SLA Leadership Symposium
Originally Posted on 20 February 2019.
Recently President Elect Kayleigh Bohémier attended the SLA Leadership Symposium in New Orleans. Read about her experience below!
As I traveled to the airport the day before the SLA Leadership Symposium, I had many nebulous questions and only a few goals: I wanted to know what was expected of unit leaders from SLA and to network with colleagues and fellow SLA volunteers in person.
The next day, Dana Eckstein Berkowitz, Michael Sholinbeck (one of the DICE co-conveners), and I encountered one another in the lobby. We were all interested in seeing the Voodoo Museum, and we had a bit of downtime before we needed to be anywhere. The Voodoo Museum is small, with about two rooms of space and a gift shop. From the mobile web site, it wasn’t obvious that it was an active sacred site, so if you have the opportunity to go, I recommend making sure you have a few dollar bills and coins. We walked back through the French Quarter, which has classic architecture similar to other former French colony cities like Montréal.
That night, there was an opening reception where many of us took photos with Mardi Gras beads and masks. After the reception, I tried my first Escape Room with some colleagues in the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics Division. There was a sports game that day, so we made our way past overflowing bars and street parties until we reached the location. We solved the puzzle well within our time, and I am pleased to report that you’re not actually locked into a room — they have to leave a door accessible to comply with safety regulations.
On Monday morning, leadership consultant Jon Hockman began the program with a presentation and guided prompts to help us clarify why we were there and what we wanted out of the experience. This was great for tackling my nebulous and vague ideas, and it forced me to think hard about what I needed out of the program to be an effective leader.
In ...