Professional Convention Survival Kit

Happy Convention Season, everyone! Several huge conventions and conferences have already come and gone both nationally and in my region (NACA, NODA, and NGLA, to name a few!) and we're knocking on the door of our field's biggest conventions of the year - the ACPA National Convention in Montréal, and the NASPA National Convention in Indianapolis! I'm lucky enough to be able to attend ACPA with a colleague and friend of mine from MHC and I'm super excited! This will be my first professional convention as an #SApro and I couldn't be more thrilled to network with colleagues from all around the world!

As I gear up for my time in Canada I'm reflecting back on my first time at a professional conference and thinking about all the things I wish I knew before. I've compiled a little survival kit for all of you first time conference-goers so hopefully you can feel comfortable, prepared, and you can totally focus on networking and learning during your time at your convention! I wrote this with mainly Student Affairs conventions in mind, but this can very easily translate to professional conventions of other fields, so please feel free to incorporate whatever makes sense into your professional convention survival kit!

1. Water Bottle

This is super-duper important. When you're at a conference, you might be walking around way more than you realize and probably drinking more coffee than you realize to make it through these long days. Make sure you always have a bottle of water in your bag to sip on throughout the day. I recommend the 17.5 oz. S'well bottle - I've had mine for over a year and I love it. It will keep your water nice and cold for 24 hours which is perfect for being in the convention center without access to a refrigerator throughout the day.

2. Comfy-yet-Professional Shoes

As I mentioned in my last post, you're walking a lot during a professional convention and those heels that might look sharp on the morning of Day 1 will likely make your poor feet beg for mercy by lunch time! If you opt for heels, I would recommend sticking a professional pair of flats in your bag to change into if you want to give your feet a break in the middle of the day. You'll be comfy and still look super profesh.

3. Pocket-Pack of Tissues

The last thing you want mid-educational-session is a runny nose and no option of what to do about it. A pocket-pack of tissues is a perfect solution - it's tiny, fits right in your bag or pocket, and can potentially be a life saver when you can't get to a bathroom or back to your hotel room for a while. Keep one of these on hand for some peace of mind!

4. Gum or Mints

When you're at a conference, you're talking and networking with lots of people throughout the entire event and that even includes directly after you had that bowl of pasta with extra garlic bread during your lunch break. Pack some gum or mints with you in your bag or pockets for when your mouth is feeling a little gross and you can't get back to your hotel room to brush your teeth.

5. Lip Balm

Convention centers can be on the dryer side and depending on what region of the country you're traveling to, the wind or sun can be a bit more intense making chapped lips a big possibility. Combine that with the amount of talking you'll likely be doing (be it through presenting, networking, or some good old fashioned socializing), it can be a pretty uncomfortable time to have cracked, dry lips. Pack a good moisturizing lip balm (mine's the classic original Chapstick moisturizer with SPF 12) to keep your lips feeling good!

6. Excedrin/Tylenol/Advil etc. & Any Medication Needs

Headaches are pretty common for me and with all of the walking, talking, long hours, and caffeine that a convention entails, they seem to be triggered even easier. Always having an emergency supply of pain relief in my bag is key for conference-going (and for life) so I can feel like myself throughout each day. Also remember to take along any other medication needs you might have and are able to bring with you comfortably so you don't have to miss a session you've been eyeing by running back to your room!

7. Business Cards

As I've said several times before in this post, networking is a big part of conferences! Having some business cards handy is always way easier than scrambling for a pen and paper to write down your information for someone. My institution has provided me with business cards, but if you don't have university-issued cards, it is relatively cheap to print your own. I used Moo as a grad student and you can make some really cool cards! Remember to keep your information simple and to the point, including your name, title, institution, and a means of contacting you.

8. Something to Write With & Something to Write On

Conventions are also a great place to learn! Educational sessions are probably my favorite parts about conventions and I take a *ton* of notes when learning from my colleagues. Having a way to write down things you want to remember to bring back to campus with you is always handy! I like to carry a small notebook & a pen (I'm planning on using my FoxyDori and my favorite Pilot G2 pens!) but sometimes I opt for my iPad and the Microsoft OneNote app instead.

9. Your Convention's Electronic Program

Many conventions are adopting an electronic program which I'm a huge fan of! These apps allow you to add any session you want to attend to a schedule and it pings you when it's close to time to that session which is so helpful when you get distracted with everything that goes on at a convention. I've used guidebook and a specialized NACA electronic program, and for ACPA '16 the convention program is on an app called CrowdCompass. If you utilize a smartphone or a tablet during your time at a convention, I highly recommend using one of these apps in favor of toting around the giant convention guidebook!

