The Observer, February 8, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 16
Case students to help "make" leaders
Case's leadership conference is taking a turn for the celebrity this semester with breakout sessions like "Three Lessons Britney Spears Has Taught Us."
Modeled after MTV's hit show Made, the conference will feature a variety of workshops and breakout sessions geared toward making each and every participant into the leader he or she has always wanted to become.
The conference will be held tomorrow from noon to 5:30 p.m. in Thwing Center and will feature an etiquette dinner to make all students comfortable and confident in any social situation.
There will be three sessions to the conference, during which students can sample a variety of breakout sessions aimed toward "making" leaders.
Of particular interest to students will be "The Art of Interviewing: How to Sell Your Leadership."
"This session will go beyond the basics of interviewing (such as what to wear and the importance of a confident introduction and handshake) to provide strategies for creating examples of success in leadership situations that can be useful in the behavior-based interview, which is the most common type of interview given by employers," said Kristen Francis, experiential learning specialist.
Students will engage in practice interviews, not only learning valuable techniques for the interviewing process, but also putting them to use.
This session then, in revolving around the theme of being "made," aims to transform all students, whether freshman or super senior, into confident, articulate interviewees ready to tell their story.
While students might overlook the importance of demonstrating strong leadership skills in job or school interviews, Francis cautions that "it is incredibly important and students should prepare by reflecting upon their specific leadership competencies. It is critical that students be able to not only share their leadership skills but also be able to create concise, organized, compelling stories that highlight their unique leadership skills and experiences."
Although some sessions, such as the interviewing session, focus on more career-oriented leadership skills, many others preach skills that are perfectly applicable to everyday campus life.
In "Has it Stopped Being Fun?," panelists will address a major social concern of the Case undergraduate body. When daily routines and class schedules become chores, students find themselves just trying to trudge through another week and often forget that it's possible (and healthy) to incorporate more fun into their lives. To combat the misconception that Case life is all work and no play, panelists are teaming up to show students how to inject more fun into the typical school week.
"Having fun is about finding a balance between activities or routines that are too rigid and difficult and other activities that are too easy and don't provide enough novelty and fresh experiences," explained Jaclyn Staple, Greek Life assistant and panelist for the session. "Students often become so immersed in schoolwork and extracurricular activities that they forget it is possible to have fun and take care of priorities and responsibilities at the same time."
The session will give students tips on how to engage the community in new ways and manage time efficiently. In addition, the session will also provide student organization leaders with examples of how to turn business meetings into more enjoyable experiences for all involved.
"It is important for leaders of organizations to know how to retain membership numbers and participation, and one way to do this is to know how to mix business aspects of meetings and functions with fun and laughter," said Staple.
To make sure that current organizations on campus stay alive and healthy with participation, the Leadership Conference is offering the "Three Lessons" session on how to learn from Britney Spears' mistakes and properly PR around campus and the surround community.
The session will focus on ways student organizations can effectively recruit new members and project a positive image around town. Specifically, the session will revolve around three tenets of PR Britney Spears has yet to learn: stupid makes headlines; keep your private life private; and take pride in your organization, its members, and its property.
"I think it says a lot about an organization on how well they PR on campus. Too often I hear, 'I've never heard of that event/organization or program' I think good PR [is essential for] the difference between an organized and strong organization," said Sabrina Ryan, coordinator of Greek Programs and session leader. "It shows that the organization cares about the events and program they are doing and not just having events to have events. PR is more abstract than most people think."
Students will learn how to use the Internet to their advantage, how their own persona affects the image of the organization, and proper ways to market events around campus. But more importantly, the session will serve to connect the micro and macro levels of student leadership, which completely fulfills the goal of the conference to "make" every student into a responsible and contentious leader.
"Developing yourself as a leader is not always easy and sometimes [it is] difficult to think of how everything you do affects others, but it does," said Ryan. "As you develop yourself [at] Case and [in the] outside community, this becomes more and more relevant."
If you "wanna be made," registration for the conference is available online until 5 p.m. today at http://studentaffairs.case.edu/programs/leadership.
