John Brucato (0:01)

You're listening to ASPO 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. All right. Hello, everyone. We are here live on the expo floor at the 2024 ASBO International Annual Conference and Expo. I have the pleasure of having three guests with me right now, all part of the 2024 Emerging Leaders Program. Maybe you can just go around and just tell everybody who you are and what district you're at in what state. All right, so my name's Sam and I'm from New Jersey, and I work at the Millstone School District. All right, Sam, Welcome. I am Dr. Ken. My name is Rodrigon. I am the business administrator of Ocean Port Public Schools in New Jersey. All right, Ken, welcome. And I'm Jeremy Lowe. I am from Spokane, Washington. I am a staff accountant for the Northeast Washington educational service district 101. That's a mouthful. It sure is. So, as I mentioned, the three of you are here as part of the Emerging Leaders program. Tell me a little bit about your involvement, why you wanted to get involved with the emerging leaders specifically, and how it's been going at the conference so far. Sam, do you want to kick us off? Sure. So I originally did not go to school for anything school business related. Actually can relate. Me neither. I have a health science degree and I wanted to be an occupational therapist. And then I actually tore my ACL and never went to grad school. And then my friend's dad is a business administrator in New Jersey, and he's like, listen, just come work for me, like see how it works out and, you know, see what happens. And I fell in love with it. And I honestly thought it wasn't going to be that easy because, like, I'm horrible at math. And then I got there and I'm like, no, this is not that hard. I can handle this and do it. Sam, you're my spirit animal. I was in technology. Like, I knew how to use Excel. That was about it. Yeah, that's like literally it. I got there and I'm like, wow, this is not that hard. Awesome. So, yeah, good. Ken, what about you? Yeah, I also have a very non traditional background in business education. So I started off decades ago in school security, actually as a school security officer. Then I became a teacher for eight Years algebra and pre algebra. I got promoted in the building I was teaching in, became a middle school vice principal, did that for 12 years. And then another BA told me like, you'd be a really good fit for the, for the field with your background on your expertise. You know, you have a good head on your shoulders. And there are a lot of people in the field in New Jersey aging out, retiring out, and so it's a great opportunity for you for professional growth. And saw an opportunity went outside my comfort zone and here I am. Awesome. Glad to have you. And Jeremy, you were on, you were just saying you were on a couple years ago, right? Yes. Great. Well, glad to have you back. Yeah. Yeah, well, it's. Glad to be back. Not much has changed since business as usual. Yeah, pretty much. I still work for the same agency and pretty much still work with the same school districts too, at the time. So. I think I told you guys, I worked with a school that had, I think they had nine kids in the school from kindergarten through sixth grade. I'm happy to report they have grown to 14 kids now. You're booming over there. Exponential growth. Yeah. But between the four of us and the listeners, they're most of the kids choice in from other districts anyway. Great, great. So tell me a bit about the emerging leaders. What's it all about and what's been your experience so far? Jeremy, you want to kick it off? Yeah, this is, this has been a great experience. I'm the only one from Washington this year that got the emergent leadership. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah. And we, you know, we've all hit it off like. Well, how many, what's the cohort? How many approximately? There's 18 of them. Yeah. But we have like our little group that, that we just been doing almost everything. You're like bonded for life now, right? Yeah, well, we were just talking about before that we're gonna do like quarterly check ins. We're gonna do a reunion. Get that group text going. Yeah, yeah, we got the group text going. We're gonna go do a reunion in Fort Worth next year. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. And so, I mean, the networking has been probably my favorite part. Sure. And just kind of, you know, find some sessions to go to together and just it's nice having a friend, especially when you travel more than halfway across the country. So it's been great. That's so good to hear. And I totally agree. I mean, one of the most beautiful parts of acne is like, you see people that you kind of bond with and maybe you don't See them for an entire year and you get to catch up with them. It's just so nice to be able to reconnect with colleagues from all over the place. One of the scholarship recipients had to leave early and head back home. And I don't know, I feel like a few of us were ready to break down in some tears watching her leave. So. Watching the plane take off. Yeah. You were there? Yeah. Why is everybody crying? What's going on? And so, Ken, what about you? How. How's your experience been with. At the conference with the Emerging leader group? What's been going on? Yeah, I mean, kind of reiterating what was said already. I mean, first of all, we began day one with an emerging leader workshop, leadership workshop. You know, I was very apprehensive when I saw his four hours. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is going to be. That's a commitment. It's going to be a huge commitment. But it was truly amazing. I mean, I've been to a lot of workshops in my professional career and they did a bang up job finding somebody who just knocked it out of the park and then network part of it. I mean, I mean, I've heard that you come here, networking is a big thing. I thought I knew what that meant. I met some of the most amazing individuals of my life over the past few days, and I just feel like I've made lifelong friends and just being able to find people from all over the country to have to bounce ideas off of and have conversations that you normally wouldn't have and bring back ideas that you wouldn't typically, you know, even. Even, you know, conversations you would even engage in. So I think it was just very powerful. So glad to hear that. And how's your experience been as far as. I mean, they both, like, summed it up pretty well, I will say. Actually, it's pretty funny. Like, me and Ken are from the same state and we didn't know each other till four days ago. Oh, really? So I got on the airplane and I was sitting there and there was somebody in the middle of us. And I just happened to hear him say, like, I'm going to this conference. And I was like, I leaned over and I was like, you're going to the asthma conference? And he was like, yeah. And I'm like, where are you from? And then he like, told me. And it just so happened his new superintendent used to work with me. And she. Oh, no kidding. Small world. After that she knew we were both coming, but we didn't know, like Each other was coming. But, yeah, it's been so much fun. We've been together the whole time, and we loved going everywhere together and doing it all. Yeah. Every year I speak to the Emerging Leaders cohort. It definitely is that It's a cohort of just, like, bonded individuals that, you know, you guys are buds now. So we're winding down. Any favorite sessions, any key takeaways from this year's conference? I think my favorite was our workshop that we did in the beginning. Yeah. Oh, awesome. Because I feel like it was like a great icebreaker. We all got to meet each other and we went to a dinner, like, directly after, just for us. And we all, like, were already, like, just sitting with each other at tables, pulling chairs up. Like, if we all could have sat at one table, we probably would have. We were all like, yeah, let's do this. So it was so much. That's so great to hear. Ken, what about you? Yeah, same thing. You summed it up. I mean, it really was a great opportunity for us to gel and just also an amazing workshop. Like, I have a lot of things now I'm going to bring back to my home district and implement at the district level. So I feel like it wasn't just networking, that we was highly productive and really just giving me a skill set or a toolbox that we could utilize when we were dealing with challenges back home. Awesome. And, Jeremy, anything stuck out to you this conference so far? I mean, I'm going to say the same thing. You Emerging Leaders, man. I don't know. You know, great mind, all for one, actually. Well, I, like, actually made me want to continue to pursue my mba, which is what I'm doing now. Like, I'm taking more college classes. And then obviously now I have a resource in Ken and like all of our other New Jersey people that I'm starting to meet and see that I'll be able to, like, back home, talk to them and. Yeah, great. Yeah. So any. Any sessions stuck out to you besides Emerging Leaders? I know you guys, like, you know, come on. You guys are the best. But there's got to be. There was a. There was a federal session on. I think it was like, federal Legislative Update. Oh, with Elica and Noel. Yes. Yeah, I very much enjoyed that. I think I went to the exact same session, too, when it was in Portland two years ago, and I loved it. And actually I found one of my school districts that I work with, not the one with 14 kids now, one of the larger ones, they just put some solar panels in, and we Got a grant from the state to do it. We came short on being able to fund the entire project, so I think I found a way to maybe pick up a little bit of the slack on that. Okay, great. So I scheduled a meeting with one of our construction manager or project managers or whatever his position is, and we're gonna. We're gonna see if we can secure that funding. Oh, good, good. Fill in a little bit of the gap, so. All right. Yeah. So I was like. I was like, that's. That's great. Just a little something to take home, right? Yeah, yeah, totally. All right, well, thank. Thank you to the three of you for sitting down with me. I'm sure I'll see this. This emerging leader cohort going around. I'm pretty sure we'll be traveling. Like, wherever one of us is, the other five, six, seven are trailing behind. We legit have not left each other's sides the whole time. All right, well, enjoy the rest of the conference. Guys. Good to see you. Thank you so much. Thank you. We appreciate you. Thank you for everything you do. Thank you. All right, I have a few more guests and colleagues from Texas aasbo. Why don't we go around the table and introduce yourselves to our audience? Absolutely. Good afternoon. My name is Shay Adams. I'm the immediate past president of the Texas association of School Business Officials. Welcome, Shay. Hey. I'm Tom Greer. I'm associate executive director for Texas aspo. Great. Thank you, Tom. And my name is Candice Fuchs. I'm from Fort Worth, Texas, and I am on the TASBO Board of directors. Wonderful. I'm so glad to have you guys sit down with me. How's the conference been going for you so far? Great. This is my first time. First time in an NS conference. All right. I've enjoyed just getting to know different people. It's really good in the classes to hear that people in other states are in the same boats that we're in and in the trenches, though. Yeah. Yeah. Similar issues, but different ways of approaching them, Right? Absolutely. It's been a great week so far. Lots of great professional learning. Same as Candice. I love hearing how things are happening in other states and how they're dealing with those many of the same issues. This is my, I think, seventh asbo, but I'm super