10. Portable Power Bank + Phone Charger

These things are a total life saver when you're in the convention center all day! It's likely that you'll be constantly checking your electronic program, tweeting along at educational sessions, and texting your colleagues to set up lunch plans. Usually a portable power bank will hold at least one full charge worth of power for your phone, so having one charged up and ready to go will help you out when you don't have time to search high and low for an outlet!

I hope this little survival kit helps you get through your convention of choice this season!

Let me know what your convention survival essential is in the comments!

A Few of my Favorite Links {#19}

Hello everyone! I took a little (unintentional) week's break off from the blog last week. I was feeling very exhausted throughout the week as a lot was weighing on my mind, and when that happens blogging is typically the last thing I'd like to do, but through journaling and creativity and of course the incredible support from B,  I've been able to process through it and I'm feeling much better. Sometimes you just need to take a mental health break!

Activities and events are back in full swing at MHC and it feels like I'm finally settling into my routine. My colleagues and I have come up with a solid plan so no single one of us is always caught at work late on Fridays or Saturdays. It seems like things are progressing forward in a very positive way which is always a glorious feeling to have while you're at work. I'm very lucky to be a part of such a cohesive staff! #blessed #sockgameonpoint

I'm creeping up toward a butt load of travel in these last weeks of winter and I'm super excited about them! First off I will taking a vacation down to Fort Lauderdale next week (!!!) with my friend Rob while Brett is recruiting for work. We found some really cheap round trip flights (Under $200 to get there and back! Uhm, yes please.) and I'm staying at this cute little Air BnB that's not far from the house the coaches are renting, and about a 10 minute bike ride from the beach! I'm definitely planning on renting a bike for my time down there so I can travel around in the warm Florida air easily. I'm looking forward to spending time far away from stress. I'm (of course) planning on hitting the beach, but in my down time journaling, drawing, reading, filming videos, and blogging. It's going to be so niccceeeee. Cannot wait.

Shortly after I return I will be travelling to the exact opposite climate - Canada. My friend and colleague Erin and I are going up to Montréal for the ACPA International Convention which will be so much fun! I'm excited to attend some educational sessions, network, and eat lots and lots of poutine. We're planning on doing some touristy things in our down time as well as Erin's never been to Montréal and the last time I went I was about 14 years old and was there for my sister's softball tournament so I don't remember too much of the city. I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Now that we're all caught up on my life, I'm going to hop right into my favorite links as of late. First of which is very exciting... I'm published, y'all!

Changing Campus Traditions

My two BSU counterparts (my former supervisor, Matt, and former co-advisor, Casey) and I wrote this article that was finally published in the first 2016 issue of Programming magazine - the publication for the field of Campus Activities! We've been working on this initiative to make our Homecoming pageants more inclusive since I arrived as a graduate student in 2013, and thought that sharing our experience - both the challenges and the successes - would be a great thing to contribute to our field. I'm really proud of this article and proud of OSIL for being courageous in the face of changing a beloved campus tradition!

$100 Donut Iced with Cristal Champagne and 24k Gold

This.... this is ridiculous. I can't decide if I hate this because it's so ridiculous or love it because it's so ridiculous. I mean, the donut is $100 and made of gold, but it sounds pretty disgusting if you ask me. "It's a donut filled with ube mousse, champagne jelly, and covered with a glaze made from Cristal champagne and 24k gold flakes." Probably not something I want to be eating. What do you think? Either way this was too out of control to not share, so it's making this edition Favorite Links.

Cocktail Chemistry - Ice Ball Cocktail

This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while! While this is definitely not a super simple process to recreate, you can't beat the presentation! I mean, how cool would it be to be served your drink in an ice ball?! I have a feeling if I attempted this I would fail miserably, but the idea of this is so awesome.

I Tried to Become the Most Popular Person on a Cruise

I loved this little article! This is the story of a guy who went on a cruise on his own and tried to make as many friends as he could. Being very socially anxious and introverted, stories of people who have the guts to take on a challenge like this is so fascinating and inspiring to me! If you need a little pick me up or a cheerful story, give this article a read!

Cuddle Clones

I basically fell out of my chair when I found out that this was a thing. HOW CUTE ARE THESE?! This company will create custom plush replicas of your pet and I'm IN LOVE. Granted, they are quite pricey, but if you're far away from your pet or want something to remember a furry friend that you might have lost in the past, I think this would be so incredible. Whoever thought of this is a genius.

