Member Spotlight

WHETHER OR NOT

Whether or not to attend EDSymposium10 began with a small glimmer in my mind earlier this year. I tossed the idea of attending: should I go, should I not; he loves me, he loves me not (oops, that was just thrown in to see if you are really paying attention).

I don’t know why I was questioning myself on whether to attend or not. Certainly the economy played into my decision. Should I ask my firm to sponsor me? They have always done so in the past. Was I hesitant because after being elected to the Executive Board as National Secretary and then having to resign due to leading the administrative effort for HDR’s largest healthcare project (and the largest healthcare project being built in the USA)? Would I be welcomed “back into the fold”? Did I really want to go to Las Vegas? Did I really think I would gain anything from attending?

Then, my chapter did a wonderful thing: they offered a scholarship to EDSymposium10 and I thought, “Why not – what do I have to lose?”

So, I applied for what I thought would be a $500 scholarship. I pondered whether this would show my firm that as an employee-owner, I was watching out for our bottom line. I thought that by going, I could represent the Dallas chapter, along with the other three members that were going. I also thought I could face my fears because of my SDA leadership resignation.

I won the Dallas chapter scholarship but it wasn’t for $500 it was for $1,000 and now it was a no-brainer! I jumped online; booked my travel, worked with SDA National Headquarters to see if they could get me the SDA rate (the hotel was showing a much higher nightly rate). I got the rate, I packed, and I arrived!

What a great decision. EDSymposium10 was one of the best SDA National Conferences in terms of classes that were offered that I have attended. As background, this was the sixth national conference I have been lucky enough to attend. They have all been good but there was just something about this one. I was able to attend seven great seminars:

  • Stop Whining and Start Leading
  • Elevate Your Thinking, Elevate Your Life
  • Internet Safety
  • Email as a Project Communication Tool – Loose Fingers Sink Ships
  • Improve Emotional Intelligence
  • Become an Inner Circle Assistant: 6 Must Have Skills
  • White Collar Crime

In addition to the classes, I toured Hoover Dam, saw the inside of a “couple” of casinos and enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow members and catching up with them. All of these things just made it tops.

Luci Kitchell, Becky Souter (former SDA Dallas board member) and Judith Nix, our current SDA Dallas chapter president, were also in attendance. We crisscrossed at one or two of the educational sessions but we each were able to tailor our sessions to what would benefit us and our firms most.

I can only speak for myself, but I believe we all returned to Dallas pleased that we attended.

SDA may not be for everyone who is in the administrative field, but it is for every administrative person who works in the design industry. It’s a shame that we don’t have a membership five, ten, or even twenty times the size that we are now. If it was up to me, it absolutely would be.