Conference 3.0: Joining the Conference Committee

May 30, 2012 / / 12 comments

Sometimes, the timing of things just happens to work out. We’ve been discussing this topic for the past week or so and then something happened. This morning we witnessed an exchange in our twitter streams that perfectly sets the stage for the blog post we had just finished editing a day before.

Here is the exchange:


And now for the post:

Student Affairs Pro 1: “I want to join the conference planning committee! It looks like so much fun!”

Student Affairs Pro 2: “Great! Why?”

Student Affairs Pro 1: “Well, look at that team, so much fun. Great vests, too! And a nice line on the resume!”

Student Affairs Pro 2: This look.

You’ve more than likely overheard or have been a part of such an occurrence at a conference. Great enthusiasm, great energy, no direction. This is akin to volunteering to be on the stage with a magician before he/she has told you what you volunteered for. Student Affairs Pro 1 is doing it for the glory, not for the greater good.

So before you, Student Affairs Pro 2, encourage this individual to fill out the application, write the essays, and start using word of mouth to share their interest with others, perhaps you should pass along this list to them.

If you are considering applying for a Conference Planning Team – or know someone who is, read the following and pass it on.

The ideal conference committee member…

Reasoning
- Should not be doing this for popularity, SWAG, or because of the cute conference chair.

- Should not be doing this because they were voluntold without reason

- Should do it if they are asked specifically for a certain skill set that the conference team is lacking (you bring value to team)

- Should do it if they have good ideas and want to provide a quality professional development experience for their colleagues

- Should not do this to pad the resume or for the “glory.”

- Should do this with the intent of improving the conference experience

Recruitment
- Should be willing to ask for help if it will make the conference a better experience for attendees.

- Should not be planning to recruit all of their friends to their committee, team, volunteer,

- Should look to recruit people with a high level of commitment to the ideas expressed above.

- Should have a high level of organization – or know someone that does and recruit them to assist.

Commitment – Time, Energy, Focus
- Should be able to commit the time and energy through the full conference planning process. This likely means a lot of time in advance, but also time after the conference for assessment and wrap up.

- Should not be applying if they know they will be job searching out of the region. *Re-read previous line*

- Should not plan to just re-use materials from last year without making improvements or changes.

-Should be willing to do grunt work in addition to ideas-work – when it comes to conference time, everyone has to pitch in!

Innovation
- Should be willing to talk to others and be open to new ideas – and willing to see them through.

- Should already have ideas of how to enhance and/or improve the conference experience they just had.

- Should consider talking to people who have raved about recent conferences to see what was so great and how to incorporate it.

- Should be prepared to attend a conference that is outside of higher ed in the year leading up to their conference to cultivate new ideas

- Should explore how to involve student affairs professionals from diverse functional areas and across all stages of their career – grad students, entry level professionals, mid-level managers, SSAOs, etc.

What are your experiences with conferences and professional organizations? What is on your list of dos and don’ts? Feel free to continue this conversation in the comments below, or by following the Conference 3.0 hashtag #Conf30.

Thanks to @StacyLOliver, @CLConzen, @CarolynGolz, @JeffLail for kick starting the conversation this morning.
Thanks to @WSWCSM for the hilarious GIF image and website.

This is cross-posted on my co-conspirator’s blog as well: http://tech.kristendomblogs.com,  you can follow her at @Kristendom.

Categories: Conference 3.0, Higher Education, Ideas / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • Courtney

    Great post as usual Joe! Innovation is so critical when it comes to our “cornerstone” of professional development practice, the conference. I love how you have dissected an area that hasn’t been talked about as much. There has been a lot of talk about format and using different models, but you have pointed out how critical the team is in pushing these new and innovative concepts through. When we put together teams of risk takers, passionate, curious and committed people we will have better conferences.

    -Courtney O’Connell
    @courtoconnell

    • joeginese

      Courtney,

      Thanks for reading! I wasn’t alone. You need to follow @Kristendom (Kristen Abell), she’s a co-conspirator in this post and we actually co-wrote it (thank you GoogleHangouts-Docs plugin).

      Thanks again!

      Joe

  • http://www.brainzooming.com Mike Brown

    Joe – That’s a very strong and appropriate list of requirements for potential volunteers to consider. Two suggestions for the organizer to consider:

    1) Create specific job descriptions (not just conference committee titles) for people to sign up to when they volunteer. Beyond the overarching list of responsibilities you have here, specific job descriptions create more of a sense of reality about what will be expected.

