Let’s Call it the National Professional Exchange

May 9th, 2012 | Posted by Steven Harowitz in Conferences | Creativity | Professional Organizations - (4 Comments)

“When all think alike, then no one is thinking.” – Walter Lippman.

I really enjoy attending conferences.  I hear some interesting talks and chat with some impressive professionals.  At the same time I recognize how outdated their structure and format are.  Apparently other professionals have been feeling the same way (Check out Erika Thompson‘s delicious Stack with links to most of the conversation).  I might be a little late to this party but I  I wanted to throw a thought into the ring.

The conversation’s I read centered around reconstructing conferences to make them more nimble, up-to-date, relevant, thought provoking, and so on – all valid points.  For this post I want to focus on conference content disruption.  Joe Ginese remarked that sessions are not so much about innovation, rather repurposed ideas that are offered as “possibly” applicable to your campus.  I agree with that but I see it going a step further.  The session content itself may not be traditionally innovative but what professionals do with the content is meant to be innovative.  The content we offer attendees become the tools for future program growth, but if we offer sessions lacking depth and richness, then the outcomes will mimic.

I was an Interdiscplinary Studies major as an undergraduate – which I am pretty sure is the technical term for an academic mashup.  One belief that was hammered home that I still believe deeply in:  Innovation sparks when multiple disciplines are brought together to see what can be created. HigherEd conferences probably can’t be considered a mashup of discplines. This is not to say that innovation and great ideas aren’t created at these meetings of the minds, but when you bring folks within the same profession together every year… the outcome isn’t going to shift much. There needs to be a spark that brings a little disruption to our conferences.

Let’s tentatively call it the National Professional Exchange. I picture the system looking like this:  A HigherEd professional organization makes a connection with another professional organization, one outside of higher education but that represents applicable professions.  These two organizations strike an accord that allows 5 or so professionals to attend the other associations conference at discount price.  Think of it as an investment in the group and their ability to come back with applicable fresh and innovative ideas for their peers. The professional would be enrolled as a NPE Fellow and tasked to engage with participants, present, and then bring back new ideas to the conference and discussed in an unconference setting.

This type of AltProDev is burgeoning as can be seen with the BIGIdeas conference in New Jersey. The conference organizers are having professionals in outside industries lead presentations and discussions.  Simply put, I LOVE that. You can also find live streaming conferences andor twitter backchannels that can give a similar experience.  All in all there are a number of ways professionals can find accessible professional development.  Would a National Professional Exchange be a viable option for AltProDev?

Do you think this system could work? Would it add to the conference experience?

 

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You’ll Only Wear the Spiked Heels Once

February 8th, 2012 | Posted by Julie Larsen in Conferences | Professional Organizations - (11 Comments)

My first student affairs association conference was the 2006 NASPA held in Washington, D.C. I was graduating from my master’s program that spring, and several of us were heading East to participate in The Placement Exchange.

As graduate students, we had taken the time to figure out many cost saving measures. We flew into the cheaper airport, fit nine of us in a shuttle into downtown, and me and my three closest cohort friends shared a $99/night room in the Days Inn. (No, it was not one of the conference hotels.) The room was “non-smoking” yet we all had a slight stale smoke smell to our interview clothes, and I am still not sure if something of a questionable nature was rolled up in the carpet that sat at the end of the hall all week.

I forgot pajamas, packed uncomfortable shoes, and spent more time agonizing over what sessions I should go to instead of actually attending the sessions. I can honestly say, my conference experiences have only gotten better as I have spent more time in the field. As I started planning my conference season, I thought it would be useful to solicit advice from others in the profession to share with those attending their first conference this year. Thank you to all who shared, I think we have a great collection of wisdom to pass along. If you didn’t get a chance to share your tips, please feel free to add them to the list!

My own advice from the D.C. conference years ago? 1) If you are able to, splurge on a conference hotel. Being in a comfortable space really makes the conference more enjoyable, and being in the midst of all the happenings gives you a chance to make some great connections. 2) Pack snacks and bring a reusable water bottle. 3) Take some time to explore the city and sights around the conference location. It’s a good mental break, and a great way to find good restaurants and unique souvenirs. 4) Everyone around you may be a potential colleague or supervisor. Be kind, be courteous, and don’t get too crazy at the regional receptions.

