It's hard to believe, but another Americans for the Arts Annual Convention is about to begin.

A portion of our staff has been on the ground in San Diego for the past few days, while others (like me) will be heading out bright an early tomorrow morning. (Well, it's not that bright at 6:00 a.m., but it will definitely be morning.)

While we still have another 1,000 or so attendees joining us at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront and the surrounding area from Wednesday through Saturday, you can still participate from your own offices and/or living rooms throughout the country (or even come down and register on site).

Here are just some of the many ways you can participate:

• ARTSblog - We have a number of staff members, presenters, and attendees lined up to write posts during and after the Convention. They will be writing about sessions, meetings, networking events, and our host city.
  
• Twitter - Follow and post questions for us (via @Americans4Arts) and/or by using the #AFTA11 hashtag. By searching that hashtag, I'm sure you'll also stumble upon Americans for the Arts staff members (my posts can be read via @artswatch) and other attendees Tweeting from sessions, receptions, etc.
• Convention On-Demand - For the first time, you can get unlimited access to more than 40 hours of recorded sessions from the 2011 Annual Convention: audio presentations synchronized to PowerPoint, downloadable MP3 files, handouts, and more available for release to non-attendees for $129 (and only $39 for attendees). Professional development and education just got easier!
• Live Streaming of General Sessions - Americans for the Arts is producing live webcasts of the three General Sessions, making them available to the field for free. Bookmark bit.ly/AFTA2011 so you can follow along and tweet questions to keynote speakers Bobby Shriver and Ben Cameron, as well as to participate in the Our Voices, Our Future Forum.

While we would love to have everyone join us in person this week, please take part in any of the ways above.

The more the merrier!