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!

A project I was assigned recently involved analyzing a set of grant applications. The proposals were centered on using technology to enhance student success. My job was to determine commonalities and missing pieces across the proposals. From a list of 20 or so findings, here are the four takeaways I believe are pertinent to our work:

1. Even in a fairly well-defined grant program, definitions for common terms differed greatly across the 81 proposals.
2. Many authors used buzz words in their application narratives, but failed to back up those words or concepts with knowledge or examples that showed they knew anything about the terms.
3. Risks and obstacles associated with the implementation of the project almost always dealt with resistance to change in other areas of campus.
4. Student affairs units were woefully absent among the collaborators in proposed initiatives.

In an era of fiscal responsibility and budget cuts, relevance matters. In era of accountability, meaningfulness is important. In an era of continued alteration, adaptation is key. In an era of “do more with less” (whether you ascribe to that theory or not), collaboration is necessary.  So, I ask you to consider the following as you plan for the upcoming academic year:

1. Does everyone on campus understand what you do? If not, why not, and how will you address that this year?
2. Do you use buzz words so you can be a part of the conversation, or are you driving the conversation because you and your area are the buzz of campus?
3. How are you addressing change head-on and helping others realize its usefulness and necessity?
4. Are you collaborating with non-student affairs offices to learn about their work and efforts, enhance their programs, and impact your campus’ students? If not, why not, and who’s at the top of your list for contacting?

It’s a new year, with new possibilities and new opportunities. How are you going to make this the best year yet? Not ever, because that implies you’ve no way to improve from now. Just yet… better than years past, setting a solid foundation for the years to come.

Matt Pistilli is a research associate in Information Technology at Purdue University. Connect with him on twitter.

As Student Affairs (or in my case Student Life) professionals, one of the key metrics by which we measure ourselves is the level of “engagement” with our students – how they engage with our programs, services and campus in general. We’re constantly trying to find ways to involve our students and encourage them to use our services and come to our events – to share knowledge and build community and, well, engage.

We’re constantly asking how we can engage with our students more. In fact, we ask it so routinely that when I hear it, part of me shudders a little.

As I look across the landscape of channels in which we push out to communicate and engage with our students (walk-in appointments, events, individual counseling sessions, workshops, infosessions, posters, TV screens, flyers, postcards, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, Foursquare check-ins, blogs, vlogs, text messages, websites and email – lots and lots of email) I’m often left wondering: in what way are we not engaging with them?

We communicate and engage with them through pretty much every imaginable pathway, yet we still believe we’re not engaging with students and they’re not engaging with us as they should.

This brings up the next question: in what way are we expecting engagement? At what point will we believe students have engaged? Is this possible?

What do you think?

Are we over communicating with our students? Are we asking them to be too engaged? At what point will we feel we have successfully met that engagement threshold or are we truly asking the wrong question?

Nick Simonton manages the marketing and communications for Student Life and the Career Center at the University of Washington.

While some of you already know this, the other night on Twitter, an impromptu conversation started about whether or not professional associations in Higher Education should invest money in development of Conference Apps versus providing free access to WiFi at their respective national conference locations. Here is the “Storify” of that conversation.  I’m interested in your feedback and hope the conversation and information is shared with those planning events next year.  Thanks to all those who engaged with me and answered the questions so thoughtfully.

The big takeaway is to make sure you ask your respective membership what they are more interested in and if you can do both, then do so!

After reading the tweets below, what do you think? Should professional associations be investing their time and money in developing a conference app or finding a way to provide free access to WiFi?

How many times have you sat in a meeting where hundreds of great ideas are tossed around, but in the end, not much happens? In his book Making Ideas Happen, Scott Belsky repeats the adage that creativity (or productivity, progress in our projects, and growth in relationships) is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration.

He examines this idea through a simple formula: Creativity x Action = Impact.

So someone who is incredibly creative (a perfect 100) but doesn’t translate those ideas into action has very little impact. (100 x 0 = 0)

But someone who’s marginally creative (a 50) and even marginally moves those projects forward (a 50 again!) can have an exponentially greater impact. (50 x 50 = 2,500!)

