Make the Most of Your NAFSA Experience

Kerry Geffert
Product Evangelist, Terra Dotta

The NAFSA Annual Conference. A meeting of 10,000 of your closest friends. Or as Brooke Roberts of Inside Study Abroad recently called it, “the juggernaut of all professional conferences.” If you recently returned from the Denver conference, or if you have attended any NAFSA Annual Conference, you probably understand. Now that you are home, your next steps will determine if your attendance will make a difference for your institution, or if you simply enjoyed a week of reception hopping.

First-timers often feel overwhelmed by the enormity of “the” annual conference. Wisely, many years ago, NAFSA introduced a Newcomers Orientation early in the week. Attendees are introduced to the NAFSA leadership and meet other similarly dazed conference-goers. But more importantly, they receive tips on managing a week where different opportunities vie for one’s attention.

Seasoned attendees typically come with a game plan. They speak of a schedule full of meetings with little time for sessions, or a list of “must attend” sessions with time allocated for tackling the expansive EXPO Hall. Special opportunities for poster sessions, open meetings and plenaries round out the professional learning. And then there are the receptions – occasions for networking and catching up with friends while making new friends and colleagues.

But with all good things, the NAFSA Annual Conference comes to an end and we all return to our offices laden with new materials, tchotchkes and ideas. If you are like most of us, within a few hours of addressing work that backed-up during the previous week, “NAFSA” (i.e., the Annual Conference) becomes a memory, and soon a distant memory. That tote bag full of resources, notes and business cards? It’s hung behind the door with those from previous conferences, or relegated to a pile under the desk or in a corner. And there it will stay until the next office clean-up day or the next Annual Conference when you try to remember what it was you accomplished that week.

Should these situations seem all too familiar, don’t worry, you are not alone! However, this year, let’s resolve to be a bit more proactive. Habits tend to change dramatically only in dramatic situations, so how about a few smaller, incremental changes? Before you forget where you placed your tote bag and you forget why you have those business cards, try these steps:

• NAFSA Evaluation – by now you probably have received emails from NAFSA encouraging you to complete a conference evaluation. While this information is important for planning future conferences, it also helps you to review and synthesize your week in Denver. Make notes as you complete your evaluation; things that you want to remember. Use these 10-15 minutes as a form of review.
• Session & Meeting Notes – block off 30-60 minutes in your calendar to review your notes. The key here is to block off that time; dedicated time indicates a deliberate act. Thinking that you will look at your notes when you have a free moment won’t make it happen. After all, when was the last time you actually had a free moment? As you review your notes, keep a separate list of important ideas or tasks that you want to address later.
• Business Cards – Despite the use of technology, we still love to exchange business cards. But then what? If you were intentional during the conference, perhaps you made notations on the card. If not, now is the time to sift through them. Make notes where you can, but don’t leave it at that. Here is a great opportunity to grow your LinkedIn network. Send invitations. But please, include a note with your invitation, particularly with those colleagues with whom you met only briefly, or whose session you attended. Provide your invitee with context to increase the chances of that person accepting your invitation. We all receive invitations from those just seeking to access our network; make sure your invitation stands out.
• Thank Yous – Now that you have organized those business cards, is there anyone for whom a brief “thank you” would be appropriate? Someone who gave you a great idea, provided a helpful introduction, or who spoke in a particularly impactful session? As someone who has already received a Denver post card from the organizer of a meeting which I helped facilitate, I can tell you that those outreaches make a difference. And it’s just good networking.
• Next Steps – You have made notes; you’ve organized. The next step is to do something with this information. Again, calendar time in your schedule for effective planning. What are the ideas or tasks on which you want (or you want your office) to act? Are there colleagues from your collection of business cards that you want to contact for further information? Can you apply any of these ideas to previous office planning, such as a SWOT analysis or any other strategic planning tool? What might you implement quickly with little oversight? What requires greater buy in from others? Are there ideas or projects that will have a cost associated with them?
• Share Your Experience – If you have completed even half of these suggestions, you have valuable information. Your institution invested time and funds to your conference attendance, so what better way to demonstrate the value of their investment than by sharing a summary of your conference experience. Prepare a summary or report for your supervisor (be sure to prepare it in a manner that your supervisor prefers, e.g., bullets or paragraphs, short summaries or in-depth, etc.) demonstrating how your attendance benefited your institution, and provided professional growth for you.

