Year after year, at the conclusion of the December National Athletic Directors Conference, each post-conference survey is diagnosed for demographics, current interests and needs, conference strengths and weaknesses; the response that traditionally remains consistent with the year prior is, "Networking with other athletic administrators." Now that we have the Jeopardy answer, what is the Jeopardy question? The question is, "What is the primary reason that you attend the National Athletic Directors Conference?"
In response to this ongoing attendee interest, the 2018 conference brought a series of four designated networking sessions available to all at the national conference. This will continue in 2019 in National Harbor. Please be sure you attend and take advantage of these great sharing opportunities that will be offered on 3 different days of the conference. The objective: to give you opportunity to interact and learn of new methods, best practices, strategies, and new ideas.
Attendees will be able to share thoughts and experiences, compare state and school district policy, learn federal and sports law, gain answers and insight, hear how others address certain challenges, and perhaps become aware of a problem that an attendee did not know existed in his/her program.
Each networking session will have its unique method of interaction within small group discussion. Following are the days, times, locations and topics that were discussed in 2018 at San Antonio. We will continue to build on these efforts annually.
Saturday, December 15, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Talking and Trading – Key Issues Networking - Choice of 8 Topics Included:
- Certification
- Dealing with Challenging People
- Developing Staff Growth Plans
- Finding Qualified Coaches
- Hazing
- Intellectual Property Law - Trademark - Copyright
- Social Media
Process: Groups met by subject interest with a facilitator orchestrating interaction.
Monday, December 17, 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.
Give & Take - Pod Networking - Topics for discussion:
- Safety & Security After School
- Gender Identity & the Student Athlete
- Transfers & Movement of Athletes (and promoting your school)
Process: 3 topic titles delivered individually via house microphone, and facilitator led small group discussion in pods within the ballroom.
Monday, December 17, 3:45 to 4:45 p.m.
Congregate & Collaborate - School Size Issues Networking - Topics for discussion:
- A series of 6 questions specific to enrollment size will accompany each group.
Process: Attendees chose room of their school enrollment range where facilitator led discussion.
The choice of enrollment sizes to join included:
-
- Enrollment of 400 and Smaller
- Enrollment of 401 to 800
- Enrollment of 801 to 1300
- Enrollment of 1301 to 2000
- Enrollment larger than 2000
Tuesday, December 18, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
"It's in the Bag" Lunch & Learn - Forum Networking - Topics for discussion:
- District AD
- Female AD
- International AD
- Middle School/Jr. High AD
- Multiple Duty AD
- Novice AD - 1 to 3 years
- Private School AD
- Rural School AD
- Urban/Inner City School AD
- General Discussion
Process: 10 rooms allowed attendees to choose the role that best described their role and/or interest. Moderators provided a list of topics to bring forth for sharing by attendees.
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