Past Conference Programs

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Banner photo: Rosie Dienhart

BMCA Conferences

The Future of Conferences - Open Meeting

Wednesday, January 17th, 2024 12:00pm to 1:30pm EST 
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Link to the Zoom Room 

BMCA Conferences have taken on many shapes, forms, locations, and structures since their inception. Beginning in the 1980s as informal gatherings that served a small number of certified BMC-ers local in Massachusetts, they grew in 2010 to be hosted at colleges and universities around the US and opened to presenters from other somatic modalities. Over the next 10 years, the conferences increased in size and began to bring in and generate income for BMCA that helped support BMCA ongoing operations. The growth in these areas brought more and more communities together, more collaboration, research, and exchange of ideas both during the conferences and at home.

During the pandemic, everything changed. We adjusted to the new reality by hosting two years of the conference online, and then one fully hybrid. Though things have slowly returned to familiar in-person events, much has changed in the world, and in BMCA communities. We have seen and heard about sustaining barriers to travel and have seen our numbers reflect that.

With Toni Smith, Chair of the North American Conference Committee, stepping down in 2023, the Board began to evaluate the conferences as a form and how it fits BMCA’s current membership, and a future vision of BMCA that supports our members all over the world, not just in the US. This was amplified as we have been listening to members at previous Open Meeting topics on Membership Development and Economic and Sustainability. 

In this Open Meeting, we will share some possible new models for gatherings and events that the board has been brainstorming, hear feedback and questions from both members and potential members, and use some creative formats for further exploration as a group. 

We hope you can join in, and bring your voice!


About BMCA Conferences

The Body-Mind Centering® Association, Inc. presents exciting, stimulating conferences that offer the latest advances in Body-Mind Centering® (BMC®), including new material developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and other BMC® Professionals. BMCA conferences feature experiential presentations and somatic research from diverse modalities. International conference locations vary every year. Virtual conferences with BMC® professionals are accessible to participants around the world. See below for information on past and future BMCA conferences.

 
Participants in 2015 North Amerian Conference in Portland, OR and the 2014 European Confrence in Estonia, Viljandi
Photos Rosie Dienhart and Dennis VanLith