How to Make the Most of Your Convention Experience

Registration

• The entire board, superintendent, and clerk are encouraged to attend the conference as a team. The team approach allows for the opportunity to cover more workshop sessions, as well as to hear a common message/theme during the convention.
• If you will be traveling to Boise, be sure to visit with your board and district leadership regarding who registers you for the convention, makes your hotel reservations, what you are registered to attend, etc.
• The majority of the meals are provided at the convention with your full-registration. Before you arrive, be sure to know what meals are provided. In order to participate in meal functions, you will need to be registered accordingly and wear your name tag. This also applies to any guests who attend and would like to participate in meal functions.

Before You Arrive

• Talk to your board prior to attending and get a plan of attack for how your board will attend the convention. Who is attending? What are your travel arrangements? How long are you staying? What workshops look as if they are “do not miss”? Will you attend workshops together or as individuals? Do you have district clothing that you will wear as a group on Friday’s “school spirit” day?
• The schedule has built in time for you to meet and get to know each other in an informal setting. We encourage you to take advantage of this down time to get to know one another. Understanding one another helps you as a team when the decisions get tough!
• Set time aside in a board meeting to review the proposed prior year’s resolutions and the current proposed resolutions. These can be found on our website at www.idsba.org.
• If more than two of your board members will attend the convention, be sure to post a meeting notice. Although you will probably not be conducting board business, it is wise to let the public know you will be attending convention and that a quorum will be present. If you need help on what this notice might look like, please feel free to contact the ISBA office and we can send you a sample.

Early Bird Workshops

• The Early Bird Workshops are opportunities for you to extend your learning beyond the regular workshops that are part of the convention. Take time to dig deeper or learn a specialty.

Workshop Sessions

• Take time before the convention to review the workshop schedule. This year, the workshops are organized into tracks. These optional tracks are designed to guide attendees through a progressive set of workshops by the capacity and role the attendee fills. Following the tracks can provide a more focused learning experience at the ISBA Annual Convention.
• Set a meeting spot after each workshop session or at the end of the day and quickly debrief. Use the “I learned these five things” to quickly identify with each other things you want to remember. It can be overwhelming if you wait to debrief at the end of convention or when you return to your next board meeting if you don’t have any notes.

Business Session

• As a board, review the resolutions before you arrive at the Convention. If you have board members that will not be attending, gather their votes on each of the resolutions so that you can turn them in at the business session.
• If a board member is not able to attend the convention, other board members may vote in his/her absence on resolutions.
• Each board member will vote on a candidate for the open positions of the ISBA Officer core (President, President-Elect, Vice President). Take time before the business session to read the candidates’ information in the convention book and consider visiting with the candidates so you can get to know them better.
• Attend the business session! While it may not seem important, and admittedly at times it is not fun and exciting, this is what help forms the legislative work the ISBA staff does for the rest of the year.
• Robert’s Rules of Order are used for the parliamentary procedure during this meeting. This is a great opportunity for you to see Robert’s Rules used and see how you can strengthen your own board meetings.

Exhibit Show

• Take time to review which companies will be exhibiting at the Convention. You may want to note those companies that you particularly want to visit with regarding products/services for your district.
• This is also a great place to network with other board members from other districts.
• Visit the ISBA booth where you can chat with the staff and receive answers to your questions and learn about any products and services that your district could be receiving at a discounted rate or free as part of your membership.

Keynote Speakers

• Each year the convention keynote speakers are carefully chosen so that attendees will receive an informative and inspiring message.

Scholarship Auction

• The ISBA Scholarship Trust was formed by past presidents of ISBA. The purpose of the Trust is to raise money to award scholarships to high school seniors who are the children or grandchildren of current or past school board members. The application process opens each year in September and closes in February.
• The Scholarship Auction is held each year to raise money to fund the scholarships. Anyone may attend, donate to, and bid at the auction.
• The Scholarship Auction is always a fun and worthwhile event during the Convention. Please plan to donate an item towards the Auction and attend this great event. Items may include, but are not limited to: quilts, pictures, gift certificates, baskets of goods, jewelry, food, bags, clothing items, and much more!

Additional Tips for First-Time Attendees

• Be punctual. We value your time. Unless something unavoidable occurs, our events begin and end on time. We do not have assigned or priority seating, so please plan to arrive at workshops and meetings a little early to reserve your spot and get settled.
• Don’t be shy. Introduce yourself to other school board members. You will find them to be valuable resources for you both at the convention and in the future. Chances are, whatever challenges you are facing on your school board, one or more of your fellow ISBA members has been there before. Name badges give you a wealth of information to help you get to know fellow convention attendees, including their name, district, and role within the district.
• Introduce yourself to ISBA staff and the Executive Board. If the staff or an Executive Board member does not find you first, please introduce yourself to them. You will see them at the registration desk, the ISBA Booth, and other locations around the convention. Please don’t hesitate to ask for assistance.
• Ask questions. Don’t worry about asking a “rookie” question. Many of the most important issues facing public education today are raised by new members who are taking a fresh look at situations confronting our schools.
• Take what you learn home. ISBA encourages convention attendees to report at your next board meeting what you learned at the convention to any of your fellow board members and key staff who couldn’t attend. Sharing what you learned will help your team grow.
• Complete the post-convention survey. The ISBA staff will email a link to an anonymous post-convention survey. ISBA staff appreciates your comments and reviews all of the feedback given. As time and resources allow, staff implement suggestions that improve the event.

ISBA is YOUR organization.

Above all, know that ISBA is your organization. We are a diverse group of people with one goal in mind: providing the best possible education to our students. You will find your fellow school board members and our staff ready to help you reach that goal.

We can’t wait to see you at convention! We hope these strategies will help you build connections between the content at the Convention and the applicability in your district. Approach this networking and professional development event like any other part of your career — do your research, be ready to contribute, and receive information from your colleagues around the State, and have fun. See you there.