This has powerful implications for higher ed, where thinkers thrive and “vague-agendaed” meetings can creep up from every corner. We can have all the ideas in the world, but if we can’t move them into reality, we miss the point. Moving ideas to action takes practice. It takes systems. It takes a willingness to fail. In fact, we can count on some things failing.

In the ResLife world that changes how we look at events, projects, and even tactics for growing RAs. Try things. See what succeeds. Move forward and learn.

We need to go through quicker learning cycles, moving ideas to action.

One quick, incredibly simple example. I put together a “lessons from last year’s RAs” booklet this year – by emailing the RAs at the end of the year and requesting feedback. We just needed enough to fill it out. Is it perfect? No. But it’s much better than what we had before – nothing. And in the end, it was a useful, helpful piece that carried more credibility than some of our training sessions because it was from RAs to RAs.

What about you? How have you seen a bias toward action make a difference on campus? Where can it be more challenging?

Jon Sampson is a Program Coordinator and Residence Director at Azusa Pacific University.

Replay to be posted soon! Check back later please!

Friday, April 1 from 5:00pm – 6:00pm EST
Broadcasted over Vokle
Video Hashtag: #SA30

I sat down (virtually via Vokle) with the Cronk News Staff for a Live Video Interview in April.  The Cronk of Higher Education is an online faux-magazine founded by editor-in-chief, Leah Wescott, in June 2009 to provide critical and satirical analysis of the current events and daily routines at colleges and universities. (source: cronknews.com/about)

During the interview, I spoke with Leah Wescott, Brody Truce, and THE Irma Pelt about all the work they do with the Cronk, how it has grown in almost two years, and its impact on Student Affairs and Higher Education. It was great conversation and everyone involved had a great time!

To learn more about The Cronk of Higher Education , visit them at their website: http://www.cronknews.com

Bios:

Leah Wescott: Daughter of a school superintendent dad and a newspaper editor-in-chief mom (CronkNews was in her genetic code).  17 years as a higher ed practitioner at public, private, co-ed, single-gender, religious and independent colleges.  Taught full-time for 5 years.  Aggressive idealist

Brody Truce:  Full-time academic dean and curriculum guru; Part-time higher ed fashion critic; Experienced administrator; traditional college and hospital university environment; Hoping the Supreme Court will allow legal marriages between one man and one Microsoft Excel application.

Irma Pelt: Full-time student affairs practitioner; National and regional organizational leader and activist; Published author and editor.  Winner of 1956 Miss Teen America pageant

What questions do you have for Leah, Brody, or Irma? Please leave them in the comment section and I’ll try to incorporate it during the interview!

IF YOU’VE MISSED ANY OF MY LIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS, CHECK THEM ALL OUT HERE. THANK YOU!

This post is part of BSU’s BlogFest during the 2011 BSU Social Media Week festivities.   Today’s writing prompt: “What role does technology play to help or hinder relationships?”

Five years ago, Twitter was born, and I had no idea how much it would change my life, both professionally and personally. If you told me this two years ago when I first joined the Twitter community, I would have said you were crazy.  But as many of you know, Twitter as been a transformative force in my life and helped me build so many meaningful relationships I would have otherwise not been privileged to.

When I read the prompt, my answer depends on how you use “technology.”  It can hinder relationships if there is no balance with it in your life and I have certainly had my share of challenges in this area.  I rarely look at things as an “either / or”, I am more of a “both / and” type of thinker.  For a long time, I saw the use of technology, like Twitter, as either “on it” or “off it”, mainly because I did not fully understand it’s purpose in my life.  This caused a lot of unbalance and unnecessary stress, because like many things I do, I want to be the best at it so I can teach others with confidence (this comes from my parents.)  So I was on Twitter ALL THE TIME, to learn everything I could.  But recently, I have changed a bit, and embraced Twitter with a “both / and” approach.   Like my email and voicemail, I check in on Twitter when I have the chance and mainly to respond to mentions and DM’s, and to RT good content.  I no longer try to keep up with everything (because I simply can’t), knowing that my Twitter community will RT the good stuff anyway.  I have seen myself move further away from Facebook and frankly, would disconnect my account today, if it weren’t for the work I do in Higher Education to try and build learning communities.

