Purpose
The Annual Conference Committee plans and implements the annual conference. It oversees and supports the Program Subcommittee.
Authority
The committee has no expressed or implied governing power or authority. As an Association committee, the committee reports to the executive director.
Membership
- The executive director shall appoint the chair and members of the committee. The executive director will follow the volunteer recruitment process to select a chair.
- The committee may include non-director persons whose experience may assist the committee in the performance of its duties. The committee chair will follow the volunteer recruitment process and recommend members to the executive director for appointment.
2024 Annual Conference Committee members
- Nikki Massaro Kauffman, chair
- Christine Boehler, vice chair
- Sara Clark, executive director
- Mike Henderson, AV and livestream lead
- Andrea Wasiura, sponsorship lead
Attendee relations team
- Tom Wojciechowski, attendee relations lead
- Christy Cousino, online engagement coordinator
- Adam Fajardo, events coordinator
- Meaghan Milliorn Fikes, volunteer and premiums coordinator
- Danielle Sewell, registration coordinator
Marketing and communications team
- Bri Diaz, marcom lead
- Natalie Brown Allen, content coordinator
- Janice Cheng, designer
- Cordell Wayne Allen, local recruitment coordinator
- Katelyn Mills-Erickson, social media coordinator
- Simon Labonne, photo coordinator
Platform team
- Rachell Underhill, platform lead
- Erin Jorgensen, platform program liaison
Program Subcommittee
- Michelle Tarby, program chair
- Andy Shearouse, program vice chair
- Drarelle Blassingame, poster chair
- Dan Demmons, track chair/room host
- Glenn Donaldson, track chair/room host
- Stephen Fornal, track chair/room host
- Kristin Gasser, workshop chair
- Paul Gilzow, track chair/room host
- Karen Hackett, track chair/room host
- Jim Kittle, track chair/room host
- Dan Laird, track chair/room host
- Sydney Jones-Wright, track chair/room host
- Lori Packer, track chair/room host
- Aaron Rester, track chair/room host
- Eric Sembrat, track chair/room host
- Jeff Stevens, track chair/room host
- Doug Tschopp, track chair/room host
- Isaac Williams, track chair/room host
Safety, inclusion and accessibility team
- Brenden Sparks, safety, inclusion and accessibility lead
- Mona Maharjan, accessibility coordinator
2025 Annual Conference Committee members
- Christine Boehler, chair
- Tom Wojciechowski, vice chair
- Michelle Tarby, program chair
- Sara Clark, executive director
Responsibilities
- Recommends annual goals to the executive director for approval.
- Manages the budget of the annual conference.
- Creates and implements logistical plan for annual conference.
- Evaluates and selects social event locations.
- Partners with venues and vendors on conference needs, in coordination with the executive director.
- Selects keynote(s) for annual conference.
- Provides superior professional development.
- Develops and maintains conference website content and code.
- Manages registration and supports attendees.
- Solicits and supports sponsors in coordination with the Sponsorship Committee.
- Promotes and markets the event in coordination with the Marketing and Communications Committee.
- Coordinates AV needs, including editing recordings for membership community.
- Coordinates with Safety, Diversity and Inclusion Committee to ensure that the event, presenters and materials are inclusive and representative of the higher education community.
- Submits an assessment after each event to the Educational Events Committee.
Program Subcommittee responsibilities
- Coordinates and promotes call for proposals.
- Reviews and selects proposals for each track with a goal of providing a balanced program in terms of topic areas covered and further increasing diversity (new vs veteran presenters, underrepresented groups, etc.)
- Promotes presenters and the program as a whole (writing Link articles to describe and promote each track, participating in discussions and sharing conference content on social media, etc.).
- Mentors presenters on what will be needed at the conference to help make them as successful as possible.
- Staffs tracks at annual conference, including introducing speakers, assisting with AV as needed, assisting with audience Q&A, and ensuring sessions begin and end on time.
- Ensures evaluations are submitted by session attendees.
- Advises prospective presenters to other volunteer opportunities with the Association (i.e., writing for Link Journal, serving on a committee).
Operations
- Meets no fewer than 10 times per year, at the call of the chair of the committee/subcommittee.
- Maintains minutes of all meetings.
- Manages email inboxes for the events.
- Reviews this charter annually and recommends changes to the executive director.
- Follows Association policies and procedures.
- Establishes and maintains documentation about committee roles and procedures, including how this committee collaborates with others.
- Communicates and collaborates with other committees and Association staff to accomplish Association goals.
- Provides monthly updates to the executive director through the committee chair.
- Works within the overall events model.