), talked to Matt in the Holy Land, met up with Sarah R. and Rabbi Laura, and talked about responsible sexual behavior for about 45 minutes. It was pretty intense. Although, I did want to go to the workshop Craig Taubman, Cantor Lisa Levine, and Rabbi Billy Dreskin were leading: "Klezfusion, Country, and Hip Hop: the next wave of liturgical music?" But alas, I did not.
We came back to the hotel, tried to go out for dinner, but had some difficulties navigating downtown Houston, and ended up ordering in Papa Johns. Then, we went to the first big Plenary session. After a brief welcome by Chairman Bob Heller, there was a beautiful and moving presentation about the URJ's response to Hurricane Katrina. As the video presentation ended, the VOG(Voice of God - Paul) announced that everyone should rise as the Torahs from the affected Congregations, which had all been saved, were entering the room. The scrolls were carried by the Clergy of the synagogues. The emotions in the room ran very high. Feelings of sorrow for those who had lost their homes, hope for the future, and pride in the fact that the scrolls were saved filled the room instantaneously. It was a beautiful moment.
Then, it was off to networking:-). One of the things I love about my summer job is that it gives me a legitimate opportunity to go up to people like Beth Schafer and say "Hey, can Camp Newman steal you for a week this summer?" Then we trade business cards. It's so sweet. I'm so excited for this next summer. It really looks like the music program will finally have a great structure again. I just love walking into the hotel lobby and running into people, like The Cantor. It was great to meet up with her and find out when her service will be. I'll be there, for sure.
Until a few lines down,
jg