    2) Identify what IS in it for volunteers. It’s not unreasonable for people who give up a bunch of time to serve on a conference committee to expect something in return. What I’ve found helpful when twice chairing a national research conference for a marketing association was to have a conversation with each of the people on the conference committee to discuss what they hoped to gain. For some it was job-related networking. For others it was an opportunity to showcase clients in speaking positions. Still other were looking for speaking opportunities themselves. Irrespective of the specific desires, it was helpful to get it out in the open so I could do whatever possible to deliver the return value my committee members sought. That provided more balance and accountability in the relationship. I encouraged them to do the same with their sub-committee members as well.

    Your list is fantastic, but it’s definitely a two-way street.

    • joeginese

      Mike – your suggestions are spot on. If we are going to hold volunteers accountable, we need to hold organizers accountable for what they are doing for the volunteers. Thanks for that perspective.

      It is definitely a two-way street. Thanks for reading and commenting!

    • http://kristendomblogs.com Kristen Abell

      This is a great point, Mike. One of the posts Joe and I are working on in this series will hopefully address some of this – the rights of the committee members. Thanks for your feedback!

      • http://www.brainzooming.com Mike Brown

        Small world, Kristen. Was checking out your blog and realized you live in KC. Same here, and Brenda Bethman is a friend from Social Media Club of Kansas City.Small, small world!

        • http://kristendomblogs.com Kristen Abell

          Small world, indeed! Nice to meet you on the internets! :-)

  • http://www.stevenharowitz.net/ Steven Harowitz

    I agree with you on most points. I appreciate the “in the clouds” or utopian thinking – which is how I felt reading some of the “shoulds” you mentioned. The darker side of this coin lies with the leadership of whatever group you are a part of. Something should be said for leaders who only want followers that will mark the check off boxes. We work with our students to make them think and dream, shouldn’t we expect the same from our leaders in our professional organizations? Life also happens so sometimes those “shoulds” turn into “I wish” because your life and work demand something more of you that wasn’t expected. I get frustrated and upset with underachievers and folks just out for glory but I try to seek patience to better understand them then use my experiences to bring them back to the table. In the end being a part of these conference committees, or any organizations committee for that matter, is secondary to the work we do in our daily lives. Some are phenomenal at balancing the requirements and excel at giving back to both while others are not. Those individuals still try to give something of themselves and that should still be applauded.

    • joeginese

      Steve,

      Thanks for reading and commenting. Is it really “in the clouds” thinking? Is it too much to ask for volunteers who are actually driven and dedicated to a conference experience?

      If we want box checkers running conferences, then that’s our fault for sitting back and doing nothing but complaining or saying “This should be better. Oh well. See you next year.”

      Leadership doesn’t change because people are afraid to challenge the “well-known” characters in the region or network. Who would dare try to buck the trend and unseat someone who has “been on the committee for years, they are DUE for getting a conference chair position…because…well they are just due for it.” What does that even mean?!

      This is higher education. This is one of the most important “industries” or “fields” in the WORLD! If you are telling me that our professional development is designed, organized, and facilitated by those who are seeking gold stars because “well, at least we tried” then I’m going to hold those people to the fire and hold them accountable.

      It’s about time someone stood up to the “old guard” and said, enough is enough. This ISN’T working anymore.

      Perhaps to solve the problem NASPA needs to pay for conference committee positions. That way if you aren’t doing your job, you aren’t getting paid, and if you aren’t getting paid, you are getting fired/”asked to step down” from the position YOU volunteered/applied for.

      Our professional development should no longer be a “other duties as assigned” line on our job descriptions.

      Thanks for getting me fired up Steve. :)

      Joe

  • Josh Brandfon

    Enjoyed reading these posts – I think that a huge part of the challenge is that aside from one or two site visits, all of the conference planning is done via conference calls, etc.

    There are also other things in play – such as whether or not the actual conference team is communicating directly with the hotel/conference center, or whether that’s left to the central office staff.

    Ultimately, I think it boils down to how much flexibility the chair and his/her team has in planning. Is everything laid out by a Board of Directors that has the final say in every decision (big and small), or do the final decisions lie in the hands of the volunteers? If its the former, volunteers spend more time checking boxes. I’ve seen examples of both, to varying degrees of success and for different reasons. I don’t know if there’s a “right” way to do it…but there are certainly things we can take from each.

    Josh
    @joshbrandfon

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