Executive Director’s Remarks
Best Conference Ever!
That critical incident that you powered through on the job may impact you after hours at home when you are with your family, or it may stay with you for years despite your best efforts to put it behind you. It is an often experienced but rarely discussed phenomenon.
I heard that phrase repeatedly during our AJA Conference and Jail Expo in Omaha. I heard it from our exhibitors, our attendees, our presenters, our Program Planning Committee members, and our Board of Directors. Considering this was only my second AJA conference and I only have Long Beach to compare it to, I am going to take the feedback as an accurate comparison to the many conferences before.
As the Executive Director, my focus is always on what we could have done better, but it is a short list of minor tweaks! If you were not at the Omaha conference, you really missed out! The networking activities, such as the opening reception and closing session, were over the top. Packed and a lot of fun! Of course, our educational content was exceptional as well. It was good vibes all the way around, and everyone who attended fell in love with Omaha.
The conference is indicative of the positive transition that AJA has gone through overall in the past year. We are the best we have ever been! Our Board of Directors and the AJA staff are forward-thinking and very engaged in optimizing all that we do. We have a new strategic plan that is serving as our North Star, and you will continue to see AJA evolve into an even more vibrant organization in the years ahead.
Next up will be the AJA Fall Summit for Jail Professionals. The Summit was conceived to be different from our annual conference. It focuses on a single topic that is significantly impacting our jails, and we do a deep dive into every aspect of that challenge and how jails are working to overcome it.
This year, the topic is the mental health and well-being of jail professionals. Working in corrections can take its toll on your psyche. That critical incident that you powered through on the job may impact you after hours at home when you are with your family, or it may stay with you for years despite your best efforts to put it behind you. It is an often experienced but rarely discussed phenomenon.
The AJA Mental Health Summit for Jail Professionals will provide a forum to discuss the challenges that come with working with corrections and what some jails are doing to provide the support their staff needs. Not only is it the right thing to do for your people, it also helps you retain them.
You will not want to miss this opportunity to focus on this important topic with other jail professionals who understand the challenges. Join us on October 3–5 at the Hyatt Place in historic downtown Charleston, SC, and next year’s Conference & Jail Expo in Fort Lauderdale! I look forward to seeing you there.
CHRIS D. DANIELS, MPA, CAE Executive Director American Jail Association
