Loading summary
Transcript61 lines
- [00:02]
A
You're listening to asbo international's school business insider. I'm your host, john brucato. Each week on School Business Insider, I sit down with school business officials and industry experts from around the world to share their stories and explore the topics that matter most to you. Find out what it means to be a school business official and get your insider pass on all things school business. Hello everyone and welcome back to School Business Insider. Today's episode is all about one of the most anticipated events of the year for school business officials in New York, the ASBO NY Education Summit and Expo. I'm joined today by Amanda Wang and Rebecca Sheehan from ASBO New York to give us a behind the scenes look at what it takes to bring this event to life. We'll talk about the planning process, how sessions and speakers are selected, and what attendees can expect when they arrive. If you're planning to attend, or even if you're just curious about how these large scale events come together, this conversation will give you a great perspective on the work intention and impact behind the summit. Amanda and Rebecca, welcome to School Business Insider. Glad to see you John.
- [01:15]
B
Thanks for having us.
- [01:16]
C
Hi John.
- [01:18]
A
So happy to have you both on. We work very closely on a regular basis, but I'm excited to kind of pull the curtain back and let everybody know what really goes into such an impactful event. And I think what we talk about today could be translated really to any affiliate or any large scale event because you guys do such a wonderful job putting this annual event together. So that being said, maybe Amanda, for those who may be newer to ASBA New York and what you guys do on a regular basis, can you just give us an overview of the ED Summit and Expo coming up in June this year?
- [01:50]
C
Absolutely. So as anybody who knows me knows, I've been at ASBO NY for 13 years now, so I have many summits under my belt. It is the premier event of the year for us. We have two annual conferences at ASBO New York. So we have our June conference and then we have a fall conference that we also do. Our June conference is really focused on the head of the business office. Anybody that's a support staff is welcome. So we certainly get treasurers and other folks from districts and boces offices. But really kind of the meat of the programming that you're going to see at the Education Summit and is really for the head of the business office. We get about 400 to 450 attendees and then 150 around 150 exhibitors. And so there's a lot of reps that come with those exhibitors. So all in, we've got about a thousand people that come to this conference, whether on the vendor side or on the attendee side. And it's a multi day event, always at the beginning of June that includes two, two evening events. I always say that it's sort of like putting on a conference and two weddings. When people ask me, why are you so stressed? I'm like, well, I'm basically planning two weddings and a conference all at the same time. And so, yeah, that's kind of, kind of the layout of the event and you know, something that obviously we're working at and toward for the whole year. It's always kind of at either at the top of mind or in the back of our mind, depending on what time of year it is.
- [03:27]
A
Well, you mentioned there's two major events every year and we'll be talking more so about the upcoming event in June, the Ed Summit. But can you tell me a little bit more about the school Business Management Workshop in the fall and what really differentiates beyond the attendees? Like what does it take to plan each event and why is one maybe a little bit different than the other for you guys?
- [03:47]
C
Yeah, I'll start and then Rebecca can jump in. So Rebecca really does our, you know, she's our director of professional development and events. So she's really focused on bringing that professional development to our members. So I'll let her kind of speak to that. But the focus for our school Business Management workshop, as you said, our SBMW in the fall really is bringing all of the aspects of the business office to a conference. So we have many tracks. We have our SVO fiscal track, so kind of focused on that head of the business office. We have clerks, we have a strand for boces. So it really focuses on bringing programming for all of the support staff as well. And it's a great event for collaboration, for learning alongside colleagues and to get out for our attendees, for our members to get out and network with other treasurers, to network with other district clerks, et cetera. So that event really is unique because it provides programming for high school of all the aspects of the business office and for all of our members where June really focuses primarily on programming for the head of the business office and for treasurers.
- [05:01]
B
Yeah. And you know, for both of those conferences, they wouldn't be possible without our committee volunteers. So like Amanda said, we for both Ed Summit and sbmw, we have planning committees for each one. You know, throughout the year we do really try to make sure our fingers on the pulse of what is hot and timely topics for our school business officials and for the whole business office staff throughout the whole year. But during those planning meetings, you know, we really have a really amazing groups of volunteers that we work with that come to our planning meetings, you know, ready to talk about sessions for the conference, ready to run through our submissions that we've received throughout the year. And of course, our team here at asbo, we work really hard to make sure that we know what our members are looking for. So on those committee meetings, we try to know, make it as easy as possible to say, hey, here's some things that we think that you really should have at the ED Summit or at just.
