APCA Midwest Conference 2012 – Day 4

Goodbye, awesome view from my hotel room

Because we are Wisconsinites, we had to leave Iowa early Sunday morning so we wouldn’t miss too much of the Packer game in the afternoon. The day was much sunnier than when we arrived, and it was a really nice trip back. There were some pretty cool land formations around the Wisconsin/Iowa boarder.

It was a long but amazing weekend. I would recommend any Student Senate member to attend APCA, and I highly encourage MPTC students to join Student Senate so they can take advantage of opportunities like this.

Over the weekend we saw over 40 acts perform. We got a chance to talk to all the acts in person. They are some really talented, interesting people that love what they do and they really enjoy performing and talking to college students. I enjoyed talking to some awesome students from different states, learning from them, and just getting to know them. I got a lot out of attending the educational sessions. They were very helpful in providing advice and tips, and I plan to discuss what I’ve learned with the rest of Student Senate so we can start implementing ideas and create a better student life for our campus.

Scenery at the Iowa/Wisconsin border

It’s not too late to join student clubs or Student Senate. If you’re not involved already, check them out now or at the beginning of the spring 2013 semester. Our next conference for Student Senate is NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) Northern Plains Regional Conference in the spring.

APCA Midwest Conference 2012 – Day 3

So this is why I couldn't find a place to sit

Saturday was an early day. The educational sessions started at 8 a.m. and we had four of them in a row. The first one I went to was a roundtable discussion about two-year campuses. We discussed what worked well on our campuses, what wasn’t working well, and offered or took suggestions. I’ve got quite a few ideas out of this session that I will be bringing back to Student Senate.

The second educational session I chose to attend was about social media. I learned some things about using Facebook to promote events, encourage student interaction with the college through social media, and learned how to read analytics.

During the third session, we learned the secrets to being happy and making others happy. I think if we could all take the presenter’s advice, we’d all be a lot happier with ourselves and learn to lift others up. It’s so important.

The last session of the morning was another roundtable where we talked about all the different types of social media and how it could be used by colleges. We talked about mass text messaging as well, which some campus have implemented.

Lunch was much like the previous day; we ate and watched all kinds of performers. After lunch we went to another room and listened to some great speakers. I would like a few of them to come to our campus in the future.

It's hard not to be happy in a room full of bubbles

The results from all the competitions were reveled during dinner. Moraine Park Technical College placed third in the pumpkin-carving contest! Danielle from American Pickers made an appearance on stage later. When one of the performers, a mentalist, needed a volunteer, our own Erica from MPTC got to go up on stage.

Erica is on stage!

The last event of the night was a dance party featuring a percussionist. Afterwards some of the musical acts collaborated together and played music in the lobby. So many things happened on Saturday it’s hard to believe we squeezed everything in one day!

MPTC's pumpkin-carving entry

APCA Midwest Conference 2012 – Day 2

The conference officially kicked off on Friday morning and I went to an educational session on recruiting. The presenter gave us some good tips on choosing the right kind of events for our campus and how to encourage students to come to events that we host.

Becca volunteers

We had a buffet-style lunch in the afternoon where Becca and Robyn, Moraine Park students, volunteered to take lunch tickets. During our lunch in the ballroom we listened to all different kinds of acts that included comedians, musicians, and acrobats. Throughout the performances we could send tweets on Twitter using the conference’s hashtag and see them on the projection screen.

Resa's got a monkey on her back

After the showcase, we got a chance to meet with the acts that were performing throughout the weekend in the exhibit hall. Resa, our West Bend Student president, had the opportunity to hold a monkey. There was a tarantula as well, but I didn’t go anywhere near it. Yikes!

There were more acts to see before and during dinner, and the late night event included a mentalist and hypnotist. Both of them were good and a lot of fun to watch.

Some of the MPTC crew

APCA Midwest Conference 2012 – Day 1

I packed my Moraine Park Tech swag in a suitcase and headed over to our meeting place, the Beaver Dam campus, Thursday morning. We were going to Iowa for a full weekend at the APCA conference to check out entertainment acts and participate in educational sessions. APCA stands for the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities.

My MPTC swag in a suitcase

My Trick-or-Treat bag design

We crossed over the Mississippi River before getting to our destination, Coralville. The hotel and conference were in the same building, which was nice because the weather was cold and wet. We had some time before registration, so we went to a nearby mall.

At registration we had an opportunity to participate in some service projects and novelties that were set up at a table. We wrote cards for soldiers, created encouraging letters for kids, made ghosts out of suckers and tissues, and decorated trick-or-treat bags for children. Then our group, consisting of Student Senate members from all three MPTC campuses, talked about the conference schedule and chose educational sessions to attend.

Our last activity of the day was to create a poster for the poster competition. Becca and I drew our mascot, the grey wolf, and incorporated the construction theme of the conference.

MPTC's poster with construction theme