by Nick Prewett
One of the pleasures of serving as MASFAA President-elect is
attending state conferences outside of my home association of MASFAP. Meeting new individuals, making new
connections, and learning from engaging speakers is important and what our
profession is about. Sharing ideas,
learning how to navigate grey rules, and hopefully make connections for the
future. As President-elect, I have the
opportunity to meet state leaders and to compare state organization and
structure. Thus far my travels have
taken me to Indiana, Illinois, and lovely Brainerd, Mn. For those curious, the flight from
Minneapolis to Brainerd was 22 mins wheels up to wheels down and if you do not
turn off your cell phone, you seem to get data the entire flight at 11,000 feet
in the sky (or so someone told me).
Attending a new conference brings me back to my early days
as a financial aid professional. At the
time, I had no idea what being a financial aid professional meant, but I will
always remember attending my first KASFAA conference in Topeka. I admit this was prior to the social media
days where you could keep up with colleagues around the country with a simple
scan of your newsfeed. I was amazed at
how people seemed to know each other, specific family details, and exchange numerous
long lost friend hugs. I soon found that
after a few conferences I transformed into one of those individuals. My personal connections helped me with the
transition from KASFAA/RMASFAA to MASFAP/MASFAA. I truly believe connections around the
country help me focus on my career as a financial aid professional.
After years of working in financial aid, attending a new
conference of any kind still gives me a bit of anxiety: Who will I know? Where will I sit with at lunch? Will anyone take me along with them to
dinner? Will I end up alone in my room early at night? Are people going to attend my session?
If you have ever had any of these feelings then you have
been to a conference. If you have
overcome these feelings then you have conferenced. If you met someone and followed up after the
conference or at another conference, then you have done it well. If you
built a boat out of cardboard and beat Sarah Edward’s team in a pool boat race,
while accidently hitting Lori Vedder in the shin with a paddle, then you have
excelled.
So on to these questions:
Who will I know? Actually lots of people it turns out. At ISFAA and ILASFAA I knew a fair number of
the people there. For Indiana I drove
in, getting up at 5 am to be to Indy to present a credentialing session at
1pm. Alex and Heidi welcomed me
immediately upon arrival. It was great
getting to know the new leaders of ISFAA.
At ILASFAA due to a time commitment I flew, arriving at the hotel at
8:15 am. Bill met me at the front desk
and gave me a rundown of the day. As I
investigated the hotel layout, I continually bumped into people I knew. Tim, an SI participant came up to me and said
he had had great success using red solo cups to practice packaging. (I guess people do pay attention) At MAFAA I
arrived after dark to a sandwhich and sweet tea waiting in my room for me and
quickly connected with Gale and Dick the next morning.
Where will I sit for
lunch? This is always tricky, I
often find the table game of where to sit and when to sit to be a
challenge. No one wants to be the first
person or the last person through a buffet line. At ISFAA I was encouraged to sit at the
reserved tables up front, which takes the pressure off because I know many in
the leadership. At ILASFAA I found a
number on the back of my name badge that told me where to sit so I could
“network.” As part of an ice breaker
they distributed bouncy balls with random questions written on them. We would toss it around the table and where
your thumb landed, you had to answer that question. (For the record, I would prefer a broken arm to
a broken leg). MAFAA did things just a
bit different with most meals in a restaurant, it is always tough to pick a 4,
6, 8 or 10 top table to sit at. For me,
I just take a leap of faith and sit to meet someone new.
Will anyone take me
along for dinner? Both ISFAA and
ILASFAA had an evenings on your own. At
ISFAA on the first night Marvin took me out to dinner for ISFAA, he was an
expert on Indy and took me to the places that I would find enjoyable (he chose
wisely). One the second night Alex took
me in his lovely vanilla smelling car to a BBQ place in a fluffy snowstorm. For ILASFAA a number of people checked in
with me to ensure I had a ride and I ended up in the third row seating with
Katie Cooper (a state president exchanger from WV) in Michelle Trame’s Ford
Explorer. (For the record, it is
advisable to put the 3rd row head rests up before sitting in the
very back, else it feels like a medieval torture device for your back.)
Will I end up in my
room early? One of my beliefs about
any conference is that people should NEVER go to their room before the late nightly
news. While I get the idea that people
need down time, just think that you have put time into getting somewhere to
meet people and learn stuff and the last thing should be doing is watching
Scandal in your room alone. For me that is
not how you conference. ISFAA had an
evening reception that turned into dinner out and the opportunity to make new
friends. MAFAA had a night of bingo
(Howdy Gary my MAFAA bingo buddy!) and a night of glow in the dark golf that
sadly was canceled due to the monsoon rains.
At ILASFAA there were minute to win it type game (my team won for the
record), a dance floor and card games. One
new activity for a conference was the obsession of ILASFAA folks putting
together puzzles, but at least people were socializing.
Are people going to
attend my session? I think anyone
presenting hopes that people show up. At
a conference, I always look at the schedule, find my time, and then see what I
am up against. Honestly, no one wants to
go up against an Ask a Fed, a town hall, or NASFAA credentialing, but you take
what you can get to expand your profession.
I always review the presentation schedules balancing content and
presenter ability when I pick a session, the last thing you want is to be in a
session with someone reading slides. MAFAA
had one session for me and based on a solid crowd in my room, I’m guessing I
wasn’t up against a federal session. At
ISFAA I had one session + a credentialing and at ILASFAA I presented two
sessions. I thought the material flowed
and the questions were good. I hope
people learned from what I had to say and I will be eagerly awaiting those
follow-up email questions. (tip-great
way to add to your network is to send a thank you or follow-up questions).
On my tour around MASFAA I’ve completed 3 states of the 3
I’s, 3 M’s, and WOW roadshow. Based on
what I’ve seen thus far I am excited to report the future is bright for
financial aid administrators in our region and I look forward to seeing new
faces in the MASFAA leadership. I
consider financial aid a profession, so networking is part of that. I challenge everyone to attend a conference
and get out of your comfort zone, remember we all have that new kid in school
feeling sometimes, let’s do all we can to welcome our fellow FAA’s.
