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executive
director’s
remarks

Looking Good in the Rearview Mirror

The 40th anniversary AJA Although that created sig- Looking ahead, the 2022 Chris D. Daniels
Conference & Jail Expo is nificant challenges, it also cre- AJA Conference & Jail Expo
certain to be memorable, but ated significant opportunities. is to be held in Long Beach,
not for reasons that anyone With factoring in the learning California on May 21–25. By
would have anticipated. Due curve, identifying and devel- then, I feel certain that I will
to the pandemic, we were oping a virtual platform, and have the opportunity— to
shoved into a virtual meeting. re-evaluating and develop- which I am looking forward—
Although we were not happy ing a new approach for every to meet many of you in person
about it, we stepped up and aspect of the meeting, we for the first time. However,
made the best of the situation discovered that providing a I am “virtually” certain that
given the circumstances— successful virtual conference there will be an online compo-
which is what jail profession- required a lot more time than nent to that meeting as well,
als are accustomed to doing. an in-person conference. This especially after everything
The meeting was a resounding is exactly the opposite of what we’ve learned and experi-
success, due to the expertise, I would have predicted. enced in 2021. 
hard work, and dedication of
the AJA Conference Planning Out of Our Comfort Zone
Committee, the presenters, Reflecting on the experi- CHRIS D. DANIELS, MPA, CAE
our Board of Directors, and ence, I came to the realization Executive Director
the AJA staff. As the new that despite everything I wish American Jail Association
guy on the team, I was duly I had anticipated or done dif-
impressed. ferently, what really mattered
was the end result—which
New Experience was exceptional. AJA served
Although I have more than the great content for which
two decades of experience as we are known and to a larger- Chalk it up as
an association executive, the than-anticipated audience.
mechanics of organizing an We are still reviewing the
all-virtual meeting were new. analytics for the conference another learning
Chalk it up as another learn- and comparing it to others,
ing experience compliments but we were pleased with the experience
of the pandemic. Every aspect number of attendees despite
of creating this conference the change of format.
was different. We had to keep Because we were pushed compliments of
reminding ourselves that the out of our comfort zone and
physical constructs we were had to overcome new chal- the pandemic.
accustomed to working within lenges, we were able to reach
simply didn’t exist. those jail professionals who
usually don’t attend a live con-
ference. That means we were
able to broaden the impact of
our efforts that supported our
mission—to lead, educate, and
support jail professionals to
enhance public safety.

AMERICANJails JULY | AUGUST 2021 | 7