- [05:55]
C
Just a quick follow up, I think, John, to kind of answer a little bit more of your question on kind of format for the events, too. So the June conference, as I said, we have about 150 exhibitors. We have 70 or so exhibitors for SBMW. And really, I think SBMW focuses on the programming. As Rebecca said, we have a lot of committee involvement. We certainly have committee involvement for ED Summit. But because the strand focus is the focal point of that conference, the volunteers, I think, are almost more kind of prominent at that conference too, because they're really working toward their own programming. And those strand committees are so integral to that. So I would say some differences, obviously, on sort of focal point for programming, differences on trade show size and then no evening events for our fall conference. So the work that Rebecca and I do and the rest of the team here kind of on those evening events, that's where the June conference has a lot more moving pieces. So while programming might be more kind of the demand for our staff, I would say for the fall conference, programming is certainly a demand and certainly something that we focus on. But then we have these additional things that we're focused on when it comes to executing major events as part of that conference. That really, that's kind of why I describe it as almost like Two Weddings and a Conference, because we have these very large events that we're also planning alongside. So just kind of more, I guess, event side, moving pieces.
- [07:29]
B
I always say that ED Summit is more. Has more pomp and circumstance around it. It's got more of like the fancy, flashy, fun things, you know, SBMW obviously is a ton of fun too, and I think it's great to see folks come out and, you know, get out on the town and have some fun in. In Saratoga Springs and network with people that Maybe they're only seeing once a year, but ED Summit really is like our flash year conference.
- [07:50]
A
I would say, you know, I, I, as you're going through it, I, I just assumed that SBMW would be more complicated to coordinate. But it sounds like it's, it's so focused and you have so many volunteers. Is it, are they equally challenging to kind of put together or is one little bit more difficult than the other, would you say?
- [08:09]
B
I think on my side of things, there's, you know, there's like a man was kind of saying there's things to each of them that make them very unique. Like where SBMW is more heavy on the programming, like Amanda said, I'm also working with the many different strands on their programming. So there's more meetings that I have to have. I'll have a meeting with each strand. So I'll have a very in depth meeting with our district clerks, the SBO fiscal strand. And you know, it ends up being like eight meetings, with eight usually two hour meetings within a month. So that I can really make sure we have the programming the way that our strand coordinators really want it for that year. But then ED Summit, like Amanda said, there's less programming, but it's kind of more higher, higher level programming. There's kind of more, you know, there's more, I don't know. But, but then there's the evening events and we, and we like to listen to what the committee members want to see when it comes to our events and everything. So there's kind of like a give and take for both.
- [09:01]
C
Yeah, I think, I don't know. I think you're right. I think sbmw, I don't know, in my role, right. So as deputy executive Director, CEO, I feel like sbmw, I know the staff have it handled, right. Like, I feel like there's less involvement from me that is needed. Rebecca does an absolutely phenomenal job working with the committees. There's certainly still involvement that I have, but it's at a higher level, I would say. Right. So, you know, folks are, you know, the team here is going to run things by me when it comes to, you know, logistics, when it comes to vendor relations, when it comes to general setup and schedule and those kind of things. But SBMW is one that I can get to the conference and go, okay, you know, everybody's got this in the bag. We've done it enough times. And ED Summit, you know, obviously trust the staff implicitly. We have staff that are handling all facets of the Conference, from vendor relations to, you know, design to marketing, et cetera. And certainly Rebecca, on the professional development and event side. But in my role, I'm much more heavily involved, right. There's more stakeholders involved in this conference. You know, John, you're obviously a board member, so you know that there's more sort of board commitments when it comes to this event, when it comes to ED Summit. So I think for me, my involvement in this conference is definitely heavier. And again, on the evening event side, Rebecca and I work really closely on sort of those, I don't know, the kind of the hallmarks of this conference that really make it unique. But I would want people to know, right. It's still incredibly heavy on programming. And, you know, we've had these discussions actually when we think about how do we market this event, right. How do we market the conference? And I always say we market to everyone the professional development. We market to the attendees, the evening events. And so what I mean by that is we want you to come because we want you to come and get your programming. Once you've registered, then I'm going to tell you about all the great stuff that's happening. Then I'm going to tell you, come to this evening event because of this. Come to that evening event because of this, that or the other. But for me, it's like marketing the professional development, marketing the networking, right? Like, those are the reasons we want you to register for the conference. Once you're registered, then I'll tell you about all the other great stuff. I don't want people to register because they're coming for events, but we're certainly doing a lot of planning behind the scenes to make those, to execute those. So.
- [11:32]
A
Yeah, that's a great point. I mean, it's. I think with everything we do with the association, professional development in bolstering the members is the priority. The events are a nice thing, you know, once. Once you commit to actually going and actually learning something. But so with the ED Summit, what makes it unique compared to other professional development opportunities throughout the year? I mean, ASBO NY does a tremendous job in terms of professional development opportunities and offerings to their membership, whether it be webinars in person. We just wrapped up OPEX that we talked about a couple weeks ago. But why is ED Summit different than all of everything else that's offered throughout the year?