excited that ASBO is coming to Fort Worth next year. Yeah, I can't wait to talk about that. Yes. Because like Candice said, this is her first year and so many of our colleagues are going to get to have their first experience yeah. Right in their backyard. Right? Yeah. And Tom, how about you? How's been everything going so far? Pretty good. It's pretty interesting at Tasbo for affiliate staff like me. We actually have our. You have your own track, right? Yeah, we have our own track. We're in the same room. We also have the same issues and it's been extraordinary. And of course, Nashville is awesome. My first time in Nashville. Yours? My second. Second. Okay. I'm a repeat offender. Come on, you've been everywhere. So let's give everyone a little preview of Fort Worth. What can they expect? Maybe just like in the area in general. And I think Tommy said you've been to the actual convention center where it's going to be held. So tell me a little bit about Fort Worth. Like, what can people look forward to? Well, Fort Worth, one of the unique parts of Fort Worth is it was a cow town and it still is a cow town. Well, where there are people that are ranchers. Oh, great. And. But at the same time, it's a very modern city. There's great restaurants. It's one of the best downtowns in Texas, relatively a safe and family friendly environment. It's. I just love going there every, you know, every time we're there. Yeah. The conferences there are always just a lot of fun. Fort Worth has a really laid back vibe and Candice can talk more about that. She lives right in the backyard there. I'm over on the Dallas side, but we go visit as often as possible. Sundance Square has just lots of things to offer. You know, we go to a lot of performances at Bass Performance Hall. They have Dickie's arena where they held great concerts. And like Tom said, food is just fabulous. But just I love the vibe around there because it is. It's a modern but yet historical laid back vibe all at the same time. Kind of hard to describe. All right, Candace, you have to give the inside scoop on Fort Worth. Oh, the food, like they said, is amazing. The best barbecue, steaks, all different types of food. I'm a runner and they have the Trinity trails down there. So if you're a runner and you come in, there's. There's great outdoor stuff for you to do as well as the music and the food and just the city itself. It's a great city. So we have a couple more days left of the conference. What are you looking forward to most? That's a good question. I think just more sessions and networking and just good information to bring back to my district, how things are done differently. Great. A couple of sessions coming up that are specifically applicable to my district. And so I always love taking back different ideas on storytelling, our budget and things like that, and just kind of, you know, hearing those new perspectives. And so the educational sessions are top notch, but the networking is even better. Absolutely, Tom. Well, big shout out to Michelle Tringard from Mansfield isd. She is the Eagle Award winner. Congratulations. Yes, a shout out to Mansfield isd. They're winning a Pinnacle Award. Oh, awesome. They're really doing a lot, huh? That's right. Good for them. Well, thank you all three for sitting down with me. I hope you enjoy the rest of the conference. Have some fun downtown in Nashville, and I'll see you in Fort Worth next week. We'll do that. Y'all make sure you come to Fort Worth. Will do. I'll be there. Just look for the green banner. All right? All right. Thank you. All right, next, I'm sitting with some of my favorite people in the entire world, James Tutu and Amanda Wing. James, Amanda, welcome. How are you doing? Good. Thanks so much. Thanks for having us. Oh, thanks for being here. How's the conference going so far? James, you just flew in this morning, right? I just flew in this morning. I've been up since 3am and it was worth being up that early to get here and not miss any more of the conference. Really having a great time. And did you say Taylor Swift was coming? No, just playing a pair of headphones over here, you know. Amanda, how about you? I mean, you're kind of on the affiliate track, right? So how's the experience been for you? It's been fantastic. We have Allie, Dr. Ali Stoyan from our staff, and Rebecca Sheehan. Ali's our director of education and research, and Rebecca's our director of professional development. And Brian, our executive director, is here. We've been part of the affiliate track. And Allie, Rebecca and I presented today on leadership. That was affiliate track. The same presentation you did in my area, right? Yes, it was great. It was great. It was really nice to share the information with the affiliate track. And the affiliates are great because we're all learning from each other and ultimately how to better serve all of our state from an association side. So it's really good. It's great professional development for all of us. Wonderful. James, any sessions stick out to you today? I know you're probably jet lagged, so if you can remember, what are some of your favorites? Any good ones? Oh, they were all great. But, you know, your presentation is by far your multiple presentations. Okay, thank you. James, what I love about this conference is it gives you perspective. Yeah. So it takes you out of your home state, and it really opens your eyes to what other folks are doing and different ways of accomplishing tasks. So really enjoy it. Really enjoy meeting people from other areas and just learning how some of the stuff is the same and some of it's different. Amanda, what stuck out to you so far? What's been, like, anything that you're gonna take back home to New York? Yeah, I think, honestly, the connections, for me, it's, you know, meeting counterparts from other states. For school business officials, you're meeting counterparts from their states, too. But for us from the association side, you know, I get to come and connect with Siobhan, who's the deputy and COO from, as well, international. And our staff is able to connect with folks that are counterparts for them in other states. So I think that really is a highlight. The sessions are wonderful, but it's really the networking that happens outside the sessions that I think is the most valuable. So that's definitely been the thing that stuck out to me. Awesome. All right, so you have a couple days left left. What's. What's on the agenda? What are you looking forward to? Well, this is my first time in Nashville. The one thing that has been really cool about Nashville is that there is talent on literally every corner. Yeah. I've been. We've landed, and there's, you know, a guy singing with a guitar in the airport. There's somebody at a restaurant outside. So I'm excited to see a little bit of downtown Nashville tonight and maybe see some great talent. And then tomorrow, just being able to connect with the New York members and hear some more programming, it'll be good. Great. Yeah. I went out with my wife Tuesday when we got in, and to your point, I was just blown away at how much talent there is. Any place you go to is, like 10 out of 10, right? There was not. I didn't see one bad performance. It's insane. Yeah. No, we had a great reception for our endorsed candidate, Tim Hilker. We got to find him and get him on the mall. Mike. Yeah. And we had a wonderful musician last night. Yeah, he was awesome. Aaron Nichols. I'll give him a plug, too. Yeah, that was fantastic. Yeah. James, assuming you're gonna fall asleep soon, but tomorrow and the next day, what are you looking forward to? No, I'm in it tonight. You're good to Nashville, so can't wait to go downtown and really experience with what the city has to offer. Awesome. There's so much. And then looking forward to learning tomorrow. Another full day of programming. Can't wait. Wow. Thank you both for sitting down with me. Always a pleasure. Likewise, John. Thank you. All right, next up, I have Jason. Jason, why don't you introduce yourself to the listeners? Yeah. Thanks, John. My name is Jason Helson. I'm the associate executive director of Michigan School Business Officials, msbo, as we like to call ourselves, or Michigan asbo, as we sometimes refer to the affiliates as. And I was just over at the pin table there, and I saw Seattle 2011, and that was my first throwback and having some good memories of that. And I've come just about every year since then and just been great. That's great. So what have you liked so far about 2024 acini. I love the venue. The host city, Nashville. Have you been to Nashville? First time. Me, too. Yeah. Yeah. Having a blast. The Gaylord Opryland is a beautiful facility. It's a great convention center. Very intimidating. It feels like it goes on for miles, and there's, like, multiple layers. There's a certain path to the convention center that I found yesterday that I didn't realize and I haven't been able to find again. But it's a little bit of a maze. It's like Narnia in here, you know? That's great. So you're doing the affiliate track, I assume, right? I am. How's that been going? Fantastic. One of my co workers, Kim Lowerty, she's our director of Data and technology, she was really involved with that, and I can't say enough good things about her and the whole team that put that together. This is my second year working at the affiliate, going through that affiliate track, and it's just been fantastic. As a new person to the association world, but a veteran of the school finance world, it's been really beneficial. So you've been going to Asbille International Conferences for a long time now. If someone listening is on the fence, maybe thinking about Fort Worth next year, what would you say to them? I'd say go. I'd say, make your case. Put your budget together. You know, talk to your superintendent or whoever has to approve that. But make an effort to go because it's such a great. It's a great time. It's a lot of fun, first of all. There's great learning, second of all. And then third is just the networking and building those relationships. Like, I feel like over the years, I've been able to build those relationships now around the country the same way that I've been able to do within Michigan, and it's been so rewarding. People that, you know, I count on professionally and exchange ideas with, but also that I feel like our friends and have built friendships with them. That's awesome. So what are you looking forward to? We have a couple days left. What's on your agenda? Yeah, we've got a great Michigan group here, 30 to 40 people attending. We're going downtown for a great dinner tonight. You know, our sponsors have been very. Just gracious and so. And generous, and so we're going to have a great time with them. We're going to be down on Broadway tonight, so looking forward to that. Awesome. Another great day of learning tomorrow. And, yeah, I'd love to be able to stay in Nashville a couple days, but I got to get home for those soccer games. Yeah, I got to get back to reality, right? Yeah. Awesome. Well, Jason, thank you so much for stopping by the booth. And it's good to see you, John. Thanks so much. I really enjoy the show and I appreciate the opportunity. Good to see you. Could you tell our audience a little bit about yourself and, like, where you're from? So, I'm Mary Jo Gruber. I'm from the Pattonville school district in St. Ann, Missouri. We're right by the St. Louis airport. So to give a perspective of where it's at, we're actually the most diverse school district in the state of Missouri, and we have about 6,000 students. And I do feel like our district is extremely innovative and which is part of the reason I came there. I've been there two years, and so I was really excited because they have a program, our