I wish you all a successful and fulfilling conference season!

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#sachat #NASPATech style!

October 25th, 2011 | Posted by The SA Team in #sachat | Online Tools | Professional Organizations | Social Networks | Technology and Programming | University | Web/Tech - (0 Comments)

Hope that was enough hashtags for you!

If you’ve always thought about taking the Twitter plunge in the name of professional development, we’ve got some great things in store for you this week in conjunction with the NASPATech conference in Newport, RI.

In addition to our regular Thursday #sachat this week we will feature a “special edition” chat in conjunction with our “Behind the #sachat” presentation at the conference. Please join us for an open discussion from 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm CST and feel free to recruit some new participants who may want to test the waters a bit.  In addition, for those attending NASPATech we hope you will join us at our session! Bring your laptop or mobile device and participate in #sachat while we discuss the potential that social media has to enhance networking and (free!) professional development opportunities.

Hope you will join us!

Introducing #SAYR1

September 27th, 2011 | Posted by Brian Gallagher in Announcements | Careers | Collaborative Learning | Creativity | Leadership Training | Professional Organizations | Social Networks | University | Work/Life Balance - (19 Comments)

What started as a question from Kelley McCarthy on Twitter asking if anyone would be interested in participating in her #52in52 project turned into a conversation about a lack of resources for new student affairs professionals. Student affairs graduate students have the support of their cohort, professors in their program, mentors through personal connections and programs like #saGROW, and special initiatives coordinated by professional associations. New professionals, though, are at a key transition point in their life and do not have a centralized support system. Our solution? #SAYR1 (Student Affairs Year One)!

The vision of #SAYR1 is to discuss the key issues facing new professionals in student affairs and provide avenues of support from the last year of graduate school through their third year as a professional. One of the ways we will be doing this is by creating support groups of approximately three individuals who will journey through these first few years together. With the small-sized groups, you will have the benefit of a consistent and tight-knit support system without the nearly impossible task of having to coordinate the schedules of a big group (we’ve all been there!). Groups can communicate in person, through phone calls, e-mails, Google + hangouts, Skype, on Twitter, or however your group decides works best for you! The #SAYR1 Core Team will be providing discussion questions, topics, and resources to get everyone started.

#SAYR1 will provide you with a group of people you can talk to about what’s going on without trying to explain (for the 4,534th time) what it is exactly that you do again. It will give you an avenue to discuss current issues and trends in the field and how they’re impacting your work. With #SAYR1, you will have a network that will support you in trying times, celebrate your successes with you, and continually encourage you to be the best version of you. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, please visit this link and complete the form. You can join a group that’s already been started or start your own. Groups can be by functional area, year, region, or just a pure hodge podge – it’s up to you! Please feel free to contact anyone from the Core Team should you have any questions. We are all excited to get this program started and hope you are too.

#SAYR1 Core Team:

Brian Gallagher (gallagb@gmail.com) Hall Director at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Karen Schomaker (kschomaker@gmail.com) Coordinator for Community Service at California Lutheran University

Kelley McCarthy (kmccarthy1985@yahoo.com) 2nd Year Graduate Student and Graduate Assistant for Leadership Programs  in the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at Nova Southeastern University

Melissa L. Brown (melissabrown47@gmail.com) Residence Hall Director for Moore Hall, University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Tricia Cesarino (tr.cesarino@gmail.com) Program Coordinator for Sorority and Fraternity Affairs at the University of Florida

Tracey Walterbusch (twalterbusch@gmail.com) Residential Life Coordinator at Ohio Wesleyan University

Brian Gallagher is a hall director at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Weak Ties vs Strong Ties

August 18th, 2011 | Posted by Tom Krieglstein in #sachat | Conferences | First-Year Experience | Professional Organizations - (2 Comments)

James Fowler’s keynote address at the #ACUI11 conference this year stirred up quite a discussion after he made the claim that online relationships had little influence over behavior. As expected, our friends in the #SAchat community quickly expressed concern for the statement through the Twitter backchannel and afterwards in the hotel lobby as they’ve experienced a great deal of influence exchange through #SAchat. In talking over the keynote with Jeff Lail from UNCG that night, he brought up the idea of weak ties verses strong ties within relationships. In-person connections are more likely to build strong ties whereas online connections are more likely to result in weak ties.