- [12:14]
B
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, in a lot of ways it's an event that our members really look forward to each year. I mean, they look, you know, I hope they look forward to all of our professional development through the year. But I think it's one of those things where as soon as it's done, folks are already thinking about what are we going to do next year to make this even better. Especially our committee members are like, what programming can we do next year? What could we change? And we'll get into this in a little bit. But we made so many changes to just the way this conference is laid out for this year. So I think it's the programming, I think it's the, you know, our awards ceremony. I think it is kind of like the pinnacle of the year for a lot of people in some ways, you know, as their member association. Does that make sense?
- [13:00]
C
The thing. Yeah, I think that totally makes sense. The thing I would add is our business members are a huge part of our culture. I think that the presence of that many business members kind of networking with our attendees is an important part that we don't always talk about. Like, we have vendors. Yeah, I've been here 13 years. We have vendors that have been with us for 30 years. And they maybe, you know, have been in a business office or they've certainly worked alongside our school business officials. I think that they kind of create a culture around the event that is important. And I always tell people the only reason we're able to put on the type of conference that we put on and to make it affordable is because of the presence of our business members supporting. Supporting us, supporting as well, supporting the profession. And I think that, you know, it's important to kind of recognize them and thank them and kind of show them appreciation. But I do think having 150 exhibitors at this, at this event does sort of lend itself to this other element of networking, to this other element of idea sharing best practices that is really important. We have a lot of vendors who were, you know, have retired and now are sort of on the business associate side, on the business side, former school business officials. And a lot of times those are the people that we see year after year and really sort of show their support and are sort of like a through line of what has happened at our conferences. The folks that are like, oh, I remember when, you know, we were in a log cabin or what, you know, they kind of have these memories of the conference. And that's something that you don't see at any of our other events, right? That they're kind of the people that are like the gatekeepers of all these conference memories and stuff. And I think that's not something we talk about a Lot. But I actually think that it's a big piece of sort of the culture that happens at the conference.
- [14:59]
B
So I have to hear more about this long term cabin. Amanda.
- [15:04]
A
Trying to keep it together.
- [15:06]
C
Sorry. Well, just as a side note, I, so if you read Debbie's thing, it's like they literally were at some like, camp. It was like at a camp. It was like at camp.
- [15:16]
A
This is a true story.
- [15:18]
B
Yeah.
- [15:18]
C
I'm like, no, for real though, feel free to cut that out. J.
- [15:22]
A
No, no, I'm leaving it in. I'm leaving it in. That's good.
- [15:24]
B
Shows that we went a long way once we were in log cabins, taking over all downtown circles.
- [15:31]
C
The flash party is out. Yeah. Yeah.
- [15:33]
A
So I, I, I know I'm interviewing you guys, but I also want to offer a perspective from, as a member for ED Summit. And I, I feel like just in my, my 10, 11 years of, of attending. I just think the time of year makes it feel almost cathartic for school business officials because we're on the tail end of the, our annual budgeting process and we've put so much time and effort into building a budget and going through the motions, working with the communities, our boards of education, and it's almost just, it's an opportunity for something to look forward to throughout the year. And then when it finally comes, it's just like a moment of relief and you can celebrate all of your hard work the past year with your colleagues who, you know, have gone through the exact same thing from across the entire state. So it's almost symbolic in a sense, where you're able to celebrate everything you've done all year with your colleagues and your friends that you, you've met and these relationships that you've built over your career. And I, I think having that at, at that time of year and, and where it's located and just the amount of detail that ASBO staff puts into it just makes it so much worth more. Worth it and something to look forward to throughout the year. So kudos to you guys. And just as a member, that's something that I always keep in my mind. Like, okay, we have ED Summit coming up. It, it's, it's always a great opportunity to kind of, to celebrate with your, your friends and colleagues.
- [16:54]
B
I was going to say, I think our team really feels that at the conference too, because I know, you know, it is a lot of hard work on our end to just make this whole huge thing come to life. But we all really get so excited when we are there. Day one, everyone's you know, hugging, catching up from the past year. Like we feel that too. And you know, I think it just makes it all the more fun for us to work on and think about for the year because we see and feel that energy and thanks for your kind words.
- [17:24]
A
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Definitely a unique energy when it comes to ED Summit. Maybe it's just the time of year, like it's warm, it's nice out and you can be outside. Unlike the fall. You never know if it's going to be a snowstorm or not. But there's something unique and special about, about ED Summit. But so, Rebecca, I want to talk a little bit more about just putting these events together. They obviously don't happen overnight. I think Amanda mentioned as soon as you're done, you're thinking about next year. What, when does the planning actually begin for, for the ED Summit?