district called Extended Learning Opportunities. And we're always looking for opportunities to connect our students with real world experiences. And just what better opportunities do they have through except through the wonderful wealth of vendors that school districts deal with on a daily basis. And so I decided as we were issuing our request for proposals to add an extra spot in there for any ways that a vendor would like to partner with the district for extended learning opportunities for their students. And I started getting a lot of responses and need opportunities for our students, and I decided to submit it as a Pinnacle Award. And you did receive that award. Congratulations. And you were telling me a pretty interesting fact about your district. Pinnacle Awards. Can you share that again? Yes. So in the state of Missouri, there have been six pinnacle awards awarded since 1997. Wow. And it just so happens that three of the six pinnacle awards have been awarded to chief financial officers with the Pattonville School District. Wow. That's incredible. There's been four CFOs since that time, and three out of the four CFOs have all gotten the Pinnacle Award. Well, I understand now why you wanted to go there. Right? It's a great district. That is. How's the conference been going for you so far? You've been enjoying it? Your session was great. I learned a lot. Thank you. Thank you. So we got a couple days left. What are you looking forward to most? Tonight's our Pinnacle Award dinner, so I am looking forward to that. Great. And so. And then I'm actually doing a presentation tomorrow. It's the first time I presented at Aaspo. Oh, great. What time? It's lovely. Perfect time of 4:00pm oh, yeah. You know, those slots are tough, man. If you're. If you're in between a happy hour or a dinner, you never know how it's going to go. So we're trying to entice people to come at 4pm learn about facility management. Awesome. Well, I'm sure it's going to be great, and I wish you all the best of luck. And congratulations again on the Pinnacle Award. Thank you. Next, I have Cherie Lewis. Welcome back to the podcast. A returning guest. How are you? I'm doing fantastic. How are you? I am doing fantastic. You did great moderating today, by the way. Oh, I thought it went pretty well. You know, it was a packed, packed house. You know, it was packed. And you cannot blame that one, y'all. Yeah, that was good. So how's the conference been going for you so far? It's actually really well. I'm so impressed by all the new people, 400 new attendees. And it is awesome walking by, talking to them. What brought you here? What do you want to do? Right. And it's fantastic. Yeah. And they're so green, so I love it. I know. Yeah. They very, very impressionable into their brains. Wow. So how's it been going on the board? This is. How many years you been on them? This is my second year. Second year. Okay. What are you looking forward to? What are you looking forward to in 2025? I mean, the Vision 35 task force just wrapped everything up. I think you guys have seen some draft probably. What are you looking forward to next year? You know, as we looked at the financials in the budget at, you know, Jim is trying to do some good things. Looking at the leadership of ASBO and getting more people involved in that process, it's been phenomenal. You know, I've been around long enough to know this I think this is my 18th or 19th year. Wow. Seeing the change is great. Yeah. Very positive. Yeah. Yeah. And people are excited. Vendors are excited. Yeah. You can feel the energy, right? Yeah, I can. Yeah. So we have a couple days left. What are you looking forward to most any sessions you're looking forward to attending? Anything that's sticking out to you, you know, tomorrow I get to teach special education law. You want to come around? I'll be there. All right. What time? It's in the afternoon. I'm teaching with Mr. Russo. Oh, awesome. Well, look for me in the crowd. I'll be there. And I teach the exciting finance part. Ooh, maybe I'll heckle you for one, you know. Come on, bring it on. Well, Sherry, thanks for stopping by. It's always good to see you. All right, see you later. Next up, we have two new guests to ace and the podcast. Maybe you guys can introduce yourselves and we'll just talk about the conference so far, so. Sure. Hi, my name is Tahera Martin. I'm the corporate marketing coordinator at as well. Awesome. Welcome. And I'm Fatima Juan. I'm the corporate out outreach coordinator at ASBO International. All right. And so Siobhan just told me it's your first conference ever with as though with asbo? Yes, my second conference. How's it going so far? It's going well. I love how close knit the community is. I love interacting with the members, the partners. Yeah, it's been great so far. Good energy. Right. A lot of positive vibes. Second time. How's it going? Second time? Really amazing. The first time was actually in my hometown. Oh, where was that? National Harbor. Oh, last year. Okay, awesome. Okay, so that was great. But coming to a different state is definitely different. Is this both your first time in Nashville? My first time, yeah. Yes, yes. Great, great, great. Super interactive and everyone's great. The partners are great. They're all amazing. The members are great. It feels like a big family. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. So are you two just scrambling every day, like trying to make things work? What's, what's, what's like a typical day for the both of you look like? Honestly, I'm so surprised about how as well, international the staff is such a well oiled machine. I. I show up every day and I get my assignment and I go off and I meet the members, I meet the partners, I meet new people and it's like. I'm not going to say it's super stress free, but. No, I've worked with associations in the past and this Is great. I, I, I love the fun activations that we have. No, there's a little bit of fun thrown in there. It's not all scrambling. Absolutely. How about you? What's your typical day? Are you hustling around? We pow wow in the morning and that's always fun to meet up with the whole staff. And, you know, we have a lot of jokes and we get ready for the day and then we get our schedules and then we're just rolling for the rest of the day. Do you get, do you ever get any downtime to yourselves? Like what happens after hours? I mean, throw on some Bravo tv. Well, for me here, it's been CMT every day. All right. No, no, no. We do get together as a staff, kind of get our dinners in, but on conference, you got to get that bedtime in you do. You got to be well rested. Yeah, we do. We do coordinate sometimes at the end of the day, but sometimes it's like, okay, feet are hurting and let's go rest. But we always pow wow at the end of the day as well. Awesome. Well, you guys are doing a phenomenal job. Thank you so much for your dedication to the membership and just being here every day and making sure this conference goes off without a hitch. It's good to talk to you both. Thank you. I want to compliment you as well. You're doing an amazing job as well. Thank you. I talk about you all the time. I'm like, we have the best podcast host. I don't know if you know him, but you should know him. Yes. We love the podcast. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for having us. Absolutely. Great. Next up, the infamous Jim Roan, executive director of ASBO International. Jim, how's it going so far? You know, it's 100 miles an hour, but it's awesome. It's great to see so many people. It's great to have almost 400 first timers here. When you said that today, I was blown away. And seeing everybody stand up in the keynote that was brand new was just so invigorating. Absolutely. The energy here is phenomenal. The exciting excitement. I've walked the hall, I've met with a number of exhibitors. They're very happy with the traffic we're seeing. I've heard great feedback on all the sessions. The speakers, I couldn't be happier. And my team, I can't say enough about them. They are rock stars. They are great. They make this look easy. Yeah, Yeah. I couldn't have said it better myself. Your staff is just, bar none, just phenomenal. I mean, everyone has their role and is doing exactly what they need to do to make sure this competition conference goes off without a hitch. So we, we talked to you, Laurie and Kristen a couple weeks ago. Kind of like pre conference. Now that you're in it, is it going as you would expect? Like, are you happy with the results? You know, I didn't really know what to expect. I've run a statewide conference. I've been involved in this conference as a member, as a board member. So now being a staff member and being able to see things on the other side, I'm fairly impressed. The organization that the team has put forth, we have staff meetings at 6:15 every morning. We talk about what is on our plate for the day. The energy amongst the staff, the teamwork that I'm seeing, It's just a celebration. We work all year for this conference and to see it all come together, that's what it's all about. Yeah. And I have to admit, are you just exhausted at the end of the day? I mean, I see you and everyone else just hustling, running all over the place. What's that like? You know, I'm getting my steps in for two days. I made the, the gym. Great. Look at you overachieving. But day three came, the alarm went off and I was like, it's not gonna happen today. It's good. Good mustard. Yeah. So. But yes, it's a lot of back and forth. I, you know, I'm a man. I take one pair of shoes with me when I go on a trip. I brought four with me this trip. So, you know, changing. You've evolved, Jim. You've evolved. You know, you gotta change out shoes when you can because you're on your feet all day and. But you know, it's, it's worth it. We get through tomorrow. We celebrate tomorrow night with our closing party. And you know what? We start planning for Fort Worth. Yeah, I mean it, it'll happen immediately. We just had some Texas folks over to talk about Fort Worth. So a couple days early left. What's on the horizon for you? What are you looking forward to most? So I'm really excited about tonight's eagle dinner. Tomorrow morning's best in school business awards program. Very exciting. We've got Division 35 Task Force Reception here. Yeah, it's coming up pretty soon, right? Yeah, I got to wrap this up then. Absolutely. But you know, a lot to celebrate. Just looking forward to what's next. You know, it's been a busy year vision 35 strategic plan. Now it's time to start thinking about implementing everything that we've done this year and build that plan for 2025. Right. Well, I don't know if you hear it, but you are doing a phenomenal job. Your leadership with this organization has just been absolutely phenomenal. And everyone that I speak to has the same accolades for you. So thank you for your leadership and your, your courageous pushing forward and all this. It's really every. Everyone can see it. It's great. Thank you, John. All right, enjoy the rest of the conference. Thanks. Next up, a fan favorite here on sbi, Brian Checknicki, executive director of New York. How are you, my friend? I'm doing good. Yeah. How's the conference going for you so far? Really good. I feel like, you know, this year, now that I'm involved with our executive director group doing the legislative affairs, we've had, you know, we have board of directors candidate running. We had somebody win an Eagle award. And so I've just been invited to like, every possible dinner, every possible dinner that you could imagine. So, yeah, I'm a little full right now, a little stuffed. So we had a presentation together today. I thought it went pretty well. What'd you think? I agree. As you know, I love talking about this