Showing posts with label ConferenceReflections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ConferenceReflections. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2015

#NASPA15 Revisited - Capturing the Real Time Moments from the Conference!


I always like to revisit the tweets that I posted to the @drjtedwardsTSU account during a conference. This is my first time to create a Storify from my tweets and I am excited to have this archive of my posts. 

I also made these great Quote Cards to capture neat ideas from the conference. Please feel free to use them! Enjoy the posts listed in the Storify at the end of this post. 

Please contribute any comments and ideas below!





Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU

Friday, March 27, 2015

#NASPA15 - Conference Recap: Connected, Communicated, Converted, and Convinced (+BookClubs)


This week, I was fortunate to attend and present at the NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) Conference and I had such a great time learning about new concepts in higher education/student affairs. This includes: Yik Yak, Title 9, assisting student parents, marketing to new college students and their parents, and the importance of THINKING BIG!



Book Clubs in Student Affairs - Neat Concept!
One of the sessions that I loved the most was the "book club session" focused on student affairs publications and other publications in the leadership field. This session really inspired me to "think outside of the box" because it is incredibly hard to read an assigned/required book within a specific time frame and then report the important findings (and my reflections) to my accountability group (book club). 

This book club enabled me to think about creating a journal clubs or reading e-books from the library databases without having to add an expense to our university accounts or the book club participants' personal accounts. I will write a few additional ideas about the higher education book club concept in a few days.

Connecting with Past Colleagues
Through NASPA, I was able to connect with one of my former supervisors from Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) and connect with MANY colleagues from TACUSPA (Texas Association of College and Student Personnel Administrators). These connections are always valuable for me, because I made a point to remain in contact with my student affairs colleagues even when I left the student affairs field and became a member of the faculty. You NEVER know how your career path will take twists and turns!



Communicating with Others via Twitter and Instagram
During conferences, especially a large scale conference (for example, NASPA had 7,000+ participants) it is important to connect with other attendees via the conference backchannel on Twitter. This is valuable because I believe a rich conversation exists on the conference hashtag (before, during, and after the conference). Also, through the conference backchannel, participants can form relationships and participate in "meet ups" during the conference (to take the virtual conversation to the virtual environment). It is always amazing to meet someone who recognizes you from Twitter.



Converted My Mind About Blogging

I attended the "Blogging Bravely" session on March 23, 2015 at 8:30 am and this session featured many of the premier student affairs bloggers - @paulgordonbrown @MarciKWalton @reneepdowdy  @josieahlquist. This was a great session, because it caused me to re-examine my blogging goals.
I had a hard time finding my blogging voice in my new role. It was incredibly easy to blog about
teaching techniques, but it is difficult to blog about a hybrid role (academic affairs and student life functions). It is very difficult to find a which topics appeal to your audience! 



Convinced Me to Publish Articles on Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Partnerships
Also, I usually publish in Communication Journals and speak at communication conferences, but I will definitely have to modify my venues and outlets to publish on bridging the gap between academic affairs and student affairs at institutions of higher education. I am actually energized and I hope to publish an article in the near future!



As you can see, I had a great time. It was great writing this brief blog post, because this post functioned a great reflection piece for me. Energized! Back to work!

Sincerely - @drjtedwardsTSU

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Welcome Back to Texas! The AEJMC Conference Was Great!



Readers,

I just arrived home from the AEJMC conference in Oklahoma and it was an amazing and refreshing experience. One of my colleagues from the Communication Department (@SarahMaben) organized the panel and submitted the proposal. We were accepted and I packed the car and drove to OK! It was actually an easy drive.
Gaylord Hall
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ludophoto/2537811428/
We have lived in this area (DFW) for around six years and I have never driven from Texas to Oklahoma! In fact, it was my first time DRIVING out of state and actually walking from my car to a hotel in about six years! Go figure!

During the conference, I had time to network with colleagues and catch up on e-mail (which is an arduous task to say the least). I enjoyed the wonderful "conference" environment and I took a lot of notes for our 2013 Social Media Conference!

