In December 2018, I hosted a webinar on Generation-Z that was so well received, we knew we had to bring it back for a second run at NASPA! That session, titled “Everything you need to know about Generation Z in 50 minutes,” is what started off Day 3 of the conference.

Given that Generation-Z represents the majority of today’s students, it’s essential for institutions to understand how to engage with them. Over the course of 50 minutes, I went over who Gen-Z is, how they want to be engaged with, what issues and difficulties they are facing, and what institutions can do to help them. After the session was over, many of the audience members (some of which stood the entire presentation due to lack of seating!) stayed to further discuss this cohort and share their experiences with each other. It’s clear that this generation is changing the learning landscape and that institutions need to adopt new methods to engage with them.

P.S. If you missed our webinar on Gen-Z in December 2018, you can view the recording here.

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After a frenetic Day 2 that was jam packed with sessions, Day 3 seemed to be more composed. At this point, attendees had a better understanding of the sessions and the layout of the convention center. As a result, they were able to focus more on specific topics and have more intimate 1-on-1 conversations.

A few attendees came by the exhibit hall during the afternoon to continue conversations that had begun the day before. We also conducted another business-card draw during the afternoon, and 2 more excited winners walked away with a free Amazon Echo.

After a couple of busy days at the exhibitor hall, it was time to bring everything to close. The Ready Education team banded together one last time to dismantle the booth and pack everything away. While it had been an amazing few days of conversations and engagement, it was extremely satisfying to see everything packed up and ready to be shipped back home.

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As we all expected, NASPA 2019 had been a whirlwind experience. The bright-eyed eagerness that we all started off with had been replaced with a sense of satisfaction and achievement. We had met countless student affairs professional who were all striving towards the same goal in their own different ways, and we learned from every one of them. What initially excited me about NASPA 2019 was the lure of Los Angeles as a city. However, what I will remember are the people I met, the conversations I had, and the connections I made. Those will stay with me for a long time.