As I think about Twitter as a relationship builder, it really matters how you spend your time there.  I love meeting new people, helping out where I can, and connecting them with others I know.  Those are big reason why I am on Twitter.  If you choose to be part of it, you may for a variety of reasons.  If you do, I have a few pieces of advice, especially for our Bridgewater State students:

1.  Have a purpose. Are you looking to network? Meet new people? Grow current relationships?  Whatever it is, understand that Twitter is an INFORMATION NETWORK that can be social at times… it is NOT a social network by definition.  Thus, you must have a clear purpose to joining Twitter or you simply won’t get it.
2.  Fill in all your information, please. I see so many people / brands who don’t fill in their information, including a current/accurate picture, website (use your LinkedIn or Facebook URL if you don’t have your own site), and who they are / what they do.  How can I trust your content when I can’t read ANY info on you.  The first step in getting me to follow you is to have this information complete and accurate.
3. It takes time to build relationships. Be patient as you develop your online identity.  Listen more than you tweet initially, but when you feel comfortable, get to know your community members one tweet a time.

Technology has certainly been a relationship builder and it can be for you if you want it to be.  If your main technology is a mobile phone, laptop, iPad, etc., be mindful of how you use it and know that its OK to unplug once in a while.  I will certainly be doing more that this summer.

Happy fifth birthday Twitter

What technology is your relationship builder or hinderer? What have been your habits and do you need to reevaluate how you use it?

(Before reading this post, if you want to know more about why I went to this conference and who sent me there, check out my previous SXSW post.  If you want to know more about SXSW’s history, read this.)

There is nothing I can write that will ever describe what I experienced at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) in Austin, TX last week. Many of you have tweeted, emailed, etc. and asked what the experience was like so I hope this helps paint a clear picture of my time in south.

Build Up / Arrival to Austin
Leading up to last weekend, I spent some time reading the blogosphere for advice and an overall sense on what to expect.  This was the first time I would be at a conference outside of Higher Education and I was traveling by myself as well.  To help quell some nerves, I attended a “Boston in Austin” meetup to get to know some of the people who were headed down and to get their sense of what SXSW was all about. Everyone there was so gracious and nice, it gave me a glimpse of what was to come.

Arriving in Austin was a breeze. I was a little concerned because when your event has over 20,000 delegates, you might expect some hiccups, but not at SXSW! I got to my hotel, checked-in there, and was able to register at the Austin Convention Center and get my coveted SXSW badge without any problems.  Now, as many of you who have been to Higher Education conferences know, you typically will take your badge off at the end of the day before going out, but not there! At SXSW, it is common to wear your badge EVERYWHERE at night since it gets you into many of the bars, restaurants, and clubs hosting SXSW related events.  I put the badge on and began my SXSW adventure.

Unbelievable Networking Opportunities
I realized quickly why people paid the money to be here every year: power networking.  Deep down, I just couldn’t believe that everyone was going to be as nice to me as the folks in Boston were… but they were. Every single person I met was unbelievably nice, willing to chat, help, and be a connector.  It made perfect sense… you just never knew who you were talking to so you always had to have your best foot forward.  Everyone I talked to had an interest in Higher Education and were willing to listen, lend ideas, and connect me with those that could help and amplify our stories.  Where else could I have had one on one conversations with Meredith Artley, Managing Editor of CNN.com; Baratunde Thurston, Director of Digital at TheOnion.com; Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable.com; and Sean Ammirati, Chief Operating Officer of Read Write Web?  Oh, and for fun, I got to hang out with Romany Malco, and be in the same spaces with other stars like Rainn Wilson, Dane Cook, and Conan O’Brian just to name a few!

I also connected with some fantastic folks who work in Higher Education at an “EDU” meetup, at educational sessions, and at night while out and about.  Key folks I met were Cynde Fleagle from Penn State University; Sue Beckingham from the UK ; Ellie Lovell from University of Warwick, UK; Lori Packer from the University of Rochester; and John Hill and Leigh Graves Wolf from Michigan State University.  All were extremely insightful and gave me key insights that will help move some of my technology ideas forward in Student Affairs.

