SSA Conference

This past weekend I was honored to be able to speak at the Secular Student Alliance leadership conference in Phoenix, AZ. I was excited for the opportunity to give back to the foundation that helped me and my group out so much in college. My secular group in college may have trickled out some but when I ran it it was a fun and well-known group on campus-- at least I like to think of it that way.

The SSA is a great resource for college and high school aged kids who are wanting to start and run a successful group. They send materials, are there with an answer to a legal question, will send someone to your area to help with tabling, presentations, and demonstrations. They even set up a nation-wide speakers bureau and will give assistance to groups wanting to bring a bigger name to their campus.

Having a group in southern Louisiana was a bit of a challenge for me but with the SSA's help and support I feel that we were pretty successful. As long as there are group members willing to keep the group going once the leaders move on the group will survive.

I was asked to give a presentation on social media. At first I was excited because social media is a big part of my everyday life. But, honestly, what could I teach college age students about social media that they don't already know?? They could pull me into the audience and teach me things about Twitter and Snapchat that I'd never heard of, I'm sure. But, I wasn't there to teach them how to use the tools- just how to utilize them to their maximum potential. (God that sounded 'teachy')

You know how you plan for weeks what you are going to talk about? You write out an outline, take notes, practice for hours?  I did all that. I got to the podium and totally forgot about half of what I wanted to say. It happens. Was it my best speaking gig? Nope. Did I get my point across? I think so.

As my boyfriend said, "if they didn't run screaming then everything was fine."

I was able to put faces and personalities to people with whom I had spoken online for years. I was about to answer questions of students about running a group and what to do afterward. I was able to network on my own. All around, it was a good experience and I'd be happy to do it again.

Maybe not in Phoenix where it was 106 degrees at 8pm and I burned my feet on the ground while wearing shoes but, yeah, I'd do it again.