Oh, hey! Welcome to the community.
It’s said frequently at eRezLife: “Welcome to the Community!” I’ve wondered if that resonated with you all. In an industry where community building is rampant, and you’re surrounded by people daily, can you feel a sense of community with people you’ve never met? This week, I witnessed the answer to my question.
Earlier this week, our team hosted the inaugural eRezLife User Conference in Charlotte, NC. While confident that we would provide an impactful experience for our delegates, I would be lying if I didn’t own that we were walking in with some anxiety and uncertainty. Luckily, when you work with a full team of individuals who have worked in Residence Life, you have a team that can problem solve on the fly and is experienced and confident running large scale events. Once check-in opened, those anxieties seemed to melt away.
Building Community
The realization of the eRezLife community came to me during a session. I’d posed a question to the group before leaving the room. When I returned, the room was buzzing. There was laughter and excitement, questions and notetaking, and smiles and looks of inquiry—it was happening. Our community was openly sharing their struggles and successes. Even more powerful, I witnessed the same as I walked around the lobby at lunch and breaks. The group was mingling with others, talking about the sessions they’d been to, and sharing ways that they use the system. A number of delegates mentioned that one of the greatest parts of the conference was that we kept numbers low to create an intimate experience where everyone knows your name. By limiting the number to 50 delegates, one could learn the names of others and was able to find them to ask those follow-up questions.
Schedules and Structure
Our conference included 26 sessions, one-on-one meetings and networking opportunities. For those who did not attend, our conference was described by a delegate as a “balance of ‘big picture,’ process-focused and ‘nitty-gritty,’ detail-oriented sessions on how to use eRezLife itself.” Sessions were presented by our eRezLife staff and focused on everything from building your residence structure to roundtable conversations on staff hiring. The goal was to not only educate our delegates on ways to use eRezLife, but also to engage the delegation in conversation. As anyone in higher education knows, shared learning is a powerful thing.
Lasting Memories
Fortunately, one of our developers was at the conference to document the experience through photos. The slideshow shown at the closing ceremonies captures the learning, enthusiasm, and the enjoyment that was experienced by the delegation. It can be difficult to articulate the experience of the User Conference to those who did not attend, but I think this slideshow gives you a glimpse of the conference. I’m confident that all of the delegates walked away from the conference with a new connection, a new idea, and a deeper understanding of eRezLife.
Thank You
50 delegates from 33 institutions, 6 clients who lead sessions as presenters or panelists, and 6 eRezLife team members contributed to the success of the conference. The eRezLife team is so thankful that the delegates took a chance on our inaugural year and opened their minds to learning, sharing, connecting, and building a community. Our team will continue to engage with our clients throughout the year and further expand the community that was formed at the User Conference through webinars and an online forum.
Welcome to the community. We’re glad you’re here.