New, Female-Powered 'Ghostbusters' LEGO Set Unleashed

In girl power news, LEGO has released their new Ghostbusters set featuring the new cast of lady characters! I love when toy companies great "girl toys" that are more than just pink, purple, princessey, and stereotypically "girly". Love. It. I bet I would love to have some female LEGO characters to play with when I was growing up. My sister and I had a huge box of LEGOs that we always played with as kids and I can't really think of ever having a girl LEGO person. This set features exclusively female LEGO people and it's awesome and deserves to be praised.

THE EIGHTH HARRY POTTER BOOK!

My brain basically exploded when I found out about this earlier this week. I knew this play was being released but I had no idea that the story was also being released in book form! I'm still not entirely sure if this is a novel or the script to the play, but either way I'm excited AF and am obviously going to pre-order it. How could you not?!

What links are you loving lately?

Mixing It Up: NACA Northeast 2014

Bears on Day 1 - ready to take on #NACAne!

A couple of weekends ago, I ventured down to Hartford with 11 awesome BSU students and 4 other awesome BSU staff members for the NACA Northeast Regional Conference! Because I'm nearing the end of my graduate experience and will soon be on the job hunt, my approach to tackling this conference was a bit different than last year's approach, which was basically "omg I have no clue what I'm doing so I guess I'll just try everything" (my normal approach to anything in life).

This year, with the help of my OSIL buds, I tried my best to become more involved on-site as well as meet as many people as my shy, introvert self can handle. I do want NACA to become a big part of my professional life and because I'm planning to stay in the region, I wanted to be sure I met a good number of my future colleagues while I was there.

My fear of public speaking is written all over my face...

I had the opportunity to present an educational session with my direct supervisor on program board advising, and while I was pretty nervous to share my experiences with a room full of established professionals, I think it was received well and we received many positive comments from those that attended, which is always encouraging!

I also, of course, got to spend a significant amount of time with the BSU delegation (the best part of the conference). They always make me so proud with how much heart and energy they put into everything they do, including attending conferences! They really see the value of attending things like the NACA Regional conferences and know that what they learn will benefit more than themselves, which is pretty amazing in my eyes.

#bearpaws

I'm hoping that I will get the chance to attend NACA Northeast again in 2015 (the way NACA works is that you have to be part of a "member institution", as a student or a professional, in order to be a part of the organization, so if I don't end up landing a job at a member institution before next November I won't be able to go :/) but even if it doesn't work out I know that NACA will be in my very near future regardless!

Reinvent: ACPA National Convention 2014 (25 Before 25 - #3)

Just arriving at the conference. Running on about 28 hours without sleep at this point!
Not sure how I accomplished it (probably the coffee), but I made it to Indy and #ACPA14! :)

Considering I haven't shut up about it in the weeks leading up to and the days following my trip, you should probably know by now that I spent a few days in Indianapolis last week for the 2014 ACPA (College Student Educators International) National Convention. I got the opportunity to meet and interact with student affairs professionals from institutions across the country, attend educational sessions on a variety of interesting topics pertaining to the field, and engage in conversations involving topics that I may have thought about on my own time but never had the opportunity to explore further with others in my daily life.

The great thing about going to professional conferences in your field is that you're surrounded by people who just get it. Student Affairs and Higher Education is a unique field that not many people realize is a thing (I didn't even realize it until half way through my spring semester of senior year at Lasell!) making it a bit more difficult to discuss issues that surround the profession. I'm lucky enough to have a significant other who works with college students for his job, have a few close friends that are pursuing the field themselves, and my parents have heard me talking about it for so long that they understand as much as they can without actually going through it themselves. But trying to explain what you do to someone who didn't have a traditional college experience (or sometimes any college experience at all) or someone who wasn't involved at college past working with their academic advisor and going to class can prove to be quite challenging.

But being in the conference "bubble", you can just state who you are and what you do and people will know exactly what you mean. All of us are going through or have gone through similar things, and we can give each other support and advice from those shared experiences. It's nice knowing that no matter what I go through in my graduate or professional life, there are thousands of others out there that know exactly how I feel!

#BSUlife friends at the Tweet Up! :)
Left to right: Janine, myself, Brittany, and Ed!

The conference itself was an eye-opening and inspiring experience. I've been to both the Northeast Regional and National NACA conferences this past year, which are focused on Student Activities, but attending a conference that had a wide range of Student Affairs professionals in every area of expertise you could think of was a very welcome change of pace. I felt inspired (and, to be completely honest, a little bit intimidated) by all of the people I met and things I was learning, and it really made me consider where I want to be after I graduate. I'm still in love with the prospect of working in Student Activities or Orientation for my future career, but now I'm really thinking about getting some Athletics Academic Advising experience as well. Athletes are one of my favorite student populations (who never really have an advocate for them in the SA world), and would love to get to work with them in some way! It's a relief to get some direction in what I want to do, because lately I've been feeling a bit lost among all of the grad students who know exactly what they want out of their careers!

