Iowa State Workshop at Wartburg College- June 18, 2008First, a big thank you to Kristy Leen, the Iowa State Director, and Jim Langel, the Director at Wartburg, for hosting and planning the Iowa State Workshop.
Just a little background for those of you not familiar with Wartburg. It is located in Waverly, Iowa with approximately 1,800 students in attendance. The just built a brand new $31 million fitness and recreation center that opened in January of 2008. The W (short for The Warburg Waverly Sports and Wellness Center) is located just off the football field and spans two city blocks wide.
The W is a great example of what can be accomplished at any school if we value recreation, fitness and our health. The workshop provided great sessions on popular programs throughout schools in Iowa such as the WRS Ironman Triathlon Challenge at University of Northern Iowa, and Lose Weight, Gain Money at Wartburg College. For about five seconds, they made me wish I was a fitness programmer. Seriously. If you are interested in those please email me and I'd be happy to forward on the presenters' information and my notes.
Although the workshop was planned for the summer (and people would rather have fun then professionally develop in the summer), I was slightly disappointed in the number of students in attendance. Because state workshops have such a smaller cohort of people attending, the opportunities to talk with professionals and gain one on one time with other directors is exponentially greater then that of the NIRSA national conference. And for those of you looking for graduate assistantships closer to home, state workshops are a great way to build relationships with professionals in states bordering your own. Hence you might be able to cut down on job applications to Maine, Alaska and Georgia unless you have a strong desire for those places.
Other places you can look to further your professional development: State Fairs. Great examples of how not to dress/cut your hair for interviews. That is if you can muster away from the great cuisine at the state fairs.
And some Very Nice Updates for Region V:
- We are now in need of a Colorado/Wyoming State Representative- please let me know if you are interested or know someone who is.
- Jay "Jay-bird" Swenson (Iowa State Rep) spells his last name with an E and not an A. My bad.
- Next workshop- Minnesota State: October 2-3 at St. Cloud State.
