It’s been a busy quarter with most roads leading to activity at or around the 49th Annual Conference. At the time of my writing, we are two weeks beyond the conference; and yet, the energy in the office is still high. Here’s why!
You + Relevant Content
More than 800 industry colleagues (680+ from schools) from 31 countries joined us in Denver to reconnect with old friends, meet new colleagues, share best practices, and wrestle with industry challenges. The conference agenda (designed to facilitate these activities) featured approximately 50 concurrent sessions and workshops that explored themes on the impact of geopolitics on GME, program diversification, marketing/communication strategies, Gen Z, innovation in data analytics, CRM integration and much more. This year, the advisory committee wanted to emphasize the infusion of technology not only in the content but in the delivery of the event by live streaming the opening keynote. If you were not able to join us in Denver, you can still access Dr. Vivienne Ming’s opening keynote on how AI and machine learning will influence GME by visiting the conference highlights site.
The Reciprocity Ring
In partnership with the Advisory committee, we added new features to the 2019 itinerary. This included flash sessions (mini-concurrent sessions) and a Reciprocity Ring. For those of you who are scratching your heads, according to Dr. Wayne Baker (who facilitated the introduction to this session and developed the ring with his wife) “The Reciprocity Ring is built around asking for and giving help. It taps the collective knowledge, networks and energy of a group to meet each person's request.” I was able to watch a Reciprocity Ring in action, and it was pretty amazing. Over the course of an hour, professionals from different schools, in different roles, and even from different countries were able to provide answers to the problems shared by others in the ring. This may be a great tool to for you to leverage for team building with current students or faculty and staff. To learn more about the Reciprocity ring, visit Dr. Baker’s site.
GME Reporting Criteria Session
A great group of colleagues (at least 50) joined us on the Thursday during Annual Conference for a robust workshop around a draft of the recommended Reporting Guidelines. Everyone voiced strong support for the work that has been done to date - but it was clear there is still work to do. The GME Reporting Criteria taskforce will meet later this month to discuss the questions raised and feedback shared over the past six weeks. If you have not yet taken the time to provide your thoughts, please do so by leveraging the survey on gmac.com no later than Friday, July 12.
A special “thank you” to each of you who played a role in the success of this year’s conference: from those who submitted concurrent session ideas to those who presented, facilitated, sat on panels, shared ideas- or simply spread positivity and good vibes.
(And now a shameless plug…)
If you were not able to attend Annual (or even if you were - and just want to keep the magic alive), join us for an upcoming GMAC Live! Learn & Share.
GMAC Live! is a COMPLIMENTARY full-day interactive session for graduate management education professionals of all levels and program types. The event fosters networking, sharing and learning about current topics and events most relevant to you. This year, we’ve partnered with Kennedy & Company to deliver a workshop designed to enhance your ability to develop a candidate pipeline and engage candidates at the right time using the right channels.
We’ll be in a number of cities over the next few months. Do join us by registering here!
Enjoy the remainder of summer-
Sabrina White
Vice-President, Market Development
Americas & Europe
Americas Market Development Team