Just Jackie

There is a first for everything and today was a milestone in my professional career. I was asked to sit on a panel with other communications professionals at the 2011 Indiana Association of College Admission Counseling (IACAC) fall conference. It was surreal! For so long, I had been that person in the audience listening to other professionals talk about “dos and don’ts”, “How to’s”, and “Why this vs. that” for so long. Now it was my turn to share some wisdom.

The IACAC fall congress brings together all Indiana university and college admission staff annually. The conference is a three-day event and covers “hot” enrollment management/admission topics. The session I participated in was pretty unique because usually the sessions cover topics like financial aid, ethics in higher education, and admission information. Communication is a unique thing to colleges and universities. There are so many other things to think about that often, communication is not the main focus. My session dived right into it.

The session was titled ‘Strategies for Communication and Social Media in Higher Education’. Brilliant!

Not only was our session a hit, but I served on the panel with my own friends. My communications friends from Butler talked about tweeting/blogging and focus groups/researching in higher education (the dos and don’ts). My friend from the ICVA spoke about email/print communication tips. From the agency standpoint, I discussed social media policies and strategies and why both are crucial to have in any organization regardless the industry.

The audience was fully engaged the entire time and asked tons of great questions. Afterwards, several  came up to thank the panel and shook our hands. It was so gratifying to hear that people valued what I said and wanted to integrate my professional advice into their communication strategies.  That was the most rewarding part of the whole experience.

I must admit I was a little nervous going into the session. After all, 80 people attended! However, afterwards I felt great as the experience helped me become a better public speaker, too. Hopefully I can take part in more professional development opportunities in the future.