No one can organize a large conference by themselves. The LBJ School’s Office of Conferences and Training is a 3 person operation, and the three of us would never be able to organize the Student Leadership Conference without the support of many other people.
The Center for Ethical Leadership organizes the program content and identify qualified graduate students to act as Team Leaders. The Team Leaders are responsible for developing breakout workshop content and teaching and mentoring the approximately 170 students who participate in the conference.
In addition, the center also hires an additional student to serve as “Sync Speaker”. That person’s role is to handle all of the travel and other needs of the program speakers. They also recruit other students to act as escorts. This person’s role really connects all of the important pieces of the conference together.
We also have another group who are responsible for all of the audiovisual needs for the Team Leaders’ sessions. These folks take a lot of pressure off of the Conferences and Training staff.
Finally, the Office of Conferences and Training handles all other logistically items for the conference. This includes registration services, all communications with the student prior to the conference, providing logistically support for the Team Leaders, conference check-in, and much more.
It is important to keep in mind the importance of your staff and ensure they are functioning as a well oiled machine. When working with a small team it is important to keep your eyes open for opportunities to partner with other organizations. These partnerships open up the size and type of programs that you can be involved in and successful at.