- [17:52]
B
Yeah. So I think part of it is kind of what I said earlier. As soon as the conference is started in June, I think we're already thinking of ways that we can change and improve for the next year. I think we get, we start generating a lot of ideas at the current conference. So even when we're, you know, in the registration area, we'll be like, oh, I kind of want to do this next year for the evening event. So I really do think it's like a whole year and it starts at that conference. That's when we kind of decide, okay, here's the changes I think we could see us making for the next year. But like you said, there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes here. Amanda and I have really great relationships with the various DMOs across the state. Discovery Saratoga has been, you know, really an amazing partner to us at ASBO New York. So there's a lot of, you know, throughout the year saying, hey, do you think this site, we can make this idea work? I think we'll get into this a little bit more. But we changed two of the locations for our evening events this year. So that took a ton of discussions with the board and committees and as a team to see if that's something that we could pull off again, just starting that as soon as that conference is done. So we've always got two conferences on our minds when it comes to ED Summit and sbmw. But yeah, I think it's an all year round situation for us. And you know, sometimes we'll even be at the conference and we'll be like, hey, let's call to see if, you know, this location is available. For next year. Like, we really do start planning that day, day one of the conference.
- [19:21]
A
And you've both talked to this a little bit already, but there's major components that you're balancing. Sessions, vendors, logistics, attendees. Can, can you just give us a little bit more detail on how you're able to balance all of that? Because those four are all major components in terms of ensuring that you're going to have a successful conference. But, you know, how are you able to juggle all of that and put on such a premiere event?
- [19:46]
B
I think, you know, we have a really great team here, but I think a lot of it is, it, it's experience. It's, you know, doing this multiple times, seeing what the planning year looks like. You know, I've been with ASBO for I think seven years now. So just going through it, I think you learn, but you need to really have time management, you need to have days. You're like, okay, today I'm really focusing only on programming for today and just having communication between our team for what we really need. So Amanda and I, I mean, I always joke, Amanda knows I could. She'll look out her window at night and I'll be out there saying, Amanda, we need to call, we need to call the city center tomorrow. So I think it's, you know, we have a really great relationship. I think that is, that plays into it a lot. I don't know. What do you.
- [20:27]
C
Yeah, I think, I think the team aspect of it. So we have 11 staff at Aspen, New York, which obviously John, you know, you know, we, I'd like to say, you know, we're a well oiled machine. But like, it's not, it's not always that, it's not always that. We're just such a well oiled machine and we're just cranking this out and we kind of just have it down pat. As Rebecca said and I think you both alluded to, we've made a lot of changes this year. Right. So it's not like we sort of are just cutting and pasting and doing the same thing. It's like a whole new event every year, especially this year, which I think we're going to get into a little bit. But I think the fact that everybody is so willing to say, how can I help you? How can I jump into Rebecca as obviously our director of professional development? But then we have Paul who works with Rebecca and kind of works under Rebecca. We have Elise who's doing our trade show side. But then Elise may need help with vendor outreach and Sean Our membership manager is like, elise, what can I do to help you? It really is. And we always say the culture of ASBO is that during the conference, all hands on deck. We use that phrase very frequently. And we have somebody new that we just hired. Super excited for everyone to get to know her. Her name's Heather. She's our director of communications and marketing now. But one of the things I talked to her about was sort of like, we have job descriptions and those are important. But at the end of the day, everybody is so here to support one another, to have each other's back and sort of onboarding a new staff member. It's exciting to kind of say, this is our culture, right? That our culture is, how can I help you not not be, oh, this is my job. This is sort of my, my area. And I think that that's the only reason that we're able to execute. I mean, we have sister associations that have 50 people and they'll call us. I think one of the most flattering things is that when I get an outreach from an association that's kind of a sister org that has 50 people and they're asking me for, hey, what are you doing? And it's. It's just very gratifying for people in our industry to see that. But it's such a testament, I think, to the culture that we've created internally that everyone's got each other's back, they're willing to help. There's so much respect for one another's ideas. And I really love that we can all sit down, just throw out all the crazy ideas, and people say, you know what? Respectfully, I don't think that's a great idea, or, oh, my gosh, I'm so glad you said that crazy thing because you were bold enough and like, yeah, let's try it. And I think the only, you know, when I, and I don't mean to tangent too much, but when I present on leadership and sort of this idea of office culture, one of the things I talk a lot about is psychological safety. And I think sort of having this culture that, like, no one's afraid to mess up. You know, you're supported, there's this trust, and the ideas are sort of all respected. I think that's why we're able to do this. And not to get too philosophical with it, but I really think that's the only way the 11 people are able to put on something. Because when you go, you're like, oh, my gosh, this is a huge undertaking. And I Think it's only possible through that culture.
