This past week I had the honor to be included in a bit of wining and dining by the City of Philadelphia making its pitch to host my profession’s national conference in 2026. That will be the year of our nation’s 250th Anniversary, and the Cradle of Liberty was polishing its shine for us.
My colleagues and I were treated to whirlwind of visits to the convention center, hotels, and venues capable of hosting several hundred to eight thousand people during what would be a spectacular week full of professional development, learning, and networking.
From the thirty-third floor of the Loews Hotel we gaped at the Philly’s distinctive skyline and riverfront. We toured the expansive Pennsylvania Convention Center, inhabiting the old station of the Reading Railroad (of Monopoly fame). Reflective of that legacy, its grand entrance area depicts the iron rails still leading to the stopblock columns at the end of the line.
We swung by Love Park, Boathouse Row, and the Eakins Oval, where we met the artist painting a 450’ x 75’ mural about Ben Franklin and his kite on a sometimes-parking lot. We lunched at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Its most popular sculpture of Rocky Balboa, now moved to the bottom side of its iconic front stairway, still draws 200,000 people a year.
We toured the Tustin Rec Center, where its new basketball court memorializes Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. Tustin’s playground is where the former Los Angeles Lakers star frequented when he was younger, and the refurbished court is now making the sport more accessible to children in a safe environment.
We skipped through the Reading Terminal Market (an eclectic and busy gastronomic bazaar of more than 80 merchants), dropped in at the Barnes Museum, called on Ben at the Franklin Institute, and viewed the Fels Planetarium.
But my most memorable moment was a well-appointed evening meal in the National Constitution Center with a grand, inspirational view of Independence Mall. Facing “America’s Most Historic Square Mile” containing Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, Franklin Court, Declaration House, and many more historically significant sites, I was both enthralled and grateful just to be there.
