Every two years, an extraordinary babywearing event takes place. Hundreds of babywearing educators and enthusiasts from all over the country and world will descend upon a single location and gather for four days of sharing our passion for babywearing with each other. This year, the International Babywearing Conference will take place from July 14-17th in Atlanta, Georgia. Babywearing International of Greater Austin is proud to once again participate in this conference and we are delighted to share our plans with the community!
What is the International Babywearing Conference and how will this benefit our group and community?
Where do babywearing educators go to learn how to become more proficient educators? One of those places is the international Babywearing Conference! IBC serves as the perfect professional development opportunity for our educators to learn more about how they can better serve the needs of our community!
The International Babywearing Conference has taken place since 2006. That’s 10 -YEARS- of sharing our babywearing knowledge and enthusiasm! What began as an intimate gathering of individuals learning and sharing the benefits of wearing our babies, has grown into a massive conference of over 60 educational sessions taught by the leaders of our industry. Session topics range from how to troubleshoot fitting different types of baby carriers at our meetings, to implementing unique outreach programs in our communities, to managing the various aspects of our babywearing groups as efficiently as possible. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet manufacturers, advocacy organizations, and other babywearing groups in what will be one of the biggest collections of babywearing knowledge and geekery of all time! Learn more about the conference HERE.
Babywearers as far as the eye can see!
BWI of Greater Austin and the volunteers who comprise it have dedicated ourselves to being at the forefront of cultivating an innovative, welcoming, and inclusive environment for everyone who reaches out to us for babywearing support and education. From our monthly meetings, to our outreach events and online community, we continuously seek out new information and inspiration to grow our organization in the best way possible for our members. We are so excited for everything we will gain and bring back to our community at the conference!
Our Attendees
We are fortunate this year to have several volunteers attending the conference who will be able to focus on sessions to assist with their roles within the chapter and various committees they work with. Several of them will also be teaching sessions at the conference on various elements of their expertise! Upon their return, they will be developing a continuing education project on a specific topic they researched at the conference and sharing it with the rest of our volunteers.
Autumn
“Hello! I am Autumn Bruington, President and Advanced Babywearing Educator with BWI of Greater Austin. I am thrilled to be attending my first International Babywearing Conference on behalf of the chapter. My main goal in attending is to bring back knowledge on how to further nurture and grow our amazing local community and how to run the chapter more efficiently. I am most excited to attend Steffany Kerr’s session “Babywearing Education in Fragile Communities” because I am interested in expanding our chapter’s reach and inclusivity within our service area. I hope to return with more information to share with the chapter on how to best approach the underserved portions of our community and provide them with what is most needed from a community perspective.”
Lori
“Hi! I am Lori and I am the VP of Volunteer Management and a Master Babywearing Educator with BWI of Greater Austin. I am Beyond excited to be attending the International Babywearing Conference (IBC) this summer! I am a huge nerd and love learning! IBC is a great chance for continuing education and I am looking forward to the sessions on how to better assist caregivers and babies with specific medical concerns.
As a babywearing educator, one of my favorite things to do is network with and watch how other educators teach. IBC has many amazing educators attending and I cannot wait to see them again in person and share knowledge. I am all about adding new “tools” to my teaching tool box!
Most of all, I am excited to know that after I spend this week in Atlanta, I get to come back here to Austin and share everything I learned with our other educators and members! For me, this part is the best. I love providing our educators with the most up-to-date, evidence-based information possible and I know I will come home from IBC with even more to share!”
Katie
“I’m excited to attend a session about implementing babywearing in WIC programing, as well as a roundtable discussion on babywearing outreach with other educators. As the Vice President of Outreach and Fundraising, I look forward to gaining new ideas about how we can provide greater access to the services we offer to everyone in our community who would like them.”
Rose
“I am Rose Nusbaum, a Chapter Support Volunteer and Vice President of Member Management. I am so excited to be attending IBC this year. Hoping to gain a lot of new ideas and perspective, I have signed up for a variety of classes. A favorite workshop is “Implementing Babywearing into WIC Programming.” I have been very involved in the WIC program since my oldest child was a baby and I’d love to get to work with them in the future! I hope to come home with the knowledge and insight that I need to make this happen!”
Leigh
Marie
“I’m Marie Sours, Vice President of Public Relations, and I’m so excited to be going to IBC this year! I’ve recently done quite a bit of research on the benefits of babywearing for special needs and from a therapeutic standpoint, so I’m definitely excited to hear more about that above anything else. I think a continuing education project for our chapter volunteers about the therapeutic aspects of babywearing could improve how we teach in some situations and spread our reach into the community further.”
Heather
Cynthia
We’re hard at work to get to Atlanta!
To help offset the cost of the trip, such as registration fees, air and car travel, and hotel stays, our volunteers have been hard at work to organize and participate in various fundraisers being held by the chapter. We’ve been busy brainstorming some exciting philanthropic projects to share with the community!
1-on-1 Carrier Workshop – July 9th
The chapter will be hosting a 1-on-1 carrier workshop on July 9th, where attendees can receive 20 minutes of one on one assistance from accredited educators on specific questions or carries they would like to learn more about. If you find that the current monthly meeting schedule doesn’t match up well with your own schedule, or you would like to concentrate on learning something new in a quieter setting, this is a great opportunity to do that! You can receive help with your personal carrier or one from our lending library.
Interested in attending our 1-on-1 carrier workshop? Sign up here!
BWI of Greater Austin Travel Tumbler
Our volunteers will also be selling 24oz. BPA free double wall insulated travel tumblers with the Babywearing International of Greater Austin logo for $15. Tumblers will include a drinking straw and lid with a spill proof, slide lock mechanism. They will be available for purchase online or at monthly meetings, and can be picked up at meetings or shipped for an additional cost.
Purchase your BWI of Greater Austin Tumbler HERE!
Get us to Georgia Giveaway
We’re hosting a huge giveaway for Project: Keep Austin Babywearing in Atlanta! We have three amazing babywearing prize packages and 15+ chances to win! Visit out blog post for entry and details.
You can help us!
Would you like to assist our volunteers in their mission to attend the International Babywearing Conference? Your generosity and support of our organization helps us continue our mission to provide first-class babywearing education and support in the Greater Austin area! We invite you to give directly on our website to help get our volunteers to the International Babywearing Conference!
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