Of course, getting the Student Affairs community together at SXSW was amazing.  Meeting folks in person for the first time like Marlena Ballard, Pete Pereira, Lynne Ellison, Laura Lambeth, Laura Pasquini, Julie Larsen, and Brad Popiolek was not only fantastic, but also would have made Tom Krieglstein and Debra Sanborn proud knowing what they created in the Student Affairs Collaborative still growing strong at events outside of higher education!

Finally, spending some serious time with Rey Junco and Liz Gross was a major highlight. We shared perspectives on many things in Higher Education, technology, etc. I was inspired to hear about Liz’s research interests and know she has a great mentor in Rey as she goes through her doctoral journey.  It was a real treat to see Rey impress A LOT of people while he presented his research and findings. His work is instrumental in my work as a Higher Education administrator and practitioner.  As we continue to see shifts in communication with our students at the University level, we all need to be tuned in to Rey’s work.  If you haven’t read his stuff yet, you really should.

Educational Sessions
Here are a list of sessions that I was present at or listened-in on/followed up with the speakers on (with a future post dedicated to what I got out of each of these sessions)

- “No Child Left Behind – Mobile Tech Meets Education” – #MobNCLI
- “The Potential For Augmented Reality for Education” - #EduAR
- “Offline America, Why We Have A Digital Divide” – #digdiv
- “Demystifying Online Privacy and Empowering the Digital Self” – #digitalself
- “Using Twitter to Improve Student Engagement” – #twesearch
- “Tech Power to the People: Digital Community Engagement”
-  “Keynote: Seth Priebatsch” – #gamelayer
- “Measuring Social Media – Let’s Get Serious” – #smAroi
- “The Science of Influence” – (Ogilvy Note)
- “The Art of Enchantment” – #enchantment
-  ”Method Tweeting (for Non-Profits and other Players)” – #methodtweet
-  ”Online Reputation, in and around Contexts” – #repinctx

Finally, one of the coolest things I saw as part of the educational process was the staff from Ogilvy and other conference attendees who createed beautiful “notes”, by way of creative images, of many of the talks given.  Here is just one amazing example from the sesson: “Tweeting on Weekends: Are we becoming socially anti-social?” – #overtweeting:

Imagine having some of our association talks presented to us in this timeless format?  Unbelievably stunning, creative and thought-provoking, even if you weren’t in the session.  To view more of these amazing images, visit http://ogilvynotes.com/ and prepare to be astonished.  The RSA Organization in the UK does this also and has some YouTube clips out there as well.

Services To Know About (again, with a future post going through in more detail what I think about all of these!)
Leximancer - (Mentioned during Rey Junco’s talk, it is a tweet content analyzer!)
Radian 6, ViralHeat, Swix (Paid Social Media Analytics Services)
SlideRocket (Awesome presentation software. Closest thing to Keynote that I’ve seen online!)
TechSmith Corporation (makers of Jing and Camtasia) (Fantastic screen capture software)
Min.us (A sharing aggregator that I really liked and will start using)
Animoto (While I’ve been using them for a while, they are a great/easy way to make short films using current photos and video clips!)

Gadgets
If you are into gadgets like me, the only things that caught my eye were the iPad 2 and the Asus EEE Slate. If you already have the iPad, I don’t think it is worth upgrading, unless you have a need for video chatting regularly.  Yes, its thinner, slightly faster, and extremely light, however, it is not yet worth upgrading.  If you don’t have an iPad yet, and want one for casual productivity, then go for it

As for the Asus EEE Slate, take a look at my quick video review:

Wrap Up
Overall, it was one of the best professional / personal development opportunities I have had in recent memory.  It is a no-brainer why due to my passion and interest in technology and since Higher Education conferences aren’t known for their innovative education in this area, I was able to go to a place where I was not the one teaching, but learning.  In hindsight, the best thing I did was travel by myself to experience as much as I could, but still have familiar faces like Rey and Liz to share in the experience with me.  The pictures, videos, and tweets just don’t do it justice!

If you have the same passion and interest in technology that I have, I invite you to join me next year (assuming that it isn’t the same time as the ACUI 2012 Conference in Boston) at SXSW Interactive 2012!

You have to see it to believe it

What questions do you have about my South by Southwest Interactive experiences? If you went to SXSW this year, was your experience as good as mine?

