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Tip of the Week

April 21, 2021

The skills of a virtual conference attendee

Think of it as a reprise, of sorts.

The Department of Education officially announced last week that the FSA Conference would be going virtual again in 2021. The news is probably not too surprising based on COVID concerns and announcements from other organizations that their events would also remain virtual this year.

While the conference itself is likely to provide a lot of new information, the virtual format is being repeated. And, in the spirit of repetition, I'll share my tips (that I shared last year) on how I plan to make the most of a virtual conference when working from home:

• I plan on having chicken for lunch - every day. At least, it will taste like chicken.
• My name will be misspelled on my name tag.
• My luggage will mysteriously get lost, and I will wear the same clothes for two days in a row.
• The bedroom door will lock when I leave it in the morning, and my key won't work when I return at night.
• When I do get in the bedroom, I will realize that the room has not been cleaned - the bed is unmade and there are no clean towels. (Okay, that's easy to recreate since that's just normal at home.)
• I will set up two rows of kitchen chairs in my living room - so close together that it will be hard to squeeze in and out.
• I will put my coffee on the floor underneath the chairs, forget about it because I was engaged in the session, and then kick it over when I leave for the break.

Now that we've all become comfortable with virtual events, it may seem a little strange going back to in-person events. But people – financial aid professionals – are pretty adaptable and, when conferences are once again in-person, it probably won't take us too long to return.

– By Catherine Mueller

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