The NASPA Conference

I was in Boston from March 7th to the 12th for the NASPA conference, one of the two major gatherings of student affairs professionals per year. I got into the city on Friday the 7th, and after settling into the hotel room (the lovely Midtown Hotel, right across from the Christian Science Center), I walked over to the Hynes Convention Center to get checked in, and see who was around that I knew.

I ran into Tricia, who I had worked with at Dartmouth, and who was now going through job interviewing herself, and talked to my old boss Jeff, also from Dartmouth. A nice visit with people I'd revisit throughout the trip.

That evening, I met up with my friend Sharon, who is a friend from way back at Boston College. We first met the summer of 1991, when we were both working for Housing during the summer. Actually, I was working making beds, and Sharon was working as an Orientation Advisor. We would work together, when the OA's would help us out, making beds for conferences.

So, anyway, we lost contact with each other after college (probably due to messages left not getting delivered), but recently, we've been back in touch through the wonders of the internet. Since I was coming into Boston, we made plans to meet up and get together for dinner.

We went to an Ethiopian restaurant, which was a lot of fun for me, as I had never been to one before. The food was quite good, and Sharon and I talked pretty much non-stop, just catching up, talking about our lives, etc. It's funny, because it wasn't like we were best friends back in college, but we always got along very well, and it was quite easy to just fall back into that mode in conversation.

And yes, I continue to be analytical about everything!

On Saturday, within the conference, we attended the JASPA conference, which was a day long conference for student affairs professionals from Jesuit colleges. David, my director, and Jess, our Assistant Coordinator of Operations, had flown up with me, but were only there for the JASPA section of NASPA.

JASPA, as a conference, was a mixed bag. Half of it was great (the morning sessions), and the afternoon sessions were not terribly thrilling. The banquet in the evening, back on the campus of Boston College, was fun for the time I was there. Taking the charter bus out there, I really had some strong feelings of connection to Boston, the campus, and that time of my life in general. Boston was a time in my life when I *really* enjoyed almost everything that was going on in my life. Sure, there were ups and downs, as usual, but it was a very happy time in my life.

Going back to campus, I was able to just sit back and relax, and let those feelings of being back "home" wash over me. Boston, besides the NJ shore area, is the one other place I consider to be "home." It was great to not have to concentrate on driving myself, thinking of other things, I was able to just *be*, which was fantastic.

At the banquet myself, I ran into one of the club advisors who worked with the CCE when I was President of the organization. It was great to reconnect with her, and I do think she *almost* remembered me!

I had to leave the banquet early, as I was meeting my friend Joe to record an episode of our internet radio show Pseudocertainty. Generally, because we live in different states, we have to record these shows over the internet, but if we can do them in person, that's always a better dynamic. So, check the site out, and listen to us blab about GM food, some odd medical procedures, and other fun topics.

On Sunday, I met up with my friend Brian, his sister In, and her husband Rowan for a viewing of "This is Spinal Tap" at the Brattle Theater. I hadn't actually seen the movie in a theater, EVER, so it was a great experience, although the sound of the movie was a bit too low.

After the movie, Brian and I hit the Border Cafe for some fajitas, and he was kind enough to drive me back to the hotel afterwards. We've been friends since about 1983 or so, we have a good shorthand when we meet. I think we can each talk about things in our lives, and we just *know* the context of each other's personalities well enough, that we know when we have to push each other a bit, or be honest, or be a bit quiet about things. We see each other only maybe 2-3 times a year, but it's always quality.

Here's Brian at the Border, talking to the Lovely Sue on the phone... She called during the dinner.

And, just a nice night time Cambridge shot, albeit a bit blurry...

Monday was the start of the conference proper. Here' below is a shot of Boston with a very blue sky...

And, the Prudential Tower.... With a new building next to it. Kind of futuristic, to my eye...

And above, a tailor's shop, with a very familiar name....

Here's a building where my friend Kim lived in while we were both in Boston in the 1993-1994 time frame. I walked by it a few times a day, going back and forth to the hotel, so I had to take a shot of it for her. Note to self - I should actually send it off to her!

Here's my friend Amanda, we were grad students together at MSU back in the mid/late 1990's. We hadn't seen each other since about 1999, at a conference in New Orleans. It was good to catch up with her, and see how her life is going. She's still out in Michigan, working at MSU, and taking doctoral classes. In fact, she's pretty much done with classes, and will be working on her dissertation soon. Good luck to her!

And here's the Beatles back together.

Tricia, myself, Krista, Brian, and Fouad. We were all Community Directors at Boston at the same time, and this group was the core of a really great collegial relationship. This photo is from the Dartmouth social on Monday night, and we actually met up for dinner on Tuesday also, along with some other Dartmouth folks.

This was another walk down memory lane, as reconnecting at these conferences is always emotional in some ways, especially as we all have a deep, abiding respect for each other. We know each other really well as colleagues, and can talk directly with each other about a wide variety of things that both friends and colleagues have to talk about. I'd happily work with any of these people again.

So, that's the conference. I can say that the sessions I went to were pretty decent, but the options were a bit thin on the ground. I have been inspired to plan some presentations for next year, to help bring some good options back to the floor of the conference. Fu and I were talking about some ideas for next year, and I'm sure we'll be in contact over the next year, to see if we actually want to try to put some things together.