stuff. Me too. Yeah. And to your listeners, this stuff is school finance, a couple of nerds nerding out, talking about New York State's Foundation 8 formula and the impression impact it's had in your district and. Yeah, no, I just, you know, I think I said this on your podcast before. This is really important information. It's really important work. Right. And it shouldn't be gatekeeped by a couple of people who just happen to know the information. Right. So, like, like, you know, I've, that's where I've been. I've. I'm often, you know, portrayed as somebody, oh, they're one of the five people in New York that knows this stuff. Well, there's no reason. There's only five of us. Right. So do things like this session today really help, despite dispel some of these myths, help people understand that? And so I think, you know, just the more that we can do at the affiliate level, the more that ASBO International can do and they're, you know, working on their advocacy strategies. Yeah, I think this is, it's really important. It's obviously interesting to me, but I think it can be interesting to anybody. You know, I find it challenging when talking about these topics not to get too into the weeds because we're in it so much in New York and we know it like the back of our hand. But to talk to people from across the country about the tax levy limit formula and stuff, like, I gotta kind of check myself and be like, oh, wait, people aren't. They don't care so much about the weeds, but the general overarching effect. Do you find it difficult to kind of keep it at like a 30,000 foot level? You know, I do, but at the same time, you know, I feel like I've made a career of trying to explain it in a way. Right, right. So. But I, and I don't mean that to, to pat myself on the back, but it's like many of my jobs have been specifically to, like, I'm getting paid full time to like, understand the stuff and be able to disseminate it. So I just, I've been really practiced in it. But that's what I'm talking about. Having, you know, having that knowledge and being able to share it in a way that does sort of bring it to people where they are. And you can do it without getting in the weeds. I mean, yeah, we can talk about tafpoos and CWRs and ARWADAs, but you know, that doesn't mean anything. Right. So how can we describe these things in layperson terms that are digestible and understandable and also, you know, give a sense of what's happening here? One of the things. So in New York this summer, we've had a series of public hearings related to our foundation aid formula, which, you know, we talked about. But one of the things in my testimony was what is the story that the formulas are trying to tell? Right. And too often school funding formulas get cobbed up with politics and all sorts of stuff. Those things are going away, but the government should still be looking at whatever it is we're doing. We should still try to be able to tell a story with it. Absolutely. This thing that's really complicated and at the end of the day it's just algebra, but it's still complex. Right. Can we still describe it in a few sentences? Right. And so I think that's where the work that we do can help. You know, where it is explainable in a story, we can help that. And where it's not, it help. Being able to go through that exercise helps point out, oh, this actually is not explainable. What's a better way that we could do it that, you know, that can follow a story? Right. And I mean, even with our presentation today, it was us in New York, we had representation from Pennsylvania and representation from Ohio. And it's amazing how each state tackles the same issues a little bit differently. And it sounds like Ohio is kind of ahead of the curve on reformulating their state aid revenue payments to school districts. I mean, from your AEDG group, do you see that kind of sharing of information and do you think there could be a possibility of just a more uniform funding mechanism across multiple states? Yeah, I don't know about the uniformity across states, but certainly we've increased. I've had multiple conversations this week at the conference with people about you're so involved. What can I do to be more involved in my state? Or I'd love to hear what's going on in yours because we're struggling with this, with our legislature and so talking about exactly that. What are ways that we can all band together on those topics. But you know, I think even more importantly is just understanding that we actually all are in the same boat. I was just describing to somebody that coming out of our session, it hit me, essentially every state is following the same timeline. There is a timeline of your state's school fund formulas get found unconstitutional by a court, somebody, there's a lawsuit. Lawsuit, There's a lawsuit. And then you go through a process and then that process goes through a bunch of iterations and then eventually maybe you come out on the, on the back end with, with something. Right. And, and you know, in our case, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, the three states are all at different points of that same timeline. But you know, we talked about New Jersey was in the room and, and they're going to. Right. Everybody has some, some degree of this. And so that's where, you know, sure, there's not going to be a, a single solution to everything, but, but knowing, okay, I'm on what is sort of step three of this five step process. I'm going to go talk to these folks who are at step five and maybe, yeah, what should I be aware of moving forward? Right, right, right. Maybe we can help our legislature avoid some of the mistakes that you guys have made in other states. Right, great. Well, we have a couple days left. What are you looking forward to most, winding down this conference? Well, what I'm looking forward to most actually might have been my dinner experience last night. We went to a. That was great. We went to a. Well, even before the reception that we went to, we grabbed a quick bite and when I walked in this place had. I'm going to reveal myself to be a bit of a glutton. They had like this milkshake special that was like a cannoli and it had a full size cannoli over the top kind of. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't always get those things, but we walked in and a couple people said, oh, this looks right up your alley. And I was like, you know what? So my dinner was a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and this cannoli shake that sounds like this chicken Kiss. So my conference experience may have been just like riding the lows. Now coming off that sugar high. Awesome. Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the conference. Always a pleasure to sit down and speak with you, Brian. Okay, we are here, day two at the Expo Hall, Acne 2024. I have the pleasure of sitting with Elica Yost. Elica, how are you? I'm doing great. We're having an amazing time at ASPO's annual conference. It's been so great seeing so many members from everywhere getting to meet new members here. We're just having a great time. It's like a family reunion. Yeah, it is. Every year. It's just so good to see people come back together and just kind of reunite. But I wanted to talk to you about the new advocacy center on the ASBO International webpage. I went to your session with Noelle on the federal update. Jim Roan had mentioned it, so it's kind of a big deal. So tell me a little bit about it. Yeah, well, and I appreciate you highlighting, you know, me and Noel's session. It's been Noelica show. Yep. Gotta do. No stranger to sbi. Noelica. Yeah. So this is actually a new advocacy resource that we put together for members. We're super excited to unveil it here at ace. It is a kind of all in one hub or website that ASBO members can go to and find advocacy resources, news and policy information tools. Really a bunch of everything that you would need to learn about what's happening in dc. How can I get involved? And then also how can I contact my legislators, my federal officials? So if you go there, it's asbointl.org advocacy. We try to make it pretty easy to. Pretty straightforward, right? Exactly. And you'll see that we have some upcoming webinars there on federal advocacy topics. We actually have one coming up with the U.S. department of Agriculture. Oh, great, great. Yep. Asbone Asa. We're working together with them to host this. This is talking about the new school meal standards that are taking effect next year and some new procurement provisions that have already gone into place. And then we also have Another one that's going to be a federal update later in the year after the elections. Just because everyone is wondering what's going on with the. Yeah, who knows what's going to happen? Right, Exactly. And what's that impact going to look like for education? So Noel and I will be providing a post election analysis to let folks know what to expect. Okay. And then we have other on demand advocacy content there with our ASPA Learn Learning management site. And I do have to put a shameless plug for this podcast because we have this amazing advocacy playlist that you're fully curated. Yeah. By you. Yeah, yeah. And it's great. So you can check out the latest advocacy episode. One of the more recent ones, I think actually featured Noel. Yes, Noel. And Jon Bernstein. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The E Rate episode. And I highly recommend that because it was a good one. There's a lot going on with that program and we're just trying to see how it all shakes out. Yeah. I mean, like we were talking about yesterday. I mean, in your federal update session with Noelle, you went through the E Rate, but you can only do so much in an hour. Right. So this really is a dedicated episode to the changes or potential changes that are coming down the road with E Rate. So highly encourage anybody to check that episode out. Yeah. And then of course there's some also great hits like, you know, advocacy 101 for SPO's. No, no. But if you want to learn anything about, you know, advocacy as it pertains to the profession, check out the playlist on that website. We also have information about our legislative advocacy conference next summer. Great, great. So the 2025 conference will be July 8th through 10th in Washington DC. We also have a great advocacy training course for school business officials. Yeah. Online, if you're just like, I want a self paced online learning class. Right, right. Learn anything and everything you need to know about preparing for a Hill visit or how to talk to your officials and all that. But there's so much other stuff on there. I don't want to bore you to tears. No, no, it sounds great. I personally have to check it out still. It sounds like there's so much on there. I mean, you could spend hours, right? Probably. So how's the conference going for you otherwise? I mean, you enjoying just getting to see everybody? I'm sure you're exhausted. I mean, you guys are running around like crazy. Coffee keeps you going, man. Sure does. Sure does. No, it really has been great. Like I said, it's a family reunion. So actually, just yesterday Here at the ASBO booth, I got a meet up with some of my advocacy colleagues from other ASPO affiliates. Oh, awesome. So we just kind of had a catch up session and just talked about policy because we're wonks and nerds and it's nerd policy. Yeah, that was just nerding out. It was fantastic. Awesome. And just being able to connect with some of the exhibitors here has been great, too. I've kind of walked the floor. Just thanks some folks for coming here because our partners, our exhibitors, they really are so important here. They provide the products and solutions. Our members need a lot of support for the profession. Right? Yeah, absolutely. And our members are awesome. You guys are all rock stars. So I'm always excited to see everyone. I feel like I'm just cheerleading the whole time I'm here. