The NSEA Annual conference is being held in Cincinnati, Ohio, and representing NASES at the conference is Helene Turley, University of Wolverhampton and Sam Forde from Glyndwr University. The conference titled 'Flying into a new decade' will be held from 18-21 October 2010. This blog will keep you updated on whats happening at the conference.
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We've arrived .............
After a long trip over the pond, via Paris we arrived yesterday evening to clear blue skies and a great view of the Cincinnati skyline. We are staying in downtown Cincinnati at the Hyatt Regency where the NSEA conference Student Employment Essentials training starts tomorrow in earnest. We have spent today exploring the city and recovering from the travelling on the number one bus route upto the Cincinnati Museum Centre at Union Terminal, taking in the Cincinnati Reds Baseball ground, Fountain Square, and up Mount Adams to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical gardens. We decided not to go in as there were hundreds of miniature pumpkins with legs running around (yes the American kids have started celebrating halloween early).
Check back tomorrow for the next installment !! Please leave us a comment ..........
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Sunday, Day 2
Today Sam attended the SEE Training which is part of the NSEA Above and Beyond programme, which is an incentive for members to enhance their expertise by participating in a series of training sessions. Todays sessions included Legal Issues in Student Employment, Interviewing and Selection, Student Staff Training, Marketing and Promoting your Service. As the temperature hit an unseasonal high of 80 degrees late afternoon we felt the need to enjoy an early evening view of the city from Carew Tower (the highest building in Cincinnati),
which is 49 storeys, 8,000 windows and built in 1930 in the Art Deco style. It took only 32 seconds to climb the 574 feet in the elevator to the observation deck at the top.
The above photos are taken from the tower. Sam didn't take a photo of the Tower but will tomorrow. After visting the Tower we walked past the Great American Ball Park home of the Cincinnati Reds and onto the Bicentennial Park past Sawyer Point for supper overlooking the Ohio River.
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Loving the blog Sam, keep up the good work..........looks absolutely fantastic you lucky thing! I am sure its all hard work!! What a great place to be able to explore, looking forward to tomorrows updates?
Shereen Massingham, University of Glyndwr
Hi Shereen ..........thanks for the message, we will be working hard, we promise ..............Sam and Helene
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Day 3 - Monday, Conference Welcome and President's Dinner
Lots of people have been arriving today, ready for the opening formatities at 16.00pm, Helene and I decided to make the most of a free morning and ventured up to Eden Park to visit the city's Art Museum and Tropical Garden Conservatory, and enjoy the colours of the Cincinnati Fall.
We gathered for an offical welcome dinner and then travelled over the Ohio River into Kentucky to Newport Aquarium for a team building scavenger hunt. We managed to find coffee and pumpkin cake, then tried to head home for an early night but were invited to accompany a couple of member's of the NSEA board for a beer.
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Sounds great so far...How many people attend conference, does it have a similar feel to the NASES conference?
Alison NASES Office
Hi Alison, the NSEA conference attendees are down this year due to a couple of reasons, number one being that alot of universities, like us, have restricted travel budgets or travel bans, the other being that as you know the US is split into four regions, and each region also holds their own regional two day conference as well as the National Conference and many attendees were unable to attend both. NSEA's membership is currently 450 of which 143 attended this years National conference here in Cincinnati, slightly up on Orlando, but not as many as they wished had attended. The programming is fairly similar with keynote speakers and workshops, Helene addressed the conference over lunch yesterday with a short presentation on the differences so I will ask her to update the blog. Generally, yes, the conference has a similiar feel to ours....Sam and Helene
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Day 4 - Tuesday, Super Hero awakening
The day began at 8.00 am with a plate full of American fare; pancakes, maple syrup, eggs, bacon, pastries and fruit (all on one plate!!) followed by a motivational speaker David Leedy, who stripped off half way through to reveal a SuperHero outfit to the sound of the 60's blasting away, as we joined in with Gladys Knight and James Brown, he had a unique way of bringing the whole room to tears followed by laughter, about his own personal experiences of being a positive force in someone's life and making a difference, as well as a touching story how he had been inspired by someone that had turned his life around. The main message was to wake up each day being the best at what you do, in every aspect of your life eg work, family, friends and becoming a role model for students, teaching them loyality, respect and trust.
We then attended three 'Above and Beyond' work shops on Diversity and Equality in the Work Place, using LinkedIn to Improve your Networks (resources at the bottom of this page) and Student Employment Skills Training and Recognition, in between which, NSEA presented awards to recognise outstanding contributions to their association over lunch. Another full day ahead of us tomorrow, please leave us a comment.
