It’s an amazing thing that every year, small groups of driven students in four different schools across the country agree to plan and host a conference. We are so grateful that we are one of crazy group of students that said yes! Students came from schools all across the West Coast. At least 10 schools were represented. Even a few national visitors made an appearance, including AIAS National President Sarah Walgreen. Over 150 students came, sixteen of which came from the University of Oregon.
Students in attendance seemed very engaged. Energy constantly flowed throughout the conference. Each tour had full attendance. A few of the workshops had lower attendance, but the students who attended seemed to value the time they spent.
Sessions had a low turnout as well, especially the morning following the Beaux Arts Ball. Overall, students valued the programmed elements of the conference. Following the conference, we had several shoutouts from attendees on Social Media about the great time they had at the West Quad Conference.
The whole planning committee would agree that the conference was rewarding. Well worth our time and planning because of the great turnout of students, the quality of tours and speakers, and the generosity of donors. As a committee, we had the opportunity to be in constant contact with professionals all across Oregon, and develop stronger relationships with several University of Oregon professors and staff members in both Eugene and Portland.
As a team, we grew a lot. We learned more about communication and collaboration than any of the events we have planned before. Because of that, we can now approach planning for local chapter events fearlessly. Our connection to nationals, and membership awareness of national presence also grew, and we look forward to more national involvement in upcoming years!
Sincerely,
Your West Quad 2017 AuthentiCity Conference Planning Committee
Conference Co-Chairs:
- Ryan Al-Schamma
- Chelsey Luiz
Conference Planning Committee:
- Valeria Masciotti
- Josh Rosenthal
- Jacque Greazzo
- Isabella Wu
- Martin Lee
- David Moreno
- Serena Abouchar
- Noura Medinah
- Sang Pham
- Zachary Sherrod
