This weekend I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend the AIMHO conference in Billings, Montana with the ASU Housing staff across the 4 campuses. I was not sure what to expect since this would be my first professional conference to attend and I was no where near ready for the overload of information, but I have to say that I had an absolute blast meeting new people, reconnecting with others I may have met before briefly, and really getting to spend time with some of my own staff members.
The funny thing about working at ASU is that just because you may be on the same housing team, we don't get to see the other employees on the other campuses enough. We know each other, especially if we entered at the same time and went through new employee training together, but we really don't get to see all of our colleagues nearly enough. I hope over the next few weeks to really connect with some of the other ASU Housing team members and get to know them all better.
AIMHO was comprised of banquet, key note speakers, lots of program sessions, and some fun activities. My early morning flight on Sunday did not make me the most attentive person on the planet during that nights events but I really enjoyed the connections session where we were able to meet and talk to other new professionals attending their first conference as well as a seasoned vet to the conference and housing world. We exchanged business cards and used our networking skills to give us some new "connections" across the nation, especially in our region.
One of my favorite sessions that I was able to attend was a budgeting session. I will be the first to admit that I am not so great at saving money but have made a commitment to myself to become a better steward of my finances. The presenter was from the University of Oregon and she gave me a lot of useful information and tips. If you want to find out more about this info. just leave a comment and I'll post it later on.
We truly got to experience the Billings area with a night out on the town that included dinner at a local restaurant. We enjoyed Hooligan's Pub and Brewery. They had amazing fish and chips and the atmosphere was centered around sports. Of course, they were playing the New Orleans Saints vs. the Philadelphia Eagles game so I was watching for one of my former undergraduate classmates to appear on the screen.
All in all, I had a wonderful conference experience and am ready to visit Las Vegas, Nevada again for the conference next year at UNLV!
Thanks for reading!
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