Quick back story: Over the past 18 months, I have been part of Bridgewater State University’s pilot mentoring program called Portfolio’s of Excellence (POE), serving as one of its five faculty/staff mentors.  This program is being funded by a grant from the Nellie Mae Foundation and Project Compass.  Last year, I earned a small stipend for my work, but this year, the grant is supporting my travel for two conferences: ACPA in Baltimore and SXSW Interactive in Austin.  Both conferences feature educational sessions that support the work I do with the POE program and foster the development of educational technology tools and formal technology education for these student populations.

Armed with my Droid X, iPad, Laptop, various chargers, spare batteries, and a “Talk Nerdy to Me” T-Shirt (thanks Rey Junco), I am ready and excited to be headed to Austin on Friday for SXSW.  It’s rare that I get an opportunity to attend a conference outside of the Higher Education ones I’ve typically attended.  I will be surrounded by so many who share similar passions in all things technology and want to use this experience to provide new technology education for all of you.  I will take advantage of each meeting, formal educational session, and networking opportunity to its fullest and have a three goals (or visions) I wanted to share with you all:

1.  Share The Latest Technology and It’s Possible Higher Education Applications
SXSWi is where many new ideas, services, and products are shared and as I come across them, I will share them with you.  I will do this via blog posts, impromptu Live Video Interviews, and Twitter via the #saSXSW backchannel.  Since we know that Higher Education is slow to adopt some technology, let’s get a head start together on the new, emerging stuff.  Who knows, maybe I will meet someone whose idea may have Student Affairs or Higher Education applications?

2. Grow My Connections Within the SXSW Community
There are so many fantastic communities within SXSW and my hope is to meet as many of the folks as possible. One of particular interest is the Boston SXSW community who I will get a chance to meet with ahead of time on Wednesday night this week and then again in Austin.  From here, I plan on connecting them with all of you Also, as I meet more Higher Education folks at SXSW, I will add them to my SXSW list  Stay tuned!

3.  Have an BLAST
I’m glad that some members of the Student Affairs community will be there as SXSW participants (Rey Junco, Liz Gross) and locals (Jeff Jackson, Brad Popiolek, Laura Pasquini, Marlena Hensarling, Laura Lambeth, Steph Wintling) to meet and hang out with and have our own mini-tweetup.  I am also excited to reconnect with my old Whuffaoke friends Tara Hunt, Karen Hartline, and finally get to meet Liza Sperling in person  I plan on having lots of FUN while in Austin, a place I have never visited before!

For those who have been to SXSWi before: Best piece of advice? What to wear in Austin?

For those who will be following us online: What are you interested in finding out more about?

@RKaplan13 and I received our bedroom set this week and as it turns out, the room and the furniture aren’t getting along too well. Our furniture is HUGE! Our bedroom, not so much.

As we looked, thought, fought, rearranged, looked, thought, fought, I couldn’t help but have a voice in the back of my head saying, “you know this can relate to student affairs right?” Sometimes I really dislike the voice, other times, I love the fact that my passion for student affairs is so deep that I can relate any everyday experience to it.

First off, we did NOT run into this issue (luckily).

Now let’s dig into the metaphor shall we?

Think of orientation, residence life, or any other large community/event on your campus that is looked upon as the cure-all for your campus woes or highlights. Every department/division wants a piece of it; they want to put their dresser, their love seat, their night stand into your room.

Wanting to be the collaborator on campus, you welcome and work the politics of wanting to make everyone support of your program while you support their causes. Here is where things can get sticky.

Some rooms (programs) simply are not equipped to fit everyones furniture (more programs).

Sometimes, a living only needs a sofa, love seat, coffee table, and desk. That’s what a living room mainly needs to be equipped with; it gives you a place to converse, relax, and enjoy company. A living room does not need a sofa, love seat, end tables, coffee table, recliner, TV, bookshelf, desk, ottoman, decorative flowers, art on the walls, fine carpet, and a sofa table. That is no longer a living room, it is a over crowded, cluttered, mess that no longer is a comfortable place to relax never mind attempt to live.

That being said, when it comes time to plan your course, living learning community, orientation, or even your floor program – just remember what the purpose of your program is and stick to it. Simple rooms often say more than rooms that have it all.

In the meantime, we must find a place for our second night stand.

Rock on,
Joe