Making the Most of Your Conference Experience

Hello everyone,

By now, I am sure that you are well aware that our 6^th Annual Leadership Conference is right around the corner. As an attendee of this conference and a first semester RA, my first concern was how to meet other student or professional leaders. As I was surfing through the web, I found great tips on how to socialize with people we meet for the very first time. Since, this conference is attended by leaders from different institutions, I thought the tips I found would be a helpful resource.

When you go to a conference, the most important thing you can do is to make sure that you go ready to meet new people. This means putting your technology away. Save the texting, face- booking and emailing for later and talk to the person next to you. If you are having trouble starting a conversation, then ask people questions about themselves and their institutions. If you come with a group, break up and go to different session. Chances are you are probably going to be more encouraged to meet new people if the people you came with are not there to keep you company. When you talk to people have a good attitude. It is contagious and makes it easier for you to talk to people.  

If you get the chance, introduce yourself to the keynote speaker and session presenters. However, make sure that when you go to the conference, your main focus is not only listening to the presenters. Yes, the presenters are here because they have good experiences to share, but remember that there are room full of people that all come with different experiences. Many are better than one. And when you meet a new person and enjoy your conversations and then move on to other people. Remember, you are there to meet new people and the other person wants to do the same too.

I hope that you enjoy your conference experience and I look forward to meeting you on February 19^th!

- Melat Gebremichael, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee.

Welcome to the Manhattanville College 6th Annual Leadership Conference Blog

Hi All!

Welcome to the first ever Manhattanville College Annual Leadership Conference blog page! This page was created to keep all of our followers up-to-date on conference happenings, hear candid insight from the members of the Leadership Conference committee and give readers the opportunity to share information with other student leaders. And this year we are hoping to offer you a conference like no other! Don't forget to save the date for this year's conference which will take place on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 8:30AM.

Our theme, “Packing Your Leadership Suitcase: Essential Skills for Life” will ask this question of everyone…What skills are you expected to have in the “real world,” but are hardly ever taught? Consider skills like looking for your first apartment, searching for a job online, paying off your student loans, learning the ropes of a new city, figuring out what needs to be done before traveling to a different country or even filling out the alphabet soup of paperwork that you will get on your first day of work. These items are seldom taught to our students, yet we as a society expect you to know how to do it. So let us help you with that!

This blog will be updated each week, featuring a special guest blogger from the Leadership Conference committee, who will update you on the current happenings of the committee, offer exciting updates for the conference and their own personal reflections on what it means to be a student leader and how those skills and qualities are applied to their daily lives. We encourage everyone to feel free to leave feedback, ask questions and utilize this space to connect with other student leaders. We hope that this blog will become a great platform to share ideas, answer questions and help every student become the best student leader that they can possibly be.

If you have not already done so, please be sure to check out our 6th Annual Leadership Conference website. There you will find plenty of resources regarding the conference, including a brief bio on our keynote speaker, Joshua Fredenburg, along with  information on how to get involved by presenting an interest session or poster presentation. Visit our Call for Programs page for program guidelines. 

I cannot possibly express how excited I am to be involved in such a fantastic event like the Manhattanville College 6^th Annual Leadership Conference. The committee has put in tons of time, energy and effort to make this our best conference yet and we are just getting warmed up. We hope you will join us on Saturday, February 19, 2011 to make it the best event of 2011! Have a restful break and wonderful holiday season and we’ll be seeing you soon!

-Kia Brown, Manhattanville College Leadership Conference Committee Co-Chair