- [23:32]
B
Yeah. I don't think we have a single person that wouldn't be willing to, like, roll up their sleeves and get dirty and, like, you know, do whatever they need to to make sure that the event is awesome. Like, even we have debrief meetings and even, you know, our director of finance, Erica, will have a great idea that she came up with at the conference. Like, everyone really has a stake in this, I think, on the ASVO team and our committees and board. And I think, again, that's what makes ED Summit so special.
- [23:55]
C
And I think that's flowed through to the board. Right, John? Like, we have the board members volunteering alongside us, and I think that that culture sort of is new too, right? That over the last several years, the culture of the board now is sort of the, I don't know, this very, I think, lovely connection between the staff and the board, where it feels very collaborative. And we had an, you know, this obviously, but we had an issue at our fall conference that could have been a huge issue. It could have been such a big deal, and it could have been something that staff were like, oh, my God, I'm going to get fired. I can't believe that, like, this happened. We had a major issue right at registration. All the badges were wrong. And it was like as soon as people were walking in and instead of staff feeling, like, embarrassed or upset that the board knew, the board members were stepping in to say, how can I help? What can we do? And it again, was just, like, this beautiful thing to see that there was, like, so much collaboration and support, and the board members were, like, kind of going and talking to attendees. Just be patient. We're going to get this fixed for you. There was no, how did this happen? There was no, whose fault was this? It was just, how can we work together to solve it? And at the end of the day, I don't think a single attendee would even remember that it happened. And it was just really nice to see that. So I know I've kind of gone on about this point, but I think it really is like our secret sauce of the only way that we could really do this kind of stuff.
- [25:22]
A
You make a great point in terms of the culture, and I remember that conference. Everybody kind of rolled up their sleeves and was able to help and lean on each other. But before I move on, I. I think the success, a lot of the success of ASBO New York is the foundation of the culture. But I don't know, the three of us know it hasn't always been this way. And it's, I would say, arguably more recent that you guys are just such a tight knit group. Can you talk to me about the evolution of the culture at ASBO New York? Because I remember when I first started getting involved, it was a very different place to be. Not necessarily bad by any means, but, um, it's a very different organization than say maybe five or six years ago. So let's go down a rabbit hole briefly and just tell me, like, what have you guys done internally to really just strengthen the, the association leadership?
- [26:12]
C
Yeah, well, you know what, John, I think at one point you asked me to write an article about this for Asthma International that I have still not written. So maybe this is my.
- [26:20]
A
Sorry, it's on my list. Fine.
- [26:24]
C
You and I are just like perpetual volunteers. I would love. I mean, I'm glad you're asking the question because I'm super passionate clearly about this and I don't, I certainly don't want to take credit for it. Right. Like, I don't want to say, oh, well, you know. But one thing that has been really nice is that now obviously Brian is our executive director. He's wonderful. He's very supportive of the, I think the culture that we are creating and certainly a part of that culture. I've had the opportunity even kind of before he started that, like now everybody that works here I've hired and certainly the people you know with him since he started. But it's like being able to kind of create this, this group that we're kind of very intentional about how we add people to that. I think, I think the things that really have shifted over the last several years are transparency. I think having a very transparent relationship with the board. I think there is like this old school, right? Like I'm an association management person. I've been here, but like my bread and butter, my career is association management. And I think anybody who's worked in association sort of knows there's like this old school way of viewing a board that's just sort of these people in suits behind a wall and the staff never sees them. And it's feels like, you know, these overlords that maybe you're afraid of and kind of that dynamic that I was discussing. And I think the board can in sort of this old school dynamic be kind of hands off. Right. Like that they don't. They are kind of like, yeah, we know the work is happening and we're going to have our meetings and it's going to flow through one person and Maybe it. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn't, but we don't necessarily need to see that. And I think the thing that has shifted over the last, you know, five or so years is really that the board makeup has changed, that our board cares, I think deeply about the staff and the staff being supported. You know, certainly Brian starting and having him as the executive director, and Brian and I working really collaboratively. Collaboratively with the board. I love that in my role as CEO, I can kind of straddle the line of, like the staff management side and then being able to kind of share that with the board. And I think sort of that transparency, right, that, like, from Brian and my perspective, there isn't this fear that we can't say, oh, hey, there's a struggle that's happening, right. And come to the board as trusted colleagues and sort of solve problems together rather than it feeling like, oh my gosh, well, if I tell them, they're going to be upset and then this is going to happen. And so I think that flows through to the staff, right? That, like, we're not speaking about the board and sort of this, like, oh, the board behind. Behind this. Sort of like, yeah, that like the staff, like, has these great relationships and can reach out to board members and say, hey, John, we were thinking about doing thus and such at the ED Summit. What do you think about this? Right. That, like, there is. There is sort of this wall that's come down. And I think that wall that's come down, come down means that people have, you know, the ability to be transparent and, and to sort of feel, like I said, feel