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Elica, always a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks for stopping by. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Have a good one. You too. All right, I have another guest. Claire, do you want to introduce yourself? Hi, I'm Claire Siermans. I'm with New Mexico Asbo and I'm the director of professional learning at Numasbo. Oh, awesome. Awesome. How are you enjoying Acne24 so far? It's really been great. Yeah. I mean, obviously Nashville is a great venue and place to come. Is it your first time or have you been before? I've been to ACE several times, but Nashville, specifically Nashville. This was my second trip to Nashville. Oh, great. Yeah, yeah. So, no, we're having a great time, but I've had a lot of really good sessions and I'm still new to the affiliate side of the organization, but it's been great and I'm learning lots and everybody's so helpful. Yeah, I had a couple other AASBO executive directors and members, and they really had a lot of great things to say about the affiliate track. Have you been having a good experience so far with all the professional learning specific to you guys? A lot of the individuals in that track, they. They're like lifetimers, right? Like, they do this forever. And I was a. I'm a retired business official, school business official in New Mexico, and just couldn't give it up. Huh? You know, when you. When you have passion about what you do, then it's really, really hard. So instead of just affecting the students in my district, now I kind of feel like I'm affecting all the students in New Mexico, which is really fulfilling and awesome. That's great. And so this is the final day for the educational sessions. What are you looking forward to most? Just kind of wrapping up. I've met a lot of really great people so I'm looking forward to going back and touching base with some of the contacts. There were some ladies from New York. So shout out to New York. Yeah, yeah. That did a session yesterday that was really, really helpful. They're going to do this survey. Amanda and Rebecca. And Amanda. Yes, Amanda. And so they're going to do this survey and then I'm like I'm going to reach out to you because I want you to share that survey with me. They're really excited about that. It's going to be cool. So I'm excited about getting some more information and then just kind of as I get familiar with other affiliate groups, I'm going to give a shout out to Jason Meek from Tasbo. He's been great. And then also the ladies from Washington, Asbo, Aasbo. So I'm meeting a lot of really great people and there's a lot of people who have been helpful to me in my new position. So I'm thankful. That's great. That's what it's all about, the networking and connection. So Claire, thanks for stopping by. It was so good to talk to you. Okay, so good to meet you. Thank you. Next up I have Andrew. Andrew, thanks for stopping by. Do you want to tell everybody a little bit about yourself? Oh yeah. Look, I'm from Australia and it took you a little while to get here. It took me a little while to get here. I had to come via sea, Singapore and San Francisco. So it did take a long time. But love this conference and looking forward to seeing what happens this afternoon. We've had a couple of great sessions this morning and the first two days have been busy but very informative. That's great. So you're a business official in Australia? Yeah, so I work at a charter school. So a little bit different I think in your terminology. And it's a school of about 17, 1700 at the moment, boys. And it'll be co educational going in 2026. Wow. Wow. So coming all the way from Australia, that's a huge commitment. What inspired you to come to ACNE this year? Well, I think that the resources and the program that ASBO offer are attractive to anyone from around the world. There are many of the issues that we deal with that are common. Certainly the breadth of the program has been truly wonderful and just listening to what other ideas there are around the world. So when you think back the past couple of days, did any sessions Stand out to you. Anything that you were able to glean and you'll bring back to Australia. Yeah, Certainly the sessions on artificial intelligence have been very useful. Hot topic. Yeah, it is at the moment and it's sort of something that, you know, we need to embrace. We do need to exercise a little bit of caution about how we embrace that. But certainly the teaching staff at my school are very enthusiastic and there are some that are championing it throughout the classroom and doing some great work with it. Great. So we're in the final stretch of the conference. What are you looking forward to? Look, I think a couple of good sessions this afternoon, a good social event tonight and then unfortunately head back tomorrow. Oh, yeah. It's always tough to leave, but especially for you. We get. Got a long flight ahead of you. Well, it is, yeah, unfortunately, but that's the way it is. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Andrew, thanks for stopping by. John, my pleasure. Next, I have two good friends of mine from New York, Kathy and Victor. Welcome. Thanks for stopping over. Anytime, John. So how's the conference going? Oh, it's been terrific so far. Lots of really good sessions. Victor, how's your experience been? You're no stranger to acne. No, no, it's been fantastic. A lot of good educational sessions. Presenting one at 245. So a little bit for that. Yeah. Try to get people over a little plug. Yeah, it's been great. We very much enjoyed yours with the innovation yesterday. That was a great. Yeah, that went well. It was good. Yeah, it went really well. And we got to see a pop up concert last night in downtown Nashville, which showed up, right? Yeah. Keith Urban showed up. Nicole Kidman did a little cameo. So it's been a lot of fun. I've never been to Nashville. Great city. I would definitely come back. Awesome. So getting out of the office is always challenging and committing a few days to going out of state is even more difficult. What made you decide to come to Acne24 this year? You know, I do skip a few years. I'm not able to go every year. And it just worked out with the timing of it. There's other conferences in New York that sometimes butt up against it. Right. And this year it was spread out pretty nicely. So we both looked at our calendars probably about six months ago and said, you know, let's, let's give this a try. And of course, our friend Tim Hilker is running for the ASBO board next year. Vote for Tim. Vote for Tim. Got my pin on right now. Yeah, definitely. So we, we wanted to support him. Support ASBO New York, and support. Support the international organization as well. Great, great. And what about you, Kathy? What drew you out to Nashville this year? So in New York, I have a very difficult budget season now coming up. Yeah. So last year, I had to pierce the tax cap. Oh, you did? How'd it go? Yes, I passed by 70%. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. But, you know, for most states, they don't all have to have voter approval. Right. In New York, if we exceed the tax cap, we have to exclude. Get a 60% approval rate. So that was a big challenge, but not something I want to repeat. So I really came to ASPO International to see how other states handle their budget and look for innovative ways to generate revenue and also how to look at budgeting strategically, which I did go to a couple of sessions about strategic budget budgeting. Great. Also, there was one about budget hold'em which was. Oh, really? Texas hold'em. Like a little bit of a game. Yes. It was actually really interesting. Yeah. That's something I'll be bringing back to my school district to work with the community also for them to get a feel for the challenges. Oh, great. Great. So we're in the final stretch here. What are you looking forward to? Kind of winding down with this conference. We're looking forward to finishing the trip Trade show, of course. That's always a good time to meet with business associates and look at possible things that we. We should bring back to the district. We have a couple more sessions this afternoon, and that's it. We're looking forward to the final. The final leg. Great. And also forming relationships with the vendors here. Right. And the associates. It's just so great to meet other suppliers. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, thanks for stopping by. Take care. All right, next I have Melody Douglas. Melody, how are you? I'm great. How's the conference going for you so far? This is a fabulous networking situation. I just love meeting my friends from many years ago. It's been quite a busy conference, multiple. Multiple days, and it's a huge commitment. So you coming all the way from Alaska. How are you able to make the time? And why is it so important for you to come to ace? I don't think people can afford not to come. It is so valuable from the standpoint of the learning opportunities that happen, plus meeting people who have similar challenges. And for me, as you know, I'm retired now, but that's how much I feel this organization is so important. As Jim said, we're fast family. Right. That you have to keep coming for me, it's giving back and it's also collecting information so that I can take back and share with our affiliate. Right. To pass on. That's great. And, you know, we were on the Vision 35 task force together. What are your reflections on that? How did you think it went? And I think the board actually took action on it recently, so it's official. So what, what were your thoughts on that whole process? I was thrilled because, as you know, I was one of the historians on that commission. And to see the next iteration of looking at the future was really important to me. And it's exciting to see all the new ideas and new thoughts coming forward to actually pave the way of where we're going in the future. I think it was a little long in coming. It took a lot of doing, right? Yeah, Well, I think it was like 20 years or something since we've done it or maybe a little more. So I do hear the commitment from the organization that they will do this a little more frequently. Yeah. Jim Roan definitely wants to keep this moving and keep that inertia going. Right. Like, this isn't going to be just put it on the shelf. As he said, this is going to be a constant evolution of whatever the organization needs. So, yeah, actually, I think this, and I've said this to a few people here, the challenge for associations is that with the different generations that are coming forward, the value of maybe the type of organization that we have been isn't going to stay valid going forward. So what do we look like and how do we remain relevant? And I actually think that we may need to look at collaborating more with other organizations. Like for us, School business would be the human resources people, IT people facilities. Right. Well, we have another day or so of the conference. What are you looking forward to most as we wrap up Acne 24? There are a couple of sessions this afternoon that I'm interested in checking into and I'm looking forward to activities this evening. We have a great, huge entertainment activity this evening. I think it'll be fun. Great. Well, thank you for stopping by School Business Insider and safe travels back to Alaska. Absolutely. Thank you. All right, next I have Shelly. Shelly, welcome over to sbi. How's it going so far? Good. How are you today? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. So why don't you tell our audience a little bit about yourself. My name is Shelly Turner and I am the executive director of the Montana ASBO with Masborn. The Best of the Masbos. I was going to say There's a couple of masbos. Yeah, it's shots fired. Right. And I brought a delegation of 10 individuals with five guests. So we had a good group from Montana come. Good. Having a good time. Good. So I'm assuming you're doing the affiliate track stuff. How's that going? It's been amazing. And I'm so excited that aasbo's taking care of our affiliate track. Yeah, I brought all four of my staff, and we've had a great time. That's great. Learning. Lots. So what really sticks out to you at these conferences? I mean, it's a huge commitment. So why did you feel it's so important for you and 10 others from Montana to come to Nashville this year? Well, part of it is getting information on the national level. Right. We always get lots of information on our state level, but so many things drive school finance on a national level. So we definitely need to get that information. Information and then just the variety of resources that are here. There's so many guest speakers that may not travel all the way to Montana, and Montana is not exactly the easiest location, especially wintertime, to get around. So if we can get more people information from greater resources anytime. We can. And we always ask the folks that come to share their experiences with other folks back in Montana when we get back. Great, Great. Are you finding that your issues and challenges you're facing in Montana are similar to those across the rest of the U.S. yeah. A lot of times you kind of feel like you're an island in the sea. And then you start talking and networking with folks and realize, yeah, everybody's dealing with a lot of the similar issues. Recruitment, retention, education platforms, getting lawmakers to truly understand funding formulas before they make changes to them. That's always a fun one. Yeah, yeah. Right. And so that's something that's universal. Yeah, yeah. That's one of my favorite pieces of coming to these conferences is just being able to. You realize that, like you said, you're not on an island. I mean, we're all dealing with very similar issues, but you're able to see how different states and different individuals attack the same problem. It just really kind of inspires you to kind of bring that information and knowledge back to your own home state and, you know, tackle those challenges. It does. And I'm the proverbial cheerleader of the group. I'm always like, woohoo, we got this. But it's great for them to hear from other folks besides me on the state level that they're also getting that cheerleader Information from other folks that, you know what, there are solutions and resources, and you're not on your own. And don't quit. Don't give up. Great. Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the conference, and I appreciate you stopping by School Business Insider. Yeah, thank you very much. Thanks. All right, next up, I have Nancy. Nancy, thanks for stopping by the booth. How's everything going so far? Thanks. Oh, this is great. This is my first conference. I was just telling someone that I was a conference virgin. Oh, welcome. I was looking for that ribbon for my badge, but they didn't see it. I didn't see that one. Weirdly, No, I didn't see it either. Maybe for next year. But tell me a little bit about yourself and why you came out and made this your first conference. So I am the hell Health and Safety manager at Upper Grand District School Board, which is just outside of Toronto in Ontario. Okay. I'm part of our provincial association, so the Ontario asbo. Sure. I was a board of director for a year. Went through vice president, president, and I'm past president this year. So our executive comes to these conferences. This was the first year I was able to attend. Oh, great, great. So it's good. So we've learned a lot, made a lot of new friends. Yeah. So, I mean, traveling internationally has to be a huge commitment. Why did you seize this opportunity this year? Why Nashville? Well, the timing really sucks at the start of the school year, but we do this as a leadership learning opportunity. We do have an annual conference for our own association in May, and we like to look to see what other associations, what other ASGOs are doing. We go to other provincial ones in Canada. And so we do go to the international one again, networking and. Excuse me. Seeing what. How things are run, how we can improve. Right. So it's really good. Awesome. So any particular sessions stand out to you as you kind of reflect back on this conference? Anything you're able to take back to Toronto? There is. I did go to the crisis after. Oh, yeah. That was the first day, right? Yeah. Yeah. A great way to start the conference. I know that really set the mood. Right. And I always say, to be in health and safety, you have to be a little bit twisted. So being in health and safety, that was something that I deal with all the time in my role. And it was. We don't. It was very catastrophic incidents that they have. But the information they provided, the lessons learned were very valuable. And I did take a lot of notes that I can take back to my board and district. And even to Ontario. We do have a health and safety standing committee for all the boards in Ontario. Right. So this is something that would be sharing with them as well. Yeah, that was a great session. And, you know, it's kind of. Kind of funny. It's not. I didn't expect it to be so heavy for the first, like 8am first, first day, you know, tornadoes ripping through Oklahoma. It was tragic. But, I mean, the way they were able to kind of compartmentalize and respond to those tragedies was a lot of good information to take back to our districts and everything. So we have about a day left. What are you looking forward to as we wrap up the conference? Just finishing off the sessions and meeting people and the social tonight. I like to meet people. And even seeing downtown Nashville, it was great to be surprised with the Keith Urban pop up. Yeah, that was a big one last night. A lot of people went. That was great. Yeah. So, yeah, so it's. It's good just to. To kind of get the whole experience for the first time. And it could be the only time I'm here. Hopefully I can come back again. Would love to have you back every year, right? Yeah, I would love to come back. Yeah. Well, Nancy, thank you for stopping over to school. Business Insider. It was great chatting with you. Okay, thank you. Have a great day. All right, next I have Leslie. Leslie, thanks for stopping over. How's the conference going so far? It's great. So many things, so many experts in the field, so many vendors that are here to support school finance and school businesses, ultimately students. Yeah, absolutely. It's impressive. It's really impressive to see just the variety and how everyone's here for kids at the end of the day. Right. And, Leslie, where are you coming from? I'm actually from Alaska. Oh, wow. I just had Melody Douglas on. Yeah, she told me to stop by. There's a lot of ball and told opportunities here. Well, and again. And we're such a big state geographically, but we're such a small state, and it's just great to network with so many others that are all facing similar struggles and to connect those people and the resources to everybody. Right. And you were saying this was your first time? This is my first time to this conference. So what inspired you to come to Nashville this year? Well, I recently. I retired in April from Sitka School District, and I kind of got roped into applying for the Alaska Elasbo position that was open. Okay. And so I took that position. And one of the requirements is to come to this conference and to gain Information and insight that will help our members. Members in Alaska and again help grow our membership and grow our support systems within our system within that. And then of course looking to again broaden our knowledge and grow. So I've attended the Alaska conference several times. Does Alaska have an annual conference? Yes, we have an annual conference and then we have what we call a leadership conference with a Alaska. We have such a logistical issue. Yeah, I mean I talked to Melody and I mean some of you folks are flying into school districts on little prop planes and stuff. You know, it's quite, not quite the dog sled to get there, but close enough. Close enough. And so that logistical and financial challenge to attend conferences is a hardship. Do you move the conference or around the state or is it kind of located? We, the annual conference is always an Anchorage. It's such a central. And it's, it becomes more justifiable to go to a big city because you can get your Christmas shopping done. I mean just knock out a few tests and just may happen to go to a leadership conference. Exactly. Yeah. And so it's really helpful to get more buy in for people to attend. And then of course what we offer and the vendors that come and help support that, again it's just connecting, you know, people with resources and educational opportunities. Great. And then we provide our summer leadership which is usually a smaller group that is focusing on those up and coming and new business managers and we. That usually moves around within the state a little bit. Sure. But it's still like say logistically it's. And financially it's a hardship. So again making these conferences available and providing the scholarships and those things are just impressive and because again it just supports and grows your own. Right. And again, I'm grateful to be here today and that's great. Thanks for letting me share. Yeah, yeah. So one last question. Sure. This being your first time, what would you say to those that are kind of on the fence maybe considering coming to the next annual conference and expo? And do you think they should come? Because learning is important. Yeah. We're in the business of educating. Right. And how can we educate others if we're not educating ourselves? So advocate for yourself and advocate for coming to professional learning. And this is like a one stop shop. You're not only getting education, you're getting exposure to other resources and that are out there that are going to help you and your district. And I really hope that everybody makes that a priority and take that time and find the resources to come to these events. I couldn't have said it Any better myself. Leslie, thank you for stopping over. Thank you, John. All right, I have a couple friends from Illinois. Asbo, why don't you introduce yourself to our audience? I'm Ron Anderson From School District 88, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services and chief school business official. Great. Thanks, Ron. Kenya Austin from Skokie 68, Skokie, Illinois. Assistant Superintendent of vist. Awesome. Well, thank you for stopping over to the booth. I'm guessing you were probably voluntold to come over here, but I appreciate it. Have you been to the ACE Conference before with ASPO International? Yes. Yes. All right. And so what made you return this year? Nashville. Just great opportunity to network, learn new things, be able to see some of our colleagues that we haven't seen in other states and just network and collaborate on what we're doing now. Great, great. And also bring new innovation ideas to our district. Great. So any particular sessions stand out to you as you kind of reflect on your time in the past couple days here? I think. AI. AI. Yeah, That's a hot topic this year. Yeah. AI and E procurement. E procurement, Great. Great. So how's the. How's the expo floor? You've been floating around talking to suppliers and vendors. That going well? Yeah. Yes. I also got the opportunity to speak to some of the vendors that I couldn't reach during the school year. Oh, great. Like Amazon Business and Staples. Talk about E procurement. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, if somebody is debating whether or not to come to the annual conference and experiment, what would you say to them? I think it's a great opportunity. They should at least try it at least every other year if they can't do it, if it's not in their budget, but have the opportunity at least to go throughout their career at least one or two times in different areas so they can be around other schools, hear what they're doing. They have dramatic differences in other states when it comes to their budgets and the things they do. And it gives you another outlook on how things are funded in other states, how schools are doing it, how they're handling. And it just gives you a good insight that sometimes Illinois is not as bad as we thought. Right. Perspective is important, right? Something's right, right? Yeah. So it gives us an opportunity to see what other states are doing. And that's a good topic of discussion. When we have those hard conversations when we are back at school and we say, hey, but this state near us does this. But we have the opportunity to do this. So I think that's a great opportunity. And Ron, what about you? I mean, if someone's debating whether or not to come to the annual con, what would you say to them? I would say, absolutely. Put that in your budget. Yeah. This annual conference is great. It's a networking opportunity. You get to meet your peers. You get to meet people from the different states. I've met so many different people. Now they're in my network. I can ask questions. I can see how they're doing it on the east coast, west coast, the Midwest. Share vendors, national vendors, share national cooperatives and see how things are working in their area and compare it to what we're doing to help us do better. That's great. So we're in the final stretch of the conference. What are you looking forward to as we wind down here on the closing event? Yeah, why not? Why not? Did you guys make it out and see Keith Urban last night? Did you hear about that? Yes, I was out. Good time. Good time. Well, thank you for stopping over. It's great chatting with you. Thank you. Okay, next up, I have what I implode in observing the three powerful women of asbo. Why don't you just take a moment to introduce yourself? Brenda, we'll start with you. Hi, I am Brenda Burkett O'Brien, and I served on ASPO's board of directors, and I was president in 2016, and I'm from Norman, Oklahoma. Awesome. Welcome. And I'm Terry Simmons. I'm from Illinois, and I served as president of aspo International in 2014. Wonderful. And I'm Claire Hertz, and I'm from Portland, Oregon. And I was your 2020 during the pandemic President. Oh, the most fun time to be president. Right. Well. And you also all served together on the board. How was that? It was great. Amazing. Lifelong friendships have been formed. That's great. That's great. And so is this your first time in Nashville or have you been here before? We have been here before. Been here before. We're actually. Nashville was my first AASBO International back, like, in the 90s. I don't remember which year. Some mid-90s somewhere. So great. This is my second time here. Awesome. So why do you make it a priority to come to the annual conference and expo? Like, what do you get out of this? And by committing so much time, Very first thing on my list, just to see why, as both family. Yeah, yeah. The networking is important. Yes, networking is extremely important. And I just retired July 1, so people may be going, okay, why are you here? And to repeat what Terry said, once you become a friend within this ASBO Network. You're in it for life. We are in it for life. And I have lifelong relationships and friendships. These two ladies sitting across from me, we've been through a lot together. Yeah. And we've enjoyed leading asbo. And I think all three of us now just are hoping to continue sharing the good news of ASVO and try to keep our new members engaged and involved and knowing that this is where they need to be. That's great. So I, and I came this morning. I attended an AI presentation. You know, I've been in the field for a long time and I've been doing budget narratives and doc in budget documents for many years. And I learned a new way to do it that will save, you know, cut the time down to a quarter of what I've been spending in the past. So it's really needing to hone your skills and keep up with the 21st century if you stay stagnant. Yes, you can still be using that green bar chart paper, but I think most of the audience won't even know what that is. But if you're, but if you're over 50, you probably do. And then just getting into the latest tools that can simplify and really enhance your performance in your leadership role. Well, that's a great segue because I wanted to ask, were there any particular sessions that stood out to the three of you that you'd like to share and maybe something you can take back home with you? I've only been able to make it to one session because I have myself socially booked while I'm here. The session I went to was something, I think it was titled Women in Leadership do or Die. And there were some men in there as well. But I thought it was a really interesting session. Just, you know, again, trying to realize that you are not alone out there. Everyone's facing the same challenges and if you've got some something great to share that you've learned. That's one of the great things about ASPO is you don't keep it to yourself. Best practices and ideas are shared. Yeah, there's a community of sharers. Right. Like we don't keep everything to ourselves. What about, I mean, you talk about AI. Was there anything else that really stood out to you the past few days? So I would say I did also attend a budget holdem session which gave really great way of doing trade offs with your cabinet level leadership, your community members and staff as you're, you know, we're always trying to enhance our student performance through strategic investments. Right. But we can't we have to disinvest or de invest in others in order to afford them because we don't just get an infinite pot of money. I think we're all familiar with that. Relate to that. Yeah. And so just having a good tool of getting people to really get into the nitty gritty of how much. How you. What you have to give up in order to get to where you want to be. Right, Right. And how about you? Anything. Stand up. I want to give a plug for the importance of participating in this expo. Yes. You learn so much from the vendors here and the partnerships we have. And I mean, I learned about a new co op this morning. Yeah, I'm definitely going to take home and use. That's great. So we have a one day left. What are you looking forward to most as we wind down here? I think I'm still on a little bit of a high from our morning session where our leaders, our award winners, were recognized this morning. The three of us ladies were very lucky to work closely with John Musso. And the fact that John was recognized this morning and would receive the Fred Hill Award, I just, I just have. My heart is full. It makes me sad that John wasn't able to be here with us due to the loss of his battle with cancer last year. But seeing that recognition for John and then seeing all the new members winning their Eagle Awards, Pinnacle Awards, the emerging leaders, ASPO does a tremendous job of allowing people to shine. Yep. And it's, I think just now for the rest of the day, going after those people, congratulating them, sharing stories. It's just what it's all about. Yeah. Well said. Well, this afternoon we'll have an opportunity to share our experiences with our veterans. Hello, past presidents. Great for a little. We catch up every year. That's always something to look forward to. Right. To spend a few moments with just the past presidents. Great, great. Claire, what's. So, of course we have sessions this afternoon where we'll be in classes. Quite frankly, I haven't picked mine out yet, but I will. What I am looking forward to is getting to the asthma closing reception. Tonight we have in downtown Nashville where I'm looking forward to dancing with all of the members. Right. Just loud music and dancing and being in Nashville. That's what I'm looking forward to. Right. Well, thank you to the three of you for stopping over at school. Business Insights. Great talking to you. You too, John. Thanks. Next up, I have a dear friend of mine, Howie Barber. Howie, welcome back on the podcast. How are you? Great, thanks John, appreciate it. You know what, it's always another time be able to come out and talk to you. So this is great. Yeah, I appreciate your time. So, newly elected director on ASBO International. Congratulations. Thank you so much. How's it been going so far? You know, it's a great opportunity just being able to speak to the current board members and then it gives me an opportunity to talk to a lot more of the executive directors and just in general, the other members that are attending these types of conferences. So it's great. Great. So how has the experience been here in Nashville? You enjoying everything? Yeah, I think Nashville is definitely a great facility and the area itself is wonderful. Right. I think when they were originally going to do this a couple years ago and, you know, everything got kind of delayed. Right. I think a lot of us were kind of like, when is it going to become. Right. When are we going back to Nashville? Right. Yeah, exactly. And I think when you're looking at just the way that it's been set up, I know that there's at least. And you know, I can't be exact to the number, but I think there's at least like an extra 300 people that are here than last year. Yeah. They had 400 new attendees this year. Yeah. Which is phenomenal. Crazy. That by itself tells you how now it's either just attracting them because of location, the facilities, the PD that we have going on. Yep. So it's really a great opportunity to get everybody together. Or more. Yeah, yeah. So when you reflect back on the past few days, were there any sessions that really stood out to you that you're going to be able to kind of take some little nuggets in information back to Massachusetts. Well, I think one of the big pieces that's been going on here is really the AI presentation. Yeah. That's huge. And there's. I think I've at least attended two of them. One of them I was actually in. Oh, yeah. It related the grant writing and utilizing the AI to help develop additional components of what you're writing. Sure, sure. But when you're looking at how the things have really, I guess, grown over the past few years, I was joking with one of the presenters and he was telling me how AI has actually been around for over 70 years and you don't really realize it because it's. With all the different. It's embedded in everything we do. Right. Yeah. It's one of those things where it's really just like you feel like it's a new initiative, but when it's been around for a while. You really can say, wow, I do remember that being a part of the case and especially when one of them was showing movies and videos. Yeah. And you're like, wow, I remember that video or that movie back in 1986. Right, right. I think there was one reference for 68. Yeah. So it's really intriguing to be able to learn some of those components of it. That's great. So we're winding the conference down here. What are you looking forward to as we kind of wrap everything up? I think just like tonight, there's a couple of additional events. Well, let's just say first with the, with the, the expo portion where we're able to see a lot of the vendors and the tradesmen and so forth and. Right. You know, again, trying to have an opportunity of growing the group that, you know, and things you can bring back to your districts, which is really a good thing to start with. But then as we get to tonight and there's the, the presidential event, which I know it's restricted, unfortunately, but. But it's just another opportunity to see some of those individuals that have been heavily involved, which again, it's more growth and learning, which is always a great opportunity. Yeah, yeah. Well, Howie, thanks for popping over. It's always good speaking with you. No, as well. I love talking to you and always going further with some of our conversations. So this is great. Thanks. Next up, I have Chuck. Chuck, welcome back over to school. Business Insider. How are you? I'm doing well, thanks. How are you, John? I'm doing great. So why don't you just introduce yourself to the audience a little bit? Sure. I'm Chuck Bates. I'm the mostly retired part time executive director for New Hampshire asbo. Great, great. So what, what drew you to ACNE this year in Nashville? What drew me here? Well, first of all, it's part of my job, but the main reason is the people, the connections. ASBO International is an amazing family. The staff at ASBO International is terrific. The presenters here at terrific. And what I really love as an executive director is we have an affiliate track. Right. For the affiliate members and it's specifically geared for executive directors and their staff. And it's a great show that they put on great presentations. And it's two full days, jam packed, no time for a nap in the afternoon. So what are kind of your key takeaways from this year's acne? I mean, I spoke to a few executive directors and other ASMO staff members and they were just glowing about the affiliate track. So what did you really pull away from that this year? So, of course, AI is a hot topic. We had presentations on that. That was very helpful. We've had some AI presentations as part of aedg, the Affiliate Executive Directors Group Summer Conference. So this is a great extension of that. Others just on putting on great events. So event planning, that was very helpful. There are a lot of great presentations. Matter of fact, a trio from your state ASBO did a phenomenal job on presenting yesterday. So that was great to see. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda and Rebecca, I think. Is that the one? They were. Yes. An alley. An alley. Yes. They did a phenomenal job. Yeah. So. So glad to hear that. So we're winding down here. What are you looking forward to as the conference comes to a close? Well, I've been here for a week, and I'm ready to go back home. Ready to go home. You ready to go back home? Yes, yes, yes. And actually, I have a 50th high school reunion to look forward to tomorrow. Oh, wow. Wow. So, yeah, you're. You're all over the place. You got a lot. A lot of events, huh? Busy guy. Yes. Yeah. Great. Well, Chuck, thanks for popping over. It's good talking to you. John, it was great chatting with you. Thanks a lot. Next up, we have Charles Warren. Charles, welcome over to sbi. How are you? Thank you very much. I appreciate the welcome. It's great to be back at an ASMO conference. Yeah. So tell the audience a little bit about yourself. My name is Charles Warren. I'm the CFO of Fort Smith School District in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I started out at an ASBO conference back in 2019 in National Harbor. It was the time that I also got my SFO designation, so I kind of. I dove all in. So you were one of those that stood up today? Yes, I am. Great. And since then, I like the designation so much that I've joined the SFO Commission. Oh, wow. And have been working with that team to enhance the program. That's great. How's that going? Is that a lot of work? I mean, what's. What's. There are periods of time. Yes, sorry. There are periods of time when there's a lot of work, but it's been very rewarding. It's very interesting. Yeah. And so now there's a period of time where we could just sit back and watch how the work is getting done. That's great. So the coming to Nashville, unless you live here, is typically a pretty big commitment if you're not from the area. So what drew you to leave your district and spend a few days at Nashville Conference. My initial interest in International ASBO International was the CPE credit that I could get as a cpa. Okay. This was much more valuable than the CPE credit that I might be able to get back in Arkansas because there really wasn't anything targeting the work that I was doing for a school district. Sure, sure. When I came and got the cpe, I realized just how valuable it was. Yeah. And that's when I committed I need to come back to this. Each and every year. There is value in what I'm doing. And I found that that has been the case because since I've been coming, there's typically something that I will take back to my state because I a.m. an Arkansas ASBO board of directors and a past president. And I will also take something back to the school district. And it's amazing over the five, six years that I've been doing this, the number of vendors at the exhibit hall that I am now partnering with my school district and these vendors. That's great. That's great. So we're winding down here. What are you looking forward to as the conference comes to a close? Well, there's still some sessions, and so I'll still get some CB credits and a couple that I'm looking forward to because you never can tell what you might be able. Some people call it R and D, stands for research and development, but I heard heard it called rip off and duplicate. And so there's a couple of sessions that I still have some R and D homework that I might be able to duplicate back in our state or in our district. Yeah, that's why we come here. Right? Exactly. Well, Charles, thanks for stopping over. It was always good speaking with you. Thank you very much. All right, next up, we have RC from pma. Nilaf. Rc, welcome. Over. How's it going? It's going well, John. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Doing great. Always a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks for stopping over. So I want to talk to you from the supplier vendor side. Why do you find it so important to come to such an event like acne? Well, I think that's a great question. Thanks, John. And I'll start by saying it's about the people. Right. In our world, it's a very relationship world. And when you have this opportunity to chat with folks, not just at the conference, but perhaps after the conference and so forth. Sure. This. That's why. That's where a lot of great connections are made. We get a Chance to talk about different things that's on individuals minds and we get a chance to understand wants and needs. So this is a really, really important show for us. That's great. So I know you're very much involved in New York and Pennsylvania. Are you able to make it out to the international conference every year or how does that work for you? I am, fortunately. It's one of my. One of the perks I would say, that I have in my industry is we get a chance to be here and again, be with friends, be with colleagues. Colleagues and certainly clients who are also great friends. So, yeah, I've been fortunate to be just about everyone. The only one I missed was 2020, but I think we all missed that one. We all missed that one. Yeah. So what are some of your key takeaways this year in Nashville? I mean, when you reflect on your time, you know, interacting with school, business officials from all over the world, you know, what are your. Some key takeaways for you? Well, great question. Probably a couple. Couple of different things. But the first thing that jumps to my mind is essentially the wants and needs are a lot of the same. Right. There may be some specifics here and there, but in my opinion, our clients, they're looking for someone that they can work with, someone that they can trust, someone that's going to add a lot of value to what they're doing. So that's probably one of my big key takeaways in that one realm. The other thing that I'd like to add really quickly is you're that camaraderie and that we gain a lot of energy, not just our teams, but really being able to talk to our clients, they gain energy, we gain energy. Right. So I do think. I think a lot of people walk out of here, rejuvenate. Maybe a little tired, but rejuvenate. Absolutely. So we have, you know, about a day left. What are you looking forward to as we wrap up the conference this year? Well, yeah, so yeah, I mean, a day left, the first thing that jumps to my mind is it's. It's great to be here, but it's also nice to get back home, get back to reality. Right. But I think we're gonna make great advantage of the remaining time we have together. I'm not saying that we'll probably spe out a little later tonight than usual, but knowing that we won't see each other for a while. Right. You gotta make it last. We're probably gonna enjoy that moment. Awesome. Awesome. Well, rc, it's always good to speak with you. Thanks for stopping over. Thanks Sean. Thanks for having me. Next. I'm excited because I have one my best friends sitting next to me, Ruby Harris. Ruby, how are you? I am good, John, how are you? I'm great. Tell, tell the audience about yourself. Who's Ruby Harris? I am from New York, originally from Western New York. I am now on Long Island. I've been in the industry for about 14, almost 15 years. Almost 11 of those. Being a business official popped around to a different couple different districts, all of them being just different in makeup and nature. Yeah. And in more recent years I have been getting more active in our local chapters and New York State as well as attending a little bit more of ASBO International. So you've come to a few ASBO International Annual Conference and expos. Why do you keep coming back? Because the information is diverse and they are always hitting on what are the hot topics. I think that's sometimes hard to just keep and stay relevant. But they continue to do that. So it really allows for growing and learning continuously. So we have about a day left. What are you looking forward to most as we kind of wrap up the conference here? There are a couple more sessions that I will be attending. So some of it will be surrounding around like forecasting and budgeting. There are some things that I have seen in the past and heard about, but it seems to be a little bit more highlighted at this conference. So just award winning budgets. How do you develop those transparency pieces? So I think those will be things that I target for the future. So any sessions regarding those I plan to attend. Great. So I mean the expo hall has been a buzz here. Have you been able to take advantage of it and meet some new vendors and suppliers and build those relationships? Yes, I am a little more reserved than most when it comes to that process. So I don't just like to talk to people. Right. But there's definitely some interesting vendors, there's some systems that I think are really going to project my district forward that we're currently not utilizing. And there is a magician that has a bag that I'm magician here that I win. I don't know. He's been doing tricks all day so I'm hoping I win that bag. He's supposed to be here. He's part of the conference. He definitely draws people in to at least have the conversation. Oh, maybe we'll go hunt him down and see if he wants to talk. Well, Ruby, thanks for stopping over. It's always a pleasure talking to you. Always a pleasure. Thanks Rube, Thanks. Thank you for tuning in to School Business Insider. Make sure to check back each week for your favorite topics on school business.