There are many ways to learn and “sharpen the saw” these days: you can read blogs, listen to podcasts, and attend webinars, just to name a few. These opportunities are pretty convenient… So that begs the question why bother with the expense and time away to attend the GMAC Annual Conference 2018?
If that’s what you are wondering, you may be missing out on the best opportunity in GME to sharpen your skills and expand your network! The GMAC Annual Conference is a fantastic opportunity to learn and build your career that you just can’t find anywhere else.
Here are the top 3 reasons I will attend Annual this year:
- Reconnect with Old Friends and Meet New Ones
Annual attracts over 700 business school professionals every year! This is my third year attending and I always look forward to reconnecting with people I’ve met over the years and meet new people, as well.
If you haven’t attended before, don’t worry! The first-time attendee session introduces you to others from the get-go. In addition, you’ll learn how the conference is structured and what to expect.
- Learn New Things
The GMAC Annual Conference offers 4 pre-conference workshops, the opportunity to benchmark best practices with Peer Facilitated Discussion sessions at the Admissions Symposium, an opening and a closing keynote and more than 30 concurrent sessions – all covering issues that are critical to our jobs in admissions, marketing, recruiting, student services, program management and career services!
This year I’m a member of the Advisory Group for the conference. We were tasked with choosing the content for the conference, and selecting important topics, like developing social media content, dealing with CRM, and measuring your brand effectiveness, and also new topics like how machine learning can change the way we recruit, assess and educate students, and building out the pipeline in different markets.
Coming back by popular demand is the Vendor Expo. I’m looking forward to identifying new tools to help me be more effective in my day-to-day work. The Expo allows me to see first-hand who the main vendors in our industry are – all in one place.
- Meet Experts and Influencers Face to Face
I am excited to meet our opening and closing keynotes! Amy Blankson is opening the conference – she is the only person to be named a Point of Light by two Presidents (Bush and Clinton). She will be sharing inspiring stories of individuals who have mobilized their communities for positive change and will reveal core strategies for how to leverage the potential of teams.
The closing keynote is Jack Uldrich, a former naval intelligence officer and Defense Department official. His most recent book is Foresight 20/20: A Futurist Explores the Trends Transforming Tomorrow. Jack will be giving us a glimpse of the future of work and its influence in education.
So now you know why I love the Annual Conference so much. I gain fresh perspectives on challenges, meet up with old friends and make new ones, and learn from important influencers. Even if I don’t find the perfect solution to the challenges I face, I often feel better knowing that other schools are facing similar issues and am able to carry this knowledge back to campus.
GMAC Annual Conference 2018 will take place at the Marriott Copley Place in downtown Boston! Boston is a beautiful city, and the conference venue could not be in a better place. Come enjoy some Boston summer with us!