safe in that. And I think there's a lot of associations, nonprofits that maybe operate in this old school way of doing things, but I think once you take that down, everybody really can work so well together and so respectfully. And I think office culture wise. You know, one of the things that I always tell staff, my brothers in the market, Marines, he's a lieutenant colonel, he and I talk a lot about leadership. And one of the things that he and I both sort of share in our philosophy is to make sure that your team, whether they're your Marines or your ASBO staff, that they know your back is had by the people that are your leaders, that if Rebecca makes a mistake, I'm going to say, yeah, maybe the board's going to find out. They're not going to find out that Rebecca made that mistake. They're just going to know, hey, this happened, it's being handled. I always tell everyone at the end of the day, I'm the fall guy. If anybody's going to get in trouble for something, it's me. It's never going to be you. We may have a conversation about it, but the board does not need to know that. Right. And so I think just making sure that the staff know their backs are had, that there is trust, that we respect each other, that we trust each other. That like we, that culture is just so throughout what we do. And we've also added a ton intentionally for professional development. I redid our evaluation process. It's much more, I think, open ended and includes dialogue and professional development for our staff. We sit here, we talk a lot about professional development for our members. So I feel really strongly, and I know Brian does too, that we want to provide professional development for our staff. So we, and I think that that again ends up shining through to the conference because Rebecca is going out and attending conferences. She's going to be better at bringing ideas back. So I think that all of those things. I know I just dumped a ton of my, my ideas at you, but hopefully I answered your question a little bit.
- [31:44]
B
I was going to add just a little bit more to our sauce here at ASBO too is I think we all really like to have fun and I think we realize that, you know, our members, you guys have very stressful jobs and you know, there's a time to be very serious and there's. But there's a time to actually like have fun. So we've even our registration area at the conference, we try to make it really fun. Like we have snacks, we've got music going, like all that kind of stuff. And we want it to feel like so many people come up to us at the conference and they're like, oh, I want to work for aspo. When I retire, I want to come work with you guys. I would quit what I'm doing now and come work with you guys. We get so much of that. Even like vendors we've worked with are like, I'm coming to work with asbo. Like, I think there's just, you know, there's something to our aura here.
- [32:27]
C
We always say, don't be afraid to be weird.
- [32:29]
B
Yeah.
- [32:29]
C
And we like, we add stuff at the conference where we're like, this is weird. Let's see if people like it. Like, we're just not afraid to be weird. You, you know us, you know that's true.
- [32:38]
A
Well, I remember I was, I was sitting with, with you guys and a couple other staff members. I think it was at SBMW last year.
- [32:45]
B
Yeah, it was.
- [32:46]
A
And I just like to all of you the points you've both just made. I mean, you obviously all enjoy working together and it shows and it's like palatable from the outside. I'm like, when I inevitably torpedo my career, I want to come work with Asmonia because it's just, you guys are just so much fun, but you get the work done too, which is obviously important. But you have a good time doing it, which you don't always find that everywhere.
- [33:13]
C
Absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, executing, whether it's the comp. I mean, you know. Right. John, we are. And I, you know, you. We've gotten to be on, on your podcast enough times that I feel like we're on the cutting edge of a lot of things. Whether it's the state of the profession work that we're doing, whether it's the conference, whether it's the other conference, whether it's ISBL and the OPEX stuff. We're constantly doing really, really huge things. I just wrote an article for our upcoming magazine called Three. Something like, I wrote the title now I'm going to trip it up. But like, three big launches, one small association. We are constant. We're launching our mentor program. Like we're doing so much. And I think the only way, only way for that to happen. Right. Is if there is some type of secret sauce. Otherwise, you know, a lot of very burnt out people. And that isn't to say that we don't go home and go, oh God, I've got some work I have to do tonight, or that was a really long day or whatever, but I can call Rebecca and go, oh my God, I'm really stressed out right now. And she'll. The response I always hear from my staff is, what can I do to help? If I say I'm stressed out, the response is inevitably, always, okay, well, what can you put on my plate? Right? And so I think that that's the only way that we would be able to do things that we're, that we're doing with so few people is if there was something there, kind of the underpinning because otherwise you're really just going to have people that eventually just burn out. And I'm cognizant of that too. Right. Like, I'm very cognizant in my role too, of like wanting to make sure. So we, we just had a conversation yesterday about the, the conference that I just had with one of our other staff. And I said, I think there's A lot of steps here. Right. Like, we're. There's a lot of steps in this process. How can we streamline it? And so I'm. I don't know. In my role, it's something that I am cognizant of, that we are getting, like, an inordinate amount of work out of very few people. It's pretty incredible. And I never want to take advantage of that. I never want to take it for granted. I still want to be really cognizant of how much is actually being done and always figure out, like, how can I support this team to make sure that. That. That still feels good to people. Right. That that doesn't start to feel like a slog. Because I think when it starts to feel like a slog, that's when. That's when things start to suffer. So I. I think about that a lot. Like, I think if there's something for me as a leader that I am burdened with, it's like, I just want to make sure that everyone still feels super supportive, as super supported as much as possible, you know?
