November in Orlando promises far more than Mickey Mouse and Shamu for members of the Education and Enrichment section. At this year's NCFR conference in Orlando, E&E members will find a variety of opportunities to learn, connect, and strengthen their professional development. Oh, and maybe take in a little Florida sunshine and nightlife. (We are the party section, right?)

As a section with the greatest number of members and receiving a large number of proposals, we are well represented across all days-from Wednesday morning through Saturday afternoon of the conference. Paper sessions sponsored by the section include topics on program evaluation, teaching methods, care and education of children in early years, educational programs for couples and the use of technology by and for parents. As usual there are quite a number of research posters across diverse topics of interest to E&E members, and this year's roundtables and symposia focus on distance learning, on-line parent education design, and finances and relationships, and the week includes a workshop on "The Domains of Family Practice."

Our section's focus groups will meet in Orlando, so look in the program to attend the groups that resonate with your interests (even those that meet at 7am). This year our section has two new focus groups, Divorce Education and Families and Technology. The former is a newly formed focus group that addresses professionals who design, provide and evaluate educational programs for families experiencing divorce and separation. Families and Technology is resurrected and now sponsored by the E&E section. I will be the moderator, so please join us if you are interested in research and programming related to families' use of information, communications and entertainment technologies, and the use of technology in the delivery of education and service to families. Every year there are more posters, papers and symposia on this topic and it was obvious that NCFR needed the focus group to again exist. Also this year an interest meeting on starting a focus group on Military Families will happen during the conference. This won't be sponsored by our section but remember that focus groups are open to everyone.

And what would the annual conference be without the section business meeting? And what would the E&E business meeting be without chocolate? Be sure to join us Friday night (November 18) at 7:45p.m. for chocolate and good cheer and a bit of E&E business.

Finally, this year the E&E section will announce the winner of the Ernest Osborne award. As you may remember, in 2009 Ramona Oswald was the winner of the biannual award. Please join us in congratulating the 2011 recipient in Orlando.

On behalf of the other section officers-Beth Van Horn, Jackie Wilkins, Carolyn Grasse-Bachman and Alisha Hardman-we very much look forward to seeing you and meeting you in person in Orlando.