As a result of attending the conference, I plan to start a book proposal focused on Social Media and Higher Education Administration. We will see HOW long this process will take, but I am eager start!

Sincerely, 

J. Edwards - Millennial Professor

Friday, November 18, 2011

National Communication Association #NCA2011 (Post 5/5) - Walking Around Conference Exposition Halls!

Readers,


I always enjoy strolling around the exposition hall and interacting with the book publishers. This year was special for TWO reasons: I discovered the workbook that I edited over the summertime and my friend Lora and I met with an editor about a book proposal.

Here's a copy of the workbook. We use the workbook in our Fundamentals of Speech, Public Speaking, and Business and Professional Speaking courses.


The exposition hall is always full of freebies and conversation! During my first NCA conference in San Diego, I accepted the preview books with gratitude (and regret when I boarded the plane and had to pay for luggage that was over the weight limit). Now, I scan the book ISBN or cover with my RedLaser app OR I take a picture of the literature with my iPad to avoid walking and flying with more paper that I actually need.



Quick Question - How do you navigate conference exposition halls?

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
OfficeMax Logo

National Communication Association #NCA2011 (Post 5/5) - Making Your Conference Round Table Presentation Attractive!!!

Readers,


Today, I had TWO conference round table presentations! Both of the presentations were focused on technology (specifically Google Docs).

Presentation 1 - Utilizing an Interactive Activity to Enable Stakeholders to Discover Innovative Ways to Re-frame their Negative Perceptions about Stakeholders

Presentation 2 - Utilizing Google Documents to Write a Training and Development Guide for Local Non-Profit Organizations and Small Businesses (Service Learning)


Usually, when I visit round table sessions, the presenter's display is very dull. This year, I decided to integrate the following elements on my table:

1 - Business Cards
2 - A Note Card with a QR code and link to the activity on Google Docs.
3 - Copies of the Actual Activity
4 - My iPad for additional explanations.
5 - Candy! I knew that my students could spare a few pieces! :)

I've discovered that people like to LEAVE your table with SOMETHING in their hand to remind them about your presentation! :)

How do you make your presentations more appealing?

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
OfficeMax Logo

Thursday, November 17, 2011

National Communication Association #NCA2011 (Post 3/5) - Traveling to Academic Conferences with Posters...


Readers,

My first presentation for the National Communication Association Conference was a competitive poster presentation on Google Documents! I was super excited about this presentation, because Web 2.0 technologies are my passion!

Here is the only negative aspect of a poster presentation... YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL WITH THE POSTER! Unfortunately, it seems that most airlines require passengers count the poster tube as one of two pieces of their carry-on luggage. Since today's airline passengers usually carry all of their luggage on the aircraft, this additional piece of carry-on luggage might place a wrinkle in someone's luggage plans (no pun intended).


So, a few years ago while attending and presenting a poster the annual meeting for the Council on Undergraduate Research in Odgen, UT, I decided to adopt a new approach... I decided to use pieces of paper to create my poster presentation!

This approach enabled me to adapt my poster to the space provided and to add neat details at the bottom of the poster to appeal to my potential walk-though audience members. I always place a business card holder and poster note card at the bottom of each of my poster presentations.



Here's a question for you! - How do you make your poster presentations unique?

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
OfficeMax Logo

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

National Communication Association #NCA2011 (Post 2/5) - Pre-Conference Prep!



Readers,

This has been an amazing week so far! Before attending a conference, I have to prepare my students for my temporary disappearance from campus. To help them through this "transition", I still keep my virtual office hours during each and every conference.

Do you keep in contact with students when traveling to conferences?

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
OfficeMax Logo

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Texas Blackboard Users Conference (3/5) - Conference Schedule & Our Session (Establishing Collaboration Opportunities in Your Online Class)


logo
Readers,

Today, I have to examine the T-BUG schedule to figure out which sessions I plan to attend.


I downloaded this PDF schedule to my iPad library for easy access (even without internet or 3G access - which can be VERY spotty in hotels).