- [35:51]
A
Yeah. And I. In our remaining minutes, I do want to refocus to Ed Summa, but I'm glad we talked about that, because I think to your point, that is the secret sauce of not only why ED Summit goes off so well, but everything that you guys touch seems to be doing extraordinarily well. And I think it really boils down to who you are as professionals and the culture that you've built. So kudos to you and the staff, and it's just. It's a wonderful place to be associated with. So that being said, this year's Education Summit does seem a little bit different than those years past. It seems a little bit more special, a little bit more refined, and there's some bells and whistles going on. So give us a little preview of why that is and why this year.
- [36:35]
B
All right. So we have so many exciting changes. I think the first that I'll talk about is the evening events, kind of broadly. You know, we've all been. Amanda and I want. When we were planning this conference this year, we thought to ourselves, what kind of conference would we want to attend? We know that members need more. We call it white space so that they can catch up on work, network with people, meet with business members, go out downtown and go shopping at the stores in Saratoga Springs. So we wanted to build in some white time throughout the conference, but also recognize some of the feedback that we got from previous years. So since I've been In asbo, the evening events have either been. They've been. There's been transportation involved. And, you know, when Amanda and I were talking, we're like, you know, when we're at conferences, we don't necessarily want to hop on a bus. I know people can sometimes feel sort of stuck. We want it to really feel like something that people can flow to easily from our. Our conference hub, the Hilton in the city center. So for our Sunday evening event, where it was previously at prime at Saratoga national, which is a beautiful location too, we moved it to Whitman Brewing Company, which is a wonderful brewery in Saratoga Springs, walking distance from the hotel. We also recognize for this that people are just coming into town on Sunday evening of the event. They wanted something a little bit more casual. Again, not having to hop on a bus after you've driven from Buffalo, maybe on Sunday. And Whitman has just been an amazing, an amazing location to work with. They are. It's super custom. We're able to bring in some different vendors that we're really excited about. There's to be, you know, trivia. We've got a great musician and, you know, all walking distance from Hilton. People can drive or Uber if they need to, but really, it's what, like a less two, three minute walk?
- [38:25]
A
Yeah, it's great.
- [38:26]
C
Barely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [38:28]
B
So did I miss anything on Sunday? Yeah, we're really excited about it. Again, that's. It's an event that we want to go to.
- [38:34]
C
Yeah.
- [38:36]
B
And, you know, we. I got to give a shout out to Ali and Erica in our office, who we have deemed the bus directors of the conference. I'm sure they're very happy not to have to load people on and off of those buses. And working with the bus drivers, sometimes there can be some fun stuff there. So I think it'll just be easier all around for everyone. And hopefully attendance will be even better than previous years, although attendance has been great. Then our Tuesday evening event the past couple of years, we've called it Camp asbo. It has been at the lodge. It's called the Lodge at Saratoga City Casino. It's not at the casino. It's at a beautiful kind of like a house and outdoor area. So we've had a relaxed camp as well there. But because another change, we're not doing lunches this year, which I'll dive into. And after this part, I think we have moved our annual awards luncheon to our Tuesday evening dinner reception. And there's some reasons for this. I'll kind of pass it over to Amanda because I think this was kind of your brainchild, but we really want to make sure we're highlighting the award winners in a way that is bigger and better than maybe we've done in the. In the previous years. I always say there's nothing that hurts my soul more than when I'm sitting at a awards lunch and people start having to leave for some reason. You know, it was a long program. You know, the lights are up. We want it to be glitz and glam and a little bit more fun and really make sure our award winners are feeling celebrated as they should. You want me to pass over to you?