All of these suggestions could be completed in half a day or less, and need not be completed all at once. However, you have multiple priorities vying for your time and attention, so actively set realistic completion objectives and deadlines for yourself. You will thank yourself in a few months.

When Multiple Priorities Compete For Your Time

Multiple priorities vying for you time brings up another topic which is worthy of being addressed. In days long gone by, someone attending the NAFSA Annual Conference had little contact with the home office unless it was by telephone – via a pay phone; attached to a wall! You might have received a fax if there was an emergency requiring your attention, but for the most part, things waited until your return to campus. Not so in 2016. Communication is almost instantaneous and constant. So is the expectation of response and action. Some call it multitasking. One might also call it stress inducing.

NAFSAns are notorious for burning the candle at both ends during conference week. We keep busy all day with sessions, meetings and more; then at night there are dinners and receptions, often until the wee hours. When the sun comes up, we start again and repeat. On Tuesday, Friday seems so far off, but suddenly it’s Friday and you are packing to return home wondering how the week flew by so quickly. Home to other responsibilities, home to the office where you anticipate paying for your week’s absence. Nope, nothing stressful about this situation!

So, while stress is found frequently within our professional and personal lives, post-conference season is a good time to address the topic. Your stress level may have been elevated just by reading the first half of this article! We talk about stress and we may joke about stress, but it is no laughing matter. We must acknowledge its existence and prepare for it. The effects of stress do not happen just to others. They happen to us; to you or those close to you. I speak from experience.

We cannot rid our lives of stress; therefore, we must learn to control it lest it control us. WebMD begins its online article on stress management with “The best way to manage your stress is to learn healthy coping strategies. You can start practicing these tips right away. Try one or two until you find a few that work for you. Practice these techniques until they become habits you turn to when you feel stress.”

The relevance of this advice is reflected in NAFSA’s Management Development Program, an intensive training program for newer and aspiring managers in international education. An entire segment is dedicated to a discussion of stress and how a manager can attend to managing stress in oneself and one’s staff. The keys are to be able to identify stress or stress producers, and mechanisms for coping with stress.

To be sure, not all stress is bad. Stress can be a motivator, and can activate the senses. When managed appropriately, stress facilitates action. However, too much stress can cause one to lose focus and perhaps make unhealthy choices. In the work environment, job stress can impact performance and relationships with coworkers. WebMD, again, provides a useful article, Managing Job Stress, identifying causes of stress and suggestions for reducing it.

Knowing the causes of your stress is important. So, too, is knowing how stress manifests itself in you. Sometimes the signs are subtle; other times, the signs come on like a tidal wave. Being able to identify your reaction is an important step in managing your stress. With this knowledge you can make decisions about the stressor, and whether your reactions are healthy or unhealthy.

Taken to the extreme, stress and its related health issues can be life threatening. As much as we should be able to identify and manage the stressors in our lives, we also should be aware of the signs of more serious conditions such as stroke, heart attack and cardiac arrest. Bookmark the website of the American Heart Association to become familiar with the warning signs.

How did we get from conference follow-up to the possible life threatening impact of stress? The process is very subtle, and it may not happen to you. But it could happen to those around you. The increased demands and expectations on our professional and personal lives creep up on us. Conferences provide opportunities to build career knowledge and expertise, but often lack in training attendees to keep everything in perspective. The latter is no less important, and takes time and practice to attain. Attention to your well-being will help position you for a productive, gratifying career in international education.