The presentation crew!
Left to right: Dr. Hyde, Dr. Kocet, myself, and Janine!

I also got the opportunity to present at the conference, which was an extremely awesome opportunity in itself. My professor, the Associate Professor of Residence Education at LSU, a fellow grad student, and I presented on the Ward v. Wilbanks case and were able to generate a good amount of conversation on the topic. It was such an honor to be asked to present at a national convention, and I hope to submit a presentation proposal for the 2015 Convention!

1. Cheese-stuffed burger from Scotty's Brewhouse! #drool | 2. Selfie with the Indianapolis skyline on an afternoon run!

I wasn't expecting it (sorry Indy natives), but Indianapolis is an awesome city! It's so clean, quiet, and genuinely beautiful there. The food's great, the people are lovely, and everything's near by! Our hotel was connected to the convention center by skywalk (which was nice on the off day that it rained), and though it took about 15 minutes to walk there, it was definitely great to not worry about bringing a coat or crossing the street! I definitely wouldn't mind visiting there again - there is so much that I'd still like to check out that I didn't get the chance to!

Attending the ACPA Convention was such a positive experience for me, and I feel so lucky to have been given that opportunity as a first year grad. I came into grad school expecting to go to my assistantship, go to class, do my school work, and that's it, but Bridgewater has provided me so many more opportunities than I would have thought possible. I don't think I would get this opportunity anywhere else, and I'm so happy I decided to attend BSU! I'm looking forward to attending the Convention again next year in Tampa. I'm hooked! :)

I made a quick video with some of my main takeaways from the conference. A lot of what I talk about echos what I've said in this post, but I thought it would be important to include in this post none the less! :)


*This crosses off #3 on my 25 before 25 list - Visit a new city. I'm attempting to reach 25 goals before I reach the age of 25! Want to see the whole list? Check it out here!

Everyday Heroes: NACA Northeast 2013

Taken by one of our lovely delegates for their conference blog! {source}

Two weeks ago I attended my first National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) regional conference! Bridgewater was super generous and brought me along to enjoy the weekend with them. I advised a delegation of 12 wonderful students, and my awesome supervisor was chair of the conference!

Bears assemble!

Despite being sick for virtually the entire weekend, I really enjoyed myself. I attended a handful of professional development and educational sessions which left me feeling energized and inspired about my jobs and the career I'm pursuing. I got to reunite with my friend Andrew from Lasell and hang out with him for a lot of the conference.

Of course we had to take a picture to send back to our former Director of Student Activities!

I got to see a number of wonderful performers which kept me entertained to no end all weekend long. I got to meet Dan Henig (what?!) and introduced him to one of our students who's actually really interested in bringing him to campus next semester (awesome).

He was so friendly and awesome! (And even retweeted me! :D)

And most importantly, I made some really great connections and met many other Student Affairs grad students that I could relate to, as well as get advice from those that are further along in their program than me. I felt (and still feel) so re-energized about this field which can be rather draining at times. I'm so grateful that BSU took me along with them. I'm so excited for next fall! :)

The Director of Student Involvement at BSU gave me that awesome orange button to wear around the conference, haha.

If you'd like to see the conference from the BSU delegation's perspective, check out their conference blog!

If you want to see more things that I did, check out the #NACANE tag on HESA Life!

Big Announcement!

If you read my Tumblr HESA Life (where I talk about all things student affairs, grad school, assistantship, higher education, life as an RD, and all things inbetween as I stumble my way through becoming a new professional in this field #shamelessplug), you already know what my big announcement is, but I wanted to share it on my main blog as well because I'm just so excited about it!

Last week my Student Development professor asked me and a couple other students to stay after class. I thought it would be regarding our grades or something along those lines, so I was pretty nervous as to why I was being held after. I was pleasantly surprised when our professor told us that two of his program proposals for the ACPA National Convention were accepted, and that he wanted the four of us to help him present!

That means I'll be flying to Indianapolis in March to present at a National Convention for Student Affairs.

WHAT?!

Of course, a few things still need to be worked out (such as funding and travel arrangements), but if all goes according to plan, I'll be presenting to a room full of professionals from around the country as a first year graduate student. They're going to be learning from ME. Mind. Blown.

I am super grateful to my professor for giving me this awesome opportunity! I never in a million years would have pictured myself presenting at a national convention, let alone doing so as a first year student in my program! I'm SO excited and hope that everything works itself out so I can go! :)