Here are the session tracks:


UPGRADE:

Of interest to anyone who is going through an upgrade, about to go through an upgrade, or thinking 
about doing an upgrade.


SUPPORT:
Held Desk, Technology Teams, Student Support Staff,
Faculty Support Staff, Instructional Designers. Of i
nterest to anyone who supports Blackboard users.


TEACHING AND LEARNING:
Instructors, Adjuncts, Teaching Assistants, Course
Designers, Instructional Designers.  Of interest to
anyone who delivers or designs instructional contents.


VENDOR SHOWCASES:
Come see what the vendors are doing and how they 
collaborate with Blackboard to enhance your current
system



Here's our session:

Room: Longhorn IV

Establishing Collaboration Opportunities in Your Online 
Class 

Credence Baker, Tarleton State University
Jennifer T. Edwards, Tarleton State University
In this session, you’ll be introduced to several different free       
web-based tools that can be used to foster collaboration among 
students in your online class. Incorporating collaboration           
opportunities gives students a chance to sharpen their virtual-team 
skills, and allows you to provide students with real-time scaffolding 
and feedback, monitor progress, and keep track of who has      
contributed to a project


Processing Question: Every session seems very interesting! Which sessions should I attend?

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
OfficeMax Logo

Monday, July 4, 2011

Reflection from the TXDLA Conference - My Presentation/Review of Centra/Review of the Conference




Readers,

*I wrote this entry a few weeks ago after the TXDLA Conference and I never posted it to the blog. I always like to write a reflective blog entry after every conference (usually this occurs on the airplane on the way home).

Currently, I am en route to the DFW airport after attending the Texas Distance Learning Association Conference in San Antonio, TX. This was my first time attending this particular conference and I had a wealth of negative perceptions about the attendees. For example, I thought that this conference was just for techies, but after attending the conference I realized that I was a techie as well. I teach online and hybrid courses, but I am a complete techno junkie and I understood all of the jargon utilized at the conference. 

I attended and tweeted during each of the sessions. The first session I attended was presented by administrators from Texas A&M University. This particular session was simply amazing because it focused on Centra, which is a web conferencing software utilized by the Texas A&M System and my university has FREE usage of the software! Wonderful! This three hour session was very interactive and every participant had access to a laptop computer. We watched videos, completed polls, and maintained a great discussion about the features of the software.

After this hour long session, I was ready for lunch (which was provided for all conference attendees). Slightly before the conference session ended, I received a text message from a colleague at my university and she heard that I was attending the conference. I was so excited to hear from her because I thought that I was the only conference attendee from my university. So we met by the ballroom doors to enter the lunch/vendor room.

I wish that I took a picture of the set up for lunch, because it was very organized and the participants had a chance to interact with each of the vendors during lunch (because the lunch tables and the buffet lines were located in the middle of the ballroom). This provided the conference attendees and vendors with a great "bang for their conference dollar". I always interact with conference vendors because I realize how conference need to maintain positive relationships with each of their vendors to keep the vendors interesting in purchasing a booth space for next year's conference. 

During lunch, I had a great conversation with my colleague and we had time to plan an amazing project for next year. Yes, readers...this project will make a BIG impact on the state of Texas and perhaps the rest of the  nation! :) I am too excited about this project and both of us are extremely goal oriented! I will post more information soon!

After lunch, I had time to look over my presentation one additional time before delivering the content at 3 pm. My presentation was focused on one of my passions, Google Applications (Google Documents/Google Docs). I was so excited to see 20-25 session attendees at a later session because more sessions only had two to three attendees. Everyone seemed excited about the content and they really liked the Google Voice program. Several tweets from this session were:

@agozuna: Attending the google docs in online courses session. #txdla-339 #txdla2011”

@agozuna: Jennifer Edwards uses google docs for all course-related materials, including the syllabus. #txdla-339 #txdla2011

I distributed several business cards and I hope to have a few workshop opportunities in the next few months. :) After attending this year's TXDLA conference, I will DEFINITELY attend the conference in Dallas! :)

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41