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Students on the Black Bear Leadership Conference Planning Team are getting ready to strut their stuff. The annual Leadership Conference will be held Saturday, Oct. 19 in Neville and Jenness halls from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The conference will feature leadership workshops sponsored and organized by staff members from Student Organization and Leader Development, Greek Life and Residence Life and Programs.
“The conference planning team is composed of students, student leaders and staff members,” Kristin Powell, a SOLD graduate assistant, said. “Students that join the planning team will work with staff members in the hopes of influencing students and student leaders on campus, becoming part of a focused team, and adding leadership experiences to your resume.”
Mary Gatchell, a second-year elementary education major and conference planning member said, “The conference itself is for current leaders of campus groups to sharpen their skills and learn new things, bringing new ideas back to their groups, as well as for aspiring leaders who aren’t familiar with leadership and want to know more.”
“It’s also an opportunity to bring current and aspiring leaders together in a day full of stimulating and idea challenging sessions,” she said.
Powell said that last year’s conference had 100 students in attendance, and this year she hopes attendance will increase to 250. The theme of this year’s conference is “Leadership: Building Your Road to Success.”
“The building imagery represents that leadership takes effort and conscious action. The road imagery symbolizes the fact that there is no one best way to lead, and UMaine students will take many different paths as leaders,” Powell said.
“The conference will open with a keynote speaker and will then separate into smaller focus groups that will concentrate on leadership styles, budgeting and finance, time management, running meetings,” Powell said.”The planning team provides the opportunity to meet and work with new people, have contact with various student groups all over campus, and learn about something [you've] never done before,” Gatchell said.
“Seeing everything fall into place on the conference day, after all the hard work that goes into it, is a very rewarding experience,” Gatchell said.
Gatchell said that she and other conference planners hope that those who participate in organizing the event come away with a feeling of confidence in their leadership skills.
The planning team has been meeting on a weekly basis to orgnize the upcoming event.
“Any student interested in planning the event can do so regardless of previous leadership positions, titles, or experiences,” Powell said. “The great thing about the planning team is that you don’t have to be the president of a club to help out, anyone interested in leadership can volunteer.”
“I see leadership not so much as a way to succeed, but rather, as a relationship between the leaders and followers,” Powell said. “Just because someone has leadership skills doesn’t make them an effective or morally good leader. But students can self-assess what skills they want to work on, and tailor the conference to meet their own needs. So that’s why we highlight the theme on finding your own road.”
Students interested in learning more about the conference may contact Kristin Powell on FirstClass.
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