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Look forward to seeing which 'Superhero' outfit Alison will be wearing at next years NASES conference. The Blog's been great, thanks for the updates!
Dominic Drane, Anglia Ruskin University
Hi Dominic....thanks for the message, Sam
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Wow the pictures are great and the conference sounds like its going at a great pace. Wish I was there Enjoy it.
Maureen Hendry, University of Strathclyde
Hi Maureen ....thanks for the message, the conference has been a great experience, definately a brilliant opportunity that we would not have had the chance to experience if it were not for the volunteering that we do for the NASES Executive, we would recommend everyone to get involved in our National Association....Sam and Helene
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Hey Ladies, despite the sunshine in Yorkshire the UK is pretty gloomy as we await the results of the Coalition’s Spending Review. The press are reporting that it is likely that 500,000 public sector jobs are to be cut. I’d be interested to hear from our American colleagues how Obama’s presidency is impacting student employment.
Gail Hardwick, Leeds University Union
Hi Gail...........you have been missed from this year's conference with lots of people asking after you, Orlando from Orlando says hi. We have been advised not to bring up religion or polltics, we imagine that we will get a mixed response depending on where in the US the delegate comes from but will ask anyway..............looking forward to catching up in December at the National Exec meeting....Sam and Helene
Hi Gail ... the general feeling is that due to the changes in the economy there has been a huge increase in the amount of Federal Work Study loans awarded to students who are facing financial difficulties in paying for their education, which starts from $12,000 per year up to $50,000 depending on the course taken and the institution. Like us they have more students than jobs available, and now having to run their offices with the support of student staff due to their cutbacks in budgets, they are now increasing looking at external work opportunities in the community in addition to the opportunities they currently offer on campus................hope that goes someway to answering your question......Sam
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Day 5, Wednesday
The day began at 8.00 am with a keynote speaker over breakfast, today's event was titled 'check your SOD/dA before you take flight', we were a bit unsure as to what to expect, but it turned out to be a rather interesting session. Maribeth Overland, a psycologist, currently working in student employment, asked us a series of unrelated questions which she then revealed, related to areas of our personal and professional life and relationships within them. It was a different and fun way to start the day, with some deeper hidden meanings that we were able to take away and reflect on later in the day.
We attended a number of different workshops thoughout the day, including 'Dynamics of Problem Solving' and 'Recognising and Rewarding Student Employees' (SEOTY and NSEW), Helene also addressed the conference overlunch with a 'Thank You' for inviting us and a comparison between the American and UK systems and conferences.
The day drew to a close over dinner in Fountain Square with a few colleagues that we have met during the conference and a networking opportunity in the evening.
Day 6, Homeward Bound
This morning we attended the conference close and business meeting, that including the signing in of the new President Beth the President Elect Linda (who will become NSEA President in 2012) and witnessed the passing of 'The Gavel'. We heard of the new plans for the coming year and all were invited to attend next year's NSEA conference in Seattle, October 2011 http://www.seattle.gov/html/visitor/ and 2012 NSEA conference being held in Portland, Maine, USA.
We said our goodbyes and thank yous, and are now heading out to the airport. Helene is holding a pink flying pig that has been the logo for the Conference, Cincinnati being the city of the flying pig, also know as Porkoppolis in years gone by due to the pig farming and pork products that were packed and shipped from here in the past. Their signature dish is pork chilli over spagetti, and BBQ Pork Ribs smothered in BBQ sauce, served with fries dusted with BBQ spices.
The NSEA Conference advertising strap line was 'Flying into a New Decade', with a pig with wings as a logo, a great bit of marketing, with a pink flying pig as the center piece for each table during the conference. These and other items were auctioned off during a silent aution, proceeds going to local charity, the auction raised over $1500, all the items were donated by each delegate.
Many thanks for following our blog and we look forward to seeing you all at our NASES conference in 2011 or some of you at one of our National Training Events, please contact Alison at the NASES office for dates and details.
If anyone would like a copy of the full NSEA Conference program, please contact Sam Forde at s.forde@glyndwr.ac.uk or Helene Turley on H.Turley@wlv.ac.uk
Many thanks
Sam and Helene
Get Linked In to Professional Networking and Job Searching - presentation by the Office of Student Employment from DePaul University.
How to Network Professionally Online - top ten tips for online networking.
Writing a career summary for LinkedIn.
