Travelin' man

Just got back from back-to-back trips to Boston and Salt Lake City, both trips for ASGA. The Boston event was last Saturday-- our first-ever Boston Student Government Training Conference at the University of Massachusetts/Boston. Rain meant flight delays in Tampa and in Charlotte. Got to Boston late Friday night, then set up on campus before the conference on Saturday. We had a great showing-- 148 registrants from 32 schools nationwide-- even though ASGA just announced this conference about three months ago.

After flying back home to be with the fam on Sunday and Monday morning, I headed to Tampa for a flight to Salt Lake City to consult/train one of ASGA's founding member, Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Worked with them all day on Tuesday, then caught a red-eye flight back home, arriving at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

I was so beat that I took a four-hour nap on Wednesday afternoon. Only now am I feeling rested. I really don't know how politicans speak day after day after day. I do know, actually. They have staff members that plan their flights, do their advance work, get them ready for trips, etc. I'm the "advance" team for ASGA's conferences, and we're still a growing organization and don't have the resources to have a full-time meeting planner on staff yet.

Traveling by plane now is a painful exercise, let me tell you. It's no fun sitting in a space about 18 inches across, squeezed in with two other seat-mates, for four or five hours. Making matters worse this latest trip was my computer battery failing. I spilled coffee on the computer a few weeks ago, and while the machine is still working fine, I think the battery is kaput. Ebay here I come!

All this travel is part of being a servant leader. It's part of my role to be on the road working with and serving SG leaders and advisors across the nation. The Weber State trip was a "no-fee" trip-- they won a free "training" at the last National Student Government Summit. So I made good on our promise and went out there.

Next up is a training with one of our members in South Carolina, Southern Wesleyan University, in mid September. Then we're off to the largest student government conference in the history of America, the fourth annual ASGA National Student Government Summit in late September in DC!