- [40:06]
C
Yeah, I can. I'll build on that. You know, I think we would be remiss if we didn't mention the conference scheme, which is Better together. And we're really, really excited to have you, John, involved in that. So one of the big shifts that we made for this year, sort of logistically, the conference, you obviously know this, John, but the conference team was selected by our president. But the way that it fell in the year was that the president's theme was at the end of their tenure as president. So fiscal year ending June 30, new president taking over July1, the conference being in June, the president sort of would pick this theme, but it's like at the end of their year. And so we're cleaning that up by having our own John Ricardo and Our current president, Dr. Ron Clamser, share a theme this year as we sort of fix the order of how this falls. And I know you have had Ron on the podcast, so people know that you guys are great friends. And so having the opportunity to work with both of you is really fun for us. But I think, you know, honestly, if we had to kind of put a bow on this whole conversation, really, when you think about it, Better Together is the secret sauce, right? Like all the things that we're talking about, culture wise, really, I think sort of highlight that so well. And so I think sort of being able to create this conference around this theme is really fun. So we have an amazing keynote whose keynote came packaged as Better Together. So that's really fun. His name is Sebastian Seb Terry, and he's going to be our keynote. So we're really, really. It's really nice how he fits so well into this. And then the Tuesday evening event, just a little inside scoop. That was very funny. Somehow there was some confusion and somebody thought that the entire Tuesday evening event was actually being done just to honor John Ricardo. So we all. Well, we would. I know John's just actually hearing this now. John, I'm so sorry. So we're.
- [42:13]
A
I can't believe I'm finding this out in real time and being.
- [42:16]
C
I know. I'm so sorry. Well, yeah, I'm so sorry. Sorry you had to find out like this. So Tuesday evening really, I think is going to end up being the thing that highlights the theme John and Ron are going to host together. We're sort of doing this very. Ron wanted kind of a Golden Globe style. So it's going to be a little old Hollywood kind of elevate. We're going to swear in our new board members and I think there's just going to be a lot that is going to feel very fun and exciting for attendees but really highlight sort of the better together feeling as well as Sebastian said as our keynote and kind of what comes with that keynote reception or sorry, the keynote talk. But I think too, like just kind of piggybacking on what Rebecca said too. Right. Like, we listen to what attendees tell us, we listen to what members tell us. And we really felt like again, getting back to what you said to John, Saratoga is beautiful. It's beautiful in June. People want to go outside. And so getting rid of the lunches, the reason that we did that was because we could give people some time, some white space to go out in town, to just enjoy being with one another, to enjoy networking with vendors, to enjoy networking with one another, to see old friends, to have time to check your email, go for a run. Like anything that you want, you can do. This is your time to refocus. And then come back, come to the conference and then look forward to this lovely evening event and that the awards aren't kind of in the middle of your day where you're like, oh God, the sun is shining. I want to go walk around then. I think it kind of will give people an opportunity, like I said, to refocus and actually enjoy celebrating their colleagues and. And not have to walk it and not have to go anywhere. It's right at the venue. So, yeah.
- [44:15]
B
And I will say just back to the lunches too. That was not a. That was kind of a scary decision to make. You know, that's a huge change for people. Obviously we're still doing breakfast, but at the top I said Amanda and I have great relationship with Discover Saratoga and they've been really working with us to make sure there's a list of all of the restaurants that are open. We're going to have a food truck this year, which is. We're really excited about. We did have a box truck lunch option for some people who, you know, would like to just stay on site, but really I think only a handful of people have opted for that and we've only heard good feedback, which I think is really exciting. And I think this also, you know, Amanda and I went were lucky enough to go to the asae, the American Society of Association Executives Conference in LA this year and you know, their lunch was set up in a similar way where we got to go and get our own lunch, catch up on work, enjoy the location that we actually were in for a moment and breathe before heading back to programming. So I'm really excited about it. I hope that everyone else is too. And again, that just made it so that we could celebrate our award winners at that Tuesday evening event in an even brighter and shinier way, which I'm excited about.
- [45:25]
A
Great. Well, as an attendee, as a board member in whatever hat that I wear, I'm excited for this year and I just think there's a lot of there's a lot of anticipation around this year's Education Summit. And I know that both of you and the rest of the ASMO staff have been working tirelessly and have really spared no emotional expense to make sure that this event is everything it can be. So with that, we're at time and I'm sure we can keep going. But I want to thank both of you for all of your efforts and thank the rest of the ASBO staff. And I look forward to reconnecting in June at the Education Summit.
- [45:59]
C
Thanks, John.
- [46:00]
B
Thanks, John. We'll see you in June.
- [46:04]
A
Thank you for tuning in to School Business Insider. Make sure to check back each week for your favorite topics on school business.