Over the past year, it’s been interesting to watch this concept play out within the micro world of Student Affairs. The #SAchat community on Twitter is the most active hashtag for Student Affairs professionals to connect, learn, and grow from each other. However, within #SAchat there are many sub cultures such as Residence Life, Orientation Leaders, First Year Experience, etc. These subcultures have tried, several times, to create and maintain a hashtag to connect their members together. But most of the hashtags have faded away. Why?

Let’s start with #SAchat. The original group of people who started #SAchat knew each other in the real world. There were strong ties within the inner core. This meant that if no one else participated in the conversation, there would still be a longer term commitment to the conversation between the people in the inner core because they shared strong ties. As it happened, other people did join the conversation and over time it grew. If it were a dance floor, the total number of people on the dance floor increased through weak ties, but the number of people with strong ties in the center of the dance floor stayed the same. The critical shift in the community happened last year during conference season when #SAchat members hosted meetups at each conference. They wanted to meet their weak tie online friends IRL (in real life) and thus turn them into strong tie friends. The results were amazing, the #SAchat community grew exponentially. Back to the dance floor, not only did the overall number of people on the dance floor increase, but the number of people in the center of the dance floor increased as many of the weak ties were converted into strong ties. Each meetup repeats this process.

During conference season this year, I made it a point to connect with as many #SAchat people as possible IRL because not only did I want to get to know them better, but I also know how strong ties are what keep people engaged in the community longer.

On the flip side is #FYEchat. I started the #FYEchat community to mimic the success of the #SAchat community. But it has never quite worked [yet] even though I see the value it could provide to First Year Experience professionals. The difference is I started the community on a foundation of weak ties so the commitment to keep the conversation going wasn’t there. So it fades in and out.

Another example is the #WLsalt community. The community started online with a collection of weak ties but has since grown to a dedicated group. The critical difference between #WLsalt and #FYEchat was that soon after a collection of weak ties were created online, they hosted a meetup for the community at a conference to convert those weak ties into strong ties. The strong ties thus formed the inner core of their dance floor.

In terms of weak ties and strong ties, there are two options to creating and maintaing an online community. Either start with an inner core built on strong ties that are dedicated, or convert your weak ties into strong ties quickly. Once the inner core is established, and the community norm of inclusion is practiced, you’ll watch your community grow with little effort from you. Weak ties won’t have as much influence over you as strong ties whether online or offline.

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Blog Reflections: Student Leader Development

September 20th, 2010 | Posted by Cindy Kane in Budgets | Campus Issues | Club/Org Recruitment | Collaborative Learning | Conferences | Creativity | Leadership Training | Low Cost Programming | Online Tools | Orientation | Professional Organizations | Technology and Programming | Uncategorized | University | Web/Tech - (0 Comments)

I always hope for that perfect storm of aligned experiences when sending a small group of organization representatives to a conference.  In my mind, the students will be empowered with questions and ideas to pursue upon the return home; their energy ignites a new sense of motivation in their group; and they begin to pursue their new definition of the future.

Sound great?

Hasn’t happened for me yet, either.

Sure, our students had some great presentations and excellent experiences but nearly always my student groups struggle to accurately communicate the true picture of what they experienced.  They struggle to not use too many “inside jokes” when describing their time at the conference and nearly always ended up engaged in a conversation about “why can’t we send more people next year?”  Given that our travel funds are not likely to increase anytime in the near future, we needed a new plan.

So, my insanely talented staff member (that’s you, Matt!) says, let’s try blogging.

Our office now requires any students traveling to conferences sponsored by our department to blog each day while they are there.  We create a blogging site for the group’s travels and make each of them the authors. I love the fact that those of us not attending the conference can keep track of their experiences and that we can comment and have dialogue while they are there. We also send the site around to our student affairs colleagues and division leadership so that they can get some insight into student experiences.

This has enabled us to document these travel experiences and now see, in writing, what we already knew about the impact of spending time with other students who are similarly committed to common goals.  As one of our student orientation coordinators posted, “I don’t think I ever got completely used to everyone actually understanding ‘Orientation Speak’ and being able to have in-depth conversations about different aspects of their programs.”

The use of blogs has enabled our students to do more active reflection on these conference experiences and has allowed us to use the sites to help other students understand what the experience might be like the next time around. We get pretty active commentary from participants about what they like and don’t like about the conferences and, when warranted, our structured reflection topics allow for some time for them to pause during a busy conference and make meaning of this experience that the university has offered to them.

For our department, we reported themes communicated in these blogs as part of our annual report in hope of illustrating the impact that off-campus professional travel has on our student leaders.  Themes of increased pride in our university, increased confidence in their own leadership efficacy, and enhanced sense of community with other student leaders certainly made this student affairs professional proud.

If you’d like to take a look at one of them, here’s a link to the blog from our delegates at the National Greek Leadership Association conference in Hartford, CT this year.

http://bscgreeksgotongla.blogspot.com/

And just for fun…check out the Wordle the blog for our Student Orientation Coordinators’ trip to the regional NODA Conference (at the top of this post) and the Wordle for our Program Committee’s travels to the NACA regional conference (2) pasted below.  Looks to me like they had a good experience…and had some fun along the way!

So, how do you facilitate reflection when your students travel? Any interested in blogging?  If you are, let’s correspond and if our students attend the same conferences we can cross-promote their sites!

What Makes Us Stronger

August 17th, 2010 | Posted by Stacy Oliver in Campus Issues | Careers | Professional Organizations | Social Networks | Work/Life Balance - (25 Comments)

A year ago at this time, I was unwittingly preparing for what would become my most difficult semester as a professional in student affairs. Over and over again, my supervisor asked me how she could help with student staff training or early arrival processes. I repeatedly declined her offers of help. The work was time consuming and tedious, but not difficult. We were short a professional staff member in the office and so I added more to my plate at a time when my plate was already overflowing.

In October, things began crashing in around me. There was a student death on campus. My supervisor left her position with less than a day’s notice, leaving me as the only full-time staff member in our department. The university was taking a critical look at my department to see if it was meeting expectations in its second year of auxiliary operation. With each new challenge placed in front of me, I accepted more responsibility personally and professionally than I should have.

Offers of help and support came in from friends at schools across the Midwest. Though the offers were appreciated, I had no idea how to best utilize the people around me. It wasn’t as though they could come in and answer the phone for a day or take the duty cell phone for a night. At some point in our lives, most of us erroneously start associating asking for help with being weak.

And then one day I sent an e-mail asking for help. The initial e-mail went to a handful of professionals in the Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers. They were women who had consistently been involved in my professional development through mutual conference attendance or sharing of resources. I had no specific goal in mind with my e-mail, but I let them know that I wasn’t in a good place and needed help. Within days, my established professional support network became a personal safety net. There were daily phone calls and e-mails checking on me as well as moments of letting me bounce ideas off of them for feedback as I tried to keep our department moving forward. When we all arrived on site for the annual regional conference in mid-November, we gathered in a suite on the top floor of the hotel, where I finally cried.

It struck me that night that we aren’t afraid of asking for help only because it makes us feel weak; we also fear that when we reach a hand out for help, no one will be there. I can count at least four professional relationships that are stronger because I asked for help in October and three new professional relationships I’ve built by asking for help since then.

Especially at this time of year, which can be overwhelming and daunting, we all need a reminder that others are there to help, even when we aren’t sure what we need. You might find the answer you need or the support to find that answer on your own.

TuesTally: How does NASPA’s decision to keep its 2012 conference in Arizona affect your plans to attend future NASPA events?

June 29th, 2010 | Posted by The SA Team in Poll | Professional Organizations - (0 Comments)

If you cannot view this poll click here.

And here are the results from the last poll.

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TuesTally: Conference Presentations

June 8th, 2010 | Posted by The SA Team in Conferences | Poll | Professional Organizations - (0 Comments)

If you cannot view this poll click here.

And here are the results from the last poll.

Calling all “experts!”

June 8th, 2010 | Posted by Cindy Kane in Conferences | Professional Organizations - (0 Comments)

One of the best things about the world of social media is that former barriers relating to positional leadership go out the window. You could banter for six months via Twitter with someone and then realize he is a published author on the very topic you are debating.  You can be a VP for Student Affairs and have conversation with first year RD’s about a campus issue that has you stumped.  You can also write blog posts on any topic and leave it up to your readers to figure out how credible your arguments are or how much experience you have had with the issue at hand.

After a few less than perfect educational sessions at NACA and ACPA this year as well as some growing interest in research and writing, I find myself thinking more about the idea of expertise in our field and how it is developed and proven.  I distinctly remember being a new professional and wondering at what point I would be ready to stand up in front of my colleagues and proclaim expertise on a topic.  I think as a new professional I figured I should present on anything and everything I had experience with and then after getting more experience I realized how little I really did know and how many others out there knew more.

I know the answer lies somewhere in the middle and the secret is to push yourself to learn new areas with the right amount of support and foundation to your work.  Given conference proposal season is looming, I wanted to offer a few tips to readers out there in SA Blog land if there is anyone else out there wondering what it takes.

If you are trying to think of a presentation topic to submit for an upcoming conference, ask yourself a few questions:

  • What has been the most important thing that I have done over the past year on my campus?
  • In what ways is my work innovative or different from my colleagues at other campuses in similar positions?
  • Is there an important discussion that needs to be a part of the conference that hasn’t been there in the past?
  • Is there an interesting point of common interest between my close colleagues that might make for a good co-presentation?

Once you’ve come up with the right topic of focus, it’s time to write your proposal.  I’ve observed a few important things about conference proposals and presentations that I want to be sure to share:

  1. It’s all about the description.  How you write your session description makes all the difference.  Even though you might have to write it six months before you present it, this absolutely must be the way you plan your session.  Your participants are using this paragraph to decide whether or not to attend, so you had better deliver on what you promise or you’ll have some unhappy friends in that room.
  2. Put your experience in an accurate frame. If you are a first-year administrator and plan to present on supervision, you can create a session called “My First Year in Charge” and be very authentic about your expertise and shed some great light on an important topic.  This kind of title will make sure that the right people come to your session and that the fifteen year Director of Residence Life doesn’t end up in your session as the cranky one in the first row if she’s surprised to know you are a first year professional.
  3. Be honest. If you are presenting on a new program, say it’s a brand new program and frame it as a presentation about your pilot year.  If you’re presenting on something that has faults, admit them clearly.  There’s nothing worse than watching a presenter burst into flames as question after question from the participants begin to reveal a more honest truth than the one that has been discussed for the previous 45 minutes.
  4. Anticipate your audience. It’s pretty easy to anticipate what your audience might be looking to explore and what may motivate them to attend your session.  Review your session description and try to think like your audience. “Reading this, what would I expect to learn?”  I once did a presentation relating to podcasting where a good portion of the participants assumed I was going to teach them how to podcast.  In reality, we were talking about using podcasts in leadership programming but they were looking more for the “how-to.”  In future sessions, I remembered to be much clearer about what the session was not going to cover.
  5. References are important. Someone out there probably thought this topic was worth talking about too.  A reference list for those who attend your session is such a great addition.  It will show your participants that your ideas are connected to the rest of the profession and will give them a way to seek additional knowledge on the topic after you leave them wanting more.  You can even use other colleagues as references if you are talking about program innovations on campus.
  6. Theme-related corny stuff only goes so far. Please resist the urge to get over-schmaltzy with the conference theme stuff.  I know that sometimes mentioned as part of  the review process, but if we’re talking about professional conferences we want to be sure these programs are grounded in some kind of reality.  If the theme is “Soaring to New Heights” you can bet on the fact that the majority of the proposals will be “Soaring to New Heights with Technology” or “Soaring to New Heights in Assessment Practices.”  You can do better than that.

I hope that these tips might demystify the program proposal process a little bit and won’t scare you off from developing an idea.  My goal is just to focus you on being comfortable in your own skin – it’s easy to see when a presenter isn’t comfortable with their own content.  If you pick something that’s grounded in your experience, you’ll be the natural and inspirational